TokenWorks will let artists issue collections directly into the randomized pool through a mechanism called FWAir, with backers fronting the ETH and creators paid out of trading fees rather than mint proceeds.
TokenWorks will let artists launch new NFT collections directly into Fake World Assets’ randomized pool through a mechanism called FWAir, extending the two-person team’s protocol from trading existing NFTs to issuing new ones. Adam, the TokenWorks co-founder known as Rhynotic on X, announced the design on Sunday evening and said the first launch is expected this week.
The mechanism gives FWA a pipeline of new collections to draw collectors back to a protocol whose fee income has fallen more than 98% from its peak since token emissions ended two weeks ago. It also routes artist payment through the protocol’s fee stream instead of a mint, so creators receive no money upfront and earn only as long as collectors keep pulling from the pool.
FWA generated $11,069 in fees over the past 24 hours, down from a peak of $1.63 million on July 25, according to DefiLlama. Fees over the past seven days totaled $424,168 against $10.25 million over 30 days, meaning almost all of the protocol’s $10.26 million in cumulative fees came in its first three weeks. Total value locked stands at $3.14 million, down from $5 million on Aug. 4, The Defiant reported.
Backed Or Refunded
Under FWAir, an approved creator sets a price for each NFT in a collection and supporters back individual pieces with that amount of ETH. If every NFT in the collection is backed within the period, the collection launches into FWA and both the NFTs and the ETH backing them enter the pool. If it falls short, backers are refunded.
Once a backed NFT is pulled from the pool, the purchaser chooses between keeping the NFT and selling it into the backer’s bid. “If the purchaser decides to take the NFT, the backer gets 99% of their ETH back,” Adam wrote. “If the purchaser takes the ETH bid, the backer gets the NFT they backed.” The 1% difference goes to FWA’s buyback reserve, according to the creator guide Adam published alongside the thread. Backers also collect FWA token rewards, split across all depositors regardless of when their NFT is pulled.
The design leaves the collection’s own supporters competing with the wider pool for the pieces they funded. “This allows for current supporters to have a chance to collect the work at the mint price by backing, while also exposing the collection to new collectors via FWA,” Adam wrote. “This results in better distribution for the collection as it takes time for all of the NFTs to be purchased.”
No Money At Mint
Creators are paid from the acquisition fees their NFTs generate inside the pool rather than from the ETH their backers put up. “Supporter ETH backs the NFTs. It is not an upfront payment to the creator,” the creator guide states.
Adam put the expected payout at roughly the mint price multiplied by the collection size, without committing to it. “This number is variable, but on average works out to about the mint price x total supply,” he wrote. The creator guide uses a 100-piece collection at 0.05 ETH each as its reference, with about 5 ETH accruing to the artist over the collection’s life in the pool. Neither the thread nor the guide specifies how long the backing window runs, what share of each acquisition fee reaches the creator, or who approves a collection.
After The Emissions Cliff
FWA relaunched July 20 and lets users deposit ETH-backed NFTs into a pool while buyers pay for randomized draws settled through Chainlink’s verifiable random function. At its peak it trailed only Sky in daily revenue among Ethereum protocols, The Defiant reported.
Activity fell after the protocol’s 15-day emissions program, which distributed 30% of FWA’s supply, ended Aug. 4. Fees over the seven days through Sunday averaged about $61,000 a day.
TokenWorks has been widening the pool’s existing supply in the interim, adding the 108 Art Blocks Curated contracts on Aug. 13, according to the team’s X account, so that any NFT from those collections can be deposited. FWAir extends that to collections that do not yet exist. “Every collection adds another reason for collectors to enter FWA and another chance to discover someone new,” Adam wrote.
The token has recovered from the selloff that followed the emissions cliff. FWA traded at $0.0296 on Monday, up 19% over 24 hours and 24% over seven days, according to CoinGecko. It reached an all-time high of $0.04004 on Aug. 11, five days after hitting a record low of $0.003979, and carries a market capitalization of about $29 million.
One Pool Or Two
The thread drew about 149,000 views and 115 replies, several of them asking whether FWAir collections would sit in the main gacha pool or a separate one running the same mechanics. Adam’s thread describes the NFTs and their backing entering the existing pool. Another reply warned the mechanism would be farmed once live.
Adam asked artists he has worked with before to contact him directly about launches, and said the explainer he published alongside the thread was AI-generated.
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