Scarce City
Scarce City operates a Bitcoin-native marketplace for auctioning and selling Bitcoin-themed artworks and collectibles, using BTC-collateralized auctions, Lightning payments, and a 15%/10% seller take-rate. It serves Bitcoin artists, collectors, and high-value bidders, with 5% of fees routed to its Freedom Fund for open-source Bitcoin development.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Scarce City does
Scarce City, Inc. is a private New York-based marketplace founded in 2020 that operates scarce.city, an auction and fixed-price platform for Bitcoin-themed artworks and collectibles settled exclusively in Bitcoin. The platform serves two primary user groups: Bitcoin artists and creators who list physical and digital goods, and Bitcoin enthusiasts and collectors who bid on or purchase them. Goods span physical items (prints, apparel, whisky, trading cards) and digital collectibles minted as NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain via protocols compatible with the Ordinals/inscriptions ecosystem.
Scarce City's technology stack centers on Bitcoin-native primitives. Transactions are processed through a self-hosted BTCPay Server instance, with the Lightning Network used for low-fee, instant deposits. The platform's signature mechanism is Bitcoin-collateralized auctions: bidding participants deposit approximately 1% of their bid in Bitcoin as refundable collateral, eliminating counterparty risk for sellers and removing the need for KYC or custodial custody of goods. Additional product surfaces include fixed-price listings, a raffle system that uses a future Bitcoin block's hash as the randomness source for winner selection, and the "Satoshi Mode" registered-account feature that allows unlimited bidding against a single deposit.
The business model is pure marketplace take-rate. Scarce City charges sellers a 15% commission on the final sale price for physical goods not loaded with BTC, 15% on the premium over loaded BTC value for BTC-loaded physical collectibles, and 10% for digital-only goods; buyers pay no platform fees. The company deducts 5% of marketplace fees into a Freedom Fund that supports open-source Bitcoin development and human rights organizations, with total donations transparently tracked on-chain (30.97855 BTC to date). Customer segments are horizontal across the Bitcoin community: collectors, creators, and high-value bidders, with participation oriented by Satoshi Mode thresholds (0.05 BTC hold) and social-proof (Twitter 5,000+ follower verification). The company was founded by Chris Tramount with honorary founder Chiefmonkey (HodlrDotRocks), and has raised approximately $690,420 across disclosed rounds led by Lightning Ventures, Fulgur Ventures, and Plan B Ventures, supporting team and platform expansion.
Scarce City firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Scarce City
- Legal name
- Scarce City, Inc.
- Website
- https://scarce.city
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Scarce City operates a Bitcoin-native marketplace for auctioning and selling Bitcoin-themed artworks and collectibles, using BTC-collateralized auctions, Lightning payments, and a 15%/10% seller take-rate. It serves Bitcoin artists, collectors, and high-value bidders, with 5% of fees routed to its Freedom Fund for open-source Bitcoin development.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Scarce City industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Bitcoin Collectibles & NFT Marketplace
- NAICS
- Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) (53311)
- SIC
- Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Trading Cards & Collectibles NFT Marketplaces (FSADANAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- NFT Commerce, Ticketing & Utility Enablement (token-gated access, memberships, passes, ticketing rails) (FSAPAFAJ)
Keywords
Where Scarce City is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Scarce City business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Transaction Fees - Physical Goods: Scarce City charges a 15% transaction fee on the final sale price for physical art and collectibles that are not loaded with BTC. Fees are collected at the time of sale.
- Transaction Fees - BTC Loaded Physical Collectibles: For physical collectibles loaded with BTC, Scarce City charges 15% on the premium over the loaded BTC value.
- Transaction Fees - Digital Goods: For all Digital Only goods, Scarce City charges a 10% transaction fee on the final sale price.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | 15% fee on physical goods sales |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | 15% fee on premium for BTC-loaded physical collectibles |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | 10% fee on digital-only goods |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
Scarce City product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Scarce City operates a peer-to-peer online marketplace for buying and selling Bitcoin-related physical artworks and digital collectibles (NFTs minted on the Bitcoin blockchain). The platform supports collateralized Bitcoin auctions, fixed-price sales, and raffles settled in Bitcoin via the Lightning Network and BTCPay Server, with no KYC required and refundable BTC collateral deposits enforcing accountability on both sides of each transaction.
Product overview
Scarce City is a unified marketplace platform for Bitcoin-related artworks and collectibles, combining three primary offerings: Bitcoin-based Auctions (using Lightning and Bitcoin mainchain collateralized deposits), Fixed Price Sales (permanent marketplace listings), and Raffles (random selection via Bitcoin block hash). The platform also includes a Freedom Fund that contributes 5% of marketplace fees to open-source Bitcoin development. Goods sold include both physical items (art, merchandise) and digital collectible NFTs minted on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Scarce City Marketplace A digital marketplace platform for buying, selling, and trading physical goods and digital goods as NFTs, focused on Bitcoin-related artworks and collectibles. Listed goods include apparel, prints, trading cards, whisky, and other physical collectibles, all settled in Bitcoin with NFTs minted on the Bitcoin blockchain.
