In the ever-evolving landscape of blockchain technology and NFTs, a new concept has emerged: Bitcoin Ordinals. 

Ordinals seek to bring the creative and expressive potential of NFTs to the Bitcoin network. This innovative approach leverages "Ordinal theory" to inscribe data on the smallest units of Bitcoin, called satoshis. 

By doing so, Bitcoin Ordinals aim to expand the capabilities of Bitcoin and enable the creation and ownership of unique digital assets on its secure and decentralized blockchain.

This article delves into the fascinating world of NFTs before Ethereum and explores the emergence of Bitcoin Ordinals as a unique form of NFTs. Additionally, it uncovers the fundamental purpose of Bitcoin and the ongoing debate surrounding the integration of NFTs within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Article Outline

• A Brief History of NFTs Before Ethereum

• The Rise of Bitcoin Ordinals

• Can Bitcoin Replace Ethereum?

• Closing Remarks

A Brief History of NFTs Before Ethereum

NFTs have a relatively short history, dating back to just nine years ago in 2014. It all started with the creation of the first-ever NFT called Quantum, minted by Kevin McCoy on Namecoin, a Bitcoin Fork. 

Over the following years, several other NFTs were launched on pre-Ethereum blockchains, laying the foundation for the thriving NFT market we witness today, predominantly powered by the Ethereum blockchain.

Colored Coins (March 27, 2012)

Colored Coins, an open-source protocol built on Bitcoin 2.0, enables users to represent and manipulate immutable digital resources within Bitcoin transactions. These colored coins serve as a means to represent and maintain real-world assets on the Bitcoin blockchain, establishing ownership of such assets. By marking bitcoins with specific features corresponding to physical assets like vehicles or stocks, owners can demonstrate ownership through these distinguishable coins.

Colored coins, often referred to as metacoins, introduce imaginative coloring as metadata to distinguish them from other bitcoins. While some experts debate their classification as the first NFT on the blockchain, colored coins have laid a solid foundation for the development of NFTs and can be seen as an early precursor to Bitcoin Ordinals.

Quantum (May 2, 2014)

In 2014, Kevin McCoy created the world's first NFT, called "Quantum," on Namecoin. This groundbreaking NFT gained significant attention when it was sold for $1.47 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2021.

However, legal disputes emerged due to ownership issues. McCoy originally minted "Quantum" on Namecoin, a blockchain software based on Bitcoin's code, which requires regular renewals of ownership every 250 days.

Unfortunately, McCoy failed to renew it in 2015. Prior to McCoy's 2021 sale, an individual with the Twitter handle @EarlyNFT registered themselves as the owner, leading to complications.

Nevertheless, the sale remains valid, signifying Kevin's successful endeavor to bring this significant piece of NFT history to mainstream awareness.

Eggs (July 27, 2014)

Namecoin, a fork of Bitcoin, was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. It was launched in 2011 as a decentralized name registration service, similar to the ENS (Ethereum Name Service) we know today.

In 2014, users discovered they could add metadata to their registered names, including attaching profile images. This marked the origin of the very first profile pictures (PFPs).

Among the PFPs registered, 277 of them were the default Twitter avatars known as "Twitter Eggs." These eggs come in 14 different colors, and collectors have recognized them as some of the earliest on-chain collectible NFTs and PFPs.

Spells of Genesis (March 11, 2015)

Spells of Genesis is a blockchain trading card game that utilizes the Bitcoin blockchain. Each card in the game represents a significant moment in blockchain history through unique artwork.

The release of FDCARD by EverdreamSoft, the creators of Spells of Genesis, marked the first tokenized gaming asset.

This milestone signaled a shift in power, allowing gamers to reclaim ownership of their digital assets from centralized authorities.

The significance of this moment cannot be overstated, as it paved the way for a new era of gaming with true player ownership. When exploring the roots of blockchain gaming, Spells of Genesis stands as a foundational landmark.

SaruTobi (May 6, 2016)

In 2014, iOS developer Christian Moss released the game SaruTobi on the App Store. Although he initially aimed to allow in-game purchases with Bitcoin, Apple's restrictions led him to instead reward players with small amounts of Bitcoin as they played. This marked one of the earliest examples of play-to-earn games.

Years later, Moss discovered EverdreamSoft's work on tokenized gaming assets in Spells of Genesis, inspiring him to introduce NFT skins and power-ups in SaruTobi with the release of NinjaSuit. This marked the first instance of an NFT being used in a play-to-earn game.

The story continued as Moss realized he could attract Spells of Genesis users by enabling them to utilize their game items in SaruTobi. By linking their Counterparty mobile wallet, SaruTobi could read their token inventory and grant access to various features based on their holdings. This led to the groundbreaking interoperability between the two games when Spells of Genesis cards became playable in SaruTobi.

This breakthrough highlighted the potential of NFTs to bridge independent games, hinting at the eventual erosion of the walled gardens within the gaming and social media industries.

Rare Pepes (September 9, 2016)

Rare Pepes (2016)

Rare Pepes are iconic collectible cards deeply rooted in internet culture and played a significant role in the emergence of crypto art on the blockchain.

The Nakamoto Card, Series 1, Card 1, holds a special place among the 1,800 cards issued across 36 series. This card pays homage to Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator(s) of Bitcoin. With only 300 in existence, possessing a Nakamoto Card grants entry into the exclusive 300 Club.

Linagee Name Registrar (August 8, 2015)

The Linagee Name Registrar, founded just a week after Ethereum's public launch, is currently recognized as the oldest smart contract on Ethereum.

Although it predates the NFT movement by several years, the Linagee Name Registrar resembles the modern Ethereum Name Service (ENS).

While not a traditional NFT, it embodies the underlying technology that contributed to the popularity of NFTs we see today.

CryptoPunks (June 23, 2017)

CryptoPunks, created by Matt Hall and John Watkinson, have emerged as the top NFT project and a symbol of the NFT community.

These 8-bit avatars, considered both art and collectibles, have gained immense popularity. The rarest alien CryptoPunks, only nine in total, have sold for over $11 million at auction.

Owning a CryptoPunk is seen as a vote of confidence in NFTs and the Ethereum blockchain due to their historical significance.

CryptoKitties (November 23, 2017)

CryptoKitties, a blockchain game that allowed users to breed virtual cats, gained immense popularity during the crypto bull run in 2017, causing Ethereum gas prices to skyrocket. This viral sensation marked the first instance of a blockchain game going mainstream and led to the coining of the term "NFT."

Notably, CryptoKitties was also the first to utilize the ERC-721 token standard, which describes how to create NFTs on Ethereum-compatible blockchains. Despite the misconception of unlimited supply, there are only 100 founder cats and 50,000 Gen-0 cats, making them valuable and sought after by collectors.

Many notable figures in the NFT space, such as Pranksy, Chris Dixon, Nate Alex, and the founders of Axie Infinity, got their start with CryptoKitties.

Early NFT projects struggled to gain widespread popularity and remained largely unknown to the general public, accessible only to cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiasts.

It was in 2017 that NFTs started gaining mainstream traction, with the launch of the first NFT collections on the Ethereum blockchain.

Unlike previous blockchains, Ethereum's smart contracts made token creation, programming, storage, and trading more accessible and user-friendly.

The Rise of Bitcoin Ordinals

Bitcoin Ordinals are becoming a well-established form of NFT. They use "Ordinal theory" to store data on small units of Bitcoin called satoshis (read “Bitcoin Ordinals: All You Need to Know” for more information).

One of the early standout projects in the Ordinals space was Taproot Wizards, featuring a collection of 2,105 unique and enchanting Taproot Wizards aiming to restore the magic to Bitcoin. The project's first inscription on the blockchain, #652, marked its early entry into this emerging meta.

BRC-20, also known as Bitcoin Request for Comment 20, is the latest trend in the NFT ecosystem (read “Bitcoin Ordinals: BRC-20” for more information).

Amidst this emerging trend, a user known as @BitGod21 emerged, driven by a mission to "define the meta on Bitcoin." They played a crucial role in educating people about this emerging technology, while also introducing the BRC-20 token, $OXBT, which garnered significant attention on Twitter, drawing the interest of notable influencers like Elena and Wale.

Ordinals emerged in December 2022 but gained significant attention in January 2023. Several well-known NFT projects like OnChainMonkey, DeGods, and Yuga Labs have joined the Bitcoin network.

Within just six months since its inception, the number of inscriptions in Bitcoin Ordinals has exceeded 10 million. This indicates a rapid adoption and growing popularity of this NFT form.

The volume of Bitcoin Ordinals has seen a remarkable surge in May, and the number of transactions on the platform remains consistently high, reaching record levels in the past week. This indicates a strong and sustained momentum in Ordinals, with no indications of slowing down.

The Ordinals movement has witnessed a rapid influx of over 130,000 unique users, with a steep upward trajectory that began in May.

When examining the top 15 NFT collections ranked by sales volume in the last month, it is notable that 5 of them belong to Ordinals projects, including two BRC-20 Ordinals.

An important question that then naturally arises is whether Ordinals are a lasting phenomenon or just a passing fad that will eventually fade away.

Can Bitcoin Replace Ethereum?

Despite its quick growth, this innovation has faced large criticism due to high transaction fees as the network gets congested along with some questioning the durability of this technology, questioning whether it’s simply a passing fad.

Bitcoin’s Fundamental Purpose

Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto with the intention of establishing a decentralized and secure financial system that operates independently of any central authority. In Nakamoto's vision, Bitcoin would enable peer-to-peer electronic cash transactions without the need for intermediaries like financial institutions. 

While Bitcoin's primary purpose was to serve as a digital currency, some individuals envision it going beyond that role. They see the potential for Bitcoin to evolve into a currency or store of value, similar to how Ethereum operates as an infrastructure blockchain where applications can be built on top of it.

The topic of turning Bitcoin into an infrastructure blockchain, similar to Ethereum, and enabling application development through Ordinals and BRC-20, has sparked a division within the Bitcoin community.

Are There Any Benefits for Storing NFTs on Bitcoin?

The quality of a blockchain is typically assessed based on three key criteria:

• Scalability;

• Security;

• Decentralization.

Transitioning towards an infrastructure blockchain like Ethereum can present scalability issues, as seen with the surge in NFT creation causing exorbitant transaction fees. This issue has also been observed with Ordinals, where the congestion of the blockchain has caused transaction fees to skyrocket.

Initially, Ethereum emerged as a potential solution to address scalability issues in the history of NFTs mentioned earlier. Subsequently, Solana emerged as an alternative to tackle high gas fees. However, this solution came at the expense of compromising security.

To address Bitcoin's scalability challenges, layer-2 scaling solutions such as Stacks have emerged. These solutions aim to make Bitcoin programmable and overcome its limitations. However, it is crucial to consider potential security issues that may arise with these proposed solutions. This highlights the importance of taking proactive measures to tackle these concerns effectively.

Bitcoin Solves Security Problems

The primary advantage of Bitcoin lies in its robust security. The validation of Bitcoin blocks relies on the computational power of multiple computers, a process known as "proof of work." While energy-intensive, this approach ensures a high level of security as manipulating the blockchain would necessitate substantial computational and electrical resources.

However, security concerns related to Ethereum are relatively minor, with most losses occurring due to scams perpetrated by malicious users. Given this, why is there interest in having NFTs on Bitcoin?

According to Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Ordinals, the endeavor is primarily an entertaining artistic project that aims to foster a deeper understanding of Bitcoin among individuals. It serves as a means of encouraging people to delve into the intricacies of Bitcoin and its potential.

Can Bitcoin Replace Ethereum?

Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, stated back in 2010 that it couldn't accommodate non-financial purposes, and many Bitcoin supporters still hold that view. Their concern is pragmatic: they fear that NFTs could compete with traditional transactions, congest the blocks, and lead to increased fees.

This debate highlights a divide within the Bitcoin community. Some argue that validating these new blocks containing NFTs will keep miners engaged and incentivized, particularly considering that their rewards are halved every four years, with the next halving scheduled for 2024. Since miners play a vital role in securing the blockchain, it is essential for Bitcoin's stability that they continue their work.

The Web3 ecosystem has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, thanks to the rise of NFTs, decentralized applications, and smart contracts. Ethereum has played a leading role in driving these advancements.

Ordinals, in essence, seek to reestablish Bitcoin's pivotal position within this evolving landscape of the web. It aims to break away from a conservative perspective that confines Bitcoin to its traditional role. That's the fundamental idea behind Ordinals.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• NFTs, a relatively young concept, emerged just nine years ago in 2014. The journey began with the creation of the first-ever NFT, called "Quantum," minted by Kevin McCoy on Namecoin, a Bitcoin Fork. Over the years, various other NFTs were introduced on pre-Ethereum blockchains, laying the groundwork for today's thriving NFT market predominantly powered by Ethereum.

• Bitcoin Ordinals have emerged as a popular form of NFTs, utilizing "Ordinal theory" to store data on small Bitcoin units called satoshis. The introduction of BRC-20, also known as Bitcoin Request for Comment 20, has further contributed to the rise of Ordinals in the NFT ecosystem.

• As Bitcoin's quick growth continues, criticisms arise regarding high transaction fees and concerns over the durability of this technology, leading some to question its long-term viability. While Bitcoin was originally created as a decentralized digital currency, there are proponents who envision its potential to expand beyond that role, similar to Ethereum's infrastructure for building applications. However, this idea has sparked a division within the Bitcoin community.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

TOPIA, formerly known as NFT Worlds, burst onto the NFT scene in October 2021, captivating gamers with its Play-to-Earn (P2E) model and unique integration of the Minecraft universe. Despite facing a setback when Minecraft disallowed NFT integration, the project's team exhibited resilience and announced plans to build their own platform. Strategic partnerships and a recent rebranding to TOPIA have reignited community excitement, leading to a surge in floor prices and high retention rates.

In this article, we explore TOPIA's journey, its ambitious aspirations, and the potential it holds for revolutionizing the gaming industry.

Article Outline

• A Brief History of TOPIA

• Charting the Course: TOPIA's Masterplan to Onboard the First Million

• What are TOPIA Worlds?

• What is the TOPIA Chain?

• What is the $TOPIA Token?

• What’s Next for TOPIA?

• Project Runway Analysis

• Closing Remarks

A Brief History of TOPIA

TOPIA, formerly known as NFT Worlds, emerged into the NFT space in October 2021 as a free mint, offering a unique gaming experience within the Minecraft universe.

With its distinct features of Play-to-Earn (P2E), decentralization, asset ownership, and tradable assets, the project quickly gained traction, attracting an impressive player base of 100,000 people.

However, the project faced a significant setback in June 2022 when Mojang, the creators of Minecraft, announced their decision to disallow the integration of NFTs and blockchain technology within the Minecraft ecosystem. This unexpected turn of events resulted in a sharp decline in the floor price of NFT Worlds, plummeting 97% from a high of 15 ETH (~$40K USD at the time) to 0.4 ETH (~$500 USD at the time). Community sentiment turned negative as concerns and fears grew among its members.

Fortunately, the NFT Worlds team demonstrated resilience and determination by choosing not to give up. Instead, they decided to redouble their efforts and focus on building a thriving ecosystem that could rival Minecraft. The team unveiled plans to create their own platform and integrate into a GameFi ecosystem, providing a glimmer of hope for the community.

In January 2023, NFT Worlds announced a strategic partnership with gaming API Meta Fab, leveraging its capabilities while simultaneously constructing their own underlying infrastructure. This strategic move aimed to enhance the project's capabilities and pave the way for future success.

Adding to the excitement, TOPIA's founder, ArkDev, made a bold declaration that NFT Worlds would become the next Minecraft, solidifying their ambitious aspirations. To mark this pivotal moment and signify the activation of their full vision and plan, the project underwent a rebranding in May 2023, adopting the name TOPIA.

This rebranding, along with the project's continuous stream of active updates and tantalizing sneak peeks, has reinvigorated the community, igniting a renewed sense of excitement. As a result, the floor price of TOPIA has recently experienced a remarkable surge, climbing from its previous low of 0.4 ETH to a new local high of 2.25 ETH. This promising upward trend reflects the optimistic outlook for the future of the project and reinforces its potential for success.

TOPIA has not only managed to increase its floor price but has also seen an increase in community retention and conviction. Data from Dune Analytics indicates that 90% of buyers have held their NFTs for over 90 days, reflecting one of the highest retention rates in the NFT space.

Charting the Course: TOPIA's Masterplan to Onboard the First Million

TOPIA has recently unveiled its clear vision for the future.

“Our vision is to ignite limitless imagination by empowering the next generation of players and creators in a diverse, global community.

At the core of our vision is the firm belief that our brand, technology, and platform should give everyone a place to thrive.”

When it comes to comparing TOPIA and Minecraft, it's important to recognize that both platforms offer unique experiences and have their own strengths. While Minecraft has established itself as an iconic sandbox game with a massive player base, TOPIA aims to bring a new level of innovation and opportunities to the gaming industry.

TOPIA differentiates itself by providing an immersive gaming experience coupled with blockchain technology, which introduces a range of possibilities for players and holders.

To position themselves beyond the realm of "Web3" and compete with industry giants like Minecraft and Roblox, TOPIA has devised a comprehensive master plan encompassing five core pillars:

1. Modernized Game Engine

2. Cross Compatibility

3. Free, Everywhere

4. Support Creators

5. Leverage Competitor Shortcomings

With this master plan, TOPIA demonstrates its ambition to revolutionize the gaming industry and establish itself as a formidable contender alongside established titans. By focusing on these core pillars, TOPIA aims to create a gaming ecosystem that transcends boundaries and inspires players and creators alike.

1/ Modernized Game Engine

TOPIA aims to overcome limitations in existing games by developing a new game engine from scratch using modern technologies like Rust. This engine offers modularity and customization options, empowering creators to shape unique experiences. The focus on optimization and accessibility ensures a seamless gaming experience across various devices, breaking down barriers to entry for players.

2/ Cross Compatibility

TOPIA has devised a unique hybrid approach to bridge the gap between the old and the new in the gaming industry. By prioritizing backward play compatibility with Minecraft servers, TOPIA offers improved frame rates, visuals, user interfaces, and experiences while seamlessly introducing Minecraft players to the TOPIA ecosystem. This approach allows TOPIA to attract a significant player base and introduce them to the deeper and more capable gameplay offered by TOPIA's world servers.

3/ Free, Everywhere

TOPIA aims to create an accessible and free-to-play game that can be enjoyed on any device and hardware specifications. It envisions an open ecosystem where players worldwide can come together and enjoy the game without the need for purchases. While all TOPIA servers are free to play, players seeking backward compatibility with old/legacy Minecraft servers must link their Microsoft/Minecraft accounts to their TOPIA accounts, ensuring compliance with rules while providing an exceptional gaming experience.

4/ Support Creators

TOPIA is committed to prioritizing the needs of creators and providing them with powerful tools and APIs to surpass the limitations of games like Minecraft. The platform empowers creators with flexible monetization options, allowing them to sell custom cosmetics and in-game items while retaining over 95% of their content revenue. TOPIA also fosters a democratic platform through creator-led governance and regularly showcases top creator games to drive the content ecosystem forward and help creators gain recognition.

5/ Leverage Competitor Shortcomings

Lastly, TOPIA aims to address the long-standing gaps in existing gaming communities, such as Minecraft and Roblox, by addressing the needs of creators that have gone unheard for years. Drawing from their own experience and the expressed needs of successful creators, TOPIA is committed to building an open game platform inspired by Minecraft, placing the community, creators, and players at the forefront. This commitment sets the stage for TOPIA to become an extraordinary platform in the gaming world.

What are TOPIA Worlds?

When TOPIA was launched, the community was given the opportunity to obtain digital collectibles called TOPIA Worlds for free. Each TOPIA World represents a unique entity among a limited total supply of 10,000. It's important to note that no additional Worlds will ever be created, making each one a valuable and exclusive asset.

At its core, owning a TOPIA World grants you the ability to create monetized or massively multiplayer experiences that are visible and playable by all players within the TOPIA ecosystem. However, the functionality of TOPIA Worlds extends beyond this primary purpose.

1/ Development & Monetization

The goal of the TOPIA ecosystem is to attract tens of millions of players. To ensure a high-quality gaming experience and prioritize World quality over quantity, the number of available Worlds is limited to 10,000.

Developers aiming to profit from TOPIA players or appear on the "TOPIA Worlds" page need to own or rent a World, while personal/private/developmental Worlds can be launched without ownership.

Owning or renting a TOPIA World enables monetization through various means, including selling in-game cosmetics, digital collectibles, hosting events, and leveraging the $TOPIA ecosystem for incentivized purchases.

2/ Visibility & Placement

The TOPIA Worlds page in the game client showcases Worlds for players to explore, and to qualify for a spot, a World must be connected to an existing Minecraft server or an advanced TOPIA server. Owners or renters of Worlds can gain reach to the entire TOPIA playerbase through this page.

Players can sort Worlds by gameplay type and popularity ranks, which are determined based on player activity trends, rarity, and metrics such as daily average playtime, unique daily active players, and economic activity.

3/ Staking

By staking a TOPIA World through the World Manager, owners unlock benefits such as receiving daily $TOPIA tokens that can be claimed at any time.

Additionally, staked Worlds can be configured to earn $TOPIA tokens through renting on the TOPIA Worlds Rental Marketplace, where owners set rental terms and renters browse listings.

The daily earnings and staking rate of a World are influenced by its rank and weight relative to other Worlds. Staked Worlds cannot be listed for sale, and to sell a World, it must be unstaked from the staking/renting contract and returned to the owner's wallet.

4/ Renting

TOPIA provides a free market for developers and game studios to access Worlds for game development, including the option to rent a World from an existing owner.

Staked Worlds can be made available for rent, ensuring secure ownership during the rental period.

Rental parameters such as security deposit, rent amount, minimum and maximum rentable days can be set by the World owner.

Renting a World grants access to development, monetization opportunities, visibility on the TOPIA front page, and the ability to deploy smart contracts on TOPIA's blockchain.

Upon termination of the rental agreement, the developer retains all rights to their development, games, and player base unless specified otherwise in the rental terms.

5/ TOPIA Chain Access

TOPIA operates its own sustainable blockchain, utilizing a variant of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for smart contract functionality.

By owning or renting a TOPIA World, you gain the ability to deploy custom smart contracts, interact with low-level logic systems, create new TOPIA item collections, request approval for your own cosmetic items, and engage with default TOPIA smart contracts and pre-deployed systems on the TOPIA chain.

6/ Lootbox Rewards

The core TOPIA team periodically releases lootboxes containing unique cosmetic items that can be worn in all Worlds across TOPIA. These lootboxes offer random cosmetic item rewards, including rare and scarce items.

Owners of TOPIA Worlds receive these recurring lootboxes for free from the TOPIA team at varying intervals.

In summary, owning a TOPIA World goes beyond mere ownership; it opens up a world of opportunities for development, monetization, visibility, staking rewards, renting to other developers, TOPIA Chain access, and recurring lootbox rewards. These features empower creators to unleash their creativity, engage with the community, and unlock the full potential of their TOPIA World within the immersive TOPIA ecosystem.

What is the TOPIA Chain?

As the backbone of the entire TOPIA ecosystem, and set to launch in the third quarter of 2023, the TOPIA Chain serves as the foundational blockchain technology that facilitates various essential functionalities. This includes in-game trading, economic systems, digital item ownership, and much more. By leveraging the power of blockchain, the TOPIA Chain ensures these processes occur in a decentralized and secure manner.

At its core, the TOPIA Chain operates as a semi-permissioned blockchain. While it allows anyone to engage in transactions, trade game items, and interact with existing smart contracts, the deployment of new contracts and systems on the chain is restricted to authorized community members and projects. This approach offers an added layer of security by shielding the TOPIA ecosystem from potentially harmful smart contracts and ensuring end users are protected from potential attacks.

To further bolster security and maintain the integrity of the TOPIA Chain, periodic checkpoints are established with both the Polygon and Ethereum blockchains. These checkpoints serve as reference points, ensuring the TOPIA Chain remains in sync with the larger blockchain ecosystem and providing an additional layer of assurance for participants.

With the imminent launch of the TOPIA Chain, the TOPIA ecosystem will be fortified by a robust and secure blockchain infrastructure. Users can look forward to seamless in-game transactions, verifiable ownership of digital assets, and a vibrant and trustworthy economic system. The TOPIA Chain's arrival marks a significant milestone in the development of TOPIA, solidifying its position as a trailblazer in the world of blockchain gaming.

What is the $TOPIA Token?

At the heart of the TOPIA ecosystem lies the $TOPIA Token, serving as the primary in-game currency that facilitates transactions and trades among players, Worlds, and other interactions within the platform. Beyond its role in enabling value exchanges, the $TOPIA Token plays a crucial role in powering the TOPIA blockchain itself.

With a limited supply of 5 billion tokens, the $TOPIA Token contributes to creating a stable and incentive-driven platform for both creators and players within the TOPIA ecosystem. Its significance extends to several key aspects of the ecosystem's functioning.

Firstly, the $TOPIA Token ensures secure and seamless value exchanges throughout the entire TOPIA platform. It serves as the medium of exchange for in-game transactions, providing a reliable and efficient means for players to engage in economic activities within the ecosystem.

Moreover, the $TOPIA Token plays a crucial role in the operation of the TOPIA Chain. It is utilized for network fees, which facilitate smooth network operations and maintain the integrity of the blockchain. These fees ensure that the TOPIA Chain remains efficient and robust, supporting the various interactions and activities taking place within the ecosystem.

Furthermore, the $TOPIA Token offers staking options, rewards, and governance mechanisms. Staking $TOPIA tokens allows participants to earn rewards, encouraging active engagement and participation in the ecosystem. Additionally, the governance mechanisms tied to the $TOPIA Token provide a means for community members to have a voice in shaping the future direction of the platform.

What's Next for TOPIA?

As TOPIA approaches its full release in 2023, the journey is far from over. The team is actively engaging with the community and building excitement through regular teasers and updates. These sneak peeks provide glimpses into the upcoming features and experiences that players and holders can expect from TOPIA, fueling anticipation among the community and attracting interest from outsiders.

Twitter user, MΔNI, also points out potential additions like 'Cool Cats' and additional NFT skins.

Project Runway Analysis

To truly understand the scale of the brand that TOPIA has built, it's essential to examine the resources at the team's disposal. Despite the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, the team has created over four collections, raising an estimated $18.6 million USD in funds over the past year.

While the team could have exchanged a significant portion of their ETH and $TOPIA funds for stable currencies to preserve their runway, it's assumed that all funds were retained in their original currencies, with most royalties in ETH and mints in ETH and $TOPIA currencies. These funds were then converted at the spot rate to provide a ballpark estimate of their runway.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• TOPIA, previously known as NFT Worlds, entered the NFT space as a free mint offering a unique gaming experience in the Minecraft universe. Despite facing setbacks due to the disallowance of NFT integration by Mojang, the project demonstrated resilience and was rebranded as TOPIA. This move, along with strategic partnerships and active updates, has revitalized the community, resulting in a significant surge in TOPIA's floor price and high buyer retention rates.

• TOPIA has unveiled its clear vision for the future, aiming to empower the next generation of players and creators in a diverse, global community. By focusing on modernizing the game engine, offering cross-compatibility, providing free accessibility, supporting creators, and addressing the shortcomings of competitors, TOPIA aims to revolutionize the gaming industry and establish itself as a formidable contender alongside established giants like Minecraft and Roblox.

• TOPIA Worlds are unique digital collectibles representing a limited supply of 10,000 entities. Owning a TOPIA World grants the ability to create monetized or multiplayer experiences within the TOPIA ecosystem, with opportunities for development, monetization, visibility, staking rewards, renting, TOPIA Chain access, and recurring lootbox rewards.

• The TOPIA Chain is the foundational blockchain technology that powers the entire TOPIA ecosystem, enabling in-game trading, digital item ownership, and other essential functionalities.

• The $TOPIA Token is the primary in-game currency within the TOPIA ecosystem, facilitating transactions and trades among players and Worlds.

• As TOPIA prepares for its full release in 2023, the team continues to engage with the community and generate excitement through regular teasers and updates. These previews offer a glimpse into the upcoming features and experiences, creating anticipation among the community and drawing interest from external sources.

• The TOPIA team has demonstrated impressive resource management, raising an estimated $18.6 million USD in funds over the past year through four collections. Despite the volatility of cryptocurrencies, it is assumed that the team retained their funds in their original currencies, providing a ballpark estimate of their runway based on the spot rate conversion.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

Kaiju Kingz has been making waves in the NFT space since its inception. With its commitment to creativity, innovation, and pushing boundaries, the project has attracted a loyal community and numerous high-profile collaborations.

In this article, we will delve into Kaiju Kingz and what sets them apart from the rest. We'll explore the essence of Kaiju Kingz, how it distinguishes itself from the competition, and the fundamental aspects that make it a standout player in the fiercely competitive NFT market.

Article Outline

• What is Kaiju Kingz?

• A Community of Builders

• The Key Verticals of Kaiju Kingz & Upcoming Updates

• Project Runway Analysis

• Closing Remarks

What is Kaiju Kingz?

Kaiju Kingz isn't your average NFT project. Launched in October 2021 by Augminted Labs at a mint price of 0.06 ETH, this project has since set a new bar for future collections and communities in the NFT space. Kaiju Kingz is a community of builders who take pride in having paved the way for creators, founders, artists, and builders in the industry.

Today, Kaiju Kingz continues to be one of the most respected communities in the Web3 landscape. The project boasts of strong collaborations, a mainstream game in development, and customizable PFPs. With all these features, Kaiju Kingz is a project that's worth keeping an eye on in the NFT space.

What is Augmented Labs?

Augminted Labs is the parent company of Kaiju Kingz and the entire Kaijuverse. This startup aims to create a sustainable workplace for professionals, talents, and creatives in the Web3 industry, with a focus on game worlds and the metaverse.

The company's founder, Nathan Flickinger (@ohDotss), was motivated to establish a company that values employee sustainability after experiencing dissatisfaction with middle management in corporate work. His fascination with cryptocurrencies and NFTs eventually led to the creation of Augminted Labs, where he met Phillip Prescott (@FutureBoy3LLL) and Robert Qiu (@YungGatzby), who became founding members of the company. Phillip serves as the creative director, while Robert is the game design innovator.

What Are The Different Collections in the Kaiju Kingz Ecosystem?

