New Minting/FA2 contracts for Teia?
This is a writeup summarizing the current discussions around Teias usage of OBJKT token contracts and assesing the prospect of developing possible new Token contracts for Teia.
It is gathering opinions and information from different contributors of teia and aims at starting a broader discussion around these topics, as this is a topic that get brought up frequently.
Why Teia Currently Uses the OBJKT token Contracts
The hicetnunc OBJKT contract (KT1RJ6PbjHpwc3M5rw5s2Nbmefwbuwbdxton) is a piece of open source code that is deployed onto the blockchain and has always been open to be used by anyone. Many tools and platforms besides Teia are currently using it and will most probably in the future. The open source MIT license of the hicetnunc codebase further underlines the open nature of the software and smart contracts.
The project now called “Teia ” was started around hicetnunc’s discontinuation in November 2021, utilizing the open source code of hicetnunc to provide an UI for everyone to interact with the hicetnunc smart contracts and to help with maintaining the ecosystem and media files associated with the OBJKT tokens, keeping the needed indexers operational and further developing the codebase in a democratic, non profit way.
Hicetnunc’s minting contract is working as intended and is a well established and an open, accessible standard, and for these reasons Teia has not stopped making minting on that contract available through its UI so far.
One of the most important reasons for keeping the hicetnunc minting contract that must be taken into account when changing tokens is compatibility: Tools built around hicetnuncs OBJKT tokens will not automatically work with a new token. Indexers will need to be updated in order to work with the new tokens, teias tokens will probably not be accessible through hicdex, etc. In order to make the tokens available on other marketplaces and to increase the visibility of the tokens to benefit all users, external marketplaces that currently show OBJKT tokens (s. hic.af, henext, objktcom etc) would need to develop a way to support our new tokens. Teia can’t take this for granted, it would require good will and time from everyone involved in the ecosystem.
A new minting/token contract would mean new tokens minted on teia would fall out of the OBJKT ecosystem. Teia would start a new ecosystem around its new tokens while still organizing/maintaining/paying for infra/IPFS/Content moderation for all the OBJKT tokens as hicetnunclab2000 has stopped maintaining indexers and other infra/operations: Again, the main goal of this project was to secure the OBJKT tokens. Maintaining the OBJKT legacy doesn’t come for free.
New Minting/Token Contracts for Teia
However, first steps have already been taken towards the development of new minting/token contracts (see: teia-smart-contracts/README.md at main · teia-community/teia-smart-contracts · GitHub) .
A new set of contracts is planned but not high enough on the current list of priorities to be finished right away and cannot be implemented without community consensus.
The current Teia marketplace contract was built with a new minting/token contract in mind: It can support different Token contracts.
But so far those are all work in progress and can be further developed if needed. It seems like the smart contracts are pretty much done, but oc we would need to work on indexing/frontend implementation.
A bigger debate around a new token is needed: We need to find consensus around the idea of a new token, work on the new contracts, test them, find out what the current code is missing. The earlier we start the discussion around this topic, the better.
Teia will most probably move to a new minter sooner or later for several reasons, including:
- Being able to add new features (like on chain text)
- updating and improving the token standard
- having a fresh start for Teia related tokens and relying on a standard developed by Teia itself.
Therefore, a new minting contract for Teia needs to be finished with added functionality and tested before it can be put to use.
The topic of getting a new minting contract/forking the current one has been brought up in discussions since the very beginning, the community needs to decide:
- Is a new minting/token contract desired?
- What should it look like/which features are needed?
- How should it be integrated?
All those questions should and will be approached organically through open dialogue within the community and not due to external pressure. Please discuss these in this discourse thread.
The pros & cons of a new token (summary)
pros
- our own contract - more autonomy (the last step of getting fully independent from hicetnunclab2000s code/contracts)
- we can add features to the new token
- possible security/standard upgrades
- teia would have its own “collection” on aggregators like objktcom
- proper “teia genesis” pieces
cons
- Teia was initially intended to be centered around OBJKT tokens, adding new tokens would technically make us an aggregator (indexing OBJKTs as well as the new teia tokens) and move away from the OBJKT token ecosystem
- community tools around objkt tokens would not support the new tokens without updating indexers, changing code.
- we need to use dev resources for developing new contracts and implementing them on the marketplace. currently we don’t have that many devs, this could further delay other goals on the roadmap.
Until the next goals of the roadmap (i.e. the DAO launch, code refactoring, most pressing UI fixes, improving loading speeds) have been completed, or the community decides to move the implementation of a forked/new minting contract up on the priority list, the development of a new minting contract is just waiting for being pushed forward. This might happen soon, this might happen later - The speed of development is dependent on available resources and community engagement.
Summa sumarum, switching tokens is not a trivial thing: It will change the tech foundations of the Teia marketplace. It makes sense to carefully evaluate the possibilities and new features that the new token should have and take the time to do it properly instead of rushing a half baked solution. The sooner we start the discussion, the sooner we will be able to deliver a new token contract that works the way it should.
This is of course all up for debate.
Addendum: OBJKT swapping, hicetnunclab2000 and wider ecosystem collaborations
Over the last month hicetnunclab2000 approached the Teia Community via github forum, asking for Teia to stop using the hic et nunc OBJKT contracts via a series of comments and edits thereof. The messages mention Teia/objktcom swaps “spamming” the hic et nunc minting contract and holding objkt tokens “hostage” as well as accusations of “harassment” through the use of the contracts. The main ask seems to be for everyone to stop using hic et nunc’s minting contract:
Another topic mentioned in the post on Github is the Teia swapping contract. It has been at the center of Teia’s integral goals so far - successfully laying the groundwork for a community owned marketplace in association with the multisig contracts.
No one but the owner of a Token should decide where or how to trade it. There are already several marketplace contracts available (including hicetnunc’s v2 marketplace contract used by multiple marketplace UIs at the moment) that offer swapping of OBJKT tokens and more of those can be expected in the future.
The Teia marketplace will keep on supporting OBJKT swapping on its marketplace, as well as securing the infrastructure for OBJKT tokens as this is at the very center of the Teia marketplaces mission from the very beginning to provide a stable marketplace for community members, as well as providing the needed infrastructure and helping with keeping the media files associated with OBJKT tokens pinned.
The Teia community as a whole always tries its best to respect the creators of the ecosystem and move towards a new and autonomous project and will continue to do so at the pace and with the resources available and with the interest of the artists and collectors in mind.
(see: The naming process, forking the codebase, handing over domains that are clearly associated with hicetnunclab, seeking out dialogue between hicetnunclab and Teia, moving to Teia’s own marketplace contract, dropping the idea of exchanging and burning hDAO tokens, etc.)The process of building a fully independent marketplace will take time.
Dialogue and constructive discussions are open and welcomed but are - as always - best kept in public and accessible spaces in a transparent manner and in mutual respect.
Efforts are underway as noted in our previous newsletters to gather and host ecosystem roundtables to work towards coordination and cooperation between independent Tezos marketplaces. The hope is that by working together through mutual aid and support will allow our shared ecosystem to thrive. Teia volunteers look forward to further development of the marketplace with its community members and engaging constructively with our marketplace siblings on Tezos.