AlgoWorld: A Series of Collectible Digital Trading Cards

  • May 21, 2021
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What is AlgoWorld?

AlgoWorld is a series of 1500 digital trading cards representing the 193 countries around the globe. Each country has between 3 and 29 cards issued based on its population density. The project takes advantage of Algorand’s low fees and fast transactions to encourage trades between card owners.

Every card is an NFT on the Algorand blockchain, which is a distinct ASA (Algorand Standard Asset) of 1 unit. It is easy to add these assets to any Algorand wallet and keep it, trade it or sell it. Everybody has a special connection with one or several countries. Thus, AlgoWorld is a fun way to introduce NFTs and discover how they work on Algorand.

AlgoWorld Cards

Each card has a beautiful photo representing the country with the flag inset to the lower left. Each card has its unique identifier printed in the lower right, numbered 1-1500. The larger number printed over the “AW” logo indicates the rarity of this country, numbered 3-29. Furthermore, the first card of each country has a special diamond border, which makes it visually distinct from the remaining cards of this country. Notice below, “AW #1171 - Singapore 1/5” has the diamond boarder as it is the first of five for this country.

Sample cards

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Cards are initially distributed by the project creator through randomized packs of 5 cards. Randomness pushes collectors to interact with Algorand blockchain to obtain the cards they want. This shows how easy it is to trade assets and make transactions on Algorand. For now, all the trades are based on trust and take place mainly in the AlgoWorld on Telegram chat group, but it will be possible to add AlgoWorld cards to trading marketplaces in the future.

Development

AlgoWorld NFTs were minted using a Python script, Algorand SDK and the PureStake API to connect to the Algorand blockchain. With this solution, it was not necessary to setup an Algorand node. Assets were created by two wallets, as there is a limitation of 1,000 assets per wallet. Packs are distributed using another Python script. Before receiving these cards, user must manually add each assetID to their wallet.

Each asset has the following properties:

  1. the asset name is AW #(ID of the card) - (Country Name) (n/N) with n the number of the card among the N cards of this country. For instance : AW #71 - Bahamas 2/5

  2. there is no unit name

  3. the total supply is 1, without decimals

  4. the URL gives the website address

  5. the field MetaDataHash is not used

  6. there is no manager, reserve, freeze or clawback address : the asset can’t be “controlled” after its creation

Card design diagram

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The image of each card is stored at two different locations:

  1. On the original AlgoWorld-NFT website, with a classic HTTP address

  2. On the IPFS (Inter-Planetary File System) network

The HTTP address is convenient to quickly see the image in any web browser. However, it is not necessarily durable: the website can be down or the image could be changed anytime. On the contrary, the IPFS network is decentralized. Anyone can run a node and share the data. The address of the file stored on the IPFS network will always display the same AlgoWorld card, as altering the image in any way will cause its address to be modified as well.

Both addresses are noted in the first transaction note, as a message pack. This solution was used because of the size limitation of the URL and MetaDataHash fields (32 bytes), while the transaction note can be up to 1000 bytes. Using the transaction note allows storing clearly all the information needed to access the card images and will always stay visible on the blockchain.

Explainer Video


Conclusion and future work

AlgoWorld is a fun way to use NFTs on Algorand. There are 1500 cards, each card having its own ASA of 1 unit. Each NFT may be directly added to any Algorand wallet and traded very easily by users. Each card is visible through HTTP and IPFS addresses, noted in the first transaction.

There are currently some limitations:

  1. It is not possible to see the cards in the Algorand Wallet

  2. The receiver has to manually add the assets before receiving them

  3. There is no NFT marketplace or smart contract implemented for trades

These limitations could be lifted through future developments.

Have fun trading AlgoWorld!

New AlgoWorld packs of 5 cards will be released in the Telegram chat! You can join a fun and growing community at https://t.me/algoworld_nft and participate in future sales.