1/ Kaiju Kingz (Genesis & Babies)

Kaiju Kingz is the inaugural collection in the Kaijuverse, comprising over 9,999 NFTs, including 3,333 Genesis Kaijus and 6,666 accompanying babies. The collection has a total volume of 33,287 ETH, which is approximately $61.5 million USD at the time of writing. Currently, Genesis Kaiju Kingz have a floor price of 0.43 ETH (~$800 USD), while Baby Kaijus have a floor price of 0.125 ETH (~$230 USD).

If unstaked, Genesis Kaijus can generate 5 $RWASTE per day, whereas if staked, they can generate 15 $SCALES per day. On the other hand, Baby Kaijus can generate 5 $SCALES per day when staked.

$RWASTE and $SCALES are the primary currencies in the Kaijuverse, which can be used to purchase traits, merchandise, enter raffles, and more. These currencies add value to the KaijuKingz project, making it more engaging and rewarding for users.

2/ Kaiju Mutants

Kaiju Mutants is a collection of 3,762 NFTs launched in February 2022. Mutant Kaijus generate 2 $SCALES per day passively and can create Mutant DNA for the cost of 600 $SCALES.

The collection has seen a total trading volume of 2,415 ETH, which is equivalent to approximately $4.4 million USD. At present, the collection is priced at 0.0495 ETH, or roughly $90 USD.

3/ Augminted Labs Scientists

The Augminted Labs Scientist collection was one of the first "freemium" or choose-your-own-price mints. The goal was to onboard as many new users as possible into the Kaijuverse ecosystem and the Web3 space, resulting in over 50,000 scientists minted.

Each scientist was fully customizable, with trillions of potential combinations and collaborator holder-only traits, featuring over 30 partnered collections. After finishing the mint, all scientists were presented with a minigame to solidify their journey into the ecosystem.

Scientists play a critical role in generating necessary risk in the DNA extraction process and expanding the Kaiju Kingz ecosystem, where they can steal $SCALES, Mutant DNA, and Baby Kaijus.

Scientists are also required to gain alpha access and rewards for the upcoming KaijuGame, Monster x Monster, which utilizes Mutant DNA in its game mechanics.

Today, the collection has seen a total of 177 ETH in volume (~$325K USD) with a floor price of 0.002 ETH (~$3.5 USD).

4/ Kaiju Failed Experiments & Kaiju Kingz Turnables

The Kaiju Failed Experiments collection was the original genesis Kaiju Kingz collection. Due to an error in the smart contract, the team needed to fix it and redeploy a new contract, airdropping the new tokens to previous buyers. However, instead of disregarding the "failed" collection, the team put it to good use by allowing its holders to migrate them to reveal a new Mutant Kaiju.

The collection still has a total of 238 NFTs that can be transformed into Mutant Kaijus with 1 legendary Mutant and 2 Tailed Beasts yet to be revealed.

It has had a total trading volume of 1,388 ETH, which is equivalent to approximately $2.5 million USD. Currently, the collection has a floor price of 0.1 ETH, or approximately $185 USD.

The Kaiju Failed Experiments collection is a testament to the team's commitment to providing value to their users, even in the face of technical difficulties. The collection offers users a unique opportunity to transform their "failed" NFTs into something new and exciting.

Kaiju Kingz Turnables is a collection of 3,333 Genesis Kaiju Kingz on a turntable. The entire collection was a Christmas gift airdropped to all Genesis Kaiju Kingz holders in December 2021.

The Kaiju Kingz team's gesture of gifting Turnables to their existing community of NFT holders is a testament to their commitment to providing value and rewarding their users. With this collection, users now have a unique opportunity to own a piece of Kaiju Kingz history and showcase their NFTs in a dynamic and engaging way.

The collection today stands at a floor price of 30 MATIC (~$28 USD) with a total volume of 3 ETH (~$5.5K USD).

5/ Kaiju Test Samples, Kaiju Mysterious Object & Kaiju Extracted DNA

Kaiju Test Samples was another collection that was airdropped to all holders, granting a certain number of $SCALES and a Kaiju Mysterious Object when burned.

The collection has had a total trading volume of 119 ETH, which is equivalent to approximately $220K USD. Currently, the collection is priced at 0.0187 ETH, or approximately $35 USD.

Kaiju Mysterious Object is a collection that is created as a byproduct of burning a Kaiju Test Sample. The utility of these mysterious objects has yet to be revealed, but there is speculation that they will come in handy in one of the games currently in development.

The collection has had a total trading volume of 17 ETH (~$31K USD) in volume and currently sits at a floor price of 0.0054 ETH (~$10 USD).

Kaiju Extracted DNA is a collection that is created by extracting DNA from a Kaiju Mutant and burning 600 $SCALES. The use case for Extracted DNA remains undisclosed, adding to its mystery and allure within the NFT community.

The collection has had a total trading volume of 20 ETH ($37K USD) and the collection is currently priced at 0.01 ETH ($18 USD).

6/ Kaiju Augmints

Kaiju Augmints are customizable traits that allow holders to change the look and metadata of their Kaijus, which can be toggled on and off. These Augmints are available for Genesis, Baby, and Mutant Kaijus, with new drops coming in on a bi-weekly basis.

Augmints have their own rarity and count and can only be won through Auction bids using $RWASTE and $SCALES on KaijuMart or by purchasing limited Augmint Packs for a set price. The top X highest bidders win the Augmint, and auctions typically have a base time limit of 3 days. After winning an Augmint, the holder can burn it onto any applicable Kaiju and toggle it on and off.

Each season of Augmints is tied to different themes, with the first season featuring a hip hop and rap culture theme, season two having a winter theme, and season three (the latest season) featuring a springtime theme.

With each new season, users have the opportunity to customize their Kaijus in new and exciting ways. The Augmints' rarity and the exclusive method of obtaining them through auctions or limited packs make them highly sought after within the NFT community.

The collection currently has over 15 ETH (~$27K USD) in trading volume with the lowest trait price sitting around 0.04 ETH (~$75 USD).

7/ VoiceOfTheSyndicate & EyeOfTheSyndicate

VoiceOfTheSyndicate and EyeOfTheSyndicate were two free drops that were received by solving a puzzle, with their utility yet to be revealed.

VoiceOfTheSyndicate has had a total trading volume of 14 ETH (~$25K USD), and its floor price is currently set at 0.5 ETH (~$925 USD). EyeOfTheSyndicate, on the other hand, has had a total trading volume of 185 ETH (~$340K USD) in trading volume. However, none of the NFTs in this collection are currently listed for sale.

A Community of Builders

Kaiju Kingz is often referred to as a "community of builders." From the very beginning, the project was an outlet for Nathan and Phillip to grow a community focused on positivity, Web3 education, fostering creative talents, and having fun while vibing with like-minded people. The founding team never expected the project to blow up as fast as it did.

Despite its rapid success, Kaiju Kingz has remained true to its core mission, expanding its previous roadmap upon mint out. The team has established a Web3 Artist and Creator Scholarship Program and set up a platform for artists and creators to share their work within the Kaijuverse community. Through these initiatives, Kaiju Kingz is fostering a culture of inclusivity, creativity, and education within the NFT and Web3 industries.

The community-driven approach of Kaiju Kingz has made it a standout project in the NFT space. By prioritizing positivity, education, and collaboration, Kaiju Kingz is not only contributing to the growth of the NFT ecosystem but also supporting the development of future creators and innovators in the Web3 industry.

“KaijuKingz was always more than just a PFP project.” - Kaiju Kingz Founder, Nathan, in KaijuKingz P2E Ecosystem

“Do Dope Shit” Ethos

The Kaiju Kingz community lives by one ethos that is constantly echoed by Nathan and the team: "do dope shit." From the project's inception, this ethos has been at the forefront of the team's vision, and they have stayed true to it time and time again.

This mindset has been the driving force behind Kaiju Kingz's success. The team's commitment to creativity and pushing the limits is evident in every aspect of the project, from the release of the KaijuMart, a digital storefront that allows community members to purchase raffle spots, high-quality KAIJU apparel, or Augmint Traits and Packs, to the ongoing development of new games and digital worlds.

Strong Collaborations

Kaiju Kingz has been a stronghold for attracting strong collaborations in the NFT space since its inception. The project has established itself as a leading player in the industry, and this is reflected in the numerous high-profile collaborations it has forged.

One of the project's notable achievements was being selected as one of the few collections to premiere on the Coinbase NFT marketplace. Kaiju Kingz has also collaborated with various gaming NFT projects, including its latest event with the Beacon, where players had to defeat a Mecha Kaiju final boss as a limited-time event with rewards to be won.

Moreover, Kaiju Kingz has played a significant role in shaping the wider NFT culture and influencing major projects such as Memeland, which incorporated one of its rarest traits, the "Kaiju" trait. The project's impact extends beyond the NFT and Web3 industries, as it continues to inspire and collaborate with creators, artists, and innovators from various fields.

Through its collaborations and partnerships, Kaiju Kingz has established itself as a leading force in the NFT and Web3 industries. The project's commitment to creativity and pushing boundaries has enabled it to influence and shape the wider culture, driving the industry forward and inspiring others to follow in its footsteps.

Diamond Handed Community

Nathan and the Kaiju Kingz team have devoted a significant amount of time to servicing their long-term holders and core community. One of their primary objectives has been to reward their most active and loyal followers continually.

Their efforts have yielded results, as the project boasts one of the highest retention rates in the market. According to data on Dune Analytics, nearly 40% of minters still retain their NFTs over a year after the project's launch. This impressive retention rate is a testament to the project's commitment to its community and its dedication to fostering a culture of inclusivity, innovation, and creativity within the NFT space.

The retention of Kaiju Kingz NFTs is not only high among minters but also among buyers on secondary markets. According to data on Dune Analytics, 82.3% of buyers have held their NFTs for over 90 days, representing one of the highest retention rates in the NFT space.

The Key Verticals of Kaiju Kingz & Upcoming Updates

Kaiju Kingz recently underwent a hard reset of communication from the team in December, reigniting innovation, direction, and community sentiment.

While the release of Augmints has been a key focus for Kaiju Kingz, the project is gearing up for a new direction in the coming months. This includes the long-awaited release of the project's Lore and the Origins of Stod, the main antagonist of the Kaiju ecosystem. Additionally, the community can expect to learn what happened to the BAYC scientist dots, adding new depth and intrigue to the Kaiju Kingz universe.

1/ Community

Kaiju Kingz has always prioritized community involvement and giving back to its members. As a "community of builders," the project has engaged its community in numerous challenges and lore writing competitions, such as those for the Eye of the Syndicate and the Origins of STOD. This approach has helped to foster a strong sense of community and engagement, and has given community members a greater sense of ownership over the project's development.

In addition, Kaiju Kingz has been committed to supporting creators within its community through initiatives such as the Web3 Artist and Creator Scholarship Program. This program aims to empower and support emerging artists and creators by providing them with the resources and opportunities they need to thrive in the Web3 space.

Additionally, Kaiju Kingz has also announced their $1 million contribution to freeCodeCamp to build an open-source Web3 curriculum, which will further support the development of Web3 and its related technologies. Some of this material has already been released, including a 30-hour video tutorial by Patrick Collins.

Lastly, Kaiju Kingz have also expanded their charitable ventures through collaboration with the YouTuber Ryan Trahan, who has been documenting himself traveling across the country with a single penny while raising money to feed children and families in America. Kaiju Kingz donated $100,000, the equivalent of 1,000,000 meals, to contribute towards that fight. The project is committed to using its position to support just causes and growth throughout the space.

2/ Art - Customizable PFPs

Kaiju Kingz has been further strengthening its community involvement by incorporating its members in the creation of some of the Augmint traits through the Trait Creator Competition. This initiative has given community members the ability to submit their own creative traits to be added to the current Augmint season. The competition saw a lot of participation from artists not only within the Kaiju Kingz community, but also from other communities.

Augmints Season 4

Although the details of Augmints Season 4 release date are yet to be revealed, it has already generated a lot of excitement within the community and beyond. The Augmints have been generally well received, and many are eagerly anticipating the upcoming season.

3/ Lore

Kaiju Kingz has been actively developing its Lore vertical, as evidenced by its recent lore writing competition for Eye of the Syndicate and the Origins of STOD. The competition allowed community members to contribute their own ideas and creativity towards the development of the Kaiju Kingz universe.

Origins of STOD

KaijuKingz is taking their Lore vertical to the next level with the upcoming omnichain comic that will tell the origin story of STOD, the mastermind behind Augminted Labs. The comic will be interactive, allowing readers to choose their own path and participate in the storytelling process. Through this innovative approach, the community will not only learn about omnichain, but also about the lore surrounding Kaiju Kingz and General STOD's master plans.

The comic will also explore other blockchain ecosystems and feature the Bored Ape #5440 IP, existing across multiple chains. This ambitious project aims to introduce the community to omnichain in a fun and engaging way before the release of Rooftop Rampage mobile. The team will be posting more about the project on Twitter and will have activations with partners to bring more attention to the story within their universe.

Going Omnichain

Kaiju Kingz is preparing for their v2 collection, which will be expanding to omnichain. The project will continue to focus on incredible pixel art, innovative experiences, and creative use of Web3 technology.

“While Ethereum will always be the home of Kaiju Kingz, expanding to omnichain will only serve to broaden our reach. The details of what chains we will support, how the gamification will work, and the integration of our existing collections will be shared in upcoming development logs.” - Kaiju Kingz Founder, Nathan, in KaijuKingz — Community Update #4

To prepare for the expansion to omnichain, the team plans to release more information on game mechanics, monster art, and the new partnered chains in the coming months. They also plan to run community events to teach people about omnichain technology and how it will be utilized in the project's v2 collection. Overall, the expansion to omnichain represents an exciting new chapter for Kaiju Kingz, and the team is eager to share more details with their community as they become available.

4/ Fashion

Kaiju Kingz has also expanded into a fashion-forward collection of KAIJU apparel called “the KAIJU We Stay Focused” drop. The collection has been well-received by community members, with many praising the high-quality of the apparel.

Furthermore, the project has recently airdropped Rain Jackets and Chore Jackets Augmints to holders who purchased the physical pieces on their digital storefront. To participate in the airdrop, community members simply need to add their email to KMART. This unique approach demonstrates Kaiju Kingz's innovative use of Web3 technology, further cementing their position as a leader in the space.

5/ Metaverse - Digital World

Kaiju Kingz has shared their vision for an interactive world to gamify the Kaiju Kingz ecosystem and present new opportunities for experiences through Saroshima City.

This immersive world will be built on Web3 technology and will feature various mini-games, adventures, and other experiences that will allow community members to earn rewards and engage with the Kaiju Kingz universe in new and exciting ways.

Sorashima City

Kaiju Kingz has announced their plans for Saroshima City, an interactive world designed to gamify the Kaiju Kingz ecosystem and offer new experiences for community members. Saroshima City will serve as an area for Kaiju Kingz to hang out outside of Discord, providing a flexible platform for gamification.

Some of the planned features include:

• Live bidding in-game for Augmints;

• Mini-games and other activities;

• New collectibles;

• A place to invite other collections for games.

The team believes that Sorashima City will provide community members with a fun and interactive way to interact with their assets and the Kaiju ecosystem. The team will be working on more specific content for Soroshima and providing a larger update on all upcoming developments.

6/ Gaming

Kaiju Kingz's gaming vertical has always been an essential part of their ecosystem, and in February 2022, they released Rooftop Rampage, an endless runner game.

In this game, players must avoid obstacles and fire at enemies while collecting rewards. To coincide with the launch of Mutant Kaijus, limited-time events were held where top scorers could win Baby Kaijus, Mutant Kaijus, and other rewards.

Rooftop Rampage has been well received by the community, with many praising its addictive gameplay and unique features. The team is continuously working to improve the game and add new features to keep players engaged and entertained.

Rooftop Rampage Mobile Version

The highly anticipated Rooftop Rampage Mobile has been in development for over ten months, and the team is in the home stretch before its release. Although the game is mostly ready and was initially slated for a Q1 release, the team is waiting for a more opportune time to release it.

The game will feature purchasable items for $RWASTE that can be used in-game, and players can unlock new Kaiju Augmints by playing.

A high score ladder with rewards such as Kaijus, trophies, and other prizes, along with a fresh story exploring the history of Kaiju Kingz, STOD, and The Syndicate, is also in the works.

RR Mobile will incorporate cutting-edge Web3 technology to make gameplay seamless, and the game's art is sure to impress.

The gameplay will be a hybrid between an infinite runner and MegaMan/cup head, featuring unlockable classes, partnered projects, companions, and more.

The game will also have a purchasable battle pass and a way to remove ads.

The team continues to release development blogs biweekly where they provide more detail on the game mechanics, art, and gameplay. The game is expected to be enjoyable for everyone, not just Kaiju owners.

Monster x Monster

Whilst much of the attention has been directed towards the development of Rooftop Rampage, not much information has been revealed about Kaiju Kingz's upcoming game, Monster x Monster, which will utilize Mutant DNA in its game mechanics.

It has been hinted that scientists will play a crucial role in the game, and it is said to be inspired by Pokemon.

The team has also indicated that the game will incorporate elements of Saroshima City, which will likely create a cohesive and immersive experience for players.

Project Runway Analysis

To truly understand the scale of the brand that Kaiju Kingz has built, it's essential to examine the resources at the team's disposal. Despite the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, the team has managed to create an impressive twelve collections in a relatively short amount of time, raising an estimated $7.3 million USD in funds over the past year.

While the team could have exchanged a significant portion of their ETH, $RWASTE, and $SCALES funds for stable currencies to preserve their runway, it's assumed that all funds were retained in their original currencies, with most royalties in ETH and mints in ETH, $RWASTE, and $SCALES currencies. These funds were then converted at the spot rate to provide a ballpark estimate of their runway.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• Kaiju Kingz is an innovative NFT project that has attracted a loyal community due to its commitment to originality and creativity. The project has several collections, each with unique features. The Kaijuverse has also created its own currency, $RWASTE and $SCALES, which add value and reward users. With strong collaborations, a mainstream game in development, and customizable PFPs, Kaiju Kingz has set a new standard for future NFT collections and communities.

• With its focus on creativity, collaboration, and education, the project has attracted a loyal community and numerous high-profile collaborations. The project is known for its "do dope shit" ethos and commitment to rewarding its most active and loyal followers continually. Its retention rate is one of the highest in the market, with nearly 40% of minters retaining their NFTs over a year after the launch. The project's impact extends beyond the NFT and Web3 industries, inspiring and collaborating with creators, artists, and innovators from various fields.

• Kaiju Kingz has remained true to its core mission of fostering creativity and education within the NFT and Web3 industries. The project has established a Web3 Artist and Creator Scholarship Program, collaborated with high-profile projects, and expanded its charitable ventures. Kaiju Kingz is preparing for its v2 collection, which will be expanding to omnichain, and has plans for an interactive world and upcoming games. The team's commitment to innovation and pushing boundaries has driven their success, and their approach has fostered a strong sense of community and engagement within the project.

• Kaiju Kingz has raised a conservative estimate of around $7.3 million USD in funds over the past year through twelve collections, according to an analysis of their estimated capital raised.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

Introduction

Bitcoin Ordinals are becoming a well-established form of NFT. Leveraging the power of “Ordinal theory” to inscribe data on satoshis (Bitcoin’s smallest denomination).

BRC-20 (Bitcoin Request for Comment 20) is the latest trend to catch the NFT ecosystem’s attention.

Here’s a rundown of why this new token is catching mainstream Crypto Twitter attention.

Article Outline

• Background

  • Bitcoin Ordinals

  • BRC-20

• Analysis

• Future Prospects

• Closing Remarks

Background

Bitcoin Ordinals

Bitcoin Ordinals are akin to Ethereum non-fungible tokens (NFTs), but on the Bitcoin network. They leverage ordinal theory or the Ordinal Protocol to assign a number so the inscribed satoshis (Bitcoin’s smallest denomination) can be tracked.

Ordinals began in December 2022 but only really gained traction towards the end of January 2022. Since then several big-name NFT projects have entered the Bitcoin network including OnChainMonkey, DeGods, and Yuga Labs to name a few.

However, while it is a new innovation and use case on the network it has been met with criticism following the astronomical transaction fees as the network becomes congested.

BRC-20

While the name is similar to the Ethereum counterpart (ERC-20) they are different.

In short, the core function of BRC-20 tokens is to allow users to trade fungible assets via the Ordinals protocol.

Paraphrasing ChainLinkGod:

To mint a BRC-20, you create a ‘mint’ NFT with the amount to be minted.

To transfer/sell a BRC-20, you create a new ‘transfer’ NFT with the amount to be transferred/sold.

These ‘transfer’ NFTs can be listed just like NFTs where buyers purchase the fixed batch amount (while the ‘mint’ NFT always stays in the original minter’s wallet).

It would be as if you have to create a new ERC721 every time you want to make a transfer or trade of an ERC20.

How do I interpret this? You’re effectively trading the proof of ownership certificate for the underlying mint NFT using Ordinal theory to track it.

Analysis

The number of transactions has gone parabolic as interest ramps up:

Despite the enormous uptick in interest, the overall market cap remains tiny compared to ERC-20 tokens:

But are NFTs (Ordinals) meant for the Bitcoin network? What types are appropriate to be included given the high transaction cost and security value proposition from the most decentralized blockchain?

Transaction Costs Skyrocket

Transaction costs on Bitcoin have gone through the roof! It’s the highest it’s been since May 21, 2021, when the entire crypto market lost 80% of its value overnight.

This exuberant cost has caused centralized crypto exchange Binance, to halt Bitcoin withdrawals as it navigates the 18x month-on-month increase in costs.

What’s driving the parabolic increase in BRC-20 activity? ChainLinkGod provides some insights around the key marketplace for trading these:

Clearly, the fees are not sustainable. But this hasn’t prevented development in the infrastructure surrounding Ordinal inscriptions and specifically meme tokens on the Bitcoin network.

Top Marketplaces

UniSat is leading the charge on the market share of the trading volume since it arrived on the scene late last month (just when BRC-20s started to take off):

But there’s a catch to trading these BRC-20 tokens:

Headline Tokens

So what are the main BRC-20 tokens? Here are the top tokens by volume:

Most of the inscriptions are text based given the prohibitive costs. However, there are some videos and other media being inscribed:

But it’s clear some are inscribing entire applications: 70 were added on May 10th alone.

This Taproot Wizard inscribed 4MB of data in February costing 0.3 BTC ($10k USD).

Since this was inscribed in February 2023, the price to put 4MB of data on the Bitcoin network would cost 32 BTC ($1m USD).

Future Prospects

It’s likely we will continue to see an increase in inscriptions in the short term as the hype continues.

However, there is resistance and a risk that some may attempt to put a stop to inscriptions altogether. Grayscale put their argument forward well:

Utilizing the Bitcoin network to store arbitrary data contradicts the primary objective outlined in Satoshi’s 2013 whitepaper, which is for Bitcoin to serve as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.“

When comparing Ordinals to Ethereum’s ERC-721 we can see a distinct value proposition around immutability:

Ethereum offers more flexibility around the NFT whereas Bitcoin offers simplicity, and less flexibility but enhanced security. This value proposition lends itself to the types of assets or data to be stored on each chain.

Market Sentiment

The Bitcoin maxis are making their opposition known. Highlighting the high transaction costs making it impossible to transact on L1 Bitcoin without paying huge fees.

The latest “copypasta” going around Crypto Twitter:

How to Inscribe

For those that would like to play around with the tech and inscribe their own, this is a useful guide:

But err on the side of caution! The infrastructure is clunky in comparison to Ethereum and other smart contract enabled blockchains.

Closing Remarks

Bitcoin Ordinals and the BRC-20 tokens have garnered attention in the NFT ecosystem by offering a unique approach to tracking data on the Bitcoin network.

While the concept shows promise, it faces challenges due to the high transaction costs and concerns about the appropriateness of NFTs on the Bitcoin network.

Despite these hurdles, the marketplaces for BRC-20 tokens have emerged, but sustainability remains a question. As the hype continues, there is a risk of resistance and potential opposition to inscriptions on Bitcoin.

Ultimately, the value proposition of Ordinals lies in the enhanced security of Bitcoin compared to Ethereum's flexibility. The future prospects of this technology remain uncertain, but further exploration and development are likely to continue in the short term.

Origins Analytics

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

With a recent migration to the biggest and most competitive NFT chain, there has been speculation about the potential success or failure of DeLabs' DeGods and y00ts.

Can they compete with Ethereum's major players and generate enough trading volume on Polygon?

This article will examine the history of DeLabs, DeGods, and y00ts, evaluate their current performance on their respective chains, and delve into DeLabs’ runway.

Article Outline

• The History: DeLabs’ Rise to the Top

• The Present: How Have Both Collections Performed?

• The Future of DeLabs

• Project Runway Analysis

• Closing Remarks

The History: DeLabs’ Rise to the Top

On October 8, 2021, DeGods minted on Solana's blockchain at a cost of 3 SOL each (~$475 USD at the time).

Despite the project's team generating anticipation for the collection, there was a lot of controversy leading up to and following the mint.

The team had offered allowlist spots to community members through "bounties," which involved filming themselves doing push ups or promoting the project. However, bots interfered with the minting process, causing the project to sell out in under ten seconds, and leaving many unable to participate.

Consequently, the community accused the project of being a rug pull, and the floor price plummeted.

In an attempt to revive the project, the team launched various products, including de.xyz and DePalace. However, the project's floor price continued to fall, causing some developers to consider abandoning it in November 2021.

DeGods eventually discontinued its “Paperhand Bitch Tax” in January 2022 and introduced the $DUST token, which was followed by the DeadGods art upgrade relaunch where DeGods holders could use their newly acquired $DUST to create a DeadGod, leading to a turnaround for the project.

The leadup to the DeadGods launch “DeGods III” saw the collection jump from a floor price of 10 SOL to an all-time high of 100 SOL (~$10,000 USD at the time).

The project’s DAO, DeDAO, would also announce the purchase of a basketball team in April 2022 which sent the DeGods collection’s floor price all the way up to 343 SOL (~$34,000 USD at the time).

This also placed DeGods among the top players in the NFT space, with its value competing with that of many bluechip NFT collections on Ethereum and establishing it as the largest project on the Solana blockchain.

The team made another announcement in May 2022 about their next NFT mint, y00ts. The minting of y00ts took place in September 2022 and was revealed in November 2022. The project’s founder, Frank (Rohun Vora, his IRL name), would also doxx himself through a video that would go viral on Twitter.

In December 2022, Frank announced that DeGods would be moving to Ethereum and y00ts to Polygon, and as a result, DeGods' floor price would revisit its previous all-time highs. In Q1, 535 DeGods were minted on Bitcoin Ordinals, and both DeGods and y00ts collections migrated to their new respective chains. The floor price of DeGods would reach a new all-time high of 680 SOL (~$13,600 USD) before migration.

Although DeLabs (DeGods’ parent project and team) went through numerous highs and lows in the past, they have always managed to emerge stronger than before. One of Frank's tweets is particularly noteworthy as it effectively captures the project's perseverance and ability to innovate:

The Present: How Have Both Collections Performed?

DeGods on Ethereum

Before migrating to Ethereum, DeGods stood at a floor price of around 600 SOL (~$12,000 USD). While DeGods NFTs pumped on migration day, with migrated NFTs selling at a heavy premium of 10.5 ETH (~$18,900 USD), their floor price has since readjusted down to 8.49 ETH (~$16,000 USD), which still implies a pump from their original price on Solana.

NFTstatistics.eth also highlights that non-bridged DeGods and y00ts that are still on Solana now have a price premium of approximately 10-20%.

DeGods has been able to capture 1.5% of the total collection volumes when compared to other leading collections on Ethereum.

Of the two collections, DeGods has seen its floor price move down -20%, while y00ts saw a price increase of +11.11% since its migration onto Polygon.

Y00ts on Polygon

In comparison, y00ts has performed significantly better, whilst grantedly being on a less competitive chain.

It has dominated the NFT volume on Polygon, capturing 36.9%, thereby distinguishing itself from other collections on the chain by a significant margin.

Moreover, y00ts have had a higher success rate with migration compared to DeGods, with more than 91% of y00ts already bridged, as opposed to over 80% for DeGods, although both collections have achieved considerable success.

Many argue that DeGods' poor performance can be attributed to their choice of partnering with Blur as their recommended trading platform. Blur has pushed forward the hyper-financialization of the NFT space and placed much of the power in the hands of some of the biggest wallets. As a result, we’ve witnessed a significant amount of airdrop farming and higher price volatility, which could be the reason behind DeGods' underperformance.

The Future of DeLabs

DeGods and Y00ts had the largest ecosystem on Solana, to the extent that they dominated 32% of the entire past 30-day volume on Solana.

When comparing DeGods' dominance on Solana to its dominance on Ethereum, the collection has given up 95% of its dominance by migrating to a new chain.

Moreover, when comparing the 30-day NFT volume on Polygon to that on Solana, Polygon represents only 44% of Solana's monthly volume.

What could motivate a successful team like DeLabs to move to a completely different blockchain where competition is intense on Ethereum and volume is limited on Polygon?

When the migration announcement was made in December 2022, Solana had recently experienced another significant drop in price due to the collapse of FTX. The blockchain was strongly linked to the disgraced founder of FTX, causing the token to lose 62% of its value overnight.

In addition, the NFT volume on Solana suffered a significant drop of 75% after the price dump of Solana, which is not an ideal situation for any project founder.

In contrast, Ethereum and Polygon’s prices were less affected, with ETH having lost 20% of its value by December, and Polygon 36% of its value. Additionally, whilst Solana continues to struggle to regain back, Ethereum is currently up 65% since the FTX collapse, and Polygon is 38% up.

When it comes to the low NFT volume on Polygon, DeLabs has another trick up their sleeve, as they have announced the launch of an NFT accelerator launchpad program on Polygon along with their Y00ts migration.

This indicates that the team recognizes the need for more builders and project founders to start establishing themselves on Polygon, as they cannot be one of a few notable NFT collections on the platform.

Although the migration to two new blockchains comes with significant risks and is expected to be challenging, I’d like to quote something Frank said during the migration announcement:

Moving forward, both collections will encounter several challenges. DeGods' primary challenge will be to compete for the top spot on the most competitive NFT chain against other mid-cap NFT collections. Conversely, Y00ts' main challenge will be to generate enough volume on a newer and smaller NFT chain with low current volume.

While the future of DeLabs is uncertain, it is clear that the team has consistently demonstrated their determination to push the boundaries of innovation in the NFT space.

Project Runway Analysis

In order to grasp the amount of funding needed to build a brand as large as DeLabs, it's important to take into account the team's available resources. DeLabs has created three collections and, in the past year, has raised a conservative estimate of at least $39.5 million USD.

