How to build a web3 project
As @garyvee once famously said, “98–99% of NFT projects will end up being bad investments.” https://twitter.com/garyvee
So how can you outshine the competition and separate yourself from the web3 crowd?
Here’s a guide to empower founders with the right tools and principles to build the future of web3 🧵
70% of startups fail within 10 years. Growing a startup is a long-term mission to reach your vision. A vision of a brighter future for everyone, not just yourself.
Innovators don’t realize this. With the rise of NFTs and it’s unregulated nature, anyone can be a web3 founder.
The thing is, people forget that building a startup is time intensive and mentally consuming.
So if you genuinely want to build in the space, remember: You’re in it for the long haul and it definitely won’t be easy.
Let’s get started 👇
Recognize a niche need
In the consumer journey, the individual begins by recognizing a need.
Our needs are constantly evolving, but for the most part, we’re met with five categories:
Look within these categories first, then find an ongoing problem for a niche target audience.
Niche is the key word here. The smaller, the better. Why?
All are biggest and most important needs are already fulfilled by conglomerates and giants.
Facebook fulfills our online belonging needs. If you decide to build the next big social media platform, you will fail.
These companies have the capital to push you out from the market with ease, like flicking a fly off their shoulder. It’s nothing to them.
Entering a niche market allows you to take more market share, and arm you with enough funding to penetrate the entire market.
So don’t think big, think small. Tackle the tangible and intangible needs, not the aspirational. It’s just too broad for a small startup.
Develop a value framework
Find a need for your target audience, and provide value by fulfilling that need.
You can do this by drawing up a value framework oriented toward societal impact, and not just monetary goals.
The money will trickle in if people see profits aren’t the driving force for your mission.
A go-to for creating this framework includes a Unique Value Proposition. What will you and your team do really well? What are your customer’s needs? What is your competition doing well?
Surface insights from the opportunities presented in the market environment and your team’s strengths.
Since we’re on the subject of building a team…
Build a superstar team
23% of startups fail because the team doesn’t produce results.
How do you avoid this?
Build a principled founding team with a mission to succeed in the long-term.
@neilpatel’s guide is a great starting point for first-time founders. https://twitter.com/neilpatel https://neilpatel.com/blog/build-team-wont-sink-startup/
I’ll summarize the most pertinent points down below 👇
Evaluate your skillset. Focus only on what your good at. If you aren’t cut out as a leader, then find someone else to lead.
Hire action-takers who can manage the functions of the business. In the web3 space, the bare minimum is a community manager and a lead developer. I call this “outsourcing your weaknesses.”
Promote diversity. Diversity leads to new perspectives, and new perspectives lead to new ideas for your business.
Hire the individual who may be lacking a hard skill, but excels with their personality. You want people who aren’t afraid of desk critiques and expressing their ideas.
Hire talent with aligned interests. If your team is only in it for the cheque, your project won’t last.
Form a lean startup
The conventional web2 approach opts for a full-scale business plan by presenting a problem and providing a solution. Business plans are static and long-term.
The issue with BPs is that they cannot be changed.
A lean startup differs from a full-scale business plan. It outlines the startup’s short-term goals and steps to reach them.
But just like a BP, it still identifies a problem and outlines a solution. It provides credible value for the user.
The main differentiation stems for it’s malleability. The lean startup is agile, thus changing at the drop of a dime.
You, as a founder, have the ability to refine your business according to community feedback, without wasting resources.
So how do you form one in web3?
Curate your MVC
Say no to the Minimal Viable Product process.
It’s outdated for web3, as the consumer has been promoted to an owner. They’re not just buying a product anymore, they’re investing in a like-minded community.
19/ I wrote an entire article on how to curate a Minimal Viable Community. https://medium.com/from-minimal-viable-product-to-minimal-viable-community-6b6eb0fdb69b
Your MVC is an asset. Once you’ve reached a small group of individuals who extend your values and goals as a founding team, you’re set to succeed.
Scale your community
Curating the MVC can be tricky, but it isn’t even the hardest part of your startup’s journey.
Scaling it is where most web3 projects fail. As you add to the startup’s building blocks and expand your outreach, you’ll get more traction.
More eyes on your project leads to sprawled interest. You want to implement scalable systems that are restrictive, yet open to the right people.
