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MarbleCards Pros and cons
Pros
Mint from dozens of domains. MarbleCards lets you mint trading cards based on URLs from dozens of approved domains.
Play a minigame with your cards. You can put your cards up against other users' and let voters choose their favorite. If you win, you earn rewards.
Mint new cards and sell. If you mint a new card and it sells, you earn 30% of the sale price.
No signup required. Simply connect your ETH-compatible wallet and start using the platform.
Cons
Confusing at first. MarbleCards differs from other blockchain apps and may be confusing to understand, and the cards' values are subjective.
Use-case not fully fleshed out. The only real use-case for MarbleCards is the Arena minigame; other than that, they're just for collecting.
Secondary market is sketchy. You can sell your ETH Marble cards on the secondary market, but the MarbleCards collection on OpenSea isn't verified.
Whitepaper and blog conflict. There's a lot of conflicting information on the MarbleCards' whitepaper and their official blog regarding the native token, MarbleCoin.
MarbleCards, or Marble.Cards, isn't as simple to explain as other blockchain apps like the NFT marketplace OpenSea or the blockchain metaverse Decentraland.
MarbleCards is a unique platform that combines blockchain gaming with an NFT marketplace. You can use a URL to create a unique trading card, battle other users with your card or trade the cards on the marketplace.
Our take on MarbleCards
At first glance, MarbleCards seems like a strange, confused mish-mash of other decentralized applications that utilize NFTs. The platform even acknowledges how weird it is.
Image source: Marble.Cards
The platform calls itself a "platform for collecting Internet content and measuring its value," which doesn't offer much help either. The platform has another slogan, "Collect the web," which offers a little more insight.
Essentially, MarbleCards lets you "marble" (mint) URLs from approved domains, turning those individual URLs into NFT trading cards. You go to Marble.Cards, copy an available URL, mint the URL into a Marble card on the Ethereum blockchain then the card gets put up for auction.
There's a minigame as well, where you can battle your owned Marble cards in the Arena. The battlers put up their best cards, and voters choose their favorite. The winner earns rewards in the form of Memecoin, Experience Points (XP) or Badges. There are 82 Arena categories, such as #FreshMints, #Twitter, #GIFs, #Art and #Music.
Voters can also earn XP, which can be used to increase your owned cards' values.
Image source: Marble.Cards
Overall, it's a cool premize, but it's largely only a trading card game with a minigame — for now. We read the MarbleCards' whitepaper and the developers state they plan to build more games on the platform so the ecosystem stays alive and the cards retain value.
For now, the most you'll be able to get out of the platform is bragging rights on having rare trading cards from popular sites. If you participate in the Arena minigame you could earn Memecoin, or if you continue to make cards people want to buy, you can earn part of the selling price when it's put up for auction.
How MarbleCards works
Anyone can visit Marble.Cards online and create their own Marble cards with a URL. Each web page can only be marbled once, and all Marble cards are minted on the Ethereum blockchain.
Marble.Cards supplies a list of available URLs that you can use to create new Marble cards, and large domains are available at the time of writing, including:
Apple.com
IMDb
NASA
Nintendo
Google
HBO
Steam
Twitch
When you mint a URL trading card, you don't claim any ownership of the URL. No third-party content is claimed or saved on a blockchain, and the frame for the card is automatically generated.
Image source: Marble.Cards
If someone buys your newly-minted Marble card, you're rewarded, if no one buys it, it's yours to claim.
Visit the Arena by selecting Arena from the three stacked lines located on the top-right of the main site. Vote on your favorite Marble cards, or put your cards in the Arena in hopes to win rewards. Not all Arenas are in season, and there are 82 Arenas at the time of writing.
Image source: Marble.Cards
MarbleCards blockchain and currency
All Marble Cards are minted on the Ethereum blockchain and are ERC-721 tokens. To use the platform, you must have an Ethereum-compatible wallet and be on the Matic network. The platform recommends Native Opera Wallet or MetaMask.
The currency used on MarbleCards is Memecoin (MEM). You must first buy ETH, then swap the ETH for Memecoin.
Buy ETH on most cryptocurrency exchanges, and we've listed a popular exchange.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange with a simple UI that's user-friendly and accommodating to newcomers and experienced traders.
Gemini's strongest point is its Gemini Earn program, which allows users to earn up to 7.4% interest on specified cryptocurrency balances.
Gemini has a wide selection of cryptos available for exchange on the platform. However, some notable entries from the top 20 by market cap are missing, such as Cardano and Solana.
Deposit Methods
Bank transfer (ACH) Cryptocurrency Debit card PayPal Apple Pay Google Pay SWIFT
Deposit Fees
Cryptocurrency: None Bank transfer (ACH): None, bank fees may apply Wire Transfer: Determined by your bank Debit Card: 3.49% + Trading Fees Paypal: 2.50% of total deposit amount + Trading Fees
Withdrawal Fees
Cryptocurrency: None (for 10 withdrawals and below per month) Others: None (for 10 withdrawals and below per month)
Each Marble card is made of up web content from the URL it's based on, and the Marble pattern with a "unique, algorithmic art background" made for that specific card.
All cards have a number that's based on when it was marbled, and all cards belong to a Collection based on the domain: The first URL marbled in a collection gets the number one, and so on.
The possible attributes of a Marble card include:
Genesis: The first 33 cards, each with a handmade pattern and unique tag.