As cryptocurrencies are known to be volatile, it would have been wise for the team to convert a significant portion of their SOL, BTC, ETH, and $DUST funds into stable currencies to protect their finances. However, in this analysis, we will assume that they kept all their funds in their original currencies, with royalties mainly in SOL and ETH and mints in both SOL, BTC, and $DUST currencies. These funds were then converted using the current exchange rate to determine their financial runway.

The team has considerably expanded the resources available to them by more than 25% through their $7 million USD seed round and their $3 million USD migration agreement with Polygon. The majority of their funds have been generated from their Y00ts mint.

DeLabs' treasury is considerably larger than those of many other leading collections in the NFT space. However, it is still only 2% of Yuga Labs' treasury, which is one of the largest in the industry.

Although Frank has been a vocal supporter of NFT projects seeking alternative sources of revenue beyond royalties, we can calculate that royalties account for 31.9% of DeLabs' treasury, or about $12.6 million USD.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:** **

• DeGods initially faced controversy during its mint, but later recovered through various products and upgrades such as the $DUST token and DeadGods art upgrade. The project continued to thrive following its many announcements, including the acquisition of a basketball team, the y00ts mint, the migration of both of its collections to Ethereum and Polygon, and their Bitcoin Ordinals mint.

• After migrating to Ethereum, DeGods saw a price pump with migrated NFTs selling at a heavy premium, but the floor price has since readjusted down to $16,000 USD. DeGods captured 1.5% of total collection volumes on Ethereum and has seen its floor price move down by 20%. In contrast, y00ts has performed better on Polygon, capturing 36.9% of NFT volume and seeing a price increase of 11.11% since migration. DeGods' underperformance has been attributed by some to its partnership with Blur.

• DeGods and Y00ts dominated 32% of the total past 30-day volume on Solana, but DeGods have given up 95% of their dominance by moving to Ethereum. The NFT volume on Polygon is also limited compared to Solana. However, DeLabs has launched an NFT accelerator launchpad program on Polygon to attract more builders and project founders. Moving to new blockchains poses significant risks, but the DeLabs team has consistently demonstrated their commitment to innovation in the NFT space. The primary challenge for DeGods is to compete with other mid-cap NFT collections on a competitive chain, while Y00ts' main challenge is to generate enough volume on a smaller NFT chain.

• DeLabs has raised a conservative estimate of at least $39.5 million USD through their three collections in the past year, and their treasury is considerably larger than many other leading collections in the NFT space, but only constitutes 2% of Yuga Labs' treasury. The team has expanded their resources by more than 25% through a $7 million USD seed round and $3 million USD migration agreement with Polygon, while royalties account for 31.9% of DeLabs' treasury, or about $12.6 million USD.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

As we enter a new era of the internet, it is important to understand the timeline of mainstream adoption.

In this article, we will explore where we currently are on the timeline of Web3 adoption. We'll analyze the significant distinctions between Web2 and Web3 adoption, and spotlight several companies and brands that are making substantial headway in onboarding new users to the space.

Article Outline

• From Recruitment to Fruition

• Web2 vs Web3

• Web2 Timelines

• Web3 Timelines

• Applying Timeframes

• Closing Remarks

From Recruitment to Fruition

In order to truly understand the timeline for Web3 adoption, it is crucial to analyze the current timeframes for Web2 as a reference point. This means exploring the duration between a company's recruitment stage for executives and the point of fruition. We can use this as a guide to understand Web3 adoption timelines.

The rapid pace of change in the digital world today has made it critical for companies to innovate quickly. In 2022, 75% of executives considered innovation as their top priority.

One effective method for monitoring a company's trajectory is to examine its executive board, particularly its CEO. CEOs have shown to have a statistically significant influence on a company's innovation and performance. Additionally, the selection of new CEOs significantly influences institutional renewal. Significant changes in leadership can have an effect on a company’s growth curve and trajectory within a 4-6 year timeframe.

To examine a company's trajectory, we can also explore any shifts or new initiatives the company may be exploring, such as job postings for new domains.

Meta (Formerly Facebook)

For instance, in October 2021, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, and shortly after, launched its metaverse world, Horizon Worlds, in December 2021. In November 2022, it then inaugurated its digital collectible store on Instagram, indicating a shift in the company's direction. However, Meta has recently announced that it will pause its development for the time being.

Amazon

Amazon advertised its initial job opening for a digital currency and blockchain specialist in July 2021. The tech behemoth recently announced that it will be launching its NFT marketplace in April 2023, almost two years after posting the job listing.

These figures appear to correspond with a mean duration of two years for a company (of this size) to progress from the inception of an idea to its culmination.

Web2 vs Web3

The widespread adoption of Web3 might look a lot like it did for the internet, with many calling the internet a fad after the 2000 dot-com bubble burst.

However, evaluating the performance of an NFT company could be somewhat challenging. 

Unlike a conventional business that can measure its success based on yearly earnings, NFT companies function similarly to public companies, where the success of their project is determined by the overall market sentiment, which might be reflected in its floor price.

Moreover, unlike numerous large corporations, Web3 companies have an advantage in that they don't have to deal with red tape - excessive bureaucracy or strict adherence to official rules and formalities. As a result, they are able to move more quickly and make necessary changes in a more timely manner.

This also implies that it will probably take longer for Web2 companies to embrace new technologies compared to Web3 startups that are native to crypto. Let’s dive into some examples of recent developments we’ve seen over the past years.

Web2 Timelines

Returning to some of the examples we mentioned earlier, Meta's digital collectibles store on Instagram was launched 13 months after it rebranded to "Meta." In fact, we could go back even further to May 2018 when they posted their first job listing for a blockchain research initiative. This means that it took Meta over 3 years to rebrand and a total of 4 and a half years to launch its NFT marketplace.

This potentially caused Meta to miss out on the NFT boom in early '22 and subsequently receive underwhelming outcomes when it finally launched its marketplace. This was made evident by its recent announcement of halting the development of its NFT marketplace.

In fact, Meta launched its NFT marketplace at the lowest volume month for NFTs in 2022.

If we look back to Amazon, it took them 21 months, almost 2 years after their initial job posting for a specialist in digital currency and blockchain before launching their NFT marketplace.

Spotify’s first blockchain integration came in February 2023, which was 11 months after they posted their first job listings (March 2022) for a senior manager of Innovation with expertise in Web3 and a senior blockchain back-end engineer.

Reddit posted their initial job listing for a Senior Backend Engineer for an NFT Platform in September 2021, 10 months prior to the launch of their digital collectibles store in July 2022.

This leaves us with a ballpark average of 24 months, or 2 years for major companies to integrate new technology.

Web3 Timelines

Conversely, we have witnessed a few instances of Web3 enterprises pivoting at a significantly faster pace and achieving notable outcomes relatively swiftly.

Pudgy Penguins

For instance, Pudgy Penguins experienced a decline when the original project founder failed to deliver and drained the project's funds. However, in April 2022, Luca Schnetzler, a successful entrepreneur operating a multimillion-dollar venture capital firm, acquired the brand from its previous owner. After this acquisition, the floor price of Pudgy Penguins shot up, accompanied by an upsurge in market sentiment.

Following the acquisition, it only took the team 4 months to announce the Pudgy Toys Lineup in August 2022. They then announced their Sotheby's auction and Art Basel Meetup within three more months. Within a 7-month time period, Pudgy Penguins' floor price soared from 1 ETH (valued at around $1,600 USD at the time) to an all-time high of 7 ETH (valued at around $8,750 USD at the time), a 7x increase.

0N1 Force

Another recent example of an NFT collection acquisition is 0n1 Force, which was recently in decline before being purchased in February 2023 by a collective of crypto industry veterans led by blockchain investment firm Old Fashioned Research (OFR). Similar to the acquisition of Pudgy Penguins, the floor price of 0n1 Force NFTs surged twofold from 1 ETH to an all-time high of 2 ETH.

Although we are yet to see what the future of 0n1 Force holds, their price action thus far has been comparable to that of Pudgy Penguins. Additionally, the team has already unveiled their strategy, dubbed "0N1 FORCE REBORN: SEASON 1," just three days after the acquisition.

Would Web2 companies then be better suited to acquire Web3-native companies instead?

Nike x RTFKT

In December 2021, we saw Nike, a Web2 giant, acquire RTFKT, a Web3-native apparel brand, for an alleged estimate of $1 billion USD. This announcement resulted in the Clone X, RTFKT's flagship NFT collection, experiencing a surge in floor price from 4 ETH (valued at around $16,000 USD at the time) to 15.5 ETH (valued at around $48,000 USD at the time), before ultimately reaching an all-time high of 19 ETH in April 2022 (valued at around $57,000 USD at the time).

However, the current floor price has decreased by 82% from its all time high due to a shift in market sentiment among community members who were disappointed with RTKFT's latest merchandise release. 

Nevertheless, other prominent NFT collections have also suffered considerable declines in value, with Bored Ape Yacht Club falling by 60% and Azuki by 55% from their all time highs due to the overall negative macro market sentiment.

Despite their ups and downs, RTFKT currently maintains a stronghold over the Web3 fashion industry, possessing 80% of the market share. This could imply that purchasing Web3 enterprises might be a viable option for Web2 giants to consider.

Applying Timeframes

According to McKinsey & Company, in 2000, the S&P 500's average corporation age was 85 years. However, today, the median age is less than 33 years. 

It is expected that by 2027, around 75% of the current S&P 500 companies will have vanished, and the median age will be 12 years. This means that most companies in the S&P 500 index will have been founded in 2015, indicating that the future’s biggest corporations have already been established.

Taking this into account, what established technologies have attracted the interest of executives recently? Three technologies that stand out are cryptocurrency, AI, and the metaverse, all of which have been widely discussed in recent years. Numerous companies have taken action to innovate in these fields or attempt to keep up with these technologies.

Pokemon has recently advertised a job vacancy for a person with "deep knowledge" in Web3, NFTs, and the metaverse.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has recently submitted a patent application that deals with NFT frameworks for the transfer and utilization of digital assets across various game platforms.

Amazon plans to launch its NFT marketplace in April 2023.

Meanwhile, Reddit has been concurrently developing its NFT marketplace and has successfully onboarded over 8 million users to date.

Numerous large corporations are actively making progress and innovating in the Web3 industry. 

Based on our earlier assessments, we can anticipate that we will see a growing number of companies launching products that utilize blockchain technology.

However, for them to excel in an agile, dynamic, fast moving space they will need to learn to ship products and enhance the bureaucracy or be left behind by innovative web3 brands.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:** **

• Innovation is a top priority for 75% of executives, and monitoring a company's trajectory can involve examining the CEO's influence, shifts in direction, and new initiatives. Examples of companies like Meta, Amazon, Spotify, and Reddit indicate a mean duration of two years for progress from idea to fruition.

• The adoption of Web3 may face similar skepticism as the internet did after the 2000 dot-com bubble burst. Evaluating the success of NFT companies is challenging as their project's success is determined by market sentiment, reflected in floor prices. However, Web3 companies have an advantage as they don't face the same red tape as large corporations, allowing for more agility in decision-making. This could lead to faster adoption of new tech for Web3 startups compared to Web2 companies, as seen in recent developments.

• Meta's launch of its NFT marketplace took 4 and a half years after its job postings from 2018. This delay caused it to miss out on the early 2022 NFT boom and receive underwhelming results upon launching. Amazon, Spotify, and Reddit also took about two years from job postings to NFT marketplace launches, indicating a ballpark average of 24 months for major companies to integrate new technology.

• Web3 companies and Web2 giants adopt new technology at varying speeds, with Web3 companies having an advantage in being able to pivot quickly. The success of NFT companies can be hard to measure, given their dependence on overall market sentiment. However, recent examples such as Pudgy Penguins show that a Web3 company is able to pivot and shift market sentiment in a matter of months.

• The median age of companies in the S&P 500 has decreased significantly, with the majority of future big corporations being established today. Executives have taken an interest in cryptocurrency, AI, and the metaverse, with companies such as Pokemon, Sony, Amazon, and Reddit developing NFT marketplaces or seeking expertise in related fields. This indicates that there will likely be an increasing number of companies launching blockchain-based products within the next 1-2 years.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

Introduction

ETHER is one of the most promising projects to launch in 2023. Its deep connections and quality production have kept the broader NFT community engaged, despite a delayed launch and years in production.

Its mint price of 1 ETH has been a hot topic of discussion within the NFT space due to the currently underwhelming macro environment. 

This article will examine the different components of ETHER in an attempt to distil how it compares to other hyped projects that are currently available. 

Article Outline

• Project Details 

• Mint Details

• Whitelist Distribution

• Benchmark Comparison

• Appeal Strategy Analysis

• Closing Remarks

Project details

After over 1.5 years of development, ETHER is scheduled for launch in Q2 of 2023, although the exact date for the minting has not yet been announced. The team has described it as a “collectible,” emphasizing their focus on delivering high-quality anime-themed artwork. Here are a few sneak peeks: 

The collection is reported to have over 500 different traits with over 50 billion possible combinations. In fact, the uniqueness of ETHER lies in the variety of its traits, level of detail, and completeness, which further emphasizes its value as a collectible item. 

While there has been little discussion about its potential practical uses, there are plans to offer exclusive figurines, as well as a roadmap that may include clothing and the creation of an anime series. 

More benefits are expected to be revealed on the website that is soon launching. 

The ETHER collection will be split equally between male and female characters, with the most common tier being “human” at 50%. The rarest tier will be 1-of-1 pieces, constituting 0.05% of the collection. The second rarest tier will be the “corrupt” tier, which will make up 0.95% of the collection, followed by “imp/vampire” and “mecha” tiers at 19% and 30%, respectively. The reveal will be animated and take place 10 weeks after mint. 

Mint details

Mint details were made public on the 10th of December 2022. Of the 10,000 pieces in the collection; 1,750 will be reserved for the 875 whitelisted members that get two spots each, while 8,000 will be available for the public to mint, and 250 pieces will be reserved for the team’s treasury.  

The public mint price will be 1 ETH, while whitelisted members will be able to choose from three options:

1. Mint both for free and have them locked for 10 weeks.

2. Mint one for free, locked for 10 weeks, and mint one for half of public mint, unlocked.

3. Mint both at half of the public mint price, unlocked.

The ETHER treasury will receive 70% of the mint funds, corresponding to $9 million USD, assuming sell out, while the rest is allocated to the team. However, Viii announced in early January 2023 that ⅔ of his share will be donated to charity “to assist those with bad mental health, living in abusive households and to help make food banks.”

Role Distribution

ETHER published its first tweet in July 2022, but its invite campaign began later in September 2022. Since then, the ETHER team has been carefully selecting new members on a daily basis and will continue to do so until the minting takes place. 

Initially, the selection process was managed through the main ETHER account, but now is being handled by the Hatchi Twitter account, which represents the "spirit of the Ether." The Discord is now open to all. 

Various roles have been distributed to indicate when and why an invitation was sent out. For instance, early supporters were invited in three separate waves and received designations such as “E-1”, “E-2”, or “E-3”. The “Early Adventurer” role corresponds to the last batch of hand-picked members before the mint.  

Overall, the team encourages people to show their support for the project by sharing unique content, including fan art, memes, lore, music, etc.

The ETHER team has made it clear that they are not interested in a typical “grind-to-win” whitelist selection process. Instead, they have rewarded individuals who demonstrate exceptional behavior as project ambassadors, by awarding them the "Noble Stone" role, for example. This role has been given to ten individuals.

Most recently, Viii held an official art contest titled “E10K”, where top 60 participants were assigned the role of “Craftsman Stone”. This contest was active for a month and ended on February 22, 2023. It led to an incredible turnout with a massive amount of submissions. Similar events can be expected in Q2.** **

It should be noted that none of the roles above currently equate to  a whitelist, besides the “Craftsman Stone” role. Instead, the actual whitelist handouts began on January 12 2023, where it was given to 200 individuals who solved a certain riddle. Wave 2 began shortly after and is currently still ongoing. 

The whitelist and wallet collection will be completed entirely through Twitter DMs. Each individual can gain a maximum of 3 whitelist spots, but this is highly unlikely as per the FAQ section within the project’s Discord. The number of whitelist spots that have been allocated may be revealed upon the launch of the website.  

Team

The ETHER project was founded by Viii, a renowned digital artist, and CV or “Crypto Valley”, a prominent figure within web3 and the Founder of The Valley:

• Viii

Viii has a compelling personal story that many people can relate to, and his emotional honesty has resonated with his followers. Despite only having posted less than 700 times over a four-year period, his Twitter following has grown to over 100,000 people.

While some of his posts may have been removed, the remaining posts provide valuable insight into his experiences, as he has been transparent and vulnerable in sharing the highs and lows of his journey.

It is evident that Viii has remained committed to his passion over an extended period, despite facing significant challenges such as struggles with his mental health, family illness, and the pressure to pursue a career as an accountant instead of following his dreams.

It seems that the Web3 space has provided the opportunity for Viii to realize his dreams, particularly as he has been among the first to create phygitals - a combination of physical and digital wearables. Examples of his work include THE METAJACKET and the RTFKT Space Drip x Nike Air Force 1: Viii.

Among other projects with Sony and Faze, Viii created the artwork for the Treeverse Timeless Characters NFT in late 2021.

He has also sold multiple standalone 5-figure artworks on SuperRare, including this one in 2022 for $22,500 USD:

Before that he’d already collaborated with a broad range of anime brands in fashion-related projects:

However, his ambitions do not end here. He wants to become the best and is currently putting his entire focus and skill into ETHER. 

In addition, considering his humble mindset and beginnings, he frequently encourages his followers to follow their passions. He also wants to give back and help others attain their dreams by supporting them as others have supported him. 

Sometimes art has the ability to convey emotions and ideas that words alone cannot express. Interestingly, even without reading Viii's written posts, it is possible to perceive the youthful and revolutionary themes present in his work. These themes reflect his personal journey as a young person striving to break free from societal norms, which is something that resonates with many other young individuals.

• CV

In August of 2022, CV joined as the Co-Founder and Advisor for the ETHER project, bringing with him extensive knowledge and experience in the web3 field, having worked within the space for the past two years.

During this time, CV has been able to gain a comprehensive understanding of what makes certain projects more likely to succeed than others. He’s also been able to connect with prominent figures in the space, such as EVXN, a notable member of the Bore Ape Yacht Club community. 

CV often emphasizes the importance of community as a crucial element in the success of a project. His knowledge and experience in attracting and retaining loyal followers has proven valuable in building the ETHER community. 

CV has already demonstrated his abilities to a certain extent, as evidenced by the success of The Valley - an invite-only community consisting of some of the most brilliant minds in the industry. Now, he intends to apply all the lessons he has learned to the ETHER project and is highly confident in its potential success. 

Benchmark Comparison

Project Dissection

ETHER shares many similarities with projects such as Azuki and Valhalla, including their appearance as well as the size and magnitude of their audience, making them relevant comparisons:  

• Azuki

Azuki minted on January 22, 2022 with a starting price of 1 ETH ($3,400 USD at the time) during the first phase of their first-come, first-serve dutch auction. A total of 8700 NFTs were available to the public during this initial phase, whilst the next phase had a smaller hand-picked guaranteed mintlist, along with 250 NFTs allocated to its treasury.

Azuki’s team believed that their strategy of selecting a highly committed group of individuals who shared their vision of becoming the "largest decentralized brand," along with a relatively high mint price, would help to establish a strong foundation and separate the project from those motivated solely by flipping or reselling.

ETHER applies a similar mint distribution, possibly in aim to create a similar community foundation. 

Additionally, ETHER has not yet expressed a similar overarching vision to Azuki’s of  building “the largest decentralized brand.” but emphasizes on quality. 

Like Azuki, the ETHER project places a strong emphasis on world-building and storytelling, particularly through anime. The project also aims to enable the community to build upon the ETHER intellectual property, which may involve licensing in a similar way to Azuki.

• Valhalla

Valhalla minted on November 22, 2022, with the majority of its supply minting at 0.5 ETH. Holders of the “immortals” role were given a discounted mint price of 0.35 ETH. Besides that, one portion was allocated for private sale, one presale for 0.25 ETH with lock up, while 1,000 were kept for future bidding auctions, similar to NounsDAO. ** **

Valhalla took a thorough approach to member selection, screening thousands of applicants through an invite-only application process before carefully choosing suitable individuals for the minting, with public acceptance letters shared on Twitter. In contrast, ETHER's approach is more similar to that of Azuki, with a focus on building a committed community through careful selection without any specific application and a relatively high mint price.

In addition, Valhalla aims to become the premier crypto native brand for gamers. This includes plans of creating a streaming platform, like Twitch, aimed at benefiting content creators through features exclusive to Web3. Moreover, Valhalla does not share the same goals of building their own virtual world, like Azuki and ETHER. 

Mint proceeds

The Azuki mint generated a total of $31 million USD in revenue (or ca $15 million USD with ETH priced at $1,500), and over a period of 14 months, the Azuki team earned $32 million in royalties (with ETH also set at $1,500 for the purpose of this comparison). 

The Valhalla mint generated ca $5 million USD in revenue (or $6.4 million USD with ETH priced at $1,500), and in less than four months, has earned nearly $2 million USD. The project also raised $15 million USD in venture capital funding, with Pantera Capital among the investors.

The ETHER project aims to raise around $13 million USD, although the final amount will depend on which minting options minters will pick. For the purposes of this analysis, it will be assumed that there will be a mix of paid and free options, with 15% choosing to pay for both NFTs, 60% choosing to pay for 1 NFT and mint the second for free, and 25% choosing to mint both NFTs for free. This is likely to result in minting funds slightly below $13 million USD. Based on what is known so far about other similar projects, such as Valhalla which also sought external funding, this target may seem ambitious. 

Appeal Strategy Analysis

The ETHER project uses various visual and psychological elements to attract its founding community, which includes a broad yet compelling appeal that is enhanced by their native incorporation of Web3 strategies.

The ETHER project has been relatively tight-lipped about its future plans and aspirations, in contrast to Valhalla and Azuki, who were more forthcoming at this stage. This has led to increased speculation surrounding the project, which may also serve to maintain engagement and interest as the launch date has been postponed.

This sentiment has then been reinforced by the highly curated and limited whitelist mechanics, which implies tougher competition and possibly higher monetary benefit as a result.

Additionally, the project seems to leverage the fact that many resonate with Viii’s path of fulfilling his dreams by being his authentic self, following his passion, and finding a supportive community as a byproduct.One of the core community members put it like this:

“From the very beginning, ETHER wanted everyone to follow their heart and be their most authentic selves. The ETHER community wanted everyone and everything to be done from their heart and voluntarily, not with any purpose to do things.”

Furthermore, it can be expected that the project continues to apply a “surprise and delight” strategy - to keep stakeholders engaged in various forms long term. For example, it awarded the top sixty participants of the recent artist competition with a whitelist spot while only publicly disclosing cash prizes for the top 3 winners. 

In combination with the founder's influence, these elements have been successful in attracting followers to the project. Within just 1.5 months of its public reveal on Twitter, the ETHER project had gained 30,000 followers with only three tweets. Two months later, it had reached 50,000 followers and more recently surpassed 80,000. The Discord channel has also been open for some time and currently has over 22,000 members.

Others are still critical due to the protective behavior that some core ETHER community presents while not being transparent about its future plans or providing more details regarding the allocation of mint funds:

Closing Remarks

In closing, ETHER is a promising project, driven by two likable founders with a proven track record. This is their first endeavor in building a community around digital collectibles. The duo has been welcomed with open arms within the NFT space, and found its footing by combining their respective reach and unique expertise. 

Although there are some promising indications, the lack of readily available information makes it difficult to accurately assess the potential of the ETHER project at this moment. This may be part of a broader strategy to maintain interest and speculation until the launch of the website.

However, the project’s current ambiguity raises questions about its mint price and how the funds will be utilized. It is expected to raise similar funds to Azuki but with a lower ETH price, and involves a similar level of community commitment as both Azuki and Valhalla, which could be deemed ambitious based on the current NFT market and other macro factors. 

Moreover, aligning the expectations of the community in a reasonable way while also allowing for flexibility and unexpected developments is a crucial driver of long-term success for a project. The website could present a step in the right direction here, or otherwise put the project’s long-term success at risk.

Lastly, the ETHER project's focus on quality may be challenged in a rapidly evolving space. It is yet to be determined how the quality will be perceived and valued by both the core and broader community over time.

Pudgy Penguins is a Web3 project that has successfully demonstrated the importance of communities in building a strong brand in the NFT space.

In this article, we will cover the Pudgy ecosystem, exploring how the strength of community, revived leadership and a new strategic direction can create a globally recognizable brand.

Article Outline

• Background

• The Pudgy Ethos

• Blue Chip Thought Leaders

• Upcoming Updates To Look Out For

• Project Runway Analysis

• Closing Remarks

Background

1) What are Pudgy Penguins?

Pudgy Penguins is more than just a genesis collection of 8,888 adorable penguin NFTs. This Web3 brand has effectively demonstrated how crucial a role communities play in rallying around new leadership to take the project to the next stage.

The new business model strives to give value back to its holder base to ensure a core nucleus of 5k die-hard fans. This focus enables strong foundations to grow the brand into a global behemoth.

Whether you are active on Twitter or casually log on from time to time, you’ll no doubt recognize these distinct Pengus from your Twitter feed.

There are three main collections within the project:

• Genesis Pudgys (July 2021).

• Pudgy Rods, AKA Rogs (Aug 2021).

• Lil Pudgys (Dec 2021).

These were all launched prior to the acquisition. It’s important to outline the project history for more context.

2) Project History

Pudgy Penguins have come a long way from its humble beginnings after minting in July 2021 during the peak of the NFT bull run.

One of the original founders of the Pudgy Penguins was ColeThereum, who made lofty promises regarding the project's future. From the development of their own token launch, a children’s book to a metaverse game. Many of these promises fell short leading to a downward spiral for the project.

Furthermore, Cole himself was outed for running paid promotions of NFT projects without disclosing that he’d received remuneration for them. He was also found to have siphoned off funds from the project's treasury.

In late 2021, the Pudgy community ousted the original founders of the project. A bidding war broke out in January 2022 for the collection. Main suitors included Luca Schnetzler a.k.a. Luca Netz of Netz Capital, Mintable founder Zach Burks, and NFT influencer, BeanieMaxi.

The Pudgy Penguin NFT group was sold in April 2022 to Los Angeles–based Netz Capital for 750 ETH ($2.5m USD spot value).

Since then they've set off on a journey to develop a globally recognized brand with a flourishing ecosystem that is now a prominent player in the NFT space.

3) Project Performance

To date, the genesis Pudgy Penguins collection has seen a total of 129.5k ETH (~$198m USD) in volume with a current floor price of 5.8 ETH (~$8.9k USD).

We saw some sizable Pudgy grail sales at the end of 2022 following the Sotheby’s auction and Art Basel Miami Pengu meetup.

https://twitter.com/punk9059/status/1607946664765186048?s=20

Holder Analysis

The current holder ratio is 52% suggesting the average number of Genesis Pudgys each holder owns is two.

This is a reasonable ratio that tends to provide a healthy, sustainable floor price as it mitigates the number of wale holders that can dump a significant number of tokens.

Grail Sales

Fudrick Douglas acquired the 1/1 on August 23, 2022 for 400 ETH ($650K USD Spot value) marking the highest Pudgy sale on record. This took place in the depths of the bear market, thus demonstrating his conviction for the project.

High-End OTC Trades

We’ve also seen some incredible over-the-counter trades between BAYC for Pudgy grails. As the BAYC ecosystem matures, the Pengus show promise to expand at a greater rate if they execute on their ambitious roadmap of becoming a global IP brand. Investors are positioning themselves accordingly.

https://twitter.com/EB7/status/1631103898256658434?s=20

Notable Holders

Other notable holders include:

• The CEO of Nansen (Alex Svanevik).

• Steph Curry.

• Vincent Van Dough (heads up the 3AC offshoot Starry Night Capital).

• OpenDAO founder (9x9x9Eth).

The Pudgy Ethos

The Pudgy Penguins team and community culture are well-known for being one of the most inclusive, culturally-rich and forward-thinking groups in the NFT space. The Pudgys have a strong presence on social media, a capable team, and a supportive community.

1) Social Media

Their social media presence is noticeable and far-reaching. They are leveraging Netz’s past experience in sending content viral with social media.

Their reach on Giphy has been insane with 2 billion views to date. Certainly an interesting metric to keep an eye on as the brand scales.

2) Strong CEO Online Presence

Pudgy Penguins’ CEO, Luca Netz, is one of the most active leaders in Web3. Currently ranked 55th, Netz’ global reach constitutes 7% of the entire NFT space.

Netz has a track record for bootstrapping and scaling products using social media. He’s leveraging their web2 experience to apply a similar approach to web3 while also balancing the novel community-focused element.

Netz compares running an NFT project to launching a start-up in public, with intense scrutiny from the holder base. But they have a well-defined long-term strategy and an outstanding track record to draw experience from.

Strong Communication

It’s apparent they’re using their knowledge of successfully scaling prior ventures. Their communication is on point and without ambiguity. It’s important for the project leadership team to be seen by their community and it’s evident that they are out at conferences meeting with their core audience.

https://twitter.com/boredHirshy/status/1630277859574177793?s=20

An attention economy can be brutal and if a project, or its leader, is silent for too long then holders get nervous without clear communication.

The public sentiment for the future prospects of the project is optimistic - demonstrated by the steady organic growth in the project market cap.

3) Team Excellence

The Pudgy Penguins team is also not short on talent, with every team member playing a vital role in the brand’s success, whether it be on the community, communication, or development front.

The leadership team includes six key individuals, each holding a pivotal role in driving the huddle forward.

Most work in person, helping to drive an efficient and effective rollout of their revised roadmap for the collection to become a global brand. Many see the benefits of remote working but working together in person enables collaborative activities to be more productive. We are social creatures after all.

4) Formidable Collaborations

Pudgys have established significant partnerships with both Web3 and non-Web3 brands, including:

• LayerZero for Lil Pudgys to waddle across chains to Polygon following DeGods to the huge network of brands on the Ethereum scalability solution.

• Hologram Labs to develop 3D avatars.

• Retail Monster to join colonies and launch ‘Toyline’ and leverage the extensive network and roll out further licensing arrangements for Pudgy holders.

• Sotheby’s to host their first digital auction.

• Doppel to prevent social media impersonations and reduce reputational damage.

