Cardano SPO Column: MADinArt Stake Pool [MAD]

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This week’s guest on the Cardano SPO Column is one of the very first NFT projects on Cardano: MADinArt. Their motto is to “Make A Difference in Art”. They’ve recently set up their stake pool and will drop NFTs to delegators: MADinArt Stake Pool [MAD].

Last week’s guest was a stake pool operated by a Single Pool Operator who is involved in Cardano with several projects, including a Catalyst proposal and an NFT project.

This initiative is a point of reference for everything Cardano and every week or two we will invite a Stake Pool Operator (SPO) to answer some questions and give us an update directly from within the Cardano community.

Considering that many of our readers are new to the crypto space, we will have a mix of simple and technical questions.

Hi, it’s a pleasure to have you here. Please introduce yourselves, where are you based and what are your backgrounds?

Hey, my name is Jay and I manage the MADinArt Stake Pool [MAD]. I am based in Stratford-upon-Avon, England but I am originally from Wales where the majority of the MADinArt team is from.

I am a HPC Solution Architect and I have been running large scale Linux systems for around 15 years within a range of sectors, including Military, Academic and Business. These background skills are extremely transferable to the Cardano environment as the stake pool nodes are all Linux/UNIX based.

There were already other blockchains allowing the creation of NFTs, why did you choose Cardano? And what led you to set up a stake pool?

Obviously MADinArt was one of the very first NFT projects on Cardano and they have made incredible progress. My aim was to come on board and help them have their own stake pool that is heavily focused around rewarding its delegators with NFTs. 

The Cardano community is also an incredibly helpful and supportive environment which is the reason I believe it will go from strength to strength. While setting up the stake pool I was able to learn from other Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) in multiple forums and platforms. 

We share the same vision and ethos as Charles Hoskinson, we can effect change in a decentralised way and we aim to bring more of this to the project as we move forward.

Besides minting and selling your own NFTs, you are also becoming a place where artists and investors can meet. Can you tell us more about your vision and the process of buying/selling NFTs?

Our aim is to Make a Difference in Art by creating the ultimate location for investors and creators to meet. We were once struggling artists so know how hard it can be to be recognised. The NFT marketplace is growing at an exponential rate with a thriving and talented community to go with it. 

Our Mission is to allow all Artists from all sectors to convert their assets into NFTs, and finally get paid for the stunning creative contributions they bring to all our lives. Just think how many wonderfully creative artists there are on every continent of the world? We are going to give them a shop window like never before. 

To become an artist on our platform you need to submit an application through the website, if successful you will receive an invitation to our MAD Academy. Once you have completed the MAD Academy you will be awarded with your very first DROP on the platform. Our Academy will give you all the tools you need to ensure your drop is a success and become a verified artist.

Buying NFTs via our website is extremely straightforward. Simply choose the NFT you would like to purchase, click Buy Now and follow the instructions to pay using ADA. For additional information on Buying NFTs check out the FAQs on our website.

On your website there’s currently an ongoing competition called Africa University Competition, can you give us more details? And why have you chosen this continent?

MADinArt are offering the opportunity to participate in our ART competition which will be open to all officially registered Universities in Africa.

We would like to offer any participating University the opportunity to win up to $10,000 in prize money that will be split between the Artists and their Art department. 

We are a new platform with a powerful mission to “Make A Difference” to Artists all over the world.

We help Artists convert their physical pieces into fully digital NFTs (Non Fungible tokens) and we mint them on the Cardano blockchain.

We want all participating universities to present us with what they feel are the best pieces of art from 3 different students. This can be any form or medium of art but delivered to us as a digital file, the possibilities are endless.

The final pieces of work will be minted on the blockchain and sold on our platform. Our aim is to give young artists a shop window to the world and we look forward to helping identify some of Africa’s rising stars of the future. 

The Cardano Africa project (Input Output) will build digital identity solutions on the Cardano blockchain. The idea is to start by granting primary, secondary and university students a digital identity that can track their educational, career and future progress. We at MADinArt want to contribute to the Cardano community that is growing within Africa.

Thank you for your time. Anything to add? Where can people find you?

If you are looking to delegate your ADA then it’s a great time to join the MADFAM as we will be giving away an exclusive NFT to all delgators when we mint our first block. In addition, we will be doing a monthly raffle for the chance to win an NFT from the previous month of drops.

Thank you very much for speaking with us and helping us spread our vision to the community. If anyone would like to get in touch you can find us on the following platforms:

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the SPOs are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or IOHK.

 

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