Page One #34
A day late but thankfully that day was more eventful than most of the previous week and gave me some stuff to cover. Things are still looking pretty meh but more happened this week than last week, so at least there’s that.
Thanks for reading, come hang out and let me know what I missed on Twitter.
TLDR:
8liens promise NFT art without any gimmicks
10KTF enlists new soldiers in Combat Sale
BRICK is building a community-run venue
CryptoDickButts reach new highs over the weekend
DigiDaigaku ascends swiftly despite surrounding mystery
Grails II Mint Pass is airdropped ahead of next week’s mint
Krapopolis, animated show coming to FOX, to release NFTs
Moodies by Hanuka are “the first ever Fine Art PFP”
Moonbirds go CC0, for better or worse
Rare Apepes find demand after switching to free mint
Webaverse auction ends today around 1PM EST
News and Notes:
10KTF enlists new soldiers in Combat Sale
After putting on a dramatic show that saw Wagmi-san’s shop burned down, 10KTF is back to continue the storytelling saga with the Combat Sale. With their new base set up at the Super Serious Command Center, Wagmi-san and company have reopened for business, this time providing patrons with gear to prepare for a fight. The Combat Sale includes new items like helmets, kevlar vests and weapons, each of which will be imprinted with the holder’s choice of profile picture. Per usual, the sale is more complex than your average mint - head to the 10KTF website for full details.
CryptoDickButts reach new highs over the weekend
Everyone’s favorite meme project is back in the news after making new highs over the weekend. Over one year since mint, CDB is as relevant as ever. The collection has come to represent the not-so-serious side of NFT investing by building on the original DickButt meme originated in KC Green’s 2006 webcomic. The former residents of Gooch Island share some lore (and team members) with Cryptoadz and were welcomed into Punk 6529’s Open Metaverse earlier this year. An ever-present meme.
Moonbirds go CC0, for better or worse
To the surprise of all and the ire of more than a few, PROOF CEO Kevin Rose announced that Moonbirds and Oddities are now CC0 early last week. Many in the community have voiced their displeasure with the decision, which came without any consultation or warning - one holder said they lost a six-figure licensing deal due to the changes. While some have straight-up disagreed with CC0 being an effective licensing mechanism, most have expressed displeasure with the sudden change - Moonbirds holders previously held exclusive commercial rights to their birds. The market has reacted as well, seeing the floor drop more than 5Ξ since the announcement on the 4th.
Rare Apepes find demand after switching to free mint
First minted in early March, Rare Apepes Yacht Club were created to acknowledge two behemoths of popular culture - Pepe the Frog and BAYC. The collection moved to a free mint on July 31 and promptly sold out. Rare Designer, the artist behind Rare Apepes, has been creating Pepe cryptoart since 2017. His portfolio includes a number of recognizable Rare Pepes, most notably the PEPELISA, one of which resides in Cozomo Medici’s collection. The rapid rise of the Rare Apepe also seems to have spawned the Pepe meta, as we are seeing new Pepe projects pop up every day. While RAYC appears to be a simple derivative on the surface, its connections to the historical Pepe community may elevate the collection to something more.
Recent Launches:
8liens promise NFT art without any gimmicks
Co-founders Scalynelson, Punk Vandelay and Debussy attribute much of their success to CryptoPunks. With 8liens, their debut project, they hope to give back to the NFT community while eliciting the same feelings that made Punks special. The collection was free to mint and has no royalties, with the team instead opting to hold 10% of the supply (as Punks did). 8liens have no utility - they are simply profile pictures. They are still holding their whitelist mint and any unminted tokens will be sold to the public today, August 10th. The collection is set to reveal on Friday the 12th.
DigiDaigaku ascends swiftly despite surrounding mystery
DigiDaigaku, a seemingly inconspicuous free mint, went from 0.08Ξ directly after selling out to ~1Ξ in less than an hour Tuesday afternoon. Their website and Twitter provide few hints about the project, instead directing minters to the Limit Break’s Twitter. Limit Break is nearly as mysterious, but we do know it was founded by Gabriel Leydon and Halbert Nakagawa, game designers who previously created the popular mobile games Game of War - Fire Age and Mobile Strike.