5) Strong Community

The community of Pudgy Penguins is known for being highly supportive of each other, regardless of whether they are content creators, artists, or meme creators. They actively help one another grow their audience. Netz aims to deliver value to a core group of 5k holders to then sustainably grow the brand.

They are currently sitting at the third spot after Sappy Seals and Bored Apes for project rankings, based on several NFT Inspect social signals.

It’s difficult to remain at the top of the leaderboard, but the Pengus appear to maintain a steady top-five position, consistently. This is a testament to their organic growth since the Netz’ acquisition and continued holder focus strengthened through clear communication.

Blue Chip Thought Leaders

Pudgy Penguins has also established itself as a blue chip amongst NFT thought leaders.

1) Flight to Quality

As the bear market continues to dominate the wider economics of the NFT ecosystem, it becomes more difficult for new PFP projects to break into the space.

There is a phenomenon in traditional markets called “Flight to Quality”. This in essence means investors shift their funds to more reliable stocks or less risky assets, like bonds knowing they are more likely to weather the storm.

It’s the same rational behaviour that we see enter the NFT ecosystem with those wanting to retain some exposure to NFT upside they invest in the likes of BAYC, Punks, Azuki and now we can add Pudgy Penguins into this mix. People back founders they believe they can trust, and Netz is providing this level of comfort that they are here for the long term.

2) Holder Focus

Their team also intends to compensate and support community members involved in decentralized IP-building. Similar to Sappy Seals, Pudgy Penguins also provides a Meme Machine on their website to aid content production.

In addition, this helps to supercharge community content creation by enabling creators to increase their content output, as they can easily generate and utilize branded content using the meme platform.

3) Content Reach

According to TweetBinder, over the past week, the Pudgy Penguins community has generated over 21.5k tweets, which amounts to an average of 3.1k tweets per day.

In the past week, a total of 10,611 contributors have shared content related to Pudgy Penguins, with 9,081 retweets of Pudgy Penguins content, resulting in a potential reach of over 43 million unique users.

As the saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility,” and in the case of Pudgy Penguins, it also means great exposure.

The community is currently a dominant force on NFT Twitter, with around 21% of all NFT Twitter users having seen a content creator with a Pengu profile picture in the past 24 hours.

This should come as no surprise, given that 6,357 Twitter users, or around 66% of all Pudgy members, currently have a Pudgy profile picture.

When comparing floor prices vs. the global reach of various collections, Pudgy Penguins rank reasonably well.

Until recently, the price was on par with Sappy Seals but the prospects of the IP being leveraged into a global brand have helped elevate this to align with Doodles and Moonbirds.

In fact, Pudgy Penguins hold a top-five position in terms of Pay Per Reach (PPR), with the lowest PPR cost of $398 for every 1% reach.

Upcoming Updates To Look Out For

From technological innovation to a culturally rich and forward-thinking community, Pudgy Penguins have made a name for themselves in the NFT space.

Ultimately they want to be pushing the project to become a global brand, for which they will need to infiltrate normies unwittingly. Perhaps this is taking place sooner than we think.

There are hints of imminent breakthroughs.

https://twitter.com/LucaNetz/status/1633579079931658240?s=20

Strategic Direction and 2023 Roadmap

Things are far from complete as the team has set ambitious goals for the current year. The future of Pudgy Penguins looks promising.

https://twitter.com/0xLoMel/status/1607953329245810688?s=20

1/ Physical Products

As part of their brand expansion, they intend to continue driving cute physical Pudgy Penguins products to create a wider appeal outside of the digital realm. These items are currently for sale at their online store, and include:

• Pudgy Toys - In August 2022, the Pudgy Toys lineup was introduced and can be licensed directly from the community.

• Children’s Books - Building upon its brand of positive vibes, the Pudgy Penguins team has partnered with Green Kids Club to publish a children’s book series. By featuring Pudgy Penguin and Lil Pudgy NFT characters, licensed with the community’s approval, the series acts as yet another marketing push to reach a broader audience and strengthen its brand.

• Merchandise and Apparel - Custom printed t-shirts, hoodies and hats.

They’ve already licensed 16 Pengus of which the holders of those NFTs will receive benefits accordingly. The licensable Pudgys are hence tending to trade at a 6x multiple against the floor.

2/ Digital Experiences

The Pudgy Penguins team aims to increase the brand's public visibility by expanding to digital experiences eventually. They want to amplify the reach of the pudgy brand by leveraging their social media prowess.

Imagine maximizing the IP potential of your core 8,888 genesis through a variety of media routes. Their Instagram images and captions are having meaningful impacts on people outside of web3.

Build a following on Instagram to then use as a business case for a movie on Netflix. The potential is huge.

3/ Short and Long-Form Content

We can see that the reach of the existing content on Twitter is large already, but to go global it needs to be consistent and broader.

Pudgy Penguins will expand beyond NFTs and be introduced to a wider audience through storytelling, bootstrapping Netz’ social media prowess and physical collectibles to corroborate the lore.

They will embark on imaginative journeys, showcasing their creativity and overcoming obstacles, with the help of friends from the web3 community. Together, they will collaborate on creating intellectual property.

4/ Scaled IP Licensing

The team is working on ways to enable Pudgy Penguins holders to monetize their personal brands, but they're being careful about it due to the sensitive nature of intellectual property licensing. They want to ensure that everything is properly secured and long-term safe before they implement any monetization plans.

Their recent partnerships are positioned to support the rollout of their IP licensing arrangements.

5/ Preparation for the Mass Market

Netz has broader ambitions for Pudgy Penguins as a global brand.

In this effort, collectibles are a crucial aspect, and the team plans to release new merchandise and physical items.

In addition to Twitter, Pudgy Penguins will expand to other social platforms. They plan to empower creators across different mediums and establish their presence on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms.

They will deploy engaging GIFs and content on Twitter, use Instagram for world-building through comics, fables, and story-telling, animations, memes, and viral content on TikTok. This will be a gradual and iterative process.

The Pudgy Penguins team plans to continue to be a positive force in the Web3 space and contribute to its future, while expanding its reach and opening new doors, with plans to provide value for holders in the space.

Project Runway Analysis

To truly understand the funding required to establish a brand as extensive as Pudgy Penguins, it's essential to consider the resources available to the team.

Methodology

In this instance, runway analysis is a challenge. We would typically take the mint proceeds and then establish an estimate for the secondary sales royalties.

However, Pudgy went through acquisition so would need to work off from the project treasury as of the acquisition date, plus an estimate of royalties received since that date, plus any outside funding available.

Conservatively this is estimated to be in the region of $1.8m USD in funds plus any capital from the team’s own purse.

1) Treasury at Acquisition

While Netz paid 750 ETH ($2.5m spot USD) for the project, these proceeds went to the incumbent founders who left nothing in the treasury for the project. Therefore funds are ultimately provided by Netz and the secondary royalties earned since the acquisition date (April 2022).

2) Secondary Sales Royalties

Pudgy Penguins has produced a total of 3 collections and, over the past year, has raised an optimistic estimate of 4,641 ETH ($6.6m USD), assuming the full 5% royalties had been paid.

Realistically, many wouldn’t have paid full royalties as this trended to zero as a consequence of the marketplace wars.

We can see several spikes in volume prior to the launch of Blur (October 2022) but most of the royalties received from volume in December and early 2023 were likely to be trivial given a much lower percentage than the typical 5%.

If we just take the April to August 2022 royalties in full and assume all other royalties were nil then we would arrive at a more realistic estimate of $1.8m in revenue.

This is assuming they converted the ETH proceeds into USD at the spot rate on the day to preserve their project runway. This is something that Netz openly talks about and the team has produced a business model exclusive of royalty revenue reliance. Hence the push for productive assets in the form of toy sales and IP licensing arrangements.

3) Outside Capital

There have been rumours around a $10m VC raise at a $50m valuation. Although it was said to have been refuted by Netz.

It’s likely that the team are running on their own capital earned through previous successful ventures, of which there are several. We can see that other similar-sized projects have raised external funding:

• Doodles announced a $54 million round in September 2022.

• Moonbirds creator Proof Collective raised $50 million in August 2022.

• Yuga Labs, the firm behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, led the way with a $450 million round in March 2022.

• Chiru Labs, the outfit behind Azuki, was rumoured to be interested in a $30 million raise. However, Zagabond expresses no interest in funding at this point.

For context, Yuga Labs’ VC funding constitutes 23% of their war chest, and when combined with their $APE coin allocation, it amounts to over 90% of their entire treasury. Royalties are becoming less relevant to sustainable NFT projects.

Closing Remarks

The upside potential is huge for the Pudgys. They intend to leverage their wealth of social media success to bootstrap the project beyond the web3 realm.

While the project was acquired in the midst of a bear market, the runway received from secondary royalties was not insignificant and has helped somewhat to be able to develop the project sustainably.

The project collaborations are well thought out and complement the clear strategic direction outlined by the team. It’s a testament to the team for having such strong conviction in the direction of the brand. The team certainly has a solid track record to do so.

As for the next steps, it will depend on the continued success of bringing in the right partnerships, the level of runway remaining and the ability to use this sustainably. The alternative is to seek external funding, but the dynamic of the project may change as additional stakeholders enter the mix as potential conflicts of interest arise.

Every NFT project claims it will become the next BAYC, but few have the calibre to pull it off. Pudgy’s are one of those and arguably could have greater potential if the stars align. Certainly one to watch over the coming year.

Origins NFT

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

In the world of blockchain and digital assets, NFTs emerged as one of the most talked-about recent trends. Last year saw NFTs go mainstream with more and more creators, brands, and celebrities joining the Web3 bandwagon. 

However, amidst the sea of NFT projects, only a select few were able to make a lasting impact and stand out for their innovation and creativity.

In this article, we will take a closer look at five NFT projects that truly drove meaningful change, showcasing unique and out-of-the-box uses of this revolutionary technology.

Article Outline

• 1/ Sappy Seals - Content Creation

• 2/ Azuki - Phygital Fashion

• 3/ ZenAcademy - Soul Bound NFTs

• 4/ The Memes by 6529 - Open-Source IP

• 5/ Nouns - Decentralized Ethos

• Closing Remarks

1/ Sappy Seals - Content Creation

Sappy Seals is a Web3 brand that has effectively showcased how significant a role communities play in establishing a robust brand within the NFT space.

Apart from creating a formidable gaming and DeFi ecosystem within their Pixlverse ecosystem, Sappy Seals have also positioned themselves as a hub for content creators through the launch of the Meme Machine. 

This platform enables NFT holders to develop customized memes using their Sappy Seals, effectively becoming an incubator for content creators. To simplify the process, the platform features a browser extension called Sappy React, allowing users to access generative memes directly from their desktop.

The Seals have earned a reputation for being pioneers in the NFT space, and once again, they've caught people's attention through their Bitcoin Digital Artifacts challenges.

These challenges provided users with the opportunity to win one of 101 free Bitcoin Digital Artifacts by participating in various competitions, including auctions, riddle-solving, and content creation. The team effectively utilized their Meme Machine platform during the challenges, where participants had to hunt for clues in some of the templates offered on the platform.

If you're interested in learning more about Sappy Seals and their plans for the future, we've recently published a useful guide "Sappy Seals: From Memes to Leading Content Creation in Web3."

2/ Azuki - Phygital Fashion

Launched by Chiru Labs in January 2022, Azuki is a collection of 10,000 avatars each granting its owner membership to an online club named The Garden. Thanks to its unique art style, the collection gained instant success, and quickly became one of the most prominent in the NFT industry.

Azuki positions itself as a brand for the metaverse, commencing with exclusive streetwear collaborations, NFT releases, live events, and additional undisclosed ventures in the future.

Apart from having introduced the ERC-721A protocol, a more gas-efficient standard, allowing users to mint multiple NFTs at a relatively low gas price, Azuki also introduced the Physical Backed Token (PBT), an open source token standard tying a physical item to a digital token on the Ethereum blockchain.

Azuki has been utilizing PBTs to explore the limits of "phygital" fashion, blending physical and digital elements. They've partnered with AMBUSH to release several limited-edition collectibles, the latest being the Twin Tiger Jackets, which have received significant online attention and praise.

Twitter user @toyninja summed it up best by saying:

“It’s not just a jacket, but a luxury product.” - @toyninja

3/ ZenAcademy - Soul Bound NFTs

Founded by Zeneca, ZenAcademy has grown to become a Web3 home for many newcomers, artists, developers, project founders, and self professed degens all around the NFT space. With a mission “to empower [holders] with the tools, opportunities, and network to excel in Web3 and beyond” ZenAcademy has not fallen short on its promise.

ZenAcademy has recently introduced Student IDs, which are Soulbound NFTs designed to serve as an entry point into the entire ZenAcademy ecosystem. These IDs are Soulbound, implying that they cannot be sold or traded on secondary markets. Their primary purpose is to serve as a dynamic digital profile for users navigating the ZenAcademy ecosystem.

These free to mint passes have an unlimited supply, as their goal is to onboard as many entrants as possible into the ZenAcademy ecosystem. In the words of Zeneca:

“This is the next step in onboarding the first million.” - Zeneca

In the future, there will be unique badges that students can earn and display on their Student IDs, as well as the ability to feature their profile picture (PFP) and many more customization options.

While much of the functionality of these IDs is yet to be released, ZenAcademy has been able to find a very creative way to reward active members of its ecosystem through the use of Soulbound NFTs.

4/ The Memes by 6529 - Open-Source IP

Founded by Punk6529, The Memes by 6529 is a collection of art NFTs whose goal is “to spread the message of decentralization, in a way that tweetstorms, policy papers and podcasts can't.”

The Memes Collection aims to promote the ideals of the open metaverse, which include decentralization, community, and self-sovereignty, and to disseminate this message to a broad audience through accessible means. The Memes are affordable large edition, CC0 (public domain) NFTs, that can be remixed (ReMemed) and reinterpreted, with the goal of allowing as many people to participate.

The Memes advocate for permissionless NFTs on decentralized public blockchains to be the default ownership layer for digital assets such as profile pictures, avatars, artwork, virtual spaces, game objects, and identities. The team refers to this as "the open metaverse," and believes that application providers should acknowledge this ownership layer.

While the artist for the initial cards is 6529er, the bulk of the collection’s pieces are collaborations with other great artists such as Grant Riven Yun, OSF, DirtyRobot, XCOPY, Zuphioh,  to name a few.

Additionally, given the Meme Cards NFTs are CC0, anyone can use them to make derivative works, called the ReMemes, which stand at the heart of The Memes community and core to their mission. 

The ReMemes are a diverse collection of works, ranging from copies of The Memes to original and intricate pieces created by independent creators. They are sold and minted in various formats, at different prices, on separate contracts, and without the need for permission. 

The Memes believe that the ReMemes will be the primary means of disseminating their message to a broader audience across the globe. The ReMemers operate independently, and owning a Meme Card is not necessary to participate. The Memes aim to support the ReMemes community by providing user-friendly tools for distribution plans and establishing an on-chain registry to display the works.

5/ Nouns - Decentralized Ethos

Nouns is another NFT project that is pushing the boundaries of decentralization and innovation to a new level. 

The project has introduced a unique distribution method and open-source IP, which has resulted in its distinct pixelated specs being featured everywhere from beer cans to movies.

Unlike other popular PFP NFTs like CryptoPunks or Bored Ape Yacht Club where the supply is finite and is all made available upon the start of mint, Nouns are a creative experiment where a new Noun is generated every 24 hours and put up for auction. 

Once the auction concludes, another unique Noun is minted, and the process repeats, forever. The proceeds from all auctions are then sent directly to the DAO’s treasury. To date, the Nouns DAO has collected well over 29,000 ETH, or about $43.5 million USD in its treasury.

Noun holders can participate in the Nouns DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization responsible for managing and overseeing the project. Members of the DAO can contribute by voting on proposals that will be financed by the treasury. 

They can also suggest proposals and vote on them, or delegate their voting power to other members. The aim is to fund projects that are unique and captivating to increase Noun's brand recognition and attract more people to join the community.

So far, the Nouns DAO has financed various projects, such as:

• Featuring Nouns glasses in a 2022 Super Bowl commercial. The proposal offered a Nouns NFT to a company that would feature the glasses in the ad, and Bud Light won the auction and used the NFT in their commercial. As part of the deal, Bud Light also changed their Twitter profile picture to a Nouns NFT.

• Creating a comedic documentary called "Nouns Around Town," proposed by the creators of Robot Chicken. The project was able to raise 609 ETH in funding and focused on the Nouns DAO's efforts to have Nouns featured in the Rose Parade.

• Developing Nouns coffee, proposed by a team with experience in the coffee industry. The proposal raised 105 ETH in funding and aimed to create the first-ever consumable brand inspired by Nouns and make it available in cafes and grocery stores.

Moreover, Nouns is licensed as CC0, open-source, which implies that anyone can utilize the Nouns name and imagery to create anything, as it is freely available to the public. Consequently, this has resulted in a diverse range of Nouns merchandise and derivate NFT collections such as Noundles, Lil' Nouns, 3D Nouns, and NounPunks.

Although the Nouns DAO is named as a decentralized autonomous organization, it is not entirely decentralized. 

The Nouns Foundation can still reject proposals that it considers to have significant legal or existential risks to the Nouns DAO or the Nouns Foundation. 

Nevertheless, it stands out as one of the most remarkable examples of how a DAO can leverage the potential of NFTs in transforming simple pixelated PFPs into a widely recognized and valuable asset around the NFT space and outside it.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• Sappy Seals has demonstrated the importance of community in building a strong brand within the NFT space. They have not only created a gaming and DeFi ecosystem within their Pixlverse ecosystem but also established themselves as a content creator hub through their Meme Machine platform, which allows NFT holders to develop customized memes.

• Azuki is a brand for the metaverse that offers streetwear collaborations, NFT releases, live events, and other undisclosed ventures. They have introduced the ERC-721A protocol and the Physical Backed Token (PBT), which ties a physical item to a digital token on the Ethereum blockchain and have partnered with AMBUSH to release several limited-edition collectibles, including the Twin Tiger Jackets, which have been praised as a luxury product.

• ZenAcademy has introduced Student IDs, Soulbound NFTs, that serve as an entry point into their ecosystem. They cannot be sold or traded, but users can earn badges and display their profile picture in the future. ZenAcademy aims to onboard as many users as possible into their Web3 community.

• The Memes by 6529 is an affordable collection of art NFTs aiming to spread the message of decentralization and promote the ideals of the open metaverse. The CC0 NFTs can be remixed and reinterpreted, and the collection encourages the creation of ReMemes, diverse works by independent creators sold without permission, as the primary means of disseminating their message.

• Nouns is a unique NFT project where a new Noun is generated every 24 hours and put up for auction, and the proceeds are sent to the DAO's treasury. The Nouns DAO has financed various projects, including featuring Nouns glasses in a Super Bowl commercial and creating a comedic documentary called "Nouns Around Town."

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

The music industry has experienced a digital revolution over the past decade.

Today, the subscription model contributes to most of the global music industry revenue, allowing services like Spotify to thrive.

However, the advent of NFTs marks the next step in this technological revolution. This article unpacks their potential to disrupt the industry like never before.

Article Outline

• Background

• Application of NFTs

• Future Predictions

• Closing Remarks

Background

1) Music Industry

The global music industry is worth $25.9b in annual revenue. As a benchmark, this equates to 39.8% of the global art market revenue, which is valued at $65.1b. It’s clear that the music industry is hot on its heels with the potential to unlock new value using NFTs.

The United States drives most of this music activity. In 2021, the revenue generated by the music industry in the U.S. amounted to $15 billion, showing an increase of 22.9% from the previous year's revenue of $12.2 billion. Additionally, out of the world’s 532 million paid subscribers to music streaming services, 82.1 million are based in the United States.

Global paid subscription services have gone through a period of inflection in the past decade, from 8 million subscriptions in 2010 to over 500 million in 2021.

Physical ownership was superseded by downloads with Pirate Bay and Limewire, causing havoc on artist royalties. In fact, physical items only make up for 9% of total music revenue now. This infographic from IFPI illustrates the transition well.

Spotify offered a cost-effective alternative, and superior product, to piracy. Its rapid download speeds encouraged many to move away from the sub-optimal piracy experience.

Blockchain technology could facilitate the next phase of this superior product offering by shifting this temporary rental model back to ownership but in a digital form. There are several big players in the music streaming market, but Spotify leads the way with 31% of the market share. This is over double that of its second-place competitor, Apple. Probably a driving factor as to why Apple has blocked the Spotify NFT pilot program, which we will touch on later in the article.

Although growth on most platforms is declining, YouTube seems to be attracting more users at a growing pace.

In fact, if these trajectories continue we could see YouTube flip Spotify on user subscriptions within the next five years. We’ve already examined YouTube’s recent senior executive changes, and what this could mean for a web3 pivot.

If they decide to successfully adopt blockchain technology, drive cost efficiencies and increase user adoption then their user growth flip could happen sooner than we expect. Spotify needs to remain on its game to remain ahead and it’s looking like they are making moves with their recent announcement.

2) Spotify

Spotify is currently the world’s biggest music streaming platform by subscribers with 31% of the streaming market share.

The company was founded in Stockholm in 2006, by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. The two wanted to create a legal digital music platform to rival online music piracy in the early 2000s. It eventually launched in 2008, gaining rapid user adoption by leveraging Facebook’s established network through a partnership. An early example of the effectiveness of Metcalfe’s and Reed’s laws.

Spotify went public in April 2018, with a market cap of $26.5 billion after the first day of trading.

The application has 488 million monthly users, 205 million of which are paid subscribers. Spotify also prides itself on its wide range of music content, with over 100 million songs and 5 million podcasts.

Most of Spotify’s users are based in Europe, despite most of the overall music industry revenue deriving from the U.S.

55% of its user base is aged between 18 to 34, which is a heavy overlap with the demographic of NFT users. It is primed for a similar rate of adoption to YouTube, which has 34% of users in this age bracket but a larger user base at 2.1 billion users.

The Spotify user base is moving steadily upwards. The number of subscriptions also appears to be moving in the same direction.

Spotify’s model is free music accessible for everyone, but a paid premium subscription enables higher quality recordings with no adverts.

It all seems positive, right? So why take a risk on NFTs? While companies need to continue innovating to maintain a competitive advantage, Spotify has never turned a profit.

Before diving into the potential solutions involving NFTs, let’s take a look at the challenges facing the industry and those impacting Spotify.

3) The Challenges

Record labels and artists frequently hit the headlines with disagreements over the inequitable split in revenue from royalties.

While we are not there yet in terms of equitable remuneration, a power shift over how creators are rewarded is taking place, enabled through distributed ledger technology and network effects.

The creator economy is booming thanks to the virality of the internet. Empowering individuals and enabling them to reach a wider audience than was previously possible using these network effects. This disintermediation is putting pressure on record labels and corporate intermediaries, as their services become less important to artist reach.

Independent artists earned $1.2 billion in revenue in 2020. That equates to just 2% of the overall annual music industry revenue. It’s estimated that music publishers usually earn 50% of mechanical and residual income from a recorded song and usually take 25% of income for live performances.

Apple’s Stance on NFTs

Apple blocked NFT integration which could become a huge headwind for mass adoption. The software developer covers a large portion of the smartphone market. So preventing downloads of NFT-integrated applications on their platform automatically excludes a significant number (2.2 billion or 31%) of the 7 billion smartphones in circulation.

First Mover Advantage

Many crypto native brands will have a first mover advantage in the space of developing trust and a relationship with their web3 audience. This may prove challenging for Spotify to break into the web3 market given the anti-establishment ethos of many decentralization maxis.

However, their approach to partnering with trusted projects like Creepz, Kingship etc. will be a good method of breaking into the existing market. As the masses enter the space, this will become less of a barrier to entry given they can leverage their brand equity to guide new web3 users.

Artist Royalties Per Stream

Spotify pays a quarter of Napster for streaming revenue per download to music artists. Yet it remains unprofitable, so something needs to change for the company to continue operating.

Could blockchain and NFTs drive operational costs down and create a viable business that allows more favorable repatriation of royalties to artists? It’s certainly a possibility worth exploring.

Let’s take a look.

Application of NFTs

There are several applications of NFTs in the music industry. Spotify is focusing on token-gating content to its Premium members using a crypto wallet integration. Four NFT projects will be included in the pilot program:

• Creepz by Overlord

• Kingship (Universal Music Group’s metaverse band)

• Fluf

• Moonbirds

This type of exclusive content could drive community building with the application. Groups of individuals tend to rally around an idea, cause or agreed set of values. Music can help build community culture, so having token-gated content that’s transferable makes sense as a next step.

1) Stronger Artist-Fan Bond

We’ve seen from the art world that NFTs create a stronger and more direct bond between creators and their fans. Content can be airdropped directly to their most loyal fans creating a direct reward mechanism. The data available on the creator’s fan base is enhanced so curation of ideas and end products can be tailored in real-time as the dynamic market evolves and shifts. This enables a more iterative process in creating their masterpieces, rather than releasing an end product that flops.

2) Tiered Access to Perks

Tiered access to perks such as private backstage passes or meet the musician can be executed for those holding the most valuable or exclusive NFTs.

These could be soulbound based on attendance of specific concerts, or access to additional unseen backstage footage once the event has concluded.

For example holders of Violetta Zironi’s NFTs get access to all her in-person concerts for free in addition to access to Zoom Concerts (digital concerts).

3) POAPs and Attendance Verification

We see many fans boast that they were at a specific renowned concert or event. This verifies that.

In the early stages of the NFT development cycle, we saw Azuki airdrop the Beanz NFT to Azuki holders during the live “Garden” event. There’s no reason this couldn’t be done with artists and their fans at concerts.

4) Exclusive Limited Edition Content

Exclusive benefits could include limited edition content token-gated via the tiered NFT model. If there is a strong user fan base then these could become extremely sought-after collectibles that create additional value for holders that’s beyond what’s possible for the web2 realm.

Some subscription models or premium-tier DVDs have this footage, but this is at a cost to the holder. NFTs enable a resale model so that once the consumer is finished with the product there is some resale value.

5) Artist Monetization

While I suspect the music platform will take a reasonable cut for the innovation, there could be a more direct flow of benefits embedded in the underlying smart contract to go between the fan and musician.

It’s clear that musicians need to reach a decent number of streamers to make a living. To earn $40,000 a music artist would need to receive 10 million downloads on their track.

This allows them another method of monetizing their audience through community building — they will likely receive a larger cut of the proceeds than the subscription model.

6) Piracy Prevention

Music NFTs can help reduce piracy. Each NFT is distinguishable and cannot be replicated, it makes it difficult for people to illegally copy and distribute album art.

7) Unlocking Transactable Value

If the fan holds an NFT and no longer wants to receive the benefits, they can sell this on the open market.

While this reduces the initial proceeds of the sale to the artist, a portion of the secondary sales can be repatriated to the artist as royalties. Both parties benefit and then the artist is continually incentivized to promote that piece after launch — driving continued sales and revenue.

As a holder, I’m more likely to pay for a subscription through an NFT knowing I can recover the cost if I no longer want those benefits.

8) Music NFT DAOs

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are reshaping the way music is produced.

Instead of a music label being in charge of an artist’s music direction, DAOs provide a decentralized alternative. This improves the benefits for the artist by removing the interests of an intermediary and focuses on improving the outcomes for the artist and consumer.

Future Predictions

It’s clear some of the big names in crypto see this as a positive step forward. Timelines will be as quick as these tech behemoths decide to ship products.

We’ve seen from experience that network effects can have a parabolic impact on adopting new technology if there is a real use case. Take AI as an example — OpenAI’s ChatGPT drove 100 million users onto their application within a two-month period.

With the adverse macro conditions still looming we are continuing to see tech companies laying off their workforce. This has a stifling effect on innovation but can also refocus the remaining talent onto the avenues with the largest upside.

Spotify’s beta testing is currently underway across four key NFT projects, so we could have the real product rolled out to the wider market within the next six months. The product will only be available to the premium member group so that’s 205 million user exposure.

If just 1% of these users adopted the new feature, this would be 41x the daily active wallets trading NFTs. It’s also important to highlight not to get our hopes up. A Spotify spokesperson said to CoinDesk:

“[Spotify] routinely conducts a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” some of which “end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as important learnings.”

I’m of the opinion that there will be some headwinds to getting users to integrate crypto wallets, but we could see some innovative tech or seamless user interface (UI) come to fruition through the trial process.

Closing Remarks

Music artists no longer have to relinquish their ownership and music rights to major labels, distributors or streamers.

Musicians and fans can build more direct relationships reducing the costs incurred or revenue lost to the middleman.

The past decade has been a digital revolution, with a paradigm shift from physical to digital through streaming services. Ownership of digital content is the next iteration in the innovation cycle.

Origins Analytics

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech, specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our Opensea page.

Sappy Seals is a Web3 brand that has successfully demonstrated the importance of communities in building a strong brand in the NFT space.

In this article, we will cover the Sappy ecosystem: Sappy Seals, Pixlverse, and Pixl Labs. It will explore how the strength of community, and memes, can propel a brand to become a leading content creator incubator in the Web3 space.

Article Outline

• Background

• The Sappy Seals Culture

• The Power of Memes

• Upcoming Updates To Look Out For

• Project Runway Analysis

• Closing Remarks

Background

1) What are Sappy Seals?

Sappy Seals is more than just a collection of 10,000 adorable seal NFTs. This Web3 brand has effectively demonstrated how crucial a role communities play in forging a strong brand in the NFT space.

Whether you are active on Twitter or casually log on from time to time, you’ll no doubt recognize these sassy seals from your Twitter feed.

This week, Seals became prominent, particularly due to the Bitcoin Digital Artifacts challenges initiated by Sappy Seals on Twitter. These challenges gave users the opportunity to participate in an auction or complete various challenges including riddles to win one of 101 free Bitcoin Digital Artifacts.

The Seals are known for bringing innovation to the table and being at the forefront of emerging trends, and their community is renowned for being one of the loudest and most active in the space - we’ll be exploring this later in this article.

Sappy Seals has come a long way from its humble beginnings of knocking door to door on Twitter DMs after minting on August 31st, 2021 during the peak of the 2021 NFT bull run. They've developed a globally recognized brand with a flourishing ecosystem that includes various products covering community, gaming, and decentralized finance. This has allowed the brand to establish itself as a prominent player in the NFT space.

To date, the genesis Sappy Seals collection has seen a total of 19,537 ETH (~$32.2 million USD) in volume with a current floor price of 1.15 ETH (~$1,900 USD).

2) What is Pixlverse?