@theforge_land is a “token-gated community”. To enter, you need two NFTs: One to apply to the community, and one for access. https://twitter.com/theforge_land
To get the first NFT, you need to either:
Get an invite from a member who believes you’ll fit right in with the community
Buy the NFT on OS
Bring value in an innovative manner
To get the lifetime access NFT, members need to vote you in, then you must complete value-drive quests receive access.
Pretty ingenious if you ask me. Keeps the interests aligned within your community, while scaling it to unprecedented heights.
Distribute power to your shareholders (DAO)
The reason why you shouldn’t develop a long-term BP is because we’re aiming for a decentralized future with web3.
If you create a BP without the investor’s input, you’re just reverting to web2.
And with the onset of DAOs, investors have (almost) complete control as the organizational hierarchy is flattened.
Investors are the decision makers — once you scale, you should begin to distribute power to your community.
You are paving the way for your strong community of investors to democratize the business you’ve started.
You are giving them the power to plan the long-term vision.
You are supplying the talent to manifest the DAO’s goals.
You are the face of the DAO.
TL;DR
Recognize a niche need
Create a value framework
Build a founding team
Establish the lean startup
Curate your MVC
Scale your community
Distribute power to your shareholders (DAO)
Follow me @wholelottajuju if you enjoyed the content! https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju
*Originally published on my* *Twitter account* *and republished on* *Medium**,* *mirror.xyz* *&* *Publish0x**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1499257665087623168 https://medium.com/cryptostars/how-to-build-a-web3-project-18251cc0eef1 https://mirror.xyz/0x14d5Bc17c8b6814AF6F507D503631959bA6b5DA3/rQPx-QtMC_Ad59eCsWnvpVWfE_70Xn2F_OWuwsL9zPo https://www.publish0x.com/crypto-projects-on-the-rise/how-to-build-a-web3-project-xqmrvvr
How Blockchain Works: A Complete Guide to Blockchain Technology
With the rise of Bitcoin and co., it’s common to hear questions and concerns about cryptocurrency. Digital currencies are still relatively new, and blockchain technology — the foundation of crypto — has changed the way we do things in the business world.
Blockchain technologies are challenging to understand. They’re complex, and it almost feels like they’re a part of their own world. If you’re reading this article because you’re confused about blockchain and you just don’t get it, you’ve come to the right place.
You aren’t the only one with this issue, as there are only 300 million crypto users worldwide at the time of writing. That’s ¾ of the U.S. population. Crypto is a worldwide phenomenon, and although this number is promising, it’s nowhere near the level of adoption of physical currency like paper bills. https://triple-a.io/crypto-ownership/
So how do blockchains work? What are some of the most popular blockchains? Are blockchain and cryptocurrencies the same?
These are common questions that shouldn’t go unanswered. I’ve been in your shoes, and I know how it feels being overwhelmed by NFT bros and crypto junkies on Twitter.
Today we’ll be diving into the world of blockchain technologies. So strap in as I try my best to break down all the important details of blockchain and smart contracts.
Table of Contents
👉 How Blockchain Works
↪️ What is Blockchain Technology?
↪️ Why is Blockchain Technology Needed?
↪️ Are Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies the Same?
👉 Current Applications of Blockchain Technology
↪️ Blockchain and Smart Contracts
↪️ Blockchain Technology in Real Estate
↪️ Blockchain Technology in Finance
↪️ What are the Most Popular Blockchains?
👉 Blockchain Technology and its Consensus Mechanisms
↪️ Proof-of-work
↪️ Proof-of-stake
↪️ Other Consensus Mechanisms
👉 The Future of Blockchain Technology
How Blockchain Works
One of the most daunting questions to answer: How do blockchains work? A straightforward question, yet it’s difficult to answer. Why?
Well, for one, it’s a new technology that’s breaking the current infrastructure of the business world. Blockchain technology is replacing the fundamental systems that allow corporations to thrive.
It’s also converting the way we think. We’re reliant on trust-based models, and with blockchain technology, trust isn’t top-of-mind.
Capisce? Now, let’s get a solid grasp of how blockchain works.
What is Blockchain Technology?
Take a look at Deloitte’s explanation of blockchain technology: https://www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/strategy-operations/articles/blockchain-explained.html
You (a “**node**”) have a file of transactions on your computer (a **“ledger”**). Two government accountants (let’s call them **“miners”**) have the **same file** on theirs (so it’s **“distributed”**). As you make a transaction, your computer sends an e-mail to each accountant to inform them.
