Page One #53
NFT Market Recap. February 24th - March 6th
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TLDR:
News and Notes:
Claire Silver’s new collection will premiere at the Louvre
Doodles add more mysteries with the DoodleMap
KillaBears introduce more rewards with KillaScores
PROOF scraps plans for Highrise and token amid refocusing
Unordinals lead the Ethereum → Bitcoin trend
Recent Launches:
MegaPunks mint on Ethereum before heading to Bitcoin
Mocaverse is Animoca Brands’ new flagship collection
Momoguro embarks on a storytelling-focused quest
Owls kickstart an ASCII-powered mini-meta
TwelveFold auction ends with 7.1 BTC top bid
Upcoming Launches:
Fellowship to auction passes to the future of photography
The Summoning delayed until March 15th
Symbiogenesis sees Square Enix come to Polygon
News and Notes:
Claire Silver’s new collection will premiere at the Louvre
When Claire Silver began “collaborating with AI” to create art over three years ago, no one was predicting the astounding advancements to come. But those advancements have certainly helped the pioneering computer-collaborator land in the Louvre. The artist announced the French premiere alongside news that she has signed with WME. The 100-piece collection titled can i tell you a secret is an autobiographical series of 100 post-photography pieces that will premiere in the Louvre on March 21st. Silver’s most notable early work, Genesis, was the debut collection from AI art platform BrainDrops, while she more recently produced the 1/1 Pieces using DALL-E 2.
Doodles add more mysteries with the DoodleMap
After acknowledging their often-memed infrequent communications, Doodles provided some breadcrumbs in the form of an old fashioned map. In practicality, it doesn’t tell us much new information - most are previously announced initiatives that haven’t seen a status update in a while, but Planets, Doodle Records and The Stoodio are relatively unknown. The most tangible information was in the pre-announcement: all Genesis Boxes will contain rare items. Genesis Boxes were previously set to open in February, so there will likely be more info on them soon.
KillaBears introduce more rewards with KillaScores
After joining in on the burn meta with an open edition in February, the KillaBears have created a system to continue rewarding their loyal community members. Holders can earn KillaScore points every day by holding copies of the Killa Chronicals, with higher editions earning more points. The top 2,000 KillaScores will earn allowlist spots for KillaCubs, the long-awaited companion collection which releases on April 1.
PROOF scraps plans for Highrise and token amid refocusing
On March 2nd, founders Kevin Rose and Justin Mezzell discussed PROOF’s future more candidly than ever. Nearly a year after mint, the organization has put plans for it’s token on the shelf where Project Highrise, the virtual gallery space teased at launch, also sits. While the projects aren’t cancelled, they’re not happening soon. Nesting will also conclude with the Diamond Nest; those who earn one will get to participate in the Diamond Exhibition art drop. When PROOF Collective passes expire in 2025, holders will transition to “Moonbirds Elders” to signify their role.
But leaving some of their signature projects on the cutting room floor does give PROOF and Moonbirds a simpler identity. PROOF will focus on art and art alone - Grails remain, as does the PROOF podcast and other content. Sometimes one must move backwards before moving forwards again - this is one of those times.
Moonbirds: 6.05Ξ floor | 10,000 supply | 2.5Ξ mint | minted 4-16-22
Unordinals lead the Ethereum → Bitcoin trend
Minted and inscribed in mid-February, these pixelated skeletons were amongst the first Ordinals project to issue and Ethereum token redeemable for a Bitcoin Inscription. In this second swing of Ordinals excitement, Unordinals have emerged as one of the favored avatar collections. So far, 300 Ethereum tokens have been exchanged for the corresponding Inscriptions. The ETH → BTC Ordinals strategy has become a rather popular one, and while Unordinals may not have been the first to do it, they were certainly there a few weeks before most.
Other Stuff Happened
All AI Art Looks The Same will be airdropped to BrainDrops full set holders
Cryptopunks are now tradable on Blur
Mongraal sells Dookey Dash golden key for 1,000Ξ
Reboot is an autonomous arcade that will power Pixel Vault’s new auto-brawler
Recent Launches:
MegaPunks mint on Ethereum before burning for Ordinals
Megapont began building their universe on Stacks, a Bitcoin side-chain, in late 2021 with the Megapont Ape Club. Since then, they’ve steadily built the Megapont universe. MegaPunks, their first collection since the Ordinals protocol was introduced in January, will join that universe. Minted on Ethereum as a “Proof of Purchase” token, MegaPunk transfers were frozen on the 5th as holders await the transition to Bitcoin on the 8th. The “POPs” will be exchanged for corresponding Ordinals, which can either be sent directly to a Bitcoin address or wrapped in the Emblem Vault for further trading on Ethereum.
Mocaverse is Animoca Brands’ new flagship collection
Described as the membership collection for Animoca’s “extraordinary family,” - which includes OpenSea, Dapper Labs and over 380 other investments - Mocaverse is the gaming giant’s new flagship community. The Mocas, which are divided into five tribes, have utility to “learn, build, play, and do good.” Some benefits mentioned include masterclasses with industry experts, tools and resources for builders, and exclusive game passes, with more to be introduced in the future.