The Pixlverse is a 3D metaverse and Web3 platform encompassing community, gaming, and decentralized finance. It links experiences and Web3 tools from partnered communities to create a social base-layer and offers players a chance to connect with a global digital community using blockchain gaming technologies. It allows users to create stories for their NFTs through emergent gameplay experiences.

The Three Pillars of the Pixlverse

1. Community - the Pixlverse is developing a social metaverse providing users with a meaningful and enjoyable interface experience that taps into nostalgia while delivering next-gen technology. Community is a crucial part of the Pixlverse, as it aims to gather communities with a shared interest in developing the future of Web3 and integrate community initiatives, serving as a platform and network for technical innovations created by the community.

2. Gaming - the Pixlverse is developing a gaming module called Pixl Pets that aims to create a fun-first, innovative, and polished game where players are naturally incentivized to explore the metaverse and are rewarded for their time investment with $PIXL (the in-game currency), Pixlverse NFTs, and in-game items. Pixl Pets will serve as the flagship game, providing a unique experience that blends nostalgia with new dynamic mechanics, and the pets will exist as gaming experiences, companions, and productive assets for the world of decentralized finance.

3. Decentralized Finance - the Pixlverse will provide access to financial applications without the barriers created by traditional financial institutions. NFTs and communities are the entry point for the Pixlverse De-Fi protocols, and will act as building blocks, encouraging productivity through collaboration, creating unique earning potential through positive sum transactional value. The tokenomics and De-Fi protocols of the Pixlverse foster social experiences, encouraging collaboration and excitement within the community.

What is $PIXL?

$PIXL is the utility token of The Pixlverse and can be used for purchasing items from the marketplace, breeding, pet leveling, crafting and more.

When staked, each Sappy Seal produces $PIXL daily, based on its rarity. For example, Sappy Seals with rarity rankings lower than 4001 yield 50 $PIXL per day, while the rarest NFTs yield 500 $PIXL daily.

In the words of Sappy Seals’ Community Manager, Camol:

“1 seal ≠ 1 seal. Based on the rarity, the amount of $PIXL you receive changes. First of its kind, and it’s already live.” - Camol

While the floor price of Seals within the 501 and 10,000 rarity band does not change, Seals in the top 5% of the rarity band are priced at a premium.

The $PIXL token can also be earned by active participation and in-game interactions within the Pixlverse ecosystem.

Lastly, the Pixlverse DeFi protocols will utilize a vast array of social experiences embedded within the open world metaverse to introduce a number of DeFi applications to players and teach them about these concepts and how they work. These include:

1. Single Sided Staking - staking pre-existing $PIXL tokens to earn additional $PIXL rewards.

2. Normal LP Protocol - staking equal parts $PIXL and ETH to the protocol and in return receiving a higher APY%.

3. Locked LP Protocol - similar in nature to the 'Normal LP' protocol, however, requires a timelock. Additionally, not only are users rewarded with $PIXL yield here, but they also generate a low supply NFT 'loyalty' reward as well. The first one will be the “glitch serum”, with only 500 available.

4. Bonding Protocol - users will be able to contribute a specific amount of LP tokens and in return receive discounted vPIXL that vests over time, as well as the instant acquisition of the NFT reward from the Locked LP protocol. Using the example above, users would receive the “glitch serum” immediately.

Fun fact: $PIXL was once called $BLUBBR, thankfully the team changed the name not long after its introduction.

The Pixl Marketplace

The PIXL marketplace is a place where players can exchange their $PIXL for exclusive NFTs that can be used across the entire Pixelverse, including cosmetic items, art drops, in-game assets with utility, and more.

These items are limited in supply and once purchased, the exclusive NFT is minted to the player's wallet and the item is available for use in the game. $PIXL tokens used to purchase items are sent to the community treasury and removed from the circulating supply.

The marketplace is intended to reward early supporters of the game, and the NFTs sold here are considered the genesis tier of rarity and are expected to accrue value over time.

The Pixlverse Items storefront on secondary markets has seen a total of 1,228 ETH (~$2 million USD) in volume with the lowest entry item currently priced at 0.0089 ETH (~$15 USD).

Yield Enhancing NFTs

Additionally to all the above, there is a limited number of yield enhancing NFTs available for purchase within The Pixl Marketplace.

These NFTs are designed to reward early supporters and will provide significant benefits within the DeFi protocols that will be deployed within the Pixlverse ecosystem over time.

Each NFT can boost the yield on rewards when staked within a DeFi protocol, but usually only one NFT can be staked per protocol. However, if someone owns multiple NFTs, they can stake them across different protocols. The exception to this rule is for ONE Founders Pass and ONE Goat NFTs, which can be additively stacked.

Blessed Goats

Blessed goats are a tiered based yield enhancer and come in bronze, silver and gold varieties - these can be staked within DeFi protocols to get the following boosts:

• Golden Goat: +15% rewards 

• Silver Goat: +10% rewards

• Bronze Goat: +5% rewards

Founder’s Pass

The Pixlverse Founders Pass, another highly coveted item, offers a 10% boost to rewards when used to stake to one of the flagship DeFi protocols, and can be used across all yield-enhancing activities in the Pixlverse ecosystem.

PIXL Pets

Pixl Pets is a Play and Earn blockchain game set in the Pixelverse. It will be the first game developed by Pixl Labs.

The origins of these creatures are unknown, but they are believed to have been formed during a mysterious cosmic event called 'the Glitch'.

Pixl Pets offers P&E rewards as a supplementary value to the social and entertainment value provided by gameplay, or as core to the gameplay experience and decision-making.

The game emphasizes multiplayer modes and co-operative decision making, allowing players to journey, make decisions, and take risks together. The game is designed to be an extension of the social experience of the Pixlverse Open World.

To date, the Pixl Pets - Genesis Collection has seen a total of 4,735 ETH (~$7.8 million USD) in secondary volume and currently sits at a floor price of 0.1118 ETH (~$185 USD).

Pixl Pet Properties

Pixl Pets have unique properties that are either fixed or can change. Some properties such as cosmetic traits and stat growth rates do not change, while others, like its experience level & its moves, can change. A pet's level can also affect its stats and its ability to participate in events.

There are four elements, each with a unique archetype, and a pet's element affects its moves.

Every pet has base stats, stat growth rates, and current stats that change as the pet levels up. Each pet also has four moves at the start, and can learn more via items or by breeding. Players will also be able to lease pets for the purpose of battling and breeding, enabling them more chances to accrue $PIXL.

Some pets can reroll their moves for a cost, which is one of the only ways to alter a pet's genetics.

Additionally, two community-made tools were created to help players acquire the right PIXL Pets for their team. The first tool is called Move Explorer, which allows players to search for PIXL Pets with their desired move pool. The second tool is called Hatched Egg Detector, which helps to prevent disappointment by detecting if an egg has already hatched on secondary, making sure that players get what they paid for.

Gameplay

Pixl Pets is a pet battler game that allows players to pilot their team of 4 pets against other players in the Battle Arena and the wider Pixlverse.

Players choose moves for their pets each round, with additional and optional trainer commands. The battle resolves automatically according to the turn order. Pixl Pets' use of a 2x2 grid is unique among pet battlers, and mastering the grid will be key to success.

The game offers a range of experiences, from casual to competitive, with a focus on multiplayer. The core design objectives are to explore the competitive potential of the pet battler, offer meaningful financial decisions, increase player agency, balance strategy and Yomi, and provide a modern and clean feel while respecting the retro-inspired nature of the game.

3) What is Pixl Labs?

Pixl Labs is the parent company that operates both Sappy Seals and The Pixlverse. 

This is similar to Yuga Labs and Bored Ape Yacht Club, Overlord and Creepz, or Marvel and Spiderman, where the former are the parent companies operating the latter.

The introduction of Pixl Labs hints at the scale at which the team plans to operate. The team also mentioned that the Pixlverse will drive value back to Seal holders through pre-mining $PIXL, brand deals, collaborations, and more. The Pixl Labs team will support both Sappy Seals and The Pixlverse as valuable elements of their vision, while also expanding the "Sappy" brand as a lifestyle brand in the Web2 and Web3 space, with partnerships already being considered. The Pixl Labs Network is expected to grow, offering countless opportunities in the Web3 space.

The Sappy Seals Culture

The Sappy Seals team and community culture is well-known for being one of the most inclusive, culturally-rich and forward-thinking groups in the NFT space. Beyond an infectious sense of humor, the Seals have a strong presence on social media, a capable team, and a supportive community.

Strong Founder Online Presence

Sappy Seals’ Founder, Wab, is one of the most active personalities in Web3. Currently ranked 3rd, Wab’s global reach constitutes 17.1% of the entire NFT space.

Furthermore, Wab“.ETH” has demonstrated his dominance on various blockchains including Cardano, increasing the transaction volume on the blockchain by 30% in September 2022, and becoming one of the biggest online influencers on the chain, surpassing Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson’s own monthly online growth.

Wab has also been extending the reach of Sappy Seals into non-English speaking communities.

In addition, he ensures that he supports his community by retweeting many of their tweets, fostering community loyalty, and elevating other creators who produce content in favor of Sappy.

Strong Team

The Sappy Seals team is also not short on talent, with every team member playing a vital role in the brand’s success, whether it be on the community, communication, or development front.

The list includes:

• Camol - Marketing, Security, Community Management, Platform Partnerships

• Chavo - Art Direction

• Ephi - Art Direction, Game Design, Tokenomics

• Diakou - Art Direction, Funding/Strategy, Game Design, Game Dev, Tokenomics,

• Degen - Funding/Strategy, Tokenomics

• Gunga - Engineering, Tokenomics

• Improt - Engineering, Game Dev

• Jah - Art Direction, Community Management, Marketing, Security

• Metaroonie - Community Management

• Mooney - Community Management, Security

• NFTzy - Funding/Strategy, Tokenomics

• Trisnt - Project Management

• VO - Art Direction

Strong Collaborations

The Seals have established significant partnerships with both Web3 and non-Web3 brands and charities.

One of their most noteworthy collaborations was with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital during Christmas, a prominent and highly regarded charity that provides medical assistance to children worldwide. As part of the donation drive, individuals were able to purchase St. Jude shirts, and Seal holders were able to showcase their virtual shirts using the Meme Machine.

Additionally, the Seals have collaborated with Oscar Mayer to introduce the "Meat-A-Verse," an IRL meet-up event that took place during Miami's Art Basel.

Strong Community

The community of Sappy Seals is known for being highly supportive of each other, regardless of whether they are content creators, artists, or meme creators. They actively help one another grow their audience, and even have a special channel on their Discord where members can share their Seals themed content for others to promote.

Their commitment to supporting each other is best summed up by the slogan "one for all, and all for one."

By regularly rewarding their most engaged, humorous, and supportive members, the team has managed to foster a community that is highly supportive and uplifting.

Additionally, in a space predominantly made up of men, the Sappy Seals community has a culture that is very supportive and welcoming to women in Web3. Just take a look at @SappySisters. Members consistently uplift and encourage each other, and are always ready to provide support when needed.

The Power of Memes, Arf

Beyond building a strong gaming and DeFi ecosystem, Sappy Seals has also established themselves as an incubator for content creators. They have furthered this mission by launching Meme Machine, a platform that allows NFT holders to create personalized memes using their Sappy Seals. The platform includes a browser extension called Sappy React, making it easier for users to use generative memes straight from their desktop.

The goal is to compensate and support community members involved in decentralized IP-building. Sappy Seals is also planning to expand Meme Machine's features with an editor, AI meme generation tools, and a market-to-earn program.

In addition, this helps to supercharge community content creation by enabling creators to increase their content output, as they can easily generate and utilize branded content using the platform.

According to TweetBinder, over the past week, the Sappy Seals community has generated over 175,000 tweets, which amounts to an average of 25,000 tweets per day.

Sappy Seals member, @Bartorinho1916, has highlighted that in the past week, a total of 11,850 contributors have shared content related to Sappy Seals, with 11,088 retweets of Sappy Seals content, resulting in a potential reach of over 13 million unique users.

As the saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility,” and in the case of Sappy Seals, it also means great exposure. The community is currently a dominant force on NFT Twitter, with around 34% of all NFT Twitter users having seen a content creator with a Sappy Seals profile picture in the past 24 hours. This should come as no surprise, given that 7,928 Twitter users, or around 79% of all Sappy Seals members, currently have a Sappy Seals profile picture.

When comparing floor prices vs. global reach of various collections, Sappy Seals rank at the top as one of the most affordable NFT collections with high reach.

In fact, Sappy Seals hold the top position in terms of Pay Per Reach (PPR), with the lowest PPR cost of $59 for every 1% reach.

Overall, Sappy Seals have come up with an astute self-promotion funnel that includes incentivizing artists to create more meme templates, offering helpful content creation tools to their community, and utilizing this content to widen their audience, entice additional users, and boost demand for their content creation tools. I call this the Circle of Arf.

Upcoming Updates To Look Out For

From technological innovation, to a culturally-rich and forward-thinking community, Sappy Seals have made a name for themselves in the NFT space. However, things are far from complete as the team has set ambitious goals for the current year, from empowering creators, to a full rebranding, the future of Sappy Seals looks promising.

1/ Empowering Creators

Community content creation is one of Sappy Seals’ biggest advantages and the team plans to implement initiatives that will empower creators in the community to share the brand’s unique culture with the rest of the world.

2/ Rebranding

The Sappy team aims to increase the brand's public visibility by rebranding and expanding their market beyond just NFTs. They want to retain the essence of Sappy while aligning it with their goal of becoming a well-known brand.

The Sappy Seals brand is also getting a makeover with updated metadata and new artwork from artist @4LeafCloverNFT, but the original art will still be available for holders to choose from. The new artwork has already been completed and will be released at a later time.

3/ Lore

Sappy Seals will expand beyond NFTs and be introduced to a wider audience through storytelling. They will embark on imaginative journeys, showcasing their creativity and overcoming obstacles, with the help of friends from the web3 community. Together, they will collaborate on creating an intellectual property.

4/ Animated Seals

In addition to being a new way of expressing oneself socially, NFTs have the potential to do more than just serve as profile pictures (PFPs). The team plans to animate the entire seal bodies to allow the average holder to build their own personal brand and at the same time enhance the brand of the seals as a whole.

5/ Meme Machine Updated

Sappy Seals and Pixl Labs have always aimed to be innovative and think outside the box. While the primary features of the Meme Machine’s minimum viable product (MVP) are already live, more features will be rolled out in stages with iterative improvements.

For example, the current sidebar on the Meme Machine website shows a couple of products in development. One of them is the ability for creators to “Market 2 Earn”, create, and use AI. Additionally, more future features include onboarding other NFT communities such as The Plague, Pudgy Penguins, y00ts, and Ape Society as well as a creator leaderboard.

6/ IP Licensing

The team is working on ways to enable Sappy Seals holders to monetize their personal brands, but they're being careful about it due to the sensitive nature of intellectual property licensing. They want to ensure that everything is properly secured and long-term safe before they implement any monetization plans.

7/ Collectibles

Pixl Labs is primarily centered around software development and gaming innovation, but they have broader ambitions for Sappy Seals as a brand that encompasses lifestyle. In this effort, collectibles are a crucial aspect, and the team plans to release new merchandise and physical items. These will include essentials, capsule drops, POAPs, and other items that are yet to be announced. Pixl Labs is carefully selecting the appropriate partners to ensure that the brand's long-term success is secured.

8/ Auctions & Raffles

Sappy Seals are working on systems to make sure community-owned seals are included fairly by creating ways for holders to have equal opportunities through $PIXL sinks. This will allow holders to participate in raffles or auctions that give them the chance to win branded content, collaborations, and merchandise.

9/ Marketing

In addition to Twitter, Sappy Seals will expand to other social platforms once the rebranding is complete. They plan to empower creators across different mediums and establish their presence on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms. After the rebrand, they will deploy engaging GIFs and content on Twitter, use Instagram for worldbuilding through comics, fables, and story-telling, and create skits, animations, memes, and viral content on TikTok. This will be a gradual and iterative process.

The Sappy Seals team plans to continue to be a positive force in the Web3 space and contribute to its future, while expanding their reach and opening new doors, with plans to provide value for holders in the space as well as outside of the Pixlverse. Arf.

Project Runway Analysis

To truly understand the funding required to establish a brand as extensive as Pixl Labs, it's essential to consider the resources available to the team. Pixl Labs has produced a total of five collections and, over the past year, have raised a conservative estimate of at least $5.4 million USD.

Due to the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, the team could have converted a large percentage of their ETH (and $PIXL) funds into stable currencies to safeguard their finances. However, in this analysis, we will presume that they retained all their funds in their original currencies, with royalties mostly in ETH and mints in both ETH and $PIXL currencies. These funds were then converted at the current exchange rate to estimate their financial runway.

After OpenSea declared that they would abolish royalties and switch to a near-zero royalty model, teams may face challenges in raising funds through royalties. Pixl Labs, for instance, earned approximately $2 million USD in extra revenue through royalties, which is equivalent to 36% of their entire treasury.

Although Pixl Labs has a considerable amount of funds, they may consider VC funding as an option. Wab has made playful remarks about other teams securing VC funding in the past.

He has also stated that while he may not necessarily require VC funding in the future, he recognizes that it is a probability.

For context, Yuga Labs’ VC funding constitutes 23% of their war chest, and when combined with their $APE coin allocation, it amounts to over 90% of their entire treasury.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• Sappy Seals is a Web3 brand that has successfully demonstrated the importance of communities in building a strong brand in the NFT space. The brand gained prominence on Twitter, and has become a recognized player in the NFT space with a flourishing ecosystem that includes gaming, decentralized finance, and a total volume of 19,537 ETH (~$32.2 million USD) to date.

• Pixlverse is a 3D metaverse and Web3 platform that combines community, gaming, and decentralized finance. It is designed to create a social base-layer for users, allowing them to connect with a global digital community using blockchain gaming technologies. Pixlverse has three pillars: Community, Gaming, and Decentralized Finance. $PIXL is the utility token of The Pixlverse, and it can be used for purchasing items from the marketplace, breeding, pet leveling, crafting, staking, and more. The Pixl Marketplace is a place where players can exchange their $PIXL for exclusive NFTs that can be used across the entire Pixlverse.

• Pixl Labs is a parent company that operates Sappy Seals and The Pixlverse, with plans to expand the "Sappy" brand as a lifestyle brand in the Web2 and Web3 space while supporting both entities and growing the Pixl Labs Network.

• Sappy Seals is home to a strong and inclusive community, led by founder Wab, who has a significant online presence and has extended the brand's reach into other blockchains and non-English speaking communities, with a talented team and notable collaborations with brands and charities such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Oscar Mayer. The brand has managed to foster a supportive and uplifting community culture that is welcoming to everyone.

• Sappy Seals has launched the Meme Machine, a platform that allows NFT holders to create personalized memes using their Seals, and plans to expand its features with an editor, AI meme generation tools, and a market-to-earn program. Sappy Seals also ranks at the top as one of the most affordable NFT collections with high reach, utilizing their community's content creation to widen their audience, entice additional users, and boost demand for their content creation tools.

• Sappy Seals is set to make significant updates this year, including empowering creators to share their culture, rebranding the brand beyond NFTs, expanding through storytelling and animations, monetizing personal brands, releasing physical items, and creating equal opportunities for community-owned seals. The team plans to establish a presence on various social platforms and deploy engaging content gradually.

• Pixl Labs have raised a conservative estimate of at least $5.4 million USD. The team may face challenges in raising funds through royalties after OpenSea's announcement to switch to a near-zero royalty model, and they may consider VC funding as an option in the future.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are two rapidly developing fields of technology. Their intersection has the ability to unlock untapped value, or create entirely new functionality for NFTs.

This intersection can take many forms; AI could be used to create NFTs or use its immutable properties to develop AI models or secure the underlying data lakes the AI tools leverage.

This article examines AI and NFTs, predicting the direction of the entwined technologies.

Article Outline

• What is AI?

• Intersect Between AI and NFTs

• Future Predictions

• Closing Remarks

What is AI?

1) Definition

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field of computer science that aims to create intelligent machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. For example:

• Learning.

• Perception.

• Problem-solving.

• Decision-making.

AI has been applied in many areas, including image recognition, natural language processing, and robotics.

2) History

AI has roots in academia dating back to 1956. In the first decades of the 21st century, highly mathematical-statistical machine learning has dominated the field, and this technique has proved highly successful.

Machine learning algorithms build a model based on sample data, known as training data, in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to do so. This form of self-teaching has raised many concerns over the existential threat it may bring to the human race, if unchecked.

3) Example Development

We’ve seen an explosion of interest in recent months, most stemming from OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform. It is estimated to have reached 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after launch. Comparably, TikTok took nine months to reach the same level of adoption. There has been a myriad of use cases for AI technology:

• Chat Assistant: ChatGPT (OpenAI)

• Music: JukeBox (OpenAI)

• Visual: Midjourney or Dalle-E (OpenAI)

All of these applications will have varying degrees of utility with NFTs.

Intersect Between AI and NFTs

The intersection of AI and NFTs can take many forms, such as using AI to create NFTs or using NFTs to train AI models. But this isn’t where it ends, the possible use cases and overlap are enormous.

Let’s take a closer look at some examples.

1) AI-Generated Art as NFTs

AI algorithms can be trained to create unique digital art pieces, which can be minted as NFTs and sold to collectors.

We’ve seen the explosion of generative art, but generative art using machine learning to create an output has received less media exposure. At least until now.

Brain Drops

Brain Drops has recently caught the attention of both collectors and traders. It is an NFT platform and community for AI-generated art. It is building functionality for the art to be generated, customized, and curated “on-the-fly” by the minters. An educational arm is also being developed to help spread awareness.

Life in West America (Brain Drops Project)

‘Life in west America’ is Brain Drop’s most hyped collection. This 500-piece project by Roope Rainisto was minted on February 8, 2023 for 0.1 ETH (160 USD).

The floor has multiplied by 120x to 12 ETH ($19.9k USD) creating a collection floor market capitalization valuation of 6,000ETH ($10m USD).

The largest holder, Studio 137, owns 12 NFTs from the collection. Other assets in their portfolio suggest they focus on collections with historical significance with a generative art niche. Some examples in their portfolio include:

• 3 Autoglyphs

• 3 CryptoPunks

• 4 LightYears

• 2 Deaf Beef

• Rarepass: Genesis

It’s unsurprising that “Life in West America” is hitting new all-time highs with ‘Westworld’ recently selling for 16 ETH (26.6k USD). If renowned collectors are accumulating the pieces then it’s likely the provenance will drive a high asking price.

https://twitter.com/mooncat2878/status/1626498176009048064?s=20

Pindar Van Armen

We’ve also seen Pindar Van Armen’s collections emerge as cutting-edge in the AI Art revolution. Congrats to SuperRare Genesis pass holders who received this piece!

Van Armen uses robots to paint the pieces before converting them to NFTs. He intricately trains his robots using:

“deep learning neural networks, artificial intelligence, feedback loops and computational creativity”.

Claire Silver

Similarly, Claire Silver’s “Pieces” recently sold for 52.69 ETH ($87k USD) and “Internet” sold for 40 ETH ($67.6K USD).

https://twitter.com/nftnow/status/1626370676138381314?s=20

AI and NFTs aren’t new though. For instance, "AI-Generated Nude Portrait #1" by Robbie Barrat sold for 100 ETH (over $112,000) on January 5, 2021.

While AI-generated art NFTs are the obvious crossover, there is a myriad of other alternative overlapping utilities.

2) NFTs for AI-Generated music:

AI algorithms can be trained to create original music pieces, which can be sold as NFTs.

For instance JukeBox by OpenAI allows you to create music with AI.

Sound bites can then be used and clipped into an NFT, similar to what Dreamloops were back in 2021. The Dreamloop NFTs featured pixel art-based objects with playable retro music saved on each of the NFTs.

There’s no reason this music couldn’t be AI-generated and stored as an NFT to benefit from added security.

3) AI-Powered Marketplaces for NFTs

AI algorithms can be used to analyze the demand for certain types of NFTs and recommend them to buyers. They can also be used to price NFTs based on market trends and historical data.

There’s been rapid development of NFT analytical and trading tools since the 2021 NFT boom. Unsurprisingly, the next iteration could include machine learning to optimize pricing, sniping and the underlying algorithms.

One possible application of AI in NFT trading is using machine learning algorithms to analyze large datasets of past sales to identify patterns and predict future market trends.

4) NFTs for Virtual Assets

NFTs can be used to represent virtual assets in video games or virtual worlds, for example, weapon skins in CS Go.

https://twitter.com/RealJonahBlake/status/1593790820716613632?s=20

AI algorithms can be used to create or modify these assets, maintaining unique and scarce properties as the game evolves.

The algorithm could automatically update the metadata on these assets to rebalance scarcity within a game or prevent power creep by rebalancing weapon statistics based on damage outputs.

5) AI Verifying NFTs

AI can be used to verify the authenticity of NFTs.

AI algorithms could also be trained to identify fraudulent NFTs by analyzing their metadata, transaction history, and other factors, which could help protect buyers and sellers from scams.

This automation removes the need to manually check the authenticity of the digital asset.

6) NFT Ownership Structure for AI Models

Using NFTs to incentivize and reward AI development. For example, some projects are exploring the use of NFTs as a way to reward AI developers for creating useful or innovative AI models. These NFTs could represent a share in the profits generated by the AI model or could be used to unlock access to additional resources or tools.

Alternatively, the NFT could be used as proof of ownership with royalties for the underlying AI intellectual property flowing back to holders.

The limitation here is related to whether it is construed as a security. There may be an expectation of future profits, meaning more stringent reporting compliance and reporting requirements.

7) AI-Powered NPC for Gaming

AI and NFTs could be used together to create new types of interactive and immersive experiences.

For example, an AI-powered virtual assistant could be programmed as an NFT to interact with players in a virtual world, creating a unique and personalized experience for each user.

The NFT can then be extracted and inserted, similar to a cartridge with metadata containing machine learning. A dynamic NFT consistently adapts and learns based on the environment it is embedded within.

NFTs could also be used to represent digital assets that are controlled by AI, such as a virtual pet or another type of AI-powered avatar. This lends itself to having a more advanced NPC in gaming.

8) NFTs for Training AI Models

NFTs can be used to create synthetic datasets that can be used to train AI models.

These datasets can be used to generate images, videos, or text, which can be sold as NFTs. A cartridge that can be plugged into a deep learning machine to upgrade the robot.

Future Predictions

1) Increasing Need for Blockchain and NFTs

We are only just scratching the surface of machine learning. The recent surge in interest and breakthroughs with OpenAI has led to an explosion of attention in the AI sector. A clear overlap arises with blockchain technology.

There’s no reason these technologies should be thought of in isolation. Eventually, AI will be integral to many aspects of society, with NFTs as an alternative complementary form of technology.

2) Rate of Adoption

Three months to gain 100m users is the fastest rate of adoption for any technology in history. The current daily active users are also increasing for applications like ChatGPT, according to ArkInvest.

We can predict that this rate will continue as it becomes more widely available. With interconnected networks and exponential machine learning, a secure data source will be imperative. NFTs and blockchain provide this utility.

3) Market Saturation

We are experiencing an explosion in interest for AI visuals from Dall-E 2 or Midjourney. These are being immortalized as NFTs, but it’s likely this will create a trend for many new collection launches, leading to market saturation. Similar to open editions and Check VV derivatives.

Those who pioneered the art movement will likely hold value, while others may pump but likely trend to zero in the long term. If you want to create an AI NFT that holds value, do something that hasn’t been done before.

Closing Remarks

It’s inevitable that the use of AI will be entwined with NFTs, albeit to varying degrees depending on the purpose.

Before we conclude, out of curiosity I asked the ChatGPT and Midjourney AI applications about NFTs. Here were the outcomes.

ChatGPT provided a relatively balanced answer on the future of NFTs. Suggesting the NFT asset bubble and environmental challenges were headwinds.

While MidJourney visualized us being at a crossroads with the door to enter the next phase of the technological revolution. Or at least that’s how I interpret it. What do you think?

Both tools appear to have uncertainty embedded in their response. This leads me to conclude that AI-generated outputs are inherently dependent on the inputs. If we feed them with data that can be construed as biased, the outputs will likely be tentative, ambiguous or provide subjective outputs.

Regardless, the AI boom has increased the need for NFTs. Proof of ownership of underlying IP, capturing datasets to use as cartridges for deep learning robots or simply AI-generated artwork are all emerging intersections. It will be unsurprising that the variety of use cases will expand as AI develops further.

Origins Analytics

At OriginsNFT we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech, specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our Opensea page.

Creepz by Overlord is a multimedia entertainment NFT brand that encompasses TV animation, streetwear fashion and blockchain gaming. The brand takes inspiration from Pokemon's blueprint to create an entire entertainment ecosystem of different games, digital experiences, animated series, and merchandise.

This article will examine what Creepz and the Overlord is, the power of lore and high conviction buyers, as well as dive into the factors that push Overlord to be the 18th biggest NFT ecosystem on Ethereum in total secondary volume.

Article Outline

• What is Creepz by Overlord?

• The Power of Lore

• The Power of High Conviction Holders

• The Five Key Verticals of Overlord

• Project Runway Analysis

• Closing Remarks

What is Creepz by Overlord?

Creepz by Overlord is not your average NFT project. This multimedia brand covers a diverse range of verticals, including TV animation, streetwear fashion, blockchain gaming, ecosystem coin, and brand building.

Drawing inspiration from the blueprint that Pokemon has created, the brand is not just about building a product but rather an entire entertainment ecosystem with different games, digital experiences, animated series and merchandise.

What sets Creepz by Overlord apart is its decentralized, co-owned, and community-driven approach to building an IP. By co-building and creating the brand with the owners/holders of the NFT, the community becomes the product, engaging them in different ways to create a fun fandom.

What Is The Overlord and What Are Creepz?

To draw a comparison with Marvel, one of today's most popular entertainment brands, Creepz by Overlord could be seen as the Marvel Universe, with the Overlord being the overarching universe and Creepz as Spiderman, representing a diverse set of characters and species within it. As the brand develops over time, multiple species can be introduced, all coexisting within the same universe.

What Are The Different Collections in the Overlord Ecosystem?

The Overlord ecosystem is an expansive universe featuring a total of 7 collections to date. In total, all collections across the Overlord Universe have seen a sum of $96.6 million USD, placing them as the 18th biggest NFT ecosystem on Ethereum in total secondary volume.

1/ Creepz by OVERLORD

Creepz by OVERLORD is the genesis collection in the Overlord universe, featuring over 11,111 NFTs with a total volume of 33,926 ETH (~$50.8 million USD) and currently sitting at a floor price of 1.39 ETH (~$2,085 USD).