Each accountant rushes to be the first to check whether you can afford it (and be paid their salary **“Bitcoins”**). The first to check and validate hits “REPLY ALL”, attaching their logic for verifying the transaction (**“proof of work”**). If the other accountant agrees, everyone updates their file…
This concept is enabled by **“Blockchain”** technology.
In short — blockchain technology changes the method of verifying transactions. Let’s say you purchase a car from a dealership that uses the old method of recording transactions in a physical book.
Once you’ve put in your credit card information, the dealership charges you for your purchase. Then, an accountant at the dealership checks the information of the transaction, and jots it down in the company ledger (a book that keeps a record of all the dealership’s financial interactions with customers, suppliers, etc.).
The information the accountant inputs include the time of the transaction, the parties involved, what was exchanged in the transaction, and other pieces of information relevant to this exchange.
Company ledgers are a requirement for several reasons; However, there’s one that stands apart from the crowd: They’re needed for the company’s financial statements. If a company doesn’t use a ledger, they won’t have any clue how much money they’re making and how much debt they’re accumulating.
Blockchain technology does the same job as an accountant at a car dealership, *automatically*.
Instead of recording and verifying transactions on a single server (comparable to the physical accounting book), it’s now spread across hundreds, if not thousands of servers (called a “distributed ledger”). And instead of relying on an accountant to record and verify the transaction, you’re relying on anonymous parties that get rewarded for doing the job of an accountant.
It feels odd saying you’re putting your trust in people you’ve never met. But the beauty of blockchain technology is that you don’t need to trust these parties. Why?
Because the parties (called “miners”) use their computers to verify transactions by solving complex mathematical equations. The miners who first reach the finish line are the ones who verify the transaction while reaping the rewards of their hard work. https://medium.com/@blairlmarshall/how-do-miners-validate-transactions-c01b05f36231
Once a transaction is verified, it is added to the distributed ledger (the blockchain) and it’ll never disappear. Miners get rewarded with crypto for their troubles.
The basic principles of blockchain technology are that it’s distributed (no single party controls the data), transparent, irreversible, and most importantly, verifiable. Anyone can go in and view a transaction on the blockchain. You just have to know where to search. https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain
Why is Blockchain Technology Needed?
So why did Satoshi Nakamoto (the anonymous creator of Bitcoin) create this technology?
From Bitcoin’s original whitepaper, we can see that he pinpointed the issues of the systems we use today: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the **trust-based model**.
Let’s go back to the car dealership analogy. The problem with the bookkeeping system is that you need to rely on the company and its accountant to verify the transaction.
Although this may not really apply to you, what if the accountant made an error when writing down your name in the transaction? It happens to the best of us. At the end of the day, we’re all humans anyways.
And if you were to try to repair your car for damages at the dealership, they wouldn’t be able to trace you back to the original transaction. They wouldn’t be able to verify that it was you who bought the vehicle.
To be fair, companies’ ledgers are more sophisticated nowadays, and everything is recorded digitally and automatically. So the chances of this happening are meagre.
The chances of fraud are much higher though. Companies like WorldCom and HealthSouth purposely entered incorrect information into the ledger to boost the revenues written in their financial statements. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/journal-entries-fraud-risk-jessica-fitzpatrick-cpa-mba-cfe/
There are other reasons for avoiding the trust-based model. A company must hire accountants on its payroll to record and validate transactions. This cost is integrated within the price of the company’s products/services.
At the dealership, this means that instead of buying your car for $20,000, you’ll have to pay $21,000. You’re basically paying part of the accountant’s wage.
All of these pain points come down to the leading problem blockchain technologies are trying to solve: Central power.
Companies have complete control of what they write down in their books. They can go back and manipulate the data to make it seem like they have lower expenses and higher income.
The verification of transactions is purely in the hands of the business. Unfortunately, too much power is given to those at the tippy-top of the company’s organizational hierarchy.
Are Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies the Same?
It’s no secret blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies go hand-in-hand. Cryptocurrencies wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the underlying technology powering its networks.
But to answer your question, no. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are not the same. https://weteachblockchain.org/faq/blockchain-vs-cryptocurrency/
Cryptocurrencies are, well, digital currency. In the current market environment, you earn your income through your employer, who pays you using your country’s national currency. For the U.S, your employer would pay you in U.S. dollars.
