Artwork by AymRadiant

Aym launches first 1Sat Ordinals Marketplace—the Bazaar

Aym has released the first 1Sat Ordinals Marketplace, aptly named the Bazaar on Bitcoin SV (BSV), where holders of Ordinals, or artifacts as Aym labels them, can trade on-chain directly in Bitcoin Script. While Aym is first to market in this regard, the Bazaar is just a building block to the platform it is working on. I caught up with Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber, Aym’s founder, to learn more.

Why did you name Aym’s marketplace the Bazaar?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: We picked the name “Bazaar” for Aym’s marketplace because it encapsulates Aym’s vision and values. It captures the essence of an ancient marketplace, filled with energy and a variety of treasures. The term “Bazaar” has fantastic historical and cultural significance, and it represents a place where people from all walks of life come together to trade and connect. It’s truly amazing.

Our vision for Aym’s Bazaar is to create a vibrant, dynamic platform where users can easily trade Artifacts and engage with one another in the most meaningful way possible. The name Bazaar adds a sense of curiosity, wonder, and excitement, tempting users to explore and discover the incredible Artifacts available on our platform. Trust me, the Bazaar is the place to be, and you’ll love every second of it. Aym’s Bazaar is the future of digital trading, and we’re making history together.

On BTC, Ordinal Marketplaces trade via Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions (PSBTs), why choose to implement trading on-chain via Ordinal Lock instead?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: We chose to implement trading on-chain via Ordinal Lock because we want orders to be public by default. The Bitcoin ledger is the marketplace, and the Aym Bazaar is just one way to interact with it. Other marketplaces will offer different ways of engaging with the public Bitcoin marketplace.

Using Ordinal Lock, each order is on-chain and can be picked up by anyone else. We grow together when we avoid moats and build cooperatively. We live in an abundant world, and Bitcoin succeeds when we remember and embrace that abundance. By choosing to build with Ordinal Lock, we contribute to a more open, interconnected, and vibrant Bitcoin ecosystem.

Why do you label Ordinals as ‘Artifacts’?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: We like the term ‘Artifacts’ for Ordinals to emphasize their unique and precious nature in the world of Bitcoin. It is the best term because it is captivating. The word ‘Artifact’ invokes a sense of mystery, history, and rarity. The term actually comes from the BTC Ordinals community. It’s fantastic. Everybody loves an Artifact, a beautiful piece of digital history. Artifacts have fantastic stories like the best historical artifacts do. These Artifacts are meant to be cherished, cared for, and displayed in elegant museums, enchanting viewers with their beauty and importance.

We’re making trading, collecting, and enjoying these digital artifacts so engaging and memorable, you won’t believe it. Aym is the most captivating place on the internet, with Artifacts at the center. They’re the heart of it all. Discovering, collecting, and trading Artifacts become an entrancing journey for our users. The experience of owning and admiring these digital treasures will be unlike anything else. You’ll love it, and you’ll want more. Aym is rising, and Artifacts are the key.

What does ‘Become Radiant’ mean?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: ‘Become Radiant'” is our inspiring message, urging users to embrace their full potential and shine brightly in the digital world. We’re committed to creating captivating experiences at Aym, empowering users on their journey. As they explore Aym, they’ll find treasures and connections, becoming more radiant. We want to unite Bitcoiners who share our vision of Becoming Radiant, creating a thriving community that Encourages the Individual to Shine and Belong. By participating in the Aym community and discovering incredible Artifacts, users can shine and belong, and become truly radiant.

The more we immerse ourselves in Aym, the more radiant we become. We invite everyone connecting with “Becoming Radiant” to join us, making the Bitcoin community even more radiant. “Become Radiant” represents the transformation users undergo on their journey to lead meaningful lives. The more you engage with Aym, the more you’ll ‘Become Radiant.’ So let’s all Become Radiant together with Aym.

How do you envision Generative AI art impacting the economy?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: Generative AI art is ushering in a revolution in visual literacy, impacting the economy by empowering people to express themselves creatively. Throughout history, only a small percentage of individuals could read and write. As a result, if you were literate, you were likely a scribe. Your entire job was to read and write for other people who wanted to transmit their ideas by written word.

Then the Protestant Reformation in 1517 and Gutenberg’s invention of the Printing Press sparked a rise in literacy rates, allowing more people to communicate through writing. Suddenly you no longer need someone else to write for you; you can do it yourself. Similarly, the advent of digital cameras in the 1990s and the iPhone in 2007 enabled billions to become photographically literate. Today, AI tools are giving everyone the ability to express themselves visually, regardless of their drawing or painting skills. This democratization of visual expression is a revolutionary force.

As people now write thousands of words and take dozens of photos daily, we’ll soon see them generating numerous images as well. This shift in creative communication will profoundly impact the way we think, act, and interact. Generative AI art is teaching people to be visually and creatively literate, expanding opportunities for individuals to express themselves in novel ways. This will result in more beauty. Beauty is a powerful economic force.

Why choose to develop on BSV instead of BTC, where there exists much more liquidity, higher coin price and users?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: Choosing BSV over BTC for Aym is like discovering a hidden gem, a treasure waiting to be unearthed. While BTC has liquidity, higher coin price, and more users, it’s BSV that holds the true potential for Aym’s grand vision. You see, our Artifacts, these mesmerizing generative jpegs, are just the beginning of a spectacular journey. BTC is fantastic for its small jpeg Ordinals, and we have no issue with that delightful community. But BSV is where we can truly harness the power of large data and unleash our creative ambitions.