Momoguro embarks on a storytelling-focused quest
The debut collection from the impressively credentialed baobab studios (previewed here last week) ran as high as 1Ξ on mint day and has seen over 8,500Ξ in volume since. Each character, called Holoselves, will also receive a box of cards which will be used to play their “Storytelling RPG.” A short sneak peek of the game’s beta was shared on Monday, giving holders a better idea of what they have to look forward to, but not when. Holoselfs have a diverse set of stats that can be improved through gameplay. Hopefully more info on the game’s timeline is shared soon.
Owls kickstart an ASCII-powered mini-meta
On Friday evening, a free collection of keyboard-generated Owls minted out. Without as much as a word on their website, Owls captured the space’s momentary attention. By Sunday, they had reached 0.4Ξ and spawned a dozen ASCII copycats. By Monday, the project published an article discussing their plans, which now include strengthening their brand identity, rewarding holders via “time capsule” lock-ups, and eventually customizable upgrades for Owls. Always refreshing to see a free stealth mint find success.
TwelveFold auction ends with 7.1 BTC top bid
The 300-piece art collection from Yuga Labs was announced on February 27th and was sold in a 24-hour auction that concluded on Monday. Unsuccessful bids will be returned to bidders manually, a design which has drawn criticism for setting poor precedent. Yuga CCO Figge created the artworks and provided some thoughts on the collection here. The top bid was 7.1 BTC, while the 288th (12 reserved) and final winning bid was 2.25 BTC. Bidders receive the corresponding number in the set - the top bidder receives TwelveFold 1/300, etc. - and should receive their inscriptions within a week, while unsuccessful bids will be returned within 24 hours.
Other Stuff Happened
Coinbase plays with Base, Introduced metadata with artistic homages
Crowd channels many of Danny Cole’s Creatures
Notable Pepes release two sets of controversial cards
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Upcoming Launches:
Fellowship to auction passes to the future of photography
The stewards of photographic art at Fellowship are set to partner with Life in West America creator Roope Rainisto for collection entitled Post Photographic Perspectives. Ahead of its release, Fellowship is auction 1,000 Patron Passes, an annual membership that grants holders early access to new collections, exclusive access to a catalog of curated photographs and other, to-be-announced rewards. The design for the Patron Pass was created by Steve Pikelny and evolves each time it is transferred. Passes will be sold in a rebate Dutch auction starting at 5Ξ.
The Summoning delayed until March 15th
The Summoning was delayed a week to March 15th as Yuga takes some time to ensure things run smoothly. There’s not a whole lot of new developments to cover here, so a recap:
Sewer Passes are set to summon a Power Source with rarities determined by their Dookey Dash score. Mech types will be revealed in late March, leaving room for Yuga to do something in between (or not). “Evo 1” reveals in early April, according to their site - this is where we start to wander into the unknown, as there are no details around “Evo 1.” But we can rest assured that Yuga has a few months of activities planned out for the Apes and their Mechs.
Sewer Pass: 2.4Ξ floor | 23,232 current supply | free mint | minted 1-18-23
Symbiogenesis sees Square Enix come to Polygon
While the project was announced in late 2022, the details surrounding Square Enix’s first blockchain project, Symbiogenesis, have only started to surface. In mid-February, the team announced Symbiogenesis would be coming to Polygon in an interview with VentureBeat. The project will put holders through a turn-based adventure with their token art changing as they progress. While there are few details available, their teaser site and Discord server go live in two days. With a freshly-appointed President set to take control soon, Square Enix may have high ambitions for the blockchain gaming space.
Supply, mint price and date TBA
NFT Market Overview:
Given that Ordinals are back in flavor this week, we’re gonna look at Ordinals today. While Blur and OpenSea dominate the marketplace war headlines, a more nascent battle is playing out on Bitcoin. Ordinals marketplaces are attempting to claim their share of the market in a new space with no established players, making it a particularly interesting contest to observe. The chart below shows volume across four Ordinals marketplaces.
Some marketplaces, like Ordinals Market, trade Inscriptions on Ethereum through the Emblem Vault (read more on vaults here), while others, like Ordinals Wallet, are Bitcoin-native marketplaces. Bitcoin-native marketplaces have dominated transaction share, as shown in the chart below.
But Bitcoin NFTs traded on Ethereum make up a significant portion of volume (that large bar on the 28th is mostly attributable to Bitcoin Punk sales). As I alluded to above with MegaPunks and Unordinals, many projects have opted to mint on Ethereum first before allowing holders to claim their Inscription.
Moving Ethereum users to Bitcoin is much harder than bringing the Bitcoin NFTs to Ethereum, evidently. Given the nascent infrastructure around Orbitals - see: Yuga returning bids manually - it’d be understandable if a large portion of Bitcoin NFT volume remains on Ethereum for the time being.
Other Stuff Happened/ing
Amazon could be entering the NFT space as soon as next month - Blockworks
HyperPlay provides access to MetaMask within native and browser games
Liquid Delegate lets you wrap and sell your NFT’s delegation rights
OpenSea introduces single-signature bulk listings and new Blur-like list view
Spotify is piloting token-gated playlists