Your paycheck is then directly sent to your bank (a central power). You could opt to receive a physical check to deposit it at the bank yourself for safekeeping. Either way, you receive a cheque that can only be used at a bank.
In our society, we rely on banks to handle our money for storage and other means.
With the advent of cryptocurrencies, you would get paid in crypto by your employer (through Bitcoin, Ethereum, or some other crypto). Then, you wouldn’t need to deposit your money in a bank, as you wouldn’t receive a cheque. Instead, the money would be directly deposited in a “web3 wallet”. https://moralis.io/what-is-a-web3-wallet-web3-wallets-explained/
You could think of the web3 wallet as a chequing account. Except, instead of relying on the bank to keep your chequing account open, you can just eliminate this intermediary altogether.
You are in complete control of your money when using a web3 wallet. No other parties can go in and access your account. The bank relies on accessing your cash to fund its operations in the banking world.
In a nutshell, blockchain technology distributes the verification of transactions among thousands of parties, and cryptocurrencies are the medium of exchange. Therefore, blockchain is the underlying technology. Got it?
Current Applications of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology doesn’t only apply to crypto — It can be used in every industry known to society.
From crypto, to finance, to even healthcare, blockchain technology can potentially change the systems these industries run on.
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty.
Blockchain and Smart Contracts
Blockchain and smart contracts — decentralization at its finest. No need for third parties to manually review contracts anymore. Now, simple “if/when…then…” statements can execute the actions of the predetermined conditions on a contract once they’ve been met and verified. https://www.ibm.com/topics/smart-contracts
Once the transaction has been verified, it’s added to the blockchain network. How cool is that?
Blockchain and smart contracts have opened the doors for hundreds of businesses and industries alike. Not only are smart contracts automated and thus, efficient, but they’re also trustworthy and transparent since there is no third party involved.
Oh, and the cherry on top is that they’re secure and cost-efficient. Nice!
Just take a look at the uses for blockchain and smart contracts.
Blockchain Technology in Real Estate
Real estate is a perfect example of how blockchain and smart contracts could disrupt a multi-faceted industry.
For one, smart contracts could revolutionize purchase and sale agreements for properties. For example, take a look at PropertyClub, a real estate platform using blockchain and smart contracts to conduct transactions in their marketplace. https://medium.com/@LeaxFoundation/how-smart-contracts-are-evolving-transactions-for-real-estate-companies-dca4ec780405 https://builtin.com/blockchain/blockchain-real-estate-companies
PropertyClub’s mission is to remove entry barriers for property renting while reducing costs and enhancing the user experience from beginning to end.
Say goodbye to brokerages who’ve been dwindling the quality and total supply of property listings. With PropertyClub, you get direct access to landlords and property managers without going through a broker.
Another area that has already seen improvements is the transfer of property titles. Property registries often require a middle-man to carry out the transaction between the buyer and seller. With blockchain and smart contracts, a property sale can be set up to execute on its own without the need for an intermediary.
The list goes on and on. Blockchain technology is being used to facilitate the business of rental property owners, real estate investors, firms, startups, and agents.
If you just Google “real estate and blockchain,” you’ll see what I mean.
Blockchain Technology in Finance
Next up: Finance — or as the crypto world likes to call it, “DeFi.” https://www.coindesk.com/learn/what-is-defi/
Decentralized finance is overtaking the world of traditional finance, one step at a time. Blockchain technology is opening the floor for traders, investors, and holders who don’t want to deal with the unlevel playing field found in traditional exchanges.
It is well-known institutions have the upper hand when trading stocks. Their robust systems, access to unfair tools, and constant bailouts (like we saw in 2008) are just the tip of the iceberg. DeFi is trying to give power back to the people.
So what are some of DeFi’s use cases?
Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are the most popular form of DeFi. You could think of it as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), but without brokers executing trades. Just connect your web3 wallet to the DEX, and you can trade all kinds of currencies, from U.S. dollars to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins.
Yield farming is another use case of DeFi. Instead of just trading or holding your cryptocurrencies through a DEX, you can lend your funds to others through smart contracts.
But, wait… why would I want to do this?
Well, it’s pretty much the same concept as putting your money in a savings account. First, you lend your money to the bank who can use the liquidity to run their operations. Then, for your troubles, you receive interest.
The thing is, with banks, your interest rates are *extremely* low. In fact, you’re losing money to inflation. This is not ideal, especially when you have decentralized options that could net you interest returns in the three-digit range. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/090715/how-inflation-affects-your-cash-savings.asp
That’s right, you could be earning over 100% APR! Although, I will say the higher the APR, the riskier the asset.