2/ Creepz Invasion Pass

Creepz Invasion Pass is a collection of 8,888 NFT passes. When paired with a genesis Creepz, it allows holders to claim their 3D Creepz upon their release. The pass also acts as a VIP passport to the Creepz ecosystem for all kinds of exclusive in-game and IRL experiences and perks. To date, the Invasion Pass has seen a total of 3,067 ETH (~$4.6 million USD) in volume and sits at a floor price of 0.048 ETH (~$72 USD).

3/ Floor X Creepz

Floor X Creepz is a collection of 2,222 NFT passes that hold the same utility as the Creepz Invasion Pass. Originally, however, these were made in collaboration with Floor, allowing holders access to their platform. The Floor X Creepz passes have seen a volume of 156 ETH (~$234,000 USD) and currently sit at a floor price of 0.069 ETH (~$103 USD).

4/ Creepz Shapeshifterz

Creepz Shapeshifterz are collector cards of 7 different characters with 5 different variations of each character. They can be mutated into Creepz Mega Shapeshifters by collecting all 5 different variations of a single character and sacrificing them to the Overlord. Doing so increases a Genesis Creepz holder’s $LOOMI bribes earnings. This collection has done a total of 12,193 ETH (~$18.3 million USD) in secondary volume and sits at a floor price of 0.026 ETH (~$39 USD).

5/ Creepz Mega Shapeshifterz

Creepz Mega Shapeshifterz is the mutated version of Creepz Shapeshifterz that arise as a result of sacrificing 5 Shapeshifterz. The collection has seen over 2,227 ETH (~$3.3 million USD) in volume, with a floor price of 0.1102 ETH (~$165 USD).

6/ Creepz Loomi Vault

Creepz Loomi Vault is a collection of 5,000 NFTs acting as a Genesis Creepz holder’s private vault in the Overlord’s bank. They grant holders dividends from the inter-galactic invasion fund. To date, the collection has seen 2,525 ETH (~$3.8 million USD) in total volume, with a floor price of 0.067 ETH (~$100 USD)

7/ Creepz Reptile Armoury

Creepz Reptile Armoury is a collection of 20,000 NFTs. They are the most high-tech interstellar gizmos to upgrade a Creepz’ army in the invasion of earth. This collection has seen over 10,429 ETH (~$15.6 million USD) in secondary volume and currently sits at a floor price of 0.039 ETH (~$58 USD).

Setting Up For The Future of Overlord

It is worth noting that although the Shapeshifterz, Mega Shapeshifterz, Loomi Vault, and Reptile Armory collections were significant in the first season of Creepz, it remains unclear what role they will play in the upcoming version of the brand. However, the team has confirmed that there are plans for each of these assets in the new ecosystem and more is yet to be revealed.

Additionally, the Genesis Creepz and the Interdimensionals - an upcoming collection that is yet to be revealed - will be the main protagonists within the Overlord Universe.

The Power of Lore

“Beyond hard work, two main things set us apart.

The first was leaning into the idea of IP. IP is more than just the artwork itself, it’s the narratives, it’s the universe around it, it’s the motivations, the will to want to take on this character and live it.

The second main pillar is understanding what your product is. We saw the community as the product in many ways. We didn’t just see the community as fans. We saw them as segments of users who are trying to get something out of the brand. If you segment who your users are, you interact with them in different ways at different points in that journey. You really create this fun fandom that still exists, even in a bear market.” - Creepz Co-Founder, Dom, during the Boys Club podcast

The ability of the Creepz team to inspire their buyers to embrace the lore they've developed and take on the Creepz persona played a significant role in the project's success.

The Overlord website's slogan, "an expansive universe created by you," emphasizes how Creepz has established itself as an NFT brand driven by storytelling, enabling its community to engage with and contribute to the lore they have crafted as co-creators.

This fosters a robust relationship among holders that strengthens their ties to both the project and the community, attracting notable celebrities like Brooklyn Beckham and Jayden Smith.

The Lore Behind Creepz by Overlord

The Creepz and Overlord Universe is a fictional world where lizards have taken over the Earth, led by The Overlord, who aims to capture all of the planet's resources and people.

Creepz are the coolest bad guys in the galaxy, and they serve as minions to The Overlord.

On December 30th, 2021, Creepz invaded Earth and shapeshifted into humans to infiltrate human society.

The Lemurian Galaxy is the first known galaxy within the Overlord Universe and has ten planets with their own rulers, resources, and capabilities:

• KATAMA;

• LEMURIA;

• KRISTAII;

• HEILMERIA;

• DOTSTOPIK;

• ASHHEZ;

• JUNGALOOR;

• TYRANTIA;

• ALCATRII;

• IMPERIUM.

The Power of High Conviction Holders

“We created an incredible amount of depth in our community.

We could’ve launched 2-3 months before we did and been just as successful, but we wouldn’t have had this true fandom that’s now going to enable us to scale this brand to becoming a global entertainment brand with deep roots in the community.” - Creepz Co-Founder, Joe, during the Boys Club podcast

Joe and Dom, the co-founders of Creepz, invested a significant amount of time in determining what drives success in the NFT market. They sought to address several critical questions, such as what NFT buyers seek, what constitutes a strong NFT brand, what makes an NFT product engaging, and what NFTs represent fundamentally.

Their efforts have paid off, as the project has one of the highest retention rates in the market, with almost 40% of minters still retaining their NFTs over a year after launch, according to data on Dune Analytics. This retention rate is about twice as high as that of most other top 10 NFT volume projects that were minted more than a year ago, with the exception of CryptoPunks.

In fact, the retention of Creepz NFTs is not only high among minters but also among buyers on secondary markets, with 74.7% holding their NFTs for over 90 days, representing one of the highest retention rates in the NFT space.

The Five Key Verticals of Overlord

Overlord is building the Creepz IP into multiple entertainment verticals built especially for mainstream adoption with value accruing back to Creepz holders. They have revealed five primary verticals that they plan to focus on as they develop their brand and position in the market. They have been gradually revealing more information about each vertical and have been releasing treasures about their current game development on their Twitter page.

1/ TV Animation

Overlord has partnered with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, a production company co-founded by actor Seth Green, to create an animated TV series centered around Creepz, with the aim of launching the show on a major streaming platform.

This is part of Overlord's ambition to become the first major entertainment franchise born from NFTs and to compete with giants like Marvel and Disney. This is exciting as it will be one of the first times audience members will get to own their “Mickey Mouse.”

Alternative media and social content discovery are also two areas of focus for Overlord’s media development as they aim to expand the storytelling of their universe on a larger stage, collaborating with partners. Additionally, they plan to build digital communities by creating short-form immersive content.

2/ Streetwear Fashion & Merchandise

Overlord has also announced an IP joint venture with West Brand Lab to create a full fashion brand alongside a group of renowned fashion industry veterans to create a major Creepz fashion brand that can compete with Supreme.

The group consists of former executives from companies such as the ex-CMO of Levis, the ex-VP of Nike, the ex-VP of Lululemon, and the ex-CMO of Tinder.

This collaboration will help the brand achieve mainstream cultural relevance and bring it to millions of people around the world. The team's understanding of the industry, coupled with the initial capsule collection model, will provide a platform to collaborate with some of the world's largest and most iconic fashion brands, influencers, and media.

Overlord also plans on merchandising IP via toys, comics, and consumables by taking the stories, worlds and characters from the ecosystem to the world of physical products and partnering with global brands in order to access millions of new fans.

This pillar marks another step towards establishing Creepz as a major global entertainment brand.

3/ Blockchain Gaming

Overlord is creating a gaming ecosystem in the Overlord Universe with a multi-platform of games and experiences designed for mainstream adoption. The ecosystem and platform are ready for launch and the development of games with strategic partners is currently in progress.

The gaming platform will enable a multi-game ecosystem for different genres and platforms such as mobile, PC, and console.

Overlord has already signed three major developers, including a big Web2 company (more will be revealed later this week). Overlord is working with a gaming board from EA, Blizzard, Rockstar, and more to reach millions of gamers through high exposure publishing partnerships.

The Overlord team sees gaming as a crucial pillar for mainstream attention and adoption, pointing to gaming as being a trojan horse for lore and animated series with popular games like the Last of Us recently finding success as TV series.

4/ Brand Building

Overlord is represented by Three Six Zero, a global management and entertainment company that represents high-profile celebrities such as Will Smith, Jason Statham, Calvin Harris and the likes.

Overlord also recently signed with WME, the largest entertainment management company globally. As Overlord’s agent, their primary objective is to expand Overlord’s IP to significant media, entertainment, and gaming partners worldwide. WME represents top-tier media, entertainment, and gaming talent and provides access to opportunities across the entertainment industry. They are also recognized for representing the best, with unparalleled connections to major studios and culture-defining creators.

5/ Ecosystem Coin

Lastly, but certainly not least, an essential aspect of Overlord is the development of a unique token that will connect all aspects of their ecosystem together.

The team has engaged expert technical partners to create the token in a user-friendly manner that will appeal to mainstream audiences, ensuring widespread adoption.

Creepz holders will receive an airdrop of this token. Additionally, the team is currently undertaking a VC raise to create another coin that will be introduced in the future, with a rollout and Whitepaper to follow.

Project Runway Analysis

In order to gain a true understanding of the funding required to build a brand of the scale achieved by Overlord, it is important to examine the resources that the team has at their disposal. Overlord has managed to create an impressive total of seven collections in a relatively short amount of time, and they have raised a conservative estimated amount of at least $18 million USD in funds over the past year, which is a significant amount.

Given the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, the team could have exchanged a significant portion of their ETH (and $LOOMI) denominated funds to stable currencies in order to preserve their runway.

However, for the purposes of this analysis, it will be assumed that all funds were retained in their original currencies with most royalties in ETH, and mints in both ETH and $LOOMI currencies. These funds have then been converted at the spot rate to provide a ballpark estimate of their runway.

Although the team already has a substantial war chest, they are also planning to boost their resources through a round of VC funding. For comparison, Yuga Labs’ VC funds and $APE coin allocation constitute around 90.4% of their treasury.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• Creepz by Overlord is a multimedia brand that covers various areas, including TV animation, streetwear fashion, blockchain gaming, ecosystem coin, and brand building. It aims to create an entire entertainment ecosystem with different games, digital experiences, animated series, and merchandise, drawing inspiration from Pokemon. The brand stands out by using a decentralized, co-owned, and community-driven approach to building its IP, engaging its NFT owners/holders to become part of the product and creating a fun fandom.

• The Overlord ecosystem consists of seven different NFT collections, including Creepz by Overlord, Creepz Invasion Pass, Floor X Creepz, Creepz Shapeshifterz, Creepz Mega Shapeshifterz, Creepz Loomi Vault, and Creepz Reptile Armoury. Each collection serves a specific purpose in the Overlord Universe. Although it is uncertain what role some of these collections will play in the future of the brand, the team has confirmed that each asset will have a place in the new ecosystem. The Genesis Creepz and the upcoming Interdimensionals collection will be the main protagonists of the Overlord Universe.

• In total, the Overlord ecosystem has generated $96.6 million USD in total secondary volume.

• Overlord has seen success in the market due to its focus on developing a strong universe and narrative around its artwork, which creates a fandom that extends beyond just being fans. The community is seen as a product, and co-creators of the lore, which fosters a robust relationship among holders, attracting notable celebrities like Brooklyn Beckham and Jayden Smith. Creepz has established itself as an NFT brand driven by storytelling, enabling its community to engage with and contribute to the lore they have crafted.

• The project has one of the highest retention rates in the market, with almost 40% of minters still retaining their NFTs over a year after launch, and 74.7% of buyers holding their NFTs for over 90 days, representing one of the highest retention rates in the NFT space.

• Overlord is building the Creepz IP into multiple entertainment verticals to compete with giants like Marvel and Disney. They have announced five primary verticals they plan to focus on, which include TV animation, streetwear fashion and merchandise, blockchain gaming, brand building, and an ecosystem coin. Overlord has partnered with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios to create an animated TV series centered around Creepz, collaborated with West Brand Lab to create a full fashion brand, and signed major developers for their gaming ecosystem. They have also signed with global management and entertainment companies to expand their IP and are developing a unique token to connect all aspects of their ecosystem together. Creepz holders will receive an airdrop of this token, and Overlord is undertaking a VC raise to create another coin in the future.

• Overlord has raised a conservative estimate of $18 million USD over the past year. The analysis assumes that all funds were retained in their original currencies, with most royalties in ETH and mints in both ETH and $LOOMI currencies.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

The open edition meta isn’t a novel mechanism, but recently caught the attention of several artists. The minting mechanics determine the size of a collection by allowing the market to decide the appetite for the artist’s work.

One of the more recent open edition mints has a story entwined with Twitter and some recent changes to their verification checkmark.

This article delves into Checks, by Jack Butcher. It examines the project’s origins, reviews the innovative features, and analyzes the project's performance and future prospects.

Date Published: January 30, 2023.

https://twitter.com/OriginsNFT/status/1620043605531586566?s=20

Article Outline

• Background

• Checks VV

• Analysis

• Closing Remarks

Background

1) Jack Butcher & Visualize Value

Butcher is renowned for breaking down messages into simple, easily digestible images leveraging his creative agency, Visualize Value (“VV”). This piece captures the kinetic movement of the ball, gravity and a half-pipe well with the caption “Energy”:

https://twitter.com/visualizevalue/status/1614988409105428485?s=20&t=uvCxMxffk-Nh1lz9xvx6Lg

He’s applied this concept throughout his career.

There’s a saying:

“A picture paints a thousand words”.

This couldn’t be more accurate. In an era where attention is becoming a scarce commodity, communicating a message efficiently and effectively is invaluable.

2) Simple Yet Effective

Creating simple visual images or infographics can become an incredibly powerful marketing tool. Butcher realized this early on and has since built VV by leveraging this approach.

It’s stated that 65% of people are visual learners. Sight is probably the most powerful sense. In fact, we can process visuals 60,000X faster in the brain than text. We are able to absorb 36,000 images per hour. It’s no wonder many of us get caught in a doom scroll on Instagram!

The brain can see images that last for just 13 milliseconds. Subliminal messages have been included in videos. Our subconscious registers them while our conscious is preoccupied.

3) Twitter Verification Check Mark

This is where the Checks VV project becomes so powerful.

There’s huge equity in the verification check mark. It reinforces a number of values. These values were violated when Elon Musk acquired the social media platform, changing the meaning of the tick mark from being a notable person to simply evidence that you are paying for a premium subscription. Butcher illustrates this with a simple piece, Checks VV, that resonates with so many.

Launching this project as an NFT leverages the beneficial properties of blockchain technology to enhance the art creation process and develop a more refined piece of art, more closely aligned with the collectors’ desires. It provides increased data on the collectors, their buying patterns as well as how they behave when given rules around the direction of the project. It offers another layer of experimentation that was not available previously.

Checks VV

1) Beginnings

Checks began as a single tweet to gauge audience feedback. But it became more than that when the feedback was so positive.

https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1610279790098931712?s=20&t=FqtNb_YZkuqq5lHctHLopQ

It soon prompted deeper discussions around social status following the aftermath of acquiring the blue checkmark on Twitter for an $8 fee.

“The reception to the open edition created this amazing opportunity to elaborate on the premise and continue to push the question and play with the concept in a deeper and more interesting way.”

On January 3, the Checks’ open edition saw 16,031 NFTs minted for an $8 fee raking in $128k USD in mint revenue in just a 24-hour open edition window.

It was clear early on that the mint was going to be a success. Jack commented throughout at his surprise of several hundred minting, let alone thousands.

https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1610495067675938816?s=20&t=p-39VN-A_gqDne22xW_dGA

2) The Process

We also note that as part of Butcher’s “Transparency time” the process is just as important as the art itself.

https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1611726527590187016?s=20&t=ir4IbSZkxFg3SbhIL2OR1g

The experimental journey creates a new way of integrating the fan base into the decision-making process. This interactive relationship strengthens the bond and attachment to the underlying artwork - more than just being drawn to the aesthetics.

3) More than Meets the Eye

The following quote, included with the NFT, probes the collector to think about the purpose of the piece.

“This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.”

Twitter is the primary platform for NFT communication. The open network protocol allows for information to go viral through the retweet mechanism across several entwined networks. Sending the piece into the ether, on the very platform where the debacle took place, clearly struck a chord with so many.

While the simplicity of how the checkmark is placed is well structured, that is not the only reason for the success of the project. The open edition combined with the relatively low fee has meant many are included in the experiment. The next phase has people on their seats in what will be a huge social experiment that will likely inspire future innovative ideas to come.

4) Burn Mechanism

The next phase is intended to decrease the supply and allow holders to consolidate their holdings into scarce, rarer pieces through a one-way burn mechanism on chain.

It may make sense to burn your initial NFT. But if everyone else executes this approach then the initial phase NFT could end up becoming the rarest given the non-reversible element.

https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1612258889529167872?s=20&t=f1DVTka-OKn1_LptPxn2IQ

It will take 64 initial check pieces to obtain a single black check mark. Then a further 64 (4,096 original Check VV NFTs) of the black Checks to obtain the ultimate grail.

Collectors will need to choose which token ID to preserve - an interesting approach to understanding the psychology of numbers and which ones place importance on. Imagine if this experiment results in findings that can be used in pricing mechanics. Some may say the population size is too small, but the law of averages could infer some interesting insights about human behavior.

It’s inevitable that the 69s and 420s will do well given the internet culture, but could there be some surprises with other numbers that fans find auspicious?

Analysis

1) Price

With a floor price of 0.6 ETH ($950 USD) the estimated floor MC is 9,618 ETH ($15.2m USD).

So in order to obtain a single black check mark a collector will need to spend 38.4 ETH ($60.8k USD).

There have been “Black Check DAOs” set up to attempt to accumulate enough checks for the ultimate grail. You may be thinking that it will only cost 2,458 ETH ($3.9m USD) to obtain one of these, but you’d be mistaken. Obtaining 4,096 individual pieces would cost a significant amount more than the current floor price of 0.6 ETH each.

For instance, there are only 490 listed in total.

Obtaining 4,096 equates to 25.5% of the total supply. There needs to be a collaboration with other holders to achieve this. Observing how communities rally around the project will be interesting to observe.

What’s interesting is that there are sales above the floor. Could collectors be cherry-picking the ID number within the collection they intend to retain when the burn mechanism goes live?

2) Volume & Proceeds

A total of 2,485 ETH ($3.9m USD) secondary volume has been traded. Assuming all trades honored royalties then this would equate to 62.1 ETH ($98k USD). Realistically there would be a mix of paying and non-paying collectors.

Assuming on average half pay in full then a more realistic royalty assumption would be 31 ETH ($49k USD).

So a total of 177k USD in revenue ($128k mint plus royalties), some of which could be contributed to project development. Butcher has noted that given the Open Edition approach, there was no supply held back for the team.

3) Holders

The holder distribution of 22.8% is relatively low compared to your typical NFT collection. However given the future mechanics, it’s likely this will rapidly improve with each stage in the burn process.

The top holder owns 506 checks, equating to 3% of the total supply. Could we see some of these Wales collaborate to unlock the benefits that could be attached to the ultimate grail check?

Having spoken to a couple, it’s their intention to set up a Black Check DAO.

https://twitter.com/schmrypto/status/1618033760049696768?s=20&t=FqtNb_YZkuqq5lHctHLopQ

Schmrypto states:

"I've been coordinating with a small working group to design a permissionless, trustless aggregator for Checks that can hopefully see the first Black Check formed soon."

The architecture and the mechanics of how this will work are being refined. The capital required to achieve this is beyond many single holders holder’s capabilities.

4) Themes

We are seeing a new collection size meta that isn’t defined by the artist. The open editions are becoming more prevalent with DesLucreces' “Proceed w/ caution” & others teasing.

https://twitter.com/DesLucrece/status/1616975445500518402?s=20&t=zzrYQHiTZxj3hJxLW5pvHQ

In fact, Butcher has dedicated an entire page on his site for derivative projects. Creating a platform to leverage the visually appealing aesthetics of checks to personalize it into something meaningful to its fan base.

The benefits of launching the project in a CC0 are clear. The derivative projects popping up are forming a marketing tool for the original Checks VV project to gain notoriety.

https://twitter.com/catradarusman/status/1619903347951271938?s=20&t=JOC1obdeGYk0rGyDCg9gXQ

The two-way relationship between the artist and fan base enables an iterative process that can be refined over time. This reduces the risk of launching a finished piece of art that very few resonate with.

To paraphrase Butcher on a recent podcast, if you put out content and hear minimal response, then the audience is telling you something loud and clear, but you simply aren’t listening. the experimental approach involving social media and NFTs allows this to be a sounding board. An experimentation process as the final product is being refined.

5) Future Prospects

a) Phase Two of Checks

Jalil.Eth (Founder of Scapes_XYZ, the first on-chain banner NFT) is involved to develop the contracts for the burn mechanism.

https://twitter.com/jalil_eth/status/1618810327331913728?s=20&t=ir4IbSZkxFg3SbhIL2OR1g

There have been numerous ideas floated around the direction of the project. The second phase is due to be rolled out imminently, with some exciting user interfaces to enhance the experience.

https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1618474792117760002?s=20&t=ir4IbSZkxFg3SbhIL2OR1g

The mechanism has been executed on Goerli (Ethereum Testnet), so we can expect the next phase to be rolled out once testing has been completed.

Applying NFT utility to each tier of check marks could be an interesting outcome for the project. One fan joked about the ability to edit other user’s tweets:

https://twitter.com/schmrypto/status/1617644691746590721?s=20&t=ir4IbSZkxFg3SbhIL2OR1g

b) Macro Market Conditions

It’s worth observing the macro picture to understand whether the wider NFT ecosystem will continue to acquire these types of art.

Available liquidity and the cost of living have an impact on buyers’ spending habits. A hawkish environment means there are lower levels of disposable income. Volume has increased slightly after the US tax year-end but is by no means close to the historical highs experienced in Feb 2022 (May 2022 is predominantly Otherdeed by Otherside mint and trading volume). Until the macroeconomic conditions change it is likely we will continue in a downtrend or at least stay within the 50k-100k ETH trading volume range.

On a side note, it’s clear that the Art NFT sub-sector continues to outperform other segments of the NFT Market with a constant level of volume and valuations. While volume on the rest of the segments continues to dry up.

Closing Remarks

Checks VV leverages Jack Butchers’ simplistic image message relay (via VV) to create a powerful statement about the abuse of the check mark on Twitter. The primary target market resonated with the artist’s message with the impacts of the Twitter changes fresh on their minds.

The NFT launch of this project as an open edition has allowed for a canvas to experiment with the process. The two-way relationship with the creator’s fan base fosters a stronger more meaningful relationship that aids the collector to feel part of the creative process.

The next phase is imminent. Those holding the initial Checks are waiting patiently to embark on the next stage of game theory in search of the black check mark. It’s likely that a combination of open editions and novel burn mechanisms will continue to push the boundaries of NFT functionality and could set the stage for greater adoption and utility in the future.

At OriginsNFT we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech, specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our Opensea page.

Introduction

Many prominent companies are increasing their efforts to implement web3 technology, despite the bearish macro sentiment.

Some of the major consumer brands have already entered the NFT sector on the basis of digital productization, with mixed results. Others, such as Starbucks, have begun to show interest in the applicability of NFTs in loyalty programs with a seemingly more long term approach.

Starbucks continues to stay ahead within digital innovation, now pioneering the web3-powered loyalty program.

This article depicts the integration and progress of the program. It also presents related challenges as well as opportunities for Starbucks, but also the broader web3 space, to achieve mainstream adoption.

Article Outline

• Background

• “Odyssey Mechanics”

• Web3 Advantages and Challenges

• Web3 Integration Competitiveness

• Web3 Integration Benchmarks

• Web3 Opportunities: NFTs

• Closing Remarks

Background

Starbucks Odyssey is the web3 extension to the pre-existing Starbucks Rewards loyalty program that launched on December 9th, 2022.

It aims to strengthen Starbucks’ position as a “third place between home and work where you feel the warmth and connection over coffee, community and belonging” whilst also celebrating the heritage and future of Starbucks through the digital realm.

This first iteration (beta) gave access to a small group of waitlisted US members and employees. More beta testers are expected to gain access monthly as Starbucks continues to gather feedback which will help shape the future of the program.

It was launched as a collaboration with Forum3, Nifty Gateway, and Polygon:

• Forum3 is a digital transformation company where Adam Brotman, the former Chief Digital Officer at Starbucks, is building web3-powered loyalty platform, with basis in experiential loyalty, together with his co-ceo Andy Sacks among other team members. Starbucks is their first client.

• Nifty Gateway is a custodial platform, owned by Gemini LLC, on mission to make NFTs more accessible by providing credit card on- and off-ramps, less fees, and being more stringent with information on its users and creators.

• Polygon is realizing on-chain use cases (eg. data collection and payment processing), at scale, through its efficient infrastructure while also leveraging the security of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (“EVM”) computer.

“Odyssey” Mechanics

It consists of activities called “Journeys'', featuring interactive games and challenges of varying difficulty with the aim to engage customers with each other and the brand in new ways.

For example, by encouraging random acts of kindness, gift cards purchases, or answering  trivia that deepens customers’ knowledge of Starbucks’ history and coffee:

By following along and completing parts of the Starbucks Odyssey journey, participants earn collectible “Journey Stamps” (polygon-based NFTs) and Odyssey Points, which unlock access to exclusive benefits and experiences such as:

• Virtual beverage-making classes (at the lower end).

• Unique merchandise.

• Artist collaborations.

• Events at Starbucks Reserve® Roasters (at the higher end):

Each Stamp features iconic Starbucks’ artwork and adds bonus Points, depending on its rarity, that count towards the total 2023 Starbucks Odyssey Points for the holder.

Since Points are also earned separately, holders can still participate without keeping the collectibles:

The Odyssey experience, designed to suit the average user, has involved pre-existing retail infrastructure such as logging purchases in the original Starbucks Rewards app (then being accounted for in the separate Starbucks Odyssey beta app). It also contains intuitive in-app experiences and achievements as well as communication channels for information.

The collectibles can be traded through the Nifty Gateway marketplace, integrated into the  Starbucks Odyssey web app, which includes a custodial digital wallet experience with no prior crypto experience required for the participants.

It could be compared to an e-commerce site such as eBay with added functionality to accept both crypto and fiat. It allows transfers to other ERC-compatible wallets such as Metamask. So far, there have been four drops on the Nifty Gateway platform:

The reward system is based on three tiers with each tier corresponding to a certain range of 2023 Starbucks Odyssey Points:

• 1000 to 2999 Points

• 3000 to 5999 Points

• 6000+ Points

At this stage, the exact rewards for each tier are not confirmed, but it will require the holder to redeem its Points comparable to how Stars are used in the original Starbucks Rewards program.

Some Stamps will be limited-edition (coming later in 2023), likely to provide benefits similar to the pre-existing Journey Stamps but not yet confirmed. They will be released 4-6 times per year and be available for purchase directly with a credit card via the Nifty Gateway marketplace integrated into Starbucks’ web app. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to causes that matter to Starbucks members through Starbucks’ charitable organization, The Starbucks Foundation.

Previously, Starbucks has donated tens of millions to nonprofit organizations to support coffee and tea-origin communities, provide relief to communities worldwide impacted by disaster and strengthen neighboring local communities as well as global ones.

Web3 Advantages and Challenges

At first glance, it may not be apparent how web3 loyalty programs differentiate themselves from Web2.

One possible reason for this is that their full potential, as in aspects exclusive to web3, has not yet been realized.

Fundamentally, web3 proposes to increase the extractable value, and create new value, from a specific network. In this instance, the pre-existing bond between the brand and its customers can be strengthened through new ways of gamifying reward-systems and attaching secondary market values to corresponding tokens. Essentially, by leveraging aspects such as:

1) Transparency:

The data stored on decentralized and open-source protocols can, besides making rewards more tamper-proof, help companies detect and prevent fraud as well as identify and analyze customer interactions through improved traceability. A solution that benefits both stakeholders.

On one hand, it provides more readily available data verticals which can be translated into more precise customer feedback and lead to more optimized reward mechanisms in extension. For example, by providing the basis for more granular changes.

It could also imply higher iteration speeds for these mechanisms since the on-chain data presents a shorter time lag compared to the current way of collecting feedback through forms in order to include different, sometimes closed silos of data.

On the other hand, it provides the groundwork for Starbucks to reward its customers in a more personalized and immediate manner. For example, its most valued customers could be airdropped 1/1 iconic Starbucks’ artworks meanwhile participants of Starbucks’ experiences could be airdropped tokens of record, possibly soul-bound tokens (“SBT”), with potential future utility.

However, it introduces a challenge regarding privacy. Some may demand more confidentiality than others and it may also depend on the platform or blockchain being used. Zero-knowledge (“zk”) sync rollups could serve as one solution to this. It provides validity proof that multiple transactions have been processed off-chain, without revealing each individual transaction, and updates the layer 1 ledger accordingly.

Data privacy and protection is still an issue in the traditional corporate world, with cyber attacks breaching and compromizing many centralized databases. So what’s changed? The data still requires protection, but at least it’s now immutable.

2) Interoperability and Flexibility:

In its decentralized form, an interoperable network of blockchains promotes mobility between protocols and platforms through smart contracts and, more specifically, cross-chain dApps.

This could introduce more possibilities to trade and exchange rewards with other digital assets which, in extension, corresponds to higher financialization across the network. As the alternatives through which the rewards can be used grows, their perceived value follows.

But if rewards are fully interoperable, does it matter where users earn their rewards? To ensure competitiveness in an interoperable ecosystem, brands must ensure sufficient incentives to retain customer loyalty whilst offering flexible trade and exchange opportunities that potentially could come with a trade-off.

The programmability of smart contracts also implies the flexible nature of blockchains which could enable even more possibilities. It could, for example, introduce new ways of combining rewards between wallets chosen as “family and friends” and enable shared ownership of certain rewards, for example, through fractionalization:

Furthermore, a free-to-claim NFT-based membership could make the customer loyalty experience more compelling due to the secondary value attached to each token. By introducing on-chain interactions during certain Starbucks’ experiences and events, each NFT could be updated accordingly whereby its secondary value could follow.

In comparison to the existing in-app experiences built in a closed setting, this translates into a stronger incentive for members to level-up their membership beyond having access to the rewards and possibly unlocking new perks over time.

