After years of building web3 brands behind the scenes, Jonah Kitay and his co-founders are ready to launch their own product. Ultimately, they launched DYLI: a platform where you can buy, sell, rate, and manage physical collectibles (such as cards, packs, etc.) without leaving the browser.
It is both a marketplace and a loyalty system, with all functionalities running on-chain. Even if most users don't notice, that is exactly the essence of DYLI.
In the conversation with Jonah, we discussed how DYLI bridges the gap between web2 usability and web3 tracks, why today's collectors expect gamified, streaming-friendly experiences, and how to build a platform that serves Pokémon die-hard fans, IRL dealers, and casual collectors.
OpenSea: I would love to learn more about you and DYLI.
Jonah Kitay: I am Jonah, one of the co-founders of DYLI. I co-founded this company with two others. To give you a brief introduction: I have been building blockchain solutions since 2021. One of my co-founders, Alex Needelman, and I ran an agency until last year when we pivoted to DYLI, primarily because we wanted to create something for ourselves rather than for others.
We spent four years creating various cool products with great teams, and perhaps the most notable is as the web3 development department supporting Goblintown and Truth Labs. That was an incredible time, but we want to shift our focus to products we genuinely believe in—products that can outlive our own development, solve real problems, and create experiences that people truly want, not just niche users at the cutting edge of technology.
Besides that, I have a few dogs, a beautiful wife, and a lovely house in North Carolina.
OpenSea: I love this. So you touched on this a bit - the desire to build something for oneself. But what is the market gap? What makes you feel that now is the time to create DYLI?
Jonah Kitay: There are a few things. We have built a variety of different products for a wide range of teams and started to notice some common challenges, especially for small IPs, independent game developers, and mission-driven teams. They often have limited time and resources, leaving them little room to consider merchandise, collectibles, or broader monetization strategies.
So we thought: maybe we can fill this gap and help people profit through non-core business avenues. That is the original intention of DYLI. Today, it has grown into your home for collections.
Merchandise and brand creativity are great, but the essence of collecting is human nature. Whether it's stamps, Pokémon cards, or other items, collecting has always been part of our culture. This desire has never changed in recent years; it has just been digitized. Whether it’s Twitch creators or new fans, people are still collecting; they just expect different tools.
DYLI allows creators to interact with communities and collectors more seamlessly. It enables collectors and dealers to manage, buy, sell, and trade on one platform. Using blockchain is not about forcing them to change their behavior but about enhancing their existing business.
OpenSea: That makes sense. So why do you think physical products are an untapped opportunity for creators?
Jonah Kitay: Physical products have always existed, but e-commerce hasn't evolved much in a decade. The only real innovation has been social shopping, like TikTok Shop. If you want to buy something hard to find, you still go to eBay, and its user interface is exactly the same as it was ten years ago.
Considering the massive changes the world has undergone, this is truly insane. Shopping is at the core of human behavior, and we should provide better tools, more valuable, and more detailed experiences, especially for collectors and enthusiasts.
If you maintain a collection, you will care about its condition, provenance, and liquidity. With the disappearance of the third space, the digital space needs to play a more significant role. We are not trying to replace face-to-face experiences but hope to provide meaningful and intuitive choices for people.
OpenSea: That makes sense. Can you elaborate on how DYLI actually works for sellers and collectors?
Jonah Kitay: Sure, it really depends on whether you are a seller or a collector. Take Pokémon fans, for example. You shop as usual - buying packs, single cards, sealed products - either from our marketplace or from purely digital versions like Dabble. Dabble is a random outcome model: you will always get something, but the value may vary.
Then, you have a choice. You can choose to mail the items or do a live unboxing. If we record the items during the live stream, we will digitize the cards so you can manage them online. You can list them for sale or even submit ratings directly from the website. Once the rating is completed, we will digitize the rated version.
We have created an experience that makes your hobbies fun and seamless, whether you are buying, selling, trading, or maintaining items.
OpenSea: So why does it feel crucial to use blockchain to build this?
Jonah Kitay: Technically, you could build this system without blockchain, but you would lose a lot of value. Everything on DYLI is on-chain; you just don't feel it. For example, random sales are verifiably fair. If someone accuses us of manipulating a lottery, we can show them how it works.