DeFi will continue to push the boundaries of blockchain and smart contracts. It’s a matter of building a scalable network that doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg in transaction fees. I’m looking at you, Ethereum.
What are the Most Popular Blockchains?
Even if you’re new to blockchain technologies, you’ve probably already heard about the most popular blockchains before reading this article. They’ve taken the world by storm, and with the COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve experienced a sharp increase in the adoption of cryptocurrencies. https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/covid-19-driving-growth-digital-currencies
Bitcoin is by far the most popular blockchain. I’ve already explained how it works, so there is no need to go over it again.
Ethereum is up next. Ethereum is known for its network of apps, cryptocurrencies, and platforms. It is the king of blockchain and smart contracts, and it’s almost impossible to dethrone the Ethereum network from its top position.
Although the concept of smart contracts was introduced a while back by a computer scientist and cryptographer, the idea hadn’t been manifested into reality until the birth of Ethereum in 2015. https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/05/26/an-introduction-to-smart-contracts-and-their-potential-and-inherent-limitations/
Ethereum basically merged blockchain and smart contracts into one. Through its coding language Solidity, smart contracts can be easily programmed within the network. You just have to learn how to code in Solidity! https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/smart-contracts/
Within the network, smart contracts have their own web3 wallet address, like if it were an individual’s digital account. They retain a balance, and users can interact with the smart contract by sending or receiving ETH.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are by far the most popular blockchains, but it doesn’t end there. The Binance Smart Chain network, Solana, Cardano, and XRP are up there in terms of network participants and market cap.
Blockchain Technology and its Consensus Mechanisms
If you’re read up until this point, I hope you have a solid grasp of blockchain technology and its use cases. I hope you also understand the concept behind smart contracts and its applications to business.
Now that we’re more knowledgeable, let’s look at the future of blockchain technology.
When I first explained to you the blockchain supporting the Bitcoin ecosystem, I didn’t mention that it’s an outdated verification system. The Bitcoin network is old — 13 years old, to be exact. The consensus mechanism that fuels the verification of transactions is slow, inefficient, and not entirely decentralized.
Woah. Let’s backtrack. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here — what’s a consensus mechanism?
A consensus mechanism (also called a consensus protocol) allows parties to agree on which transactions should be added to the blockchain.
Proof-of-work
Proof-of-work (PoW) is the first consensus mechanism to reach mainstream adoption. Bitcoin and Ethereum 1.0 use PoW for their underpinned blockchain technologies.
As I explained in the first blockchain example, miners are the parties trying to solve the network’s complicated mathematical equations. When they solve the equation, they’ll agree on which transaction to add to the network.
The main problem with PoW is that its energy inefficient. Since mining is competitive, as thousands of miners compete to receive partial cryptocurrencies for their efforts, dedicated miners will upgrade their equipment to beat their rivals.
The more computer power, the higher chance of guessing the answer to the equation.
Although you can mine using standard, run-of-the-mill gaming GPUs, specialized GPUs are more efficient for mining. The problem with this is that the more computer power you have, the more energy you expend.
Bitcoin mining consumes 70 Terawatt Hours per year or the equivalent of the electricity used by small countries like Austria and Belgium. https://www.deltecbank.com/2021/07/27/a-proof-of-work-explanation/?locale=en
Climate change is knocking on our door, and she says PoW isn’t the way to move forward.
Proof-of-stake
Proof-of-stake (PoS) is the natural evolution of PoW, and it’s what Ethereum will eventually run on with its integration of the Beacon Chain. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/proof-stake-pos.asp
PoS eliminates the energy inefficiency of PoW. Validators replace miners, and the staking mechanism replaces the hardware.
Picture this — You want to earn a higher passive income, and your savings account isn’t cutting it out. Your bank offers you a term deposit, where you make 0.5% off of your investment. So you lock up your money with the bank, who benefits from your secured funds for the next three months.
In this situation, the bank is the network, and you are the validator. By locking up your funds, you are essentially undergoing the staking mechanism. The only difference is that the cryptocurrencies staked are used to validate transactions based on a raffle system.
The more coins you have staked, the higher your chance of being selected as the validator for the transaction.
Other Consensus Mechanisms
Proof-of-stake is the status quo. But as more and more technologies enter the space, they find ways to optimize the consensus mechanism.