However, regardless of the theoretical value added by applications in conjunction with its widespreadness, security still remains a recurrent issue even for experienced users.

This pertains to the gap between the back-end and front-end verifiability and intuitively translating how wallets are affected by interactions for the average user, otherwise easily exploited through phishing attacks and scams.

Pocket Universe and Wallet Guard are two tools that have begun to gain traction recently, aiming to minimize these marginals of error.

This is closely associated with the urgency to provide efficient on- and off-ramps in order to minimize friction, as in gas fees, and increase the likelihood of mainstream adoption.

3) Ownership

The most obvious one is how it transforms customers into “shareholders”.

It enables customers to claim an ownership stake in their loyalty to Starbucks which ties into its business and culture. That which has been an intangible aspect of the business-to-customer (“B2C”) relationship can now be used to deepen the ties with its most loyal supporters, as it becomes “their” brand (see: Origins’ article on Digital Communities) through ownership in scarce assets.

This has been apparent in the Odyssey “Journeys” in two ways. For one, it enables ownership in unique collections of iconic Starbucks art with historic and cultural meaning. Secondly, Starbucks has used the gamified Odyssey experience to shine light on its history and culture, which in itself deepens the B2C relationship further since customers become more emotionally involved.

The collectibility also adds a layer of social status, like with all NFTs, as the publicly-verifiable assets to become part of members’ digital identities which, in turn, can increase the reach of the brand and generate more referrals.

However, making a collection scarce can drive a wedge between “holders” and “non-holders” which can create friction within communities. Especially in communities that have been previously open to everyone. The challenge here is scaling the program in a balanced way consistent with the community growth trajectory.

For instance, one could introduce more opportunities without the dilution of current collections. This is a challenge that many existing NFT collections face when expanding their ecosystem to a wider audience. A new set of stakeholder management challenges emerge and need to be managed carefully to prevent adverse reputational damage.

Web3 Integration Competitiveness

Considering the above, combined with the fact that the global loyalty management market size is expected to grow with an average CAGR of 23.5% until 2029, it could make sense for many consumer brands to extend their business models for loyalty programs into web3. Especially, if their revenue is mainly driven by a growing base of reward members as is the case with Starbucks.

For reference, Starbucks Rewards members were responsible for a record 53% of revenue from U.S stores in the third quarter while the year-over-year increase of active members ended at 16% (28,7 million) as per the last quarter of 2022. The company has yet to share how many customers have signed up for the Starbucks Odyssey Rewards program but, considering its early stage, it may not capture a useful direction for its continued endeavors within the space at this moment.

Starbucks also has 41% of all sales across the Starbucks platform attributed to gift card sales which implies a strong cultural significance for the brand, especially apparent during holiday seasons.

These were introduced in 2001, as Starbucks was one of the major retailers to offer reloadable cards, with 4 million accounts activated during the first 8 months. It has played an important role in spreading the word about Starbucks combined with the Starbucks Rewards program that launched in 2008.

In late 2022, gift card sales were at all-time highs with around 58 million copies sold and could present an interesting opportunity for on-chain collectability of Starbucks Cards going forward.

This notion is reinforced by the fact that Starbucks’ most loyal customers are aged between 25-40, corresponding o almost 50% of the consumer base, which closely resembles the age groups’ interest in crypto and NFTs as measured by crypto and NFT ownership respectively in the United States:

In addition, these customers are usually individuals of higher socioeconomic status which could be said similarly about the NFT space. This translates into high probabilities of successful penetration for Starbucks in its continued web3 ventures.

By extrapolating current trading volume and holders on the Nifty Gateway after two months to potential yearly volume made by 25% (7.175 million) of the total active Rewards members, corresponding to around half of the people in the target age group, volumes on the Nifty Gateway could land north of one billion.

It’s apparent that Starbucks has a long-term vision in mind. But some brands could use web3 integrations such as rewards programs solely as a marketing strategy as it potentially attracts an untapped audience in web3 or leads to more traction as a result of ticking the “innovation” box in web2. However, to retain users and ensure long-term viability, a deliberate strategy is required.

Web3 Integration Benchmarks

Since Starbucks is a first-mover within the loyalty program vertical, there is no suitable comparison to make at this stage. There are, however, some web3 native coffee shops expanding their reach.

For instance, CafeDAO which is the first DAO-run coffee shop where shared ownership and fair rewards for contributions serve as cornerstones:

Another example is the Bored Breakfast Club which leverages the BAYC IP to create a unique coffee brand, launched as a collaboration between LA-based digital design studio Kley and Yes Plz Coffee, with NFT based coffee subscription:

Other coffee shops are prioritizing separate innovations with automated preparation stations (eg. tokyo-gacha-gacha-coffee-unstaffed). While Starbucks may be capitalizing on their first-mover advantage by leveraging the NFTs as tokens for rewards, they are not alone and are unlikely to be the last.

One way to gauge the interest in the Starbucks Odyssey Rewards program (and its perceived value by customers) so far, is to measure the total volume traded so far on the Nifty Gateway secondary market where most of Starbucks’ collectibles have been traded.

Volume traded is currently tracking at $69k:

The floor price of each drop shows 100, $125, $205, and $1,664 for the ‘Doing Good Journey Stamps’, ‘Bean to Cup Journey’, ‘Coffee Heritage Journey’, and ‘Holiday Cheer’ edition, respectively as of February 5:

To then gauge the opportunities within the broader NFT space in relation, this could be compared against the total volume traded for major consumer brands that have entered so far such as Nike, Gucci, Adidas and Budweiser.

For most collections, there is a contributory correlation between secondary transactions and secondary volume to total NFT revenue.

Meanwhile, a successful primary sale is not a guarantee for secondary volume as in the case of Gucci nor NFT revenue as in the case of Adidas. NFT revenue, rather, is dependent on market penetration in relation to their nature as speculative assets involving aspects such as collection size and floor price:

Starbucks similarly has broad cultural significance as well as strong retail penetration within its niche but not as diverse as Nike or Adidas. Meanwhile, it seems to be warming up in its endeavors to embrace web3 further in its business which could involve more digital natives eventually.

It remains to be seen if Starbucks will lean more into the same approach as Budweiser to bring more web3-exclusive benefits to its community through partnerships. Now, which are the opportunities where Starbucks can drive revenue in this endeavor?

One way to indirectly drive in-store sales revenue could be to introduce membership tokens despite not driving any NFT revenue since a royalty fee on the secondary market is likely, not involved.

Partnership collections could, on the other hand, involve NFT revenue due to royalty fees and potential secondary sales volume. This, in itself, depends on the utility and depth of incorporation within each ecosystem. They also serve as a scaling mechanism by introducing new users to different ecosystems which is likely to have a positive impact on revenue for both parties overall.

Web3 Integration Opportunities: NFTs

Here are some additional ways Starbucks could drive revenue:

1) Customized or Limited-Edition Gift Cards

Against the fact that gift cards already constitute a large portion of Starbucks’ sales revenue, introducing limited-edition gift cards, similar to the limited-edition stamps, to be sold exclusively to loyalty program members of specific tiers could be one way to drive more primary sales revenue. It could compete with sales from other gift cards but could be monitored to increase revenue.

Each tier could also enable customizable gift cards against preset attributes, possibly for a small fee. Some of which could be exclusive to each tier and not accessible anywhere else in the ecosystem.

• This would drive sales revenue as people are incentivized to level up their membership.

• This in turn could give members the opportunity to make unique cards for different relationships, which could give it more relevance and meaning to the receiver and increase the emotional response to the message.

• This, in extension, strengthens the perception of Starbucks as a brand that could drive revenue further.

2) Exclusive and Experimental Menus

Similar to exclusive access and benefits, Starbucks could introduce variable exclusive menus only available to members of certain tiers, also including tryouts of new experimental beverages and toppings.

This could drive indirect sales revenue to Starbucks by incentivizing higher reward membership levels to access these and if the prices are slightly higher than the ordinary menu.

3) Becoming the Trend (eg. Open Editions)

With the recent interest for open editions surging, Starbucks could have launched a gamified collectability coffee game similar to  Des Lucrece’s open-edition project “Proceed w/ Caution” (see: Origins’ article on Proceed w/ Caution). Essentially, by airdropping a token to all loyalty members with a framework published on how the game with the end goal being tickets, art, free coffee for a year etc.

Generally, integrations such as the above share increasing chances of continued success if they are intuitive and bring value to both stakeholders. Without sustaining enough value, the demand will otherwise slowly but surely degrade for the experience and/or product derived from certain partnerships, for example.

Comparatively, without an intuitive experience with user-friendliness as a priority in the whole customer loyalty lifecycle, the technical threshold will itself become the barrier to success.

Closing Remarks

There are already many examples of companies that have entered the web3 space, where some have been more successful than others in their approach. It has become increasingly apparent that the applicability of NFTs in various businesses remains relatively unexplored. One such application pertains to loyalty programs, currently being pioneered by Starbucks.

The thesis of web3 includes many proponents that enable greater value creation. It encourages customer engagement in a more competitive way, which drives more value to the brand in extension. For Starbucks, this translates into participation, ownership, and community.

Through the web3 dimension, customers can be given more opportunities to participate in Starbucks experiences, primarily in person, but also online. It can also be incentivized in a more compelling way through different types of rewards and ways of exchanging them as well as on-chain gamification.

These experiences can then be designed in ways that ties deeper bonds within the Starbucks community as well as between Starbucks and its customers.

However, to unlock the full potential of the web3 loyalty program, its integration not only has to bring value to both stakeholders but also be as frictionless as intuitive to reach mainstream adoption. This includes all steps of the customer loyalty lifecycle, possibly involving a custodial wallet experience with efficient on- and off-ramps.

It also requires the brand to carefully balance this new vertical with the rest of the loyalty ecosystem to retain current customers while leaving room for this web3 extension to sustainably scale as the demand grows. Considering the Forum3 team’s previous experience, it seems fit for this challenge.

Lastly, the projected growth in the global loyalty market emphasizes the opportunity ahead for consumer brands. Especially for those with business models rooted in widespread cultural significance, i.e. many active loyalty rewards members, since the web3 thesis proposes an edge by doubling-down on what is uniquely theirs. Forum3’s intrinsic knowledge about Starbucks’ business verticals can also prove advantageous here.

With this potential and the web3 thesis in mind, it could make sense for similar brands to extend their loyalty programs. Some say it’s just a matter of time.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our Opensea page.

Gabriel Leydon clearly knows how to rally an audience and retain attention. The Digidaigaku Genesis NFTs have held a solid floor price historically.

The Super Bowl is imminent. The Coinbase QR code advert created 20 million application downloads. That’s a 20% conversion rate. Could we see something similar for Leydon and his DigiDaigaku team?

Let’s take a look.

Article Outline

• Background

• Super Bowl Analysis

• DigiDaigaku Analysis

• Gaming Sector Review

• Other Considerations

• Closing Remarks

Background

Collections

Just before the Super Bowl game, the overall floor market capitalization (MC) of all the collections is 35,436 ETH ($54m USD).

There will be a total of four key collections once the Dragons mint later today. The DigiDaigaku ecosystem includes the following NFTs:

• Genesis

• Heroes

• Villains

• Dragons

The Spirits and various potions are used to create the Heroes and Villains, respectively. Leydon has hinted at a third ingredient airdrop (dragon essence) which will be used to hatch the DigiDaigaku dragon eggs.

https://twitter.com/gabrielleydon/status/1624724821446893568?s=20&t=BzgxqxlaKgA57iq4ayPNDA

Not bad for a single free mint back in August 2022: 16 ETH ($24.5k USD) in current priced NFTs plus whatever the Dragon is priced at post-Super Bowl (assuming the other floor prices hold once the event is over).

This takes a similar approach to the BAYC model, whereby a single Bored Ape mint of 0.08 ETH ($123 USD) back in March 2021 has delivered circa 150 ETH ($232k USD) in value to minters who held through all airdrops. That equates to a 1,800x return in two years.

2) Gabriel Leydon and Limit Break

Leydon is a well-known mobile game developer who changed the face of mobile gaming with Game of War — Fire Age (under his direction as co-founder and CEO of Machine Zone), an immersive parallel chat-speak game. It has been among the top-grossing games since its launch in 2013, eclipsing even Candy Crush.

To promote it, Leydon created a Super Bowl ad starring supermodel Kate Upton, which is still being talked about. Sound familiar? if the approach ain’t broken, don’t fix it.

3) Timeline

• August 8, 2022: The Digidaigaku Genesis collection launched on .

• September 26, 2022: Hero NFTs were minted.

• October 15, 2022: Hero NFTs were revealed.

• October 21, 2022: Castaway Collaboration took place.

• November 22, 2022: Ether Orcs collaboration took place.

• January 27, 2023: DigiDaigaku Villains launched.

• February 12, 2023: The Dragons mint will take place at the Super Bowl.

What’s been six months has felt like a decade, but we are finally at the Super Bowl which will likely be a huge event for the future trajectory of NFT's success.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl statistics and why this may be the case.

Super Bowl Analysis

Viewers

The Super Bowl frequently pulls in excess of 100 million viewers. In fact, it’s estimated that 43% of viewers tune in for the adverts, rather than the game.

Marketing Cost

It has widely been held as the most viewed advertising platform, hence the cost to have an advert slot is astronomical. The typical cost for a 30-second slot is estimated to be around the $6.5-7m USD mark. That equates to roughly $0.07 for each potential viewer.

This isn’t unusual, with most digital advertising costing between $0.03 and $0.30 per viewer. If the audience is known to be relevant to your product or service, then this can push towards the upper end.

Limit Break (Digidaigaku’s fund) raised $200m of funding. Gabriel Leydon understands the importance of advertising to make a successful game, so decided to allocate sufficient funds to get the game in front of the largest single global audience.

Previous Adverts

Leydon is not new to Super Bowl adverts. While CEO of Machine Zone, Leydon ran a couple of Super Bowl ads for the games Game of War: Fire Age and Mobile Strike, starring model Kate Upton and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It’s going to be the first full-featured NFT branding advert in the Super Bowl, an especially big occasion for not just NFT integration into gaming but the wider NFT ecosystem.

Mobile Gaming

Mobile gaming was extremely big in 2013 largely due to the likes of Facebook opening up their ad platforms. The cost per install was $0.30 and the break-even period was less than a day.

However, since then AT&T and Apple updated the terms with the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) causing the costs to spike. Now that same Install is around $60 for a free game download - Clearly unsustainable. So seeking new avenues to pursue gaming is necessary to remain profitable.

The process to Obtain a DigiDaigaku Dragon NFT

Super Bowl viewers will need to scan the QR code embedded in Limit Break’s advertisement. This will air during the Super Bowl’s first commercial break. Be quick, you’ll have 30 seconds! Ensure you’re streaming it live also if viewing from another country as you may miss the ad window.

The intention is to induce FOMO in those who are viewing it. They will see that they had the opportunity to obtain a Digidaigaku Dragon purely on a first come first serve basis. Once they realize the price of the asset on secondary then many that are financially motivated may commence the rabbit hole journey into the NFT ecosystem.

However, assuming that no Dragons were whitelisted, there is already a 10,000/100,000,000 (0.01%) chance of getting access to the drop. There are 1,000 whitelisted, but what intrigues me is that there are 6,000 minted which could be held back for other ecosystem asset holders. If this is the case then there would be a 0.004% chance of getting one, 0.009% if only 1,000 are whitelisted.

Coinbase Advert Benchmark

You’ll recall the Coinbase advert using a QR code, which moved around the screen consistent with the historical DVD screensaver.

The ad proved so popular that the app crashed for about an hour. Coinbase had more than 20 million hits on its landing page in one minute and the engagement was six times higher than previous benchmarks.

The Coinbase ad was estimated to increase Crypto application downloads by 279%. Bearing in mind that the estimated number of people already in Crypto prior to the advert was c300 million.

When we compare these metrics the NFT space is dwarfed. Only 200k wallets trade NFTs weekly. In relative terms, there’s a greater opportunity for growth from a NFT-specific advert being televised to 100m viewers.

If 0.1% of the viewers (100k) were onboarded into the NFT ecosystem then that would result in a 50% growth in the participants. One could argue that this is extremely conservative given the Coinbase advert created 20 million downloads.

If we were to assume the same adoption rate (20% of viewers) then the results would be a 100x increase in current ecosystem participants. If these viewers became loyal to the Limit Break brand, then the existing ecosystem holder base of c2k people could see a 10,000x growth.

All these are scenarios are highly sensitive to several variables, but it illustrates that there is a reasonable likelihood that this event will have a positive impact on the current status of the NFT sector.

Predictions

It’s America’s biggest stage. Typically betting, beer and big names take the ad spots, particularly given the price tag.

It’s clear that the entire industry has a lot riding on the future of this being a success.

https://twitter.com/igorlenterman/status/1624549027575648257?s=20&t=BzgxqxlaKgA57iq4ayPNDA

The success of the advert will be determined by its execution. It’s great that Leydon has experience in these adverts, and it’s clear that he has done his research over the past 12 months, but the devil is in the detail. The word NFT is hated by many that are not in the NFT or crypto space.

Using wording like “digital asset” or even just making the advert look like a fun game without the viewers realizing the QR code gives them an NFT, could be the defining factors that drive its success.

If this approach succeeds, it’s likely we will see a revival of the free mint meta as new money enters the ecosystem expecting to mint new NFTs with the same model set out by Limit Break, Leydon and DigiDaigaku.

Assuming the advert execution is immaculate, then the slightest influx of viewers will be noticeable to the current NFT liquidity. It will not be insignificant and could follow in the footsteps of Yuga Labs with BAYC.

DigiDaigaku Analysis

1) Price

The floor price of the Genesis DigiDaigaku is 12 ETH ($18.3k USD), up 32% in the past 24 hours. Volume is also up 31% over the same timeframe, with 28 sales. The estimated floor MC is 24,264 ETH ($37m USD).

The rare Mythics have sold for prices well in excess of the floor. This Mythic Leviathan sold for 59 ETH ($90k USD).

The $200m Venture Capital funding drove $3.1m in secondary sales within a 24 hour period. It will be interesting to see if the Super Bowl has a similar impact, or perhaps the event is already priced in.

2) Volume & Proceeds

There has been a total of 26.1k ETH ($40m USD) in secondary sales volume across all the collections. If we were to assume all NFTs received the 10% royalties, then there would be $4m in royalties received by the team. However, given the recent marketplace stances, it’s likely the actual amount received is less than half of this.

Most of the volume has been within the genesis collection, which makes up 71% of the overall sales activity. Key drivers are that it has been around longer, received the initial hype around the $200m funding announcement and any sales command a significantly higher sales price than the other collections.

Zero proceeds have been received for the initial mint of each of these collections. Leydon is a firm believer in the free-to-own (F2O) model and hence the ability to drive value back to the early holders and supporters of the project.

3) Holders

There are 854 holders, working out at a distribution of 42%. This reasonable holder ratio suggests that on average each holder has two Genesis DigiDaigaku.

However, when digging deeper we can see that 621 (73%) only hold a single NFT. If any of these were to sell they would exit the ecosystem altogether which is unlikely.

Origins’ proprietary methodology estimates nine whales in the collection and 24% of day-one minters are still holding their Genesis NFTs. As a benchmark (using the same methodology), Azuki has 30 whales and 16% day-one minters.

This suggests two important metrics:

• There are fewer large holders that could dump their spare NFTs.

• The holders have a greater tendency to hold their NFT long-term.

Limit Break is the largest holder with 99 Genesis NFTs (4.9% of the collection). This suggests they have conviction in the project long term to hold their own project. Outside of Limit Break Hype.Eth holds the second largest number with 74 Genesis Digis (3.7% of the project).

Gaming Sector Review

Mobile Gaming

Worth $98b in 2020, the mobile gaming market will grow to $272b by 2030. It’s unsurprising when 38% of the world’s population plays games, with 3 billion gamers estimated worldwide.

Development Cost

The average AAA game takes about four years to develop, with an average cost of about $80 million and higher. For instance, Rockstar Games spent roughly $128m marketing GTA 5 in 2013. It’s not cheap to market a game successfully.

Game Consumers

However there is a chance of recovering this in the long run, hence the marketing expense viability. Some gamers can spend up to $50k USD per day ($18m USD per year). These would be deemed the hardcore traders or gamers within the biggest game ecosystems. This would include skins in the main, so understanding the transition to web3 gaming using NFTs is not unreasonable.

NFT Gaming Sector Performance

The gaming segment of the NFT sector has struggled to recover from the play-to-earn Ponzi experienced a year ago.

The value extraction is tricky to manage with no new money entering an ecosystem, hence the high inflation of the ERC-20 tokens associated with these NFT gaming projects.

Other Considerations

Market Liquidity

It’s worth observing the macro picture to understand whether the wider NFT ecosystem will continue to perform well.

The recent Bitcoin Ordinal boom and Open Edition meta suggest that there is a reasonable amount of liquidity sidelined for the right projects. Irrespective of the direction of price action it’s certain we will see an uptick in activity as holders and traders speculate on the direction of the asset prices. Perhaps we will be lucky enough to see the DigiDaigaku ecosystem assets pump into price discovery.

But this will come down to the execution of the team on the day, but there’s no better veteran than Leydon at the helm given his track record of success.

Macro Market Conditions

However the macro hasn’t changed dramatically, so it’s worth observing that the available liquidity and the cost of living have an impact on buyers’ spending habits.

A hawkish environment means there are lower levels of disposable income. Although offering a free mint may be a good way of capturing the attention of the masses. If they suddenly see the price of the free mint they missed then this could bring more eyes on the space, which is Leydon’s intention.

Volume has increased slightly since mid-December in light of increased activity for the Blur Airdrop. However, it’s by no means close to the historical highs experienced in Feb 2022 of circa 250k ETH weekly volume ($384m USD).

Until the macroeconomic conditions change it is likely we will continue in a downtrend or at least stay within the 100k ETH ($160m USD) weekly trading volume range, down 58% over the same period last year.

Closing Remarks

The DigiDaigaku Super Bowl advert will be a significant event in NFT history.

There has never been an NFT-specific advert played at the Super Bowl. The Coinbase QR code created 20m app downloads, equating to a 20% conversion rate. If Leydon and the team were to do a fraction of that, then the NFT ecosystem would see a huge surge in interest and potentially volume/liquidity with it.

This is Leydon’s third advert, so if the Kate Upton, War Zone, advert is anything to go by then it could be a resounding success. 43% of viewers tune in for the adverts alone, and with a 6.5c per viewer cost it’s not a bad return for the USA’s number one advertising platform.

The success will be down to its execution. Will we see Kate Upton return for a touchdown?

Disclaimer: I hold an unmasked Villain and have entered the Dragon Whitelist contest.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech, specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our Opensea page.

Despite web3’s fascination with immutability, Non Fungible Token (NFT) metadata is subject to change across an overwhelming majority of collections. 

Following the recent boom in interest around Bitcoin Ordinals and inscriptions, there has been renewed interest in how NFT data storage works.

Metadata is most often stored on the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), but even there it can be deleted if the data is not used or paid for. 

Let’s demystify metadata and the actions you can take to protect your NFTs.

Article Outline

• Frozen NFT Metadata

• An Incomplete Solution

• Exceptions

• Closing Remarks: Back Up Your Metadata

Frozen NFT Metadata

A single kilobyte of storage in an Ethereum block costs about 0.025 ETH ($41 USD today). As a result, the artwork, description, and everything that we refer to as NFT metadata tends to be stored off-chain in most cases. 

Regardless of where the metadata is, freezing it simply makes the contract unable to look anywhere else for metadata in the future. Since you can’t add files to a folder on IPFS, changing metadata requires uploading a new folder to IPFS and linking the new folder with the smart contract. 

To find NFTs with frozen metadata on Opensea, look for a snowflake icon above the artwork and will say Metadata: Frozen in the NFT description. Yuga Labs froze BAYC metadata on June 18th 2021, about two months after they had launched. When they did, they made the corners of the artwork rounded (to help combat fakes).

An Incomplete Solution

Freezing metadata means it cannot be updated, ever. But it can be lost. File storage costs money, and on IPFS storage is actually rented. 

IPFS charges hosting fees for data on the network, if a project team stops paying those fees the metadata may be deleted. It may seem that freezing metadata solves a problem, but that solution is incomplete. 

Exceptions

Not all metadata is frozen, and not all of it should be. For example, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club collection has unfrozen metadata. This makes sense, as new Mutants can come to exist when a serum is taken by a Bored Ape, which would require a metadata change to reflect the new Mutants artwork. Still-growing collections and ones that want NFT metadata to be dynamic should not freeze their metadata. Collectors will have to take backups periodically. 

Metadata expiration is not a concern for projects with on-chain artwork. In those cases, metadata is placed on-chain and then linked to the collection, so there isn’t an increased cost for those who mint, but to the project team initially instead. Cyberbrokers famously spent 91 ETH ($250,000 USD at the time) on putting their artwork on-chain ahead of launch. 

Closing Remarks: Back Up Your NFTs

You don’t need to be a project creator to take steps to ensure your NFT’s safety. 

If metadata is on IPFS, it is public and can be easily copied and having a copy can allow you to restore your NFTs. If a project team ever stops paying its IPFS bills, you could re-upload the metadata to the same location and take over the costs of paying for it. ClubNFT facilitates this and is free to use.

Backing up your NFTs is great, but if metadata is unfrozen it could change at any time and invalidate your backup. On the other hand, freezing metadata is great but still requires trust in the team to pay storage bills. These two are both sides of the same coin, and only together can make your NFTs as close to immutable as possible.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech, specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our Opensea page.

Ordinals launched on the Bitcoin network in January ‘23. They created an uproar in the Bitcoin community as many argued against their introduction to the genesis blockchain.

The number of Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions has already surpassed 45,000, but could be a lot higher by the time the article publishes. 21,000 were inscribed yesterday alone.

This article will provide context as to their origination, establish how to go about obtaining these relics and assess the overall market sentiment for the nascent Bitcoin relics.

Article Outline

• Background

• Mechanics

• Collections

• Trading

• Analysis

• Comparisons

• Closing Remarks

Background

Bitcoin NFT History

The Bitcoin network was established by the pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, in response to Great Financial Crisis in 2008. This article won’t go into the intricacies of the network itself but will focus on the Ordinals and NFT side.

For those wanting to familiarize themselves with the Bitcoin network, this Origins article provides a good background and position on the various key mechanics of the Bitcoin network.

Ordinals are not the first NFT on the Bitcoin network. Colored coins were launched in December 2012 and were arguably the first NFT in existence. Rare Pepes were subsequently launched on the Counterparty protocol several years later.

https://twitter.com/S4mmyEth/status/1516494521680506880?s=20&t=6zw4SURWHzWSJd8Hjww3dw

Bitcoin Ordinals were only recently made possible through the creation of Ordinal theory. This protocol enables the ability to order inscribed satoshis into chronological order and a significant amount more data than previously possible. The interest has exploded in the past few days.

We can see there are currently 45,000 Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions:

Individual satoshis can be inscribed with arbitrary content, creating unique Bitcoin-native digital artefacts that can be held in Bitcoin wallets and transferred using Bitcoin transactions. Most of the content to date is visual, although there are some new audio files being stored in recent days.

This was made possible using tapscripts, the scripting function created through the Taproot update. As can be seen below, Ordinals are the obvious driving force behind its adoption.

Mechanics

Atomic Value - Satoshis

Satoshis are the atomic native currency of the Bitcoin network. One bitcoin can be subdivided into 100,000,000 satoshis.

It’s likely there will be an over-saturation of ordinals in the market eventually. For now, the early grails are being actively sought out.

https://twitter.com/S4mmyEth/status/1623629040056774657?s=20&t=Fuh9Uupk9UColCpg73879g

Inscriptions are as durable, immutable, secure, and decentralized as Bitcoin itself.

Ordinal Theory

Ordinal theory is a protocol for assigning serial numbers to satoshis and tracking those satoshis as they are spent by transactions.

Every satoshi, which is ¹⁄₁₀₀,₀₀₀,₀₀₀ of a bitcoin, has an ordinal number so each number could be very large for instance 1,899,766,099,970,100.

It assigns identities to individual satoshis, allowing them to be individually tracked and traded and hence by nature become non-fungible tokens (NFT). Whereas traditional Bitcoin satoshis are identical/fungible, they are not uniquely identifiable.

It leverages OP_RETURNs which allows you to drop the data from your full node since they’re unspendable, and so they don’t add bloat to the chain size. The origins of this methodology go back to 2014 with the Counterparty network wars, which became divisive amongst the Bitcoin community. We will touch on this later in the article.

The first instance of this development has memetic roots by embedding the lyrics to “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley.

How to Take Advantage

Guides on how to go about entering the Bitcoin Ordinal ecosystem are popping up, predominantly via Twitter. @Jiurn provides one of the best I’ve seen.

https://twitter.com/Jiurn/status/1623356721908355076?s=20&t=Fuh9Uupk9UColCpg73879g

Bitcoin Node

There are major headwinds to most adopting the new wave of NFTs. One is the requirement to set up and run your own node in most instances with wallets like Sparrow.

Although, the rate of development is faster than expected given the lessons learned from Ethereum NFT infrastructure development. So for those that are unable to go through this process, it is likely these requirements will drop away as others allow the use of Bitcoin proxies.

Until this is possible, @0xVopa provides a good guide on setting up your own Bitcoin node.

https://twitter.com/0xvopa/status/1623126511111884804?s=20&t=-oeFcWrasQwo79oUd3Pl0Q

Collections

There are now more than 45,000 Ordinals on the Bitcoin network. The key collections within the first 1,000 include:

The first ordinal is inscription 0.

Ordinal Rocks contain 100 rocks and take inspiration from the EtherRocks.

Ordinal Punks take inspiration from the CryptoPunks on Ethereum and include 100 total.

Bitcoin Shrooms are a novel type that has a range of art from wizards to cats.

Shadow Hats are said to pay homage to the Pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. The founders are the same as those who established Forgotten Runes. The ethos focused on ensuring longevity to the artefacts or the project art.

The Dan Files consists of several collections, for instance, the tough pill to swallow pictured below.

We’ve also seen meme culture prevail with the 10,000th Ordinal being an image of the number 69.

Capturing the memetic internet culture for as long as the Bitcoin network exists.

Trading

Credit where credit is due; @dotta provides top guides for those interested in getting into Bitcoin Ordinals.

OTC Trading

But most of the BTC ordinal trading happens in Discord over the counter. This clearly raises many risks associated with bad actors exploiting traders. Some example order books for a couple of projects:

• Ordinal Punks

• Ordinal Pepes

The main location for discourse is in the BTC Ordinal Discord, but scams and bad actors are prevalent.