Ownership is also clearer, more secure, and transferable, which is significant for peer-to-peer markets. There are no refunds, and once you own something on DYLI, it is not locked within DYLI. You can use it elsewhere: for loans, raffles, or selling on other markets.
Blockchain unlocks optionality that traditional systems cannot achieve. As blockchain applications grow, the application networks supporting these assets will also continue to expand.
OpenSea: So how do you think this will impact the broader future of commerce and ownership?
Jonah Kitay: I think this will make things simpler. Currently, blockchain can feel confusing, but that is changing. Infrastructure such as wallet abstraction, stablecoin channels, and smoother onboarding is maturing rapidly.
Once these friction points disappear, what remains is simply a better way to verify ownership and transact. Ten years from now, if credit cards are in serious trouble, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Since stablecoins provide a seamless, fee-free alternative, why would anyone accept a 3% fee?
But to achieve this, everything must be upgraded, not just payments but ownership. This is where DYLI comes in. We are committed to making the entire transaction experience from purchase to resale smooth, transparent, and rewarding.
OpenSea: Of course, you have established partnerships with some significant companies like Atari and Megadeath. How did these collaborations come about?
Jonah Kitay: Part of the reason is our days in agency work. We collaborated with great teams to build trust. Atari is an excellent partner for us, but more importantly, it’s the services we provide: things you can't do on Shopify.
Mystery auctions, fair lotteries, and unique sales formats - all of these can create better returns for collectors. Nowadays, gamification has permeated all aspects, from fantasy sports to Twitch subscriptions. DYLI integrates this logic into shopping in a genuinely rewarding way. Additionally, we support mandatory royalties on secondary sales, which is beneficial for creators and the sustainability of brands.
OpenSea: You have also collaborated with Abstract. What does this mean for DYLI?
Jonah Kitay: Abstract is our blockchain partner. We launched with them on day one. They are EVM-compatible, focused on super applications, and their tools (like payment systems) allow us to offer a completely gas-free, approval-free shopping experience. This is significant for users accustomed to shopping on eBay or Target.
Their team works exceptionally well, especially while we established compatibility with OpenSea, ensuring royalties for sellers. From the beginning, we built a strong and consistent partnership.
OpenSea: It's great to hear this news. So, what are DYLI's next steps? What goals do you plan to build or achieve in the next 12 to 18 months?
Jonah Kitay: DYLI has had a great start. All our metrics are good, and we are very confident that our concept will resonate. Next year, our biggest focus is on raising awareness and getting DYLI in touch with more collectors, enthusiasts, and creators.
In the long run, I hope DYLI becomes a household name in the collectibles world, like Charmin or Band-Aid. When people think of their collectibles, whether it's browsing, unboxing, or selling cards, I want DYLI to be at the forefront of their minds.
We are investing in offline events for collectors and gaming activities so that people can experience how DYLI works in person. We are also building affiliate programs and streamer collaborations. Unboxing during live streams is great content, and through these channels, we have tremendous growth opportunities.
In the next 12 months, we will continue to roll out new features, optimize the product experience, and enhance the platform's depth. An important upcoming feature is peer-to-peer and point-to-one trading. Card swapping is a vital component of trading card games (TCGs), and we want to ensure our platform can support this seamlessly and securely.
We are committed to providing enthusiasts with everything they want, allowing them to experience it all in one place. We won't change their usage habits; we just hope they can use it better.
OpenSea: I love this. Is there anything else you would like everyone to know?
Jonah Kitay: We just want to hear from users. We've never encountered anyone who found DYLI and said, 'I don't need this.' Once they try it, they keep using it. Our focus is on creating what the community genuinely wants, not just what we think is cool.
So, if anyone reads this article and has thoughts, ideas, or feedback, we are all ears. We want DYLI to be the ideal platform for various hobbies, not just trading cards, but also stamps, LEGO bricks, and so on.
OpenSea: Awesome.
Jonah Kitay: I am really grateful for this opportunity.
OpenSea: Same here!
#DYLI #NFT #AbstractChain #OpenSea
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