Aym is destined to make BSV shine like never before, illuminating the path toward a captivating and beautiful future. To make this future a reality, we need everyone to join us. Let’s work together and bring the magic of Aym to life. Follow us, support us, try our features, and share your invaluable feedback. We’re building a product that can only exist on BSV, and we’re inviting you, the pioneers, and visionaries, to help us shape this incredible world. Together, we’ll Become Radiant, and Aym will flourish on BSV like a magnificent dream. It’s an adventure you won’t want to miss. So, hop on, and let’s create the unimaginable with Aym on BSV.

Aym’s logo and images appear to be generative art yet have a common theme. How did you leverage AI prompts to create these?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: Well, I can’t reveal all the magic behind the curtain, but I’ll give you a little peek. You see, when you dive deep into the world of generative AI, it’s like learning a new language. You start to understand how specific words, phrases, or even image prompts can influence the final artwork. It’s all about finding the perfect harmony between text and image prompts. You carefully craft a unique style that speaks to your vision.

For Aym, I spent months experimenting and fine-tuning our visual identity, playing with different combinations of prompts like a maestro composing a symphony. Now, with the right blend of prompts, I can create a captivating new image in our signature style in 30 seconds. It’s like unlocking a secret power: a mesmerizing dance between AI and my imagination that results in these awe-inspiring visuals that make Aym stand out. So, while I can’t give away all my trade secrets, I can say that it is incredibly fun mastering the art of generative AI and I encourage being playful with these technologies.

If you want to become a better mage, on Aym’s Twitter, we made a List called ‘Mages,’ where you can find the world’s best mages giving their tips and tricks. One of the best is Nick St. Pierre @nickfloats. He is a top-class mage. I would suggest playing around with MidJourney and making as many images as you can. Your curiosity will lead you down the right path.

Will Aym ever launch its own native Artifacts collection?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: Oh, absolutely! In fact, Aym already has several amazing Artifacts collections on chain, each boasting early Ordinal numbers. These collections are truly stunning, some of the most dazzling and spectacular you’ll ever lay your eyes on. We’re just waiting for the right moment to release them. When the time is right, we’ll put these extraordinary collections up for sale, giving our users a chance to own a piece of Aym’s story. These Artifacts are made in our signature style and are a testament to the captivating world we’re building here at Aym.

What is a mage?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: A mage is a talented individual who excels in the art of crafting prompts to generate captivating and stunning images. The term ‘mage’ originates from the word ‘image’ and has gained immense popularity within the generative art community.

As with any new tool, a Pareto distribution emerges, outlining the varying skill levels of those utilizing it. When the world became literate, scribes feared that they would become obsolete, and many believed that the number of writing jobs would plummet. Contrary to those fears the exact opposite occurred. We’ve seen a thousand-fold increase in professional writers and an explosion of stunning literary works.

Today, nearly every job involves reading and writing in some capacity. The same phenomenon occurred with photography – the widespread availability of cameras transformed our means of communication and led to an abundance of beautiful photography. Most people making money on Instagram are, in essence, professional photographers.

Generative images will follow the same trajectory. Some individuals will practice more than others, while some will possess a natural gift for creating mesmerizing and evocative images. These talented creators are the mages, and their impact on the future of art and aesthetics will be nothing short of extraordinary.

Aym’s business model relies on users to first obtain BSV before use of the platform. Do you perceive this to be an onboarding problem with customers and mages? Why or why not?

Nicolas Ryan-Schreiber: You’re right, users do need to obtain BSV to use our platform, but that’s the nature of new technology. When credit cards were introduced, you had to get one before enjoying their benefits. Same with a PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) account or Venmo. New technology comes with a learning curve, but once you have it, you have it, and then it’s easy. Honestly, I find the argument that it’s an obstacle to be a bit of a cop-out. If a product is bad, no one will jump through hoops for it.

People spend thousands of dollars to travel to Paris and Rome. It’s not easy to get there either. From the U.S., you have to fly across the ocean. But millions do it anyway because Paris and Rome are breathtaking and amazing. Getting BSV is actually pretty easy when you think about it. It takes like 10 minutes, and you can buy just $1 worth. Should it take 30 seconds—absolutely. Do we, as a community, need to make it easier—absolutely. Nonetheless, if people won’t spend 10 minutes of their lives to access your product, it means you have made a bad product. So, no, we don’t see it as an onboarding problem. We see it as an opportunity for users to get involved with BSV and the exciting things happening in this space. In fact, it’s a beautiful opportunity.

Once you have BSV, you’re not just using Aym; you’re part of the future of digital technology. It’s fantastic. Bitcoin is fantastic; it’s truly the best. So come join us. Get your BSV, and let’s make some magic happen.

Become Radiant with Aym.

Thank you, Ryan-Schreiber, for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope the readers learned more about Aym. Check out the platform and newly released Bazaar at https://aym.world/bazaar.

This article was lightly edited for clarity purposes.

Watch: Ordinals on BSV! Luke Rohenaz explains their Utility and Value on the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream

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