MTL Minted

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Kinji

Inspiration

We love art and are deeply interested in crypto and decentralized finance.
A lot of talented artists struggle to find sustainable ways to fund their work We wanted to explore how blockchain technology could empower artists without turning art into pure speculation.

What It Does

MTL Minted is a platform that allows artists to:

Mint and tokenize their creative identity on the Solana blockchain
Release badges and fractional tokens for supporters and donors
Build a transparent, on-chain history of support and engagement

Supporters receive digital badges or tokenized shares as a way to show support, not to promote pump-and-dump speculation.

How We Built It

Blockchain: Solana
Smart Contracts: Rust + Anchor
Frontend: React + Vite
Wallet Integration: Solana wallets for minting and transaction history

We set up a local Solana blockchain environment, connected wallets and implemented token minting and transfers entirely on-chain.

Challenges We Faced

Solana setup complexity:
Setting up the Solana development environment for the first time was challenging, especially interacting directly with Rust-based smart contracts.
Crypto & art grey areas:
Designing a system around art, NFTs, and tokenization without encouraging speculative behaviour or unethical investment mechanics required careful thought. Maybe too careful (haha time...)
Scope management:
Our original vision was far more ambitious than what we could realistically build during the hackathon.

Accomplishments We’re Proud Of

Successfully setting up a local Solana blockchain environment
Linking wallets and maintaining on-chain transaction history
Enabling artists to:
- Mint their own tokens
- Sell fractional tokenized shares to supporters

Seeing real transactions work end-to-end was a huge win for us.

What We Learned

Don’t bite off more than you can chew
Blockchain development has a steep learning curve, especially with Rust
Simpler, well-executed ideas often beat over-engineered ones

We learned to adapt quickly and focus on delivering a functional core product.

What’s Next for Us

Partnering with local Montreal artists
Helping artists kickstart projects or receive long-term support
Creating better incentives for artists to consistently share content and grow their audience

Our goal is to build a sustainable, artist-first platform that uses blockchain responsibly.