Leydon and Nakagawa have previously spoken about their interest in NFTs and are hoping their experience building mobile games can breed success in blockchain gaming. This is certainly one to keep an eye on - reveal is planned for Thursday, at which point we may get some more information on the project.
Grails II Mint Pass is airdropped ahead of next week’s mint
PROOF Collective members and nested Moonbirds with the Grail trait received a mint pass for the second edition of PROOF’s Grails collection. Following the same structure as the first Grails collection, Season II is made up of 25 pieces from 25 different artists. While many will be known cryptoartists, the collection may include notable traditional artists - the identity of all 25 artists (and which piece they created) will remain unknown until the post-mint live reveal event. Mint Pass holders can redeem their pass for any of the 25 works starting on August 16.
Moodies by Hanuka are “the first ever Fine Art PFP”
Moodies are a collection personified emotions created by The Great Moodie, a doctor-magician who seems to have a story to tell. They come from Asaf and Tomer Hanuka, two brothers from Tel Aviv who are each recognized for their independent art - Asaf is a cartoonist whose recent work includes the graphic novel I’m Still Alive, while Tomer is an illustrator who has created covers for National Geographic and The New Yorker.
Plans for the project include a series of prints available to holders, future airdrops, gallery exhibits and collaborations with other collections. Moodies reveal on Friday.
Webaverse auction ends today around 1PM EST
Webaverse began their mint over the weekend, giving allowlisted wallets the chance to purchase a Genesis Pass for 0.2Ξ. Their public auction on Metadrop began yesterday at 1PM EST and runs for about 24 hours; the auction will end at a random time within the final two hours, so sometime between 11AM and 1PM EST today.
Despite releasing over the weekend, Webaverse has traded for nearly 2,500Ξ, placing the collection fifth for the week. After reaching a high of about 0.9Ξ, the secondary market cooled during the auction, which you can check out here. For a deeper look at the project itself, read the post below from WMP at Metaversal.
0.69Ξ floor | 20,000 supply | forward auction from 0.25Ξ | minting now
Other stuff to check out: Bibos, Crudeborne Eggs, MV3
Upcoming Launches:
BRICK is building a community-run venue
Musicians Lee Spielman and Garrett Stevenson saw plenty of venues while touring with hardcore punk band Trash Talk. They hope to leverage this experience in creating BRICK, an avatar project with the goal of constructing a physical space that acts as a venue at night and a community-run creative space during the day. The LA-based venue will host concerts, comedy shows, and workshops of all sorts - and holders will have exclusive access to (almost) all of it. BRICK is partnered with Ledger Market, so look out for more details on their website and register for their PREMINT raffle here.
Krapopolis, animated show coming to FOX, to release NFTs
Dan Harmon’s newest project, an animated comedy set in mythical ancient Greece that will debut on FOX in 2023, is diving into NFTs. Krap Chickens, the “inaugural Krapopolis collection,” is set to begin minting today before continuing in phases until the public mint tomorrow at Noon EST. Holders will have access to exclusive content from the show, merch and potentially IRL events - as well as the chance to vote on things in the show.
NFT Market Overview:
While Tuesday felt sort of busy and there have been a few interesting storylines to carry us through the past week, volume has shown no signs of returning - at least not in any meaningful sense. One reason to be optimistic about the upcoming week: some traders have scored big wins on projects like DigiDaigaku, Rare Apepes or Webaverse and that fresh capital could find its way into different projects across the board. Still, its hard to imagine seeing larger NFT volume until there is something eye-catching and new to get people excited. While there are certainly trades to be made right now, they remain few and far between.
Other Stuff Happened/ing
NFTs:
Midnight Breeze physical prints are coming in August
Nouns celebrate their one-year anniversary
The Weeknd buys a whole bunch of FVCK_RENDER pieces
WorldWideWebb partners with Immutable and StarkWare to scale their universe
y00ts, new project from DeGods team, opens y00tlist applications
General News:
Facebook, Instagram will support Dapper NFTs
Fair.xyz, NFT minting platform, raises $4.5M round
Magic Eden launches Ethereum marketplace
Pearson, textbook publisher, announces plans to use NFTs
Reddit is launching their community points system on Arbitrum Nova
Today in NFTs will now be run by DAO