- Bitcoin-based Auctions Auction platform that holds bidders accountable via refundable Bitcoin collateral deposits made over the Lightning Network and Bitcoin mainchain. Features no-reserve auctions, hot-zone rules where bids in the final minutes reset the countdown, a 4-hour payment window for winners, and Lightning QR refunds to non-winning bidders.
- Fixed Price Sales Permanent marketplace listings where sellers can list physical or digital goods at a fixed price. Sellers are kept accountable through small refundable bitcoin deposits instead of intrusive personal information or goods custody.
Quantifiable outcome
- Total donated to Freedom Fund: 30.97855 BTC
Companies that use Scarce City
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Scarce City technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature6 records
Scarce City partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and key.
- SatStash.iocoreSatStash.io is integrated as a self-serve platform for sellers to create starting reserve price auctions with instant, zero-deposit listings by connecting a Twitter account. Zero fees for sellers during initial period.
- BTCPay ServercoreScarce City operates its own BTCPay Server instance - a self-hosted, open-source cryptocurrency payment processor - to process payment-related information including bitcoin transactions.
- Chiefmonkey (HodlrDotRocks)keyHonorary founder who seeded the artist community and had the original idea for Bitcoin-based auctions. Co-developed the platform's core auction mechanics.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Scarce City competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Magic Eden: Magic Eden is a leading multi-chain NFT marketplace that has aggressively expanded into Bitcoin Ordinals/Inscriptions, offering direct competition in the same buyer/seller pool of Bitcoin-native collectors that Scarce City targets. Both operate auction-style and fixed-price primary sales for Bitcoin-themed digital collectibles.
- Gamma.io: Gamma.io is a Bitcoin-native Ordinals marketplace that launched specifically for Bitcoin Inscriptions and rare sat auctions, directly competing with Scarce City for the same Bitcoin-maximalist collector base and on-chain collectible listings.
Broad incumbents
- OpenSea: OpenSea is the largest general-purpose NFT marketplace and added support for Bitcoin Ordinals in 2023, competing for the same collectible buyers as Scarce City while operating at vastly greater scale and serving multiple chains.
- Rarible: Rarible is a multi-chain NFT marketplace offering auctions and fixed-price listings across Ethereum, Polygon, Tezos and others, overlapping with Scarce City's marketplace model for digital collectibles at a broader portfolio level.
- OKX NFT Marketplace: OKX Web3 Marketplace is a multi-chain NFT aggregator operated by crypto exchange OKX, which supports Bitcoin Ordinals alongside other chains and competes with Scarce City for Bitcoin collectible liquidity and listing supply.
- Binance NFT: Binance NFT is the marketplace operated by Binance, one of the largest global crypto exchanges, competing with Scarce City for Bitcoin Ordinals and other collectible listings while leveraging the broader Binance user base.
- Crypto.com NFT: Crypto.com NFT is the marketplace attached to the Crypto.com exchange app, offering curated drops and auctions for digital collectibles with a similar mainstream crypto-collector target as Scarce City's Bitcoin-native audience.
Emerging players
- Foundation: Foundation is a curated NFT marketplace focused on digital art and creator drops with auction mechanics, overlapping with Scarce City's auction-plus-curation model for high-value collectibles, although it operates primarily on Ethereum.
- LooksRare: LooksRare is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace competing on secondary trading volume and collector rewards, with auction and fixed-price mechanics similar to Scarce City but operating in a much broader collectible category.
Others
- OrdinalsBot: OrdinalsBot is a Bitcoin Ordinals minting and tooling provider that enables creators and marketplaces to issue Inscriptions; it is adjacent rather than directly competing, serving as ecosystem infrastructure that overlaps with Scarce City's collector-facing flow.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Scarce City social profiles
Digital presenceScarce City financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Scarce City leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Scarce City funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Scarce City M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Scarce City
What does Scarce City do?
Scarce City operates a peer-to-peer online marketplace for buying and selling Bitcoin-related physical artworks and digital collectibles (NFTs minted on the Bitcoin blockchain). The platform supports collateralized Bitcoin auctions, fixed-price sales, and raffles settled in Bitcoin via the Lightning Network and BTCPay Server, with no KYC required and refundable BTC collateral deposits enforcing accountability on both sides of each transaction.
Is Scarce City a public or private company?
Scarce City is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Scarce City founded?
Scarce City was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Scarce City based?
Scarce City is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Scarce City make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Transaction Fees - Physical Goods are the primary driver. The others are transaction Fees - BTC Loaded Physical Collectibles and transaction Fees - Digital Goods.
Who are Scarce City's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Magic Eden and Gamma.io. Broad incumbents are OpenSea, Rarible, OKX NFT Marketplace, Binance NFT and Crypto.com NFT. Emerging players are Foundation and LooksRare. OrdinalsBot is listed as an others.
Does Scarce City have an API?
No public API is recorded for Scarce City.
What industry is Scarce City in?
Scarce City's product category is Bitcoin Collectibles & NFT Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSADANAI, Trading Cards & Collectibles NFT Marketplaces, with a secondary code of FSAPAFAJ, NFT Commerce, Ticketing & Utility Enablement (token-gated access, memberships, passes, ticketing rails). Its NAICS code is 53311 and its SIC code is 6200.