Origin: First 966 cards after Genesis, each with a unique tag.
Gold: Approximately 5% of Marble cards have this attribute and you can only get the Gold attribute if the card's collection ID is #1000.
Level: Each card has a level, one through 100. The level is based on how popular the card's URL is.
Collection ID: The most popular URLs have their own Marble collections, and the earlier a card is marbled, the lower its number will be.
Generation: Based on when the card was marbled. The first 25,000 cards are Gen0 and everything else is Gen1 — no word on when Gen2 is coming out.
Each Marble card also has a Marble rank, which increases with XP that's earned when winning or voting in the Arena.
Image source: Marble.Cards
If you have a GIF Marble card, it needs to be over level 50 for it to move. The URL that the card was minted from determines the level, based on its popularity.
How to buy NFTs on MarbleCards
To buy a Marble card, you either have to mint one yourself, explore the active auctions, or go to a secondary marketplace, such as OpenSea. You'll need an Etheruem wallet such as MetaMask.
Or, buy cards from other ongoing Dutch auctions. To see the cards for sale, select Library from the menu on the homepage of the site. You can search for a specific card, sort by price or when an auction is ending, or you can search by collection or attributes.
Another option, purchase cards from secondary marketplaces, such as OpenSea. However, know that the Marble.Cards collection on OpenSea isn't verified, meaning there's a risk of accidentally buying fake cards — so use caution.
Image source: Marble.Cards
How to create MarbleCards
To create cards, follow these steps:
Choose a URL. Enter a valid URL on the creation page and check whether it's already been marbled. Visit Marble.Cards/allowed-domains to view the domains the platform approves.
Marbling. After confirming that the URL is available, there's a 3 MEM fee for registering the card.
Dutch auction. The newly-marbled card is then immediately put up for a Dutch auction. If no one buys it, you can claim it. If someone buys it, you're awarded 30% of the sale price.
Keep collecting or battle. Hold onto your card or put it in an Arena battle to earn rewards and XP.
How to sell NFTs on MarbleCards
When you mint a new card on MarbleCards, it's automatically put up for a public Dutch auction.
A Dutch auction starts at a high price, and over time, the price lowers until someone accepts the current price. The cards on MarbleCards start at the price of 5,000 MEM — around $144 USD at the time of writing — and steadily decrease over time.
MarbleCard fees
Creators 30% of the sale price of their own newly-marbled cards. There's a 3 MEM fee for marbling new cards.
Originally, MarbleCards had another token called MarbleCoin which you could use to purchase cards without gas fees, but according to the MarbleCards' Medium blog, this information is outdated and the MarbleCoin isn't associated with the platform anymore.
MarbleCards unique features
MarbleCards allows you to put your cards in "battle" against other users to earn cryptocurrency.
The game is very similar to Jackbox Games' Tee KO, where players vote on their favorite T-shirt another player creates. In MarbleCards, users that vote in the Arena can also earn XP, which in turn, increases their own cards' values.
MarbleCards is also working on a printing feature, which will allow you to print your owned cards and have a physical card.
Is MarbleCards legit?
MarbleCards appears to be a legitimate blockchain application at a glance — but there are some inconsistencies with the project.
There's some conflicting information about the MarbleCoin (MBC), a coin that was created to use on the platform and other MarbleCard applications. The whitepaper states, "Due to legal reasons Marble will initially only sell Marbles on our site and cannot share links to sites where it is possible to sell the token to others." We're unsure what legal issues the platform has run into, but its whitepaper continues to go into detail on the coin's tokenomics, even outlining how there will be reward pools and so on.
To further confuse the situation, a recent MarbleCards blog post states that the MarbleCoin isn't affiliated with the project at all anymore. This inconsistency around the details of the MarbleCoin doesn't exactly send the best impression.
We do know that Outlier Ventures funds MarbleCards, as reported by Crunchbase. Outlier Ventures calls itself "The World's Leading Open Metaverse Accelerator," a company that invests in various blockchain metaverse projects. It's associated with multiple companies and projects including 180Protocol, Chainlink, Lumerin, Metropolis World, PlayCheck Games and SuperWorld just to name a few.
Other marketplaces to buy NFTs
Bottom line
MarbleCards is an interesting concept, allowing you to mint any URL you want from its approved list. The app states that it plans to continue releasing newly approved domains over time.
MarbleCards is not the same as a traditional NFT marketplace — and we say traditional very loosely. You can't sell other NFTs not associated with MarbleCards like you can on other marketplaces, like Rarible, OpenSea or Crypto.com NFT.
The MarbleCards' whitepaper does talk of developing more games you can play with cards, but no official roadmap is available at the time of writing.
The inconsistency with the MarbleCoin doesn't bode well either — the platform's whitepaper and blog state conflicting information, making it hard to know what source to trust.
Some Redditors and other users on various social media platforms question the project's legitimacy and longevity. You're essentially monetizing someone else's work and turning it into a trading card, so the concern is valid. Only time will tell if MarbleCards can stand up against other collectible NFT applications.
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Bethany Hickey is a personal finance writer at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto.
Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance and AOL. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt.
Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others.
Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine.
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Image source: Marble.Cards
Image source: Marble.Cards
Image source: Marble.Cards
Image source: Marble.Cards
Image source: Marble.Cards
Image source: Marble.Cards