Escrow Services

There are however trusted intermediaries that are offering escrow services to reduce the risk of misappropriation of assets.

https://twitter.com/shanicucic96/status/1623510945673928709?s=20&t=lWUlMh4plXd_TEGvWOc1HQ

Migrating Ethereum Based Collections

An alternative approach that appears to be doing well is trading Ethereum-based NFTs that are promising a move to be inscribed as Bitcoin Ordinals. OCM announced this yesterday.

https://twitter.com/OnChainMonkey/status/1623784604309278720?s=20&t=3v0v38783iPcsmu01Uo_Bg

Trading volume spiked as those unable to access Bitcoin Ordinals saw this as a means of getting exposure to the ecosystem.

Since the top 1,000 inscriptions, the market is becoming saturated with several thousand new ordinals being inscribed or bridged from other chains each day. There are those that are more legitimate than others. Will these actually be bridged? It’s important to do your own research on each project that pops up as it is likely some will not.

@nullish has several viable projects that are intended to be bridged to Bitcoin.

https://twitter.com/null_ish/status/1623454467860606976?s=20&t=lWUlMh4plXd_TEGvWOc1HQ

Volume has come into these problems from speculative collectors. TradFiLines was minted on Ethereum on February 6, trading at 0.01 ETH. The 500-piece collection is now selling for 3 to 4 ETH ($4.6 to $6.2k USD) within three days, driven by the Ordinal inscription news.

Inscribing

For those wanting to inscribe their own Ordinal, there are bots available to expedite the process. Ordinals Bot was founded by the Satoshibles and is probably one of the most widely used bots to inscribe Ordinals.

https://ordinalsbot.com/

It can take 12 hours for them to be inscribed once the request has been sent.

You can see some of the recent Ordinal inscriptions on the website (below).

Analysis

The current bid-ask spread is dictated on google docs.

https://twitter.com/punk9059/status/1623411865597407233?s=20&t=m1hYVJTNxCbU-Y22t1gmRA

User Interface/Experience (UI/UX)

The UI/UX is not yet ready for the average user. Traders could quite easily fat-finger their ordinals to the wrong address, or send the incorrect satoshi.

https://twitter.com/tropoFarmer/status/1623392835301957635?s=20&t=m1hYVJTNxCbU-Y22t1gmRA

But there are developers that intend to make the process easier to verify and custody the new assets.

https://twitter.com/null_ish/status/1623469436425408512?s=20&t=lWUlMh4plXd_TEGvWOc1HQ

Top Sales

The top ordinal sale is for an Ordinal Punk which went for 9.5 BTC ($207K USD) on February 8, 2023.

Other non-punk high-end sales include this Ordinal Loop, selling for $96k USD (4.178 BTC). Most recent Punk sales are in the 4 BTC ($88k USD) range now.

https://twitter.com/tropoFarmer/status/1623436963473936386?s=20&t=Q09vDX_0apaSA0UoGWl8Jw

The rarity of the satoshi also plays a part in the valuation of the ordinal. The rarer the satoshi, the higher the value. There are bounties put out to hunt and obtain the rare satoshis to then inscribe the ordinals.

So while there is provenance in obtaining an early minted ordinal, the later minted ordinals with rare satoshis should also hold some intrinsic value.

There has been discussion that an optimal Ordinal would be a rare satoshi combined with a 1/1 piece of notable artwork. That type of relic could command a significant sum of money for those that appreciate art with the benefit of immutability on the most secure blockchain.

Holders

There are several top NFT collectors seizing the early access opportunities. The low collection size coupled with a spike in interest has sent the prices astronomical to rival the high-end Ethereum-based grails. Dingaling holds seven Ordinal Punks while Vopa has also acquired several ordinal assets.

We can see from the Ordinal Punk order book that there are several renowned collectors holding or bidding for these low ordinal grails. Of the 100 Ordinal punks, there are 18 currently listed for sale with the lowest ask of 4 BTC ($88k USD). P Ether, founder of BYOP currently has the highest offer at 4 BTC ($88k USD) for a sub-500 inscription.

The analysis is relatively manual currently given the individual project spreadsheets. Another example is the Ordinal Pepes, where we can see TropoFarmer and Dingaling present as holders also.

Conflicting Interest

There have been disputes over the best use of the Bitcoin network for years. We can see from the “Open Return Wars” in 2014, that many felt that anything other than focusing on the efficient and cost-effective process of transactions is peripheral to the core objective of the network.

One of Bitcoin’s main contributors in 2014, Jeff Garzik, stated that the arbitrary inclusion of data into unspent outputs was a waste of block space.

We are seeing this same argument crop up now that we have Bitcoin maximalists uninterested in non-fungible transactions and the arbitrary inclusion of artefacts or data onto satoshis.

https://twitter.com/web3_ready/status/1623408775787950082?s=20&t=m1hYVJTNxCbU-Y22t1gmRA

The main reason is the increased transaction cost from a greater hash rate on the network following the flurry of activity.

The current hash rate is around 277 million terahashes per second (or 277,000,000 TH/s) which is up from 220 million on December 28, 2022 (just before Bitcoin Ordinals went live).

What happens if these interests are aligned? Well we can look at the distribution of Bitcoin wallets to see the sheer capital sidelined should these Bitcoin relics become of interest.

Imagine if one of the four wallets holding more than 100k BTC ($2.2b USD) were to get involved.

Comparison

You are probably thinking these aren’t the first Bitcoin NFT, so why the hype? Let’s compare it to a few examples.

1) Rare Pepes and Counterparty Network

Rare Pepes were minted on the Counterparty network, which was a protocol integrated with the Bitcoin network. The technology allows Counterparty nodes to communicate with each other via the Bitcoin blockchain.

The issue here is that there was a limitation on the amount of data that could originally be stored on the Counterparty network, meaning a lot of the images you see below were not fully on-chain.

Whereas Ordinal theory and inscriptions allow these images to be fully stored on-chain. Decentralization in its finest form with no requirement to trust a third party to maintain the storage.

2) Colored Coins

Colored Coins were minted on the Bitcoin network back in 2012. Again the data limitations meant that these were very primitive. The Enhanced Padded Order-Based Coloring (EPOBC) assigns a single atom of a color value is one satoshi, thus making it distinct from a normal satoshi.

Colored coins were the original representation of assets on the blockchain. They are not widely used because the transaction structure required to represent colored coins relies on unspent transaction outputs (UTXO), which Ethereum-based blockchain systems do not support.

Inscriptions permit a significant amount more data so a greater range of artefacts can be stored for eternity, or at least until the Bitcoin network exists.

3) Genesis Block

The Genesis Block was created on January 3, 2009 and represents the first block by Satoshi Nakamoto. The wording was included in the first block similar to the idea of inscriptions.

The 50-bitcoin coinbase reward in the Genesis block is unredeemable, as it was omitted from the transaction database. This means any attempt to spend it would be rejected by the network. However, this data was stored within a block as opposed to the satoshi itself.

The genesis block was never mined, it was an anchor block. So while this data was included within the block it is unique in that regard. Although not technically correct one could see similarities between the description within the Genesis Block and that of a soulbound NFT.

Ethereum Comparison

Inscriptions like Bitcoin Ordinals are completely on-chain.

Some Ethereum NFT content is on-chain (EtherOrcs, Anonymice), but much is off-chain and is stored on platforms like IPFS or Arweave, or on fully centralized web servers like AWS.

In fact, we are seeing some movement in the fully on-chain Ethereum-based projects - potentially signs of a new meta.

https://twitter.com/S4mmyEth/status/1623698313177341956?s=20&t=3G9wN8ABRNt7nvOyBm3wwA

For instance, Anonymice saw a huge pump, with their floor price doubling from 0.25ETH ($0.4k USD) to 0.5 ETH ($0.8K USD) within 24 hours.

Ethereum-based NFTs (ERC-721 or ERC 11-55) use a different token from its fungible counterpart (ERC-20) whereas Bitcoin Ordinals use the same atomic denomination, satoshis.

Royalties

A large drawback of Bitcoin Inscriptions is that they do not support on-chain royalties. Although it’s argued that even royalties on Ethereum are being circumvented via non-enforceable marketplaces given the optionality.

Cost

At $20,000 per BTC and the minimum relay fee of 1 satoshi per vbyte, publishing inscription content costs $50 per 1 million bytes. The Bitcoin protocol limits a block to 4 million weight units, equivalent to a maximum of 4 megabytes. It’s not cheap compared to Ethereum transactions or their layer two scalability solutions.

However, that may be the price of being early - when the masses can transact after marketplaces are established then this original cost base may be baked into the underlying value of the lower ordinal numbers.

Closing Remarks

Bitcoin ordinals are all the hype at the moment, but simple supply-demand mechanics suggest that as the market becomes saturated with the assets their price will be adversely impacted. Some of the lower-numbered ordinals, or those minted on rare satoshis, will likely retain the provenance of being on the genesis blockchain.

The clunky nature and over-the-counter process for trading these assets create a barrier to entry. Those willing to spend time understanding the mechanics and developing infrastructure could prosper greatly.

The Bitcoin Whales dwarf any of the Ethereum Whales, so should the tide change and they come around to the idea then the earlier more scarce assets could be worth astronomical values. But until hash rates drop, and trading the assets become seamless it is unlikely to allow for the masses to get involved in the nascent market.

At OriginsNFT we leverage data-driven decision-making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech, specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our Opensea page.

Art NFTs are on the rise, however, entering this nascent space can be daunting for many new entrants. Having a repository of information concentrated in a single actionable guide can help artists transition from the traditional art world to the digital, web3 sphere.

This article will cover various tips and tricks to growing an audience in Web3, the vast array of marketplaces and blockchains artists can choose to launch on, as well as helpful guides for launching your first collection.

Article Outline

• Web3 - A Modern Day Renaissance for Art and Artists

• Building an Audience in Web3

• Which Blockchains/Platforms Should Artists Consider?

• Closing Remarks

Web3 - A Modern Day Renaissance for Art and Artists

Art has played a significant role in putting NFTs on many people’s radars, with Beeple's $69 million USD sale of "EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS" at Christie's in March 2021 serving as a landmark moment.

While many might argue that the NFT market has since been dominated by larger NFT projects and brands, with the largest gains going to larger teams, it cannot be denied that lone artists are still at the forefront of the NFT space.

In fact, despite a challenging bear market, Art NFTs have proven to be one of the safest bets in the NFT market for investors. Whilst most NFT subgenres are down 90% from the top, art NFTs have managed to maintain most of their value.

And with the rise of art-focused NFT marketplaces and blockchains (see Diving Into Tezos’ NFT Ecosystem), as well as the emergence of the Open-Edition art meta (see Proceed w/ Caution by DesLucrece), the spotlight is once again on Art NFTs and NFT Artists, in what can be considered a modern day Renaissance.

However, many new artists may face challenges such as:

1. Figuring out where to start.

2. Building an audience in Web3.

3. Choosing a blockchain to launch on, etc.

To help ease the transition from traditional art to digital, we have created a comprehensive guide for new artists onboarding the NFT space.

Building an Audience in Web3

1/ Transferring Existing Fan Bases

Some artists may have already started building their presence on social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok. And while Instagram has recently started rolling out features enabling creators to sell NFTs on its application, it's currently still in development and limited to a small group of artists.

Nonetheless, the most important social media networks that NFT art collectors and NFT artists use in Web3 and the NFT space are Twitter and Discord. Thus, it’s important to consider transferring any existing followers from other social media platforms to these two for greater visibility and accessibility to potential Web3 native buyers and collectors.

2/ Building A Personal Brand

Building a personal brand on Twitter is paramount as it will allow you to increase your online visibility, leverage your network, build on your credibility, and develop a brand image that your audience will attach to you.

Establishing a personal brand on Twitter is crucial as it enhances your online presence, helps you build your connections, strengthens your credibility, and creates a recognizable brand image that your audience will associate with you (see NFTs: Building a Personal Brand).

Examining the Twitter profiles of some of the most prominent artists in the NFT space (such as @DesLucrece, @VinnieHager, and @GrantYun2), we can begin to see some similarities.

They all use their profile pictures and banners to exhibit their art and more importantly, their distinct art styles, which distinguishes them from others and allows their audience to identify their individual brand personalities and art styles.

Additionally, they all use their Twitter bios as a brief introduction for new followers, mentioning the marketplaces their work is available on and including a link to their art portfolios in their profile’s link section.

In summary, the key takeaways listed above are:

1. Use a profile picture and banner that displays your distinctive art style and personal brand;

2. Include a brief bio to introduce yourself;

3. Provide a link to your artist portfolio.

3/ Building Connections

Building connections is the best way to kickstart your growth and grow your audience in the NFT space. There are a handful of ways to do that.

a/ Engage With Your Favorite NFT Artists

Find other NFT artists on Twitter and Discord and begin engaging with them by sharing your love of art together.

One way to do this is by finding a list of NFT artists in the space (we’ve shared a helpful list to start with later in the article in The Top Artists & Communities in the NFT Space), then:

1. Following their Twitter accounts;

2. Turning notifications for their posts on;

3. You can also create a Twitter list and add all your favorite artists;

By following these steps, you will be the first to receive notifications when they tweet, giving you the opportunity to be the first to comment, thereby boosting your likelihood of being noticed by the artist.

Pro Tip:* It is essential to ensure that your comments are insightful and add value to the artist's content when you reply. Avoid being just another unmeaningful comment (i.e. “LFG”) in their feed. Aim to showcase the unique value you bring.*

b/ Join An NFT Art/Artist Community

@NFT_GOD frequently discusses his path to gaining 10,000 followers and beyond. One of his most impactful strategies for growing on Twitter is to identify a community that aligns with your interests and become its loudest member, constantly contributing valuable content. With time, members of the community will start to recognize you and follow you.

According to @NFT_GOD, the following steps can be taken to build your following:

1. Find an active NFT community and invest in its NFT to gain access to a captive audience (we’ve shared a helpful list to start with later in the article in The Top Artists & Communities in the NFT Space). The more active the community, the better. Look for communities that align with your values to increase your chances of connecting with others who have similar goals. Spend a week researching various NFT communities and choose the one that fits your criteria. Participate in their Discord and Twitter Spaces, ask questions on Twitter, and get involved in the community. With consistent engagement, you can expect to gain your first 100 followers.

2. Create a core audience by becoming deeply involved in a project. By showing your dedication, you will attract other dedicated individuals to you. To get noticed, become a project evangelist and be the first person people think of when they think of the project. Get involved in community events, comment on every tweet from members, bring high energy to the Discord, and interact with the project's founders. With consistent effort, you can expect to easily reach 1000+ followers over time.

4/ Attending Twitter Spaces & Events

As detailed in the point above, finding active communities and artists on NFT Twitter is crucial to finding relevant Twitter Spaces to participate in. Additionally, actively participating in Twitter Spaces and providing valuable insights will bring attention to yourself from many community members.

Speaking publicly to a group of strangers can be intimidating at first, as with Twitter Spaces, you cannot see the audience's reaction (trust me, I know). However, making a habit of participating in these Spaces and being engaged will increase your visibility to community members.

Furthermore, attending physical NFT art events provides an opportunity to network with people face-to-face. Explore what events are taking place and make an effort to attend and connect with as many individuals as you can. One of the most well-known NFT art events globally is Art Basel, which is held in various major cities at different times.

5/ Engaging With Your Twitter Audience

Building an audience is an ongoing process and it's essential to maintain an active presence on Twitter with the audience you have acquired. Ensure your posts are valuable and encourage your followers to engage.

Another strategy is to utilize your Twitter audience as a source of feedback for your artwork. This will not only increase engagement with your audience but also give them a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process and make them feel involved, leading to higher retention and loyalty among your followers.

Which Blockchains/Platforms Should Artists Consider?

The blockchain you choose can have a significant impact on the success of your initial collections. Launching on a blockchain with high volume, such as Ethereum, means greater competition but also increased visibility. On the other hand, launching on an emerging, art-focused blockchain like Tezos, may have lower competition, but it could result in a higher conversion rate for both audience and sales.

1/ Ethereum

Ethereum has a thriving NFT art community and is home to the most notable art collections. However, competition is more intense as established artists and art curation platforms are prevalent.

Despite this, most NFT users are familiar with the Ethereum ecosystem, reducing friction in the conversion of buyers.

a/ Manifold

Manifold.xyz has recently gained popularity as an NFT art launch platform, providing digital artists with the tools and resources they need to maintain creative control and create unique NFT experiences for their audience. The advantage of Manifold.xyz is that artists don't need to have programming knowledge to create smart contracts as the platform offers the necessary tools for uploading their artwork directly onto the launchpad.

​​Recently, Open-Editions (“OE”) NFT drops have gained popularity in the art NFT space with most artists using Manifold.xyz for their OE drops (see Proceed w/ Caution by DesLucrece as an example of a thriving OE collection). These NFT drops have no set limit on their supply and allow collectors to generate as many tokens as they want within a certain time frame, usually 24, 48, or 72 hours. This provides more opportunities for an artist's fanbase to collect their work and grow their community reach. However, some people are concerned that OEs can harm the NFT space by reducing the value of an artist's 1/1 pieces and offering little value to collectors, and the long-term impact of OEs on an artist's work is unknown.

b/ Art Blocks

Art Blocks is one of the more known platforms for curating and creating generative art on the Ethereum blockchain (see The World of Generative Art for more information on Art Blocks and the generative art space).

According to NFTGo, Art Blocks contributed a total of 1.98% of the entire Ethereum NFT market’s volume in the past 3 months.

Art Blocks' collections are known for their success on the mint and secondary market, but getting a collection onto the platform is challenging as all submissions need to make it through a curation panel of Art Blocks’ staff of artists and art collectors. Furthermore, the platform only showcases generative art, excluding 1/1 pieces.

c/ Your Website

Lastly, if you choose to mint on Ethereum, a popular option is to do so through your own website and smart contract. However, this requires programming skills to design and build a website, as well as create smart contracts for minting your NFT.

Moreover, minting on your own website means that you will be solely dependent on your followers to mint your collection, as the traffic to your website will only come from your Twitter and Discord.

2/ Tezos

Tezos’ NFT ecosystem has become a hub for art collectors and artists on Web3 with its art-specialized marketplaces such as Objkt.com and Fx(hash).

In fact, looking through its top collections sorted by volume in the past 24 hours, most are generative art collections.

Furthermore, despite a turbulent bear market, NFT volume on Tezos does not seem to be slowing down.

a/ Fx(hash)

Fx(hash) is currently one of the biggest NFT marketplaces and launchpads on the Tezos blockchain, accounting for 66% of all NFT volume on Tezos in the past 3 months.

Fx(hash) features an explore page where art collectors can view available and upcoming collections. If you plan to launch your collection on fx(hash), it's advisable to plan ahead and connect your Twitter profile and art portfolio to your artist profile. This increases the chance of potential buyers finding, trusting and investing in your work.

It is also worth noting that all artwork featured on fx(hash) is generative art, and while it is technically possible to feature a 1/1 piece and have it auctioned on the platform, it is generally not common practice.

b/ Objkt.com

Objkt.com is the second largest NFT marketplace and launchpad on the Tezos blockchain, offering a variety of art including generative art, photography, digital art, and sketches. It also has an explore page showcasing all currently live auctions.

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• Art NFTs have played a major role in popularizing NFTs, with Beeple's sale of "EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS" for $69 million at Christie's in March 2021 serving as a landmark event. Despite the dominance of larger NFT projects and brands, individual artists remain at the forefront of the NFT space and art NFTs have proven to be a safe investment during the bear market. With the rise of art-focused NFT marketplaces and blockchains and the emergence of open-edition art, the focus is once again on Art NFTs and artists.

• To build an audience in the Web3 and NFT space, artists can follow these steps: Transfer existing fans from social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok to Twitter and Discord, the most important networks for NFT art collectors and artists. Build a personal brand on Twitter by using profile pictures and banners to exhibit art and personal brand, including a brief bio, and providing a link to the artist portfolio. Building connections is crucial, artists can engage with other NFT artists and join NFT art/artist communities to gain connections and followers. Attending Twitter Spaces and events will also increase visibility and also an opportunity to network with others.

• When choosing a blockchain/platform for an NFT art collection, it is important to consider factors such as competition, visibility, and conversion rate. Ethereum has a large NFT art community, but high competition. Manifold.xyz is a popular NFT art launch platform on Ethereum that allows artists to create smart contracts without programming knowledge. Art Blocks is another platform for generative art on Ethereum, but getting a collection on the platform is difficult due to the curation panel. Tezos has become a hub for art collectors and artists with marketplaces such as Objkt.com and Fx(hash). Fx(hash) is the largest NFT marketplace on Tezos, but only features generative art. Objkt.com offers a variety of art including generative, digital, and traditional art.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.

Recently, NFT artists and art communities have seen a surge in growth due to the growing popularity of open-edition (“OE”) NFT collections and a booming art scene. This article will highlight the top NFT artists and communities in the NFT space.

Article Outline

• Top Artists in the NFT Space

• Top Art Communities in the NFT Space

• Closing Remarks

Top Artists in the NFT Space

Establishing connections with your favorite artists in the NFT space is important for enhancing your personal brand and staying informed about market trends and successful strategies other artists may be using. The following is a list of some of the top artists in the NFT space.

It is suggested to also explore Twitter and search for artists with similar art styles to yours. Additionally, consider connecting with artists with fewer followers as you will find it easier to connect and network with them. Here's a curated list of over 70 NFT artists' Twitter handles that you can use to start your journey: A List of NFT Artists' Twitter Handles.

Finally, collaborating with some of these artists on future collections could be a beneficial opportunity for both parties. Collaborative collections can merge both of your audiences together and amplify marketing efforts.

1/ Beeple

Beeple, also known as Mike Winkelmann, has been one of the best-selling NFT artists in the space for some time due to his groundbreaking auction with Christie's. His work "EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS" sold for a staggering $69.34 million USD and was a key contributor to NFT sales gaining widespread media attention. It was also the first time a well-established auction house sold crypto art and accepted cryptocurrency as payment.

Beeple continuously showcases his daily “Everydays” digital creations on Instagram and Twitter. His works are hyper-realistic yet absurd, encompassing a diverse range of themes, including digital shapes, scenery, and politically charged illustrations.

2/ Pak

Pak is an anonymous digital artist and is currently ranked as one of the highest earning artists in the NFT space. Pak has been involved in the digital media industry for two decades and remains anonymous to this day. His highest selling NFT titled "Clock" fetched $52.7 million USD. While it doesn’t resemble a clock, this NFT serves as a digital tally of the number of days that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been imprisoned in Belmarsh Prison in London. Pak collaborated with Assange to create this NFT as a means to raise funds for Assange's legal defense.

3/ 3LAU

Justin David Blau, known by his stage name 3LAU, is an American DJ and electronic dance music producer. 3LAU is known in the NFT space for his record-breaking mint out of “Ultraviolet” Album NFTs for $11.6 Million.

4/ XCOPY

XCOPY is a digital artist based in London whose art often features themes of death and dystopian worlds, using flashing images and loops, often with epilepsy warnings. The artist's most expensive piece, "All Time High in the City" sold for $6 million USD and depicts Charon, the mythological ferryman who transports the souls of the dead to the underworld.

5/ FVCKRENDER

Frederic Duquette, who goes by the pseudonym FVCKRENDER, is a self taught digital artist from Vancouver, BC. He’s well-known for his project "FVCK_CRYSTALS//" a collection of 4,169 digital crystals that provide unique benefits within the virtual world he created called the "FVCKRENDERVERSE."

6/ FEWOCiOUS

Teenage artist FEWOCiOUS is spearheading a new era in NFT art. His most expensive piece selling at $2.7 million USD, "Nice to Meet You, I'm Mr. MiSUNDERSTOOD" features a crying character from a children's show surrounded by colorful elements, including flowers and clouds. The piece comes with a 30x30 inch canvas, oil paint, and gloss varnish.

7/ Refik Anadol

Refik Anadol, an artist from Turkey, is known for his work exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on art. One of his most popular pieces is "Machine Hallucinations - Space: Metaverse", an immersive NFT installation. Anadol also runs Refik Anadol Studio and RAS LAB in Los Angeles, which focuses on using data narratives and artificial intelligence in art, and he also lectures on the subject at UCLA's Department of Design Media Arts. Additionally, Anadol was one of the first NFT artists to be featured in MoMA.

8/ Snowfro

Erick Calderon, also known as Snowfro, is the founder of Art Blocks, one of the biggest generative art curation platforms in the NFT space. Since its establishment in November 2020, Art Blocks has gained much attention, including from renowned auction house Sotheby’s. Snowfro is also most known for his debut Art Blocks collection, “Chromie Squiggle”. Each squiggle in the collection is unique, with Snowfro describing it as embodying the essence of the Art Block platform and representing his personal signature as an artist, developer, and tinkerer.

9/ Hackatao

Hackatao is an artist who creates both physical and digital artworks that tackle societal, environmental, human, and crypto-related issues. One of their most notable NFTs, "Imago, 2k2 a.C", depicts a naked woman covered in words and art. Some of their other pieces follow a similar theme, some being animated and others being still images.

10/ Tyler Hobbs

Tyler Hobbs is a visual artist who specializes in generative art, creating art with code, plotters and paint. His most notable collection is “Fidenza”. Hobbs has also made recent headlines with his latest collection “QQL” nearly raising a total of $17 million USD on mint.

Top Art Communities in the NFT Space

As mentioned in the “Building Connections” part above, finding an active community in the NFT space is vital to making your first few connections in the space and connecting with other like minded artists and art collectors.

The following is a list of some of the leading and most active art communities on Ethereum and Tezos. As previously mentioned, it's important to take your time and thoroughly research to find the community that aligns best with your artistic style and preferred medium.

1/ PROOF Collective

PROOF Collective is a private group of 1,000 dedicated NFT collectors and artists holding the PROOF Collective NFT pass. It was founded by Kevin Rose, a well-known creator in the web industry, particularly in the web3 space. He has an extensive collection of NFTs and hosts a podcast featuring interviews with leading generative artists, demonstrating his expertise in this field.

“I found the community to be very diverse, extremely helpful and very knowledgeable, especially about the generative art side of NFTs. I feel that generative art is an area that interests me a lot, but I am not yet able to value projects as well as I can in the PFP niche. This makes being in PROOF and being able to even talk to some great artists a big plus for me.” - Jean Galea

Additionally, PROOF have a handful of seasonal art drops through their Grails by PROOF, where they partner with several artists and allow holders of a Grails pass to mint one of the artworks.

However, a PROOF Collective pass currently costs 26.35 ETH (~$42,000 USD) and would be out of range for many artists. Luckily, you can still get access to their Discord-gated community by holding a Moonbirds or Moonbirds Oddities, respectively sitting at floor prices of 7.48 ETH (~$12,000 USD) and 1.2 ETH (~$1,920 USD).

2/ gmDAO

The gmDAO is a community of generative art NFT enthusiasts, artists, and investors, established in September 2021 through a fair token distribution process. With 665 members currently, members of the DAO are mostly active in the generative art NFT sector, with diverse backgrounds including accredited investors and renowned generative artists with work featured on ArtBlocks.

The community operates on the principles of mutual respect and etiquette, creating a welcoming atmosphere in an industry that can be hostile at times. This has resulted in a highly passionate and involved member base.

One of the DAO’s first projects was gm. studio, a decentralized generative art platform that aims to address the challenges faced by new artists on existing platforms, such as long application times, poor communication, and financial barriers. The studio employs a blind curation process and eliminates upfront fees for artists, covering marketing, deployment, and rendering costs instead. This ensures a level playing field for all artists, and eliminates bias in the curation process, as curators are unaware of the identity of the artist behind a project.

The gmDAO token, which grants its holders access to their gated-community Discord, currently sits at a floor price of 3.94 ETH (~$6,300 USD).

3/ Collective Strangers

Collective Strangers is a photography-centric NFT community that caters to both photographers and photography enthusiasts. It is a welcoming group that has its own photography-focused project and is led by Eric Rubens, a renowned photographer in the NFT space.

Collective Strangers also have their CS Community Collection, a collection of 643 unique stories, sourced and curated entirely by the community.

The Collective Strangers NFT to enter their token-gated Discord currently sits at a floor price of 0.14 ETH (~$224 USD).

4/ Kaloh / Blind Gallery

Kaloh is a renowned computer and data scientist in the NFT art community, who regularly shares his passion for art and valuable insights about the art world through his weekly newsletter. By subscribing to his newsletters, which cost $12.50 USD per month, you will gain access to his exclusive Discord group, where you can connect with other artists and collectors who share similar interests.

Additionally, Kaloh has recently launched Blind Gallery, a new art curation platform where pass holders can mint art collections curated by the gallery. Holding a Blind Gallery pass grants access to another token-gated Discord community than Kaloh’s. The floor price for a Blind Gallery pass is currently 400 XTZ (~$444 USD).

It is worth noting that while the community’s discussion covers art on both Ethereum and Tezos, it primarily focuses on art on the Tezos blockchain.

It's also important to acknowledge my potential bias since I am both a subscriber of Kaloh's newsletter and a holder of a Blind Gallery pass. Nonetheless, based on my experience, I can attest that I have personally made valuable connections in both communities with other NFT artists and collectors.

5/ TENDER Pass

TENDER Pass is also another popular art curation platform and community on Tezos that promotes remarkable generative art to passionate collectors. Holding a TENDER Pass provides access to a range of benefits and experiences within the Tender ecosystem, including unique collaborations with talented artists, essential collector tools, curated experiences, artwork insights, fine art prints, and a vibrant art community.

Tender is dedicated to supporting the development of generative art and amplifying the voices of artists and collectors throughout the entire process, from creation to collection to curation.

The floor price of a TENDER pass is currently 870 XTZ (~$965 USD).

Closing Remarks

TL;DR

Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:

• Some of the top artists in the NFT space to consider following and building relationships with are Beeple, Pak, 3LAU, XCOPY, FVCKRENDER, FEWOCiOUS, Refik Anadol, Snowfro, Hackatao, and Tyler Hobbs.

• Some of the top art communities to join and network within the NFT art space are PROOF Collective, gmDAO, Collective Strangers, Kaloh’s newsletter, Blind Gallery, and TENDER Pass.

At Origins we leverage data-driven decision making, educational resources, and proprietary analytics to remain ahead of the curve with respect to blockchain tech and specifically NFTs. To find out more, please visit our website or Twitter.

To purchase a pass, please visit our OpenSea page.