→ How I'd Build an NFT Marketplace in 2025

~~ A Schematic by @wmpeaster ~~

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@jessewldn, a founder and managing partner of @variantfund, recently asked an interesting question:

> You're building an NFT marketplace in 2025 from scratch—what are you focusing on and why?

The tweet got dozens of replies. Some suggested better discovery flows, others better display options.

But one of the most interesting came from @0xDesigner:

> NFT marketplaces have always focused more on buying and selling and less on what you can do with the things you own.

I agree with that. I'd even invert it if I were building NFT marketplace infra in 2025. I'd start by offering cool things to do, with buying/selling as a secondary layer.

That approach sidesteps direct competition with giants like OpenSea and Magic Eden, while also appealing to people outside crypto.

Picture an app mixing Figma, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Tumblr. Call it Tableau for now.

It would be built around Curations, Badges, and Profiles.

Curations would work like Pinterest Boards, but juiced with Figma-style tools:

➢ Users could upload images or connect NFTs—owned or not—and arrange them in a visual editor: drag, expand, flip. Drafts could be private or published.

➢ Drop-in text boxes would allow for personal notes, public blogs, and annotated exhibitions. Referral splits could reward creators if someone buys an NFT via their board.

Use cases would go beyond idea boards. Graphics creators, writers, artists, and curators could use Curations to build visuals, storefronts, or digital galleries.

A backend aggregator protocol would handle secondary transactions and support primary mints if artists wanted to sell directly from Curations.

Badges would track personal or shared achievements:

➢ Finished 25 books? Hiked 50 miles? Bought a CryptoPunk with friends? Graduated college? Badges would offer a way to commemorate it.

➢ Users could upload images or connect NFTs, turning them into drag-and-drop emblems with notes and lists.

Tableau could partner with artists to release limited-edition badge NFTs. Anyone could create badges—limited or open editions—for others to mint.

Profiles would tie Curations and Badges together.

By tapping into X and Farcaster social graphs, users could find people they already follow. Artists could use Profiles to manage storefronts through multiple Curations.

Extra features could layer on top. A Discover tab might offer randomized recommendations based on your NFTs or the curations of others you follow.

Is this revolutionary? No. But I’d use it—for notes, moodboards, wishlists.

It would attract many kinds of users. Give people interesting tools—crypto-native or not—and let NFT infra follow downstream.

If I were building an NFT marketplace in 2025, I wouldn’t start with a marketplace. I’d build a social curation platform with onchain infra baked in: aggregation, listings, splits, mints.

Just my two gwei. And if anyone builds Tableau, let me know—I’ll be your first user.