For example, Solana uses a combination of Proof-of-stake and Proof-of-history to decrease cost and latency.
The Future of Blockchain Technology
As time goes on, it’s no doubt blockchain technologies will continue to improve. As blockchain incorporates itself within the business models of the web3 landscape, businesses will gear themselves towards a true blockchain-led transformation.
We’re already starting to see this with the development of DAOs. The entire organizational hierarchy is being flattened because of its underlying technology.
So it isn’t a question of *if* this will happen, as we’re already seeing progress — it’s a question of *when* we’ll see blockchain and smart contracts become *the* foundation of the business world.
The thing about blockchain technology is that it isn’t exactly a disruptive technology — it’s more of a *foundational* technology. What’s the difference? https://enterprisersproject.com/sites/default/files/the_truth_about_blockchain.pdf
Disruptive technologies replace vital operational aspects of an entire industry. Disruptive technologies are innovative at heart and far superior to the current technologies of market leaders.
On the other hand, foundational technologies are the catalysts of progress in various industries. It’s not necessarily industry-specific. In fact, foundational technologies have the power to *create* new industries.
And with foundational technologies comes a time of societal change. We change the way we interact with our world according to present-day foundations. For example, with the evolution of web2, it was more common to message each other through social media instead of calling a friend to hang out.
With smartphones, we can access the World Wide Web from our pockets. No need to go back home on your computer to load up Reddit — you can do this directly with a smartphone.
Blockchain technologies are removing the need for the trust-based model that our corporate world is built upon. As a result, the hierarchy is being flattened, and hopefully, we’ll experience less of a gap between social classes.
*Originally published on* *Medium* *and republished on* *Publish0x**.* https://medium.com/p/676f7299cdcf https://www.publish0x.com/crypto-projects-on-the-rise/how-blockchain-works-a-complete-guide-to-blockchain-technolo-xvygmoj
Community is more important than art and utility
Mfers floor rose by 4683% without a roadmap and laughable art. @alienfrens broke Twitter with a floor increase of 7350% — based entirely on good vibes. https://twitter.com/alienfrens
Here are some reasons why community outweighs the rest 🧵
Blue chips projects are the leaders of the NFT world for one good reason: They’re the perfect marriage between community, utility, and art.
Take BAYC for example. It’s a disruptive PFP art that created a lasting trend, an exclusive community, and utility via the Mutant Arcade, charitable acts, and club benefits.
The thing is, as a founder, you don’t need genre-bending art nor proven utility for your holders. You just need to be able to build a strong initial community within the same interest group. You need to grow a community that will stick with you through thick and thin.
You need to be able to listen to your community, weed out low-quality inputs, then execute on your community’s best and brightest ideas. If you’re able to achieve this, you’ll reach mid-cap status in no time. Why?
Well, a community builds the project. Art and utility do not. Without community, there would be no project.
This is due to the Network Flywheel.
With the onset of web2, consumers bought products online through Amazon, AOL, and eBay. With the evolution of web2, consumers became the product through the monetization of data. With web3, the consumer became a community member, investor, marketer, and so much more.
The community member is an integral part of the web3 business model. The power hierarchy has been substantially flattened. The dynamics of the network have changed.
The consumer has much more at stake now. It’s not just about purchasing a product, it’s about investing in a project they believe in.
A powerful community will promote your project for you. What does the marketing world say?
Word of mouth is powerful, trusted, and cheap
More UGC about your project = A larger community = More $$$. https://blog.hootsuite.com/user-generated-content-ugc/#Why_is_user-generated_content_important
Community members are investors. Think of your web3 project as crowdsourcing, except you aren’t asking for money to develop your product… you're asking for a stake in your project, with tokens as the investment medium.
The community is your primary source of funding.
And it really boils down to these points:
Art can bring in investors, but it won’t make your project last. You can sell your generative art, but once your supporters hop on of the latest trend, your floor price will be going to zero.
Utility brings value to the user. Investors will stick with your project if you line their (digital) pockets. The thing is, your project won’t grow at the same rate as a strong community.
The community also brings value to the user, but it’s more about fulfilling social needs than anything else. This is where utility takes the win. Profit surpasses social needs for the user.
Potential consumers are incentivized by the utility, and they’ll continue using it if it aligns with their monetary needs. But again, going back to my point — utility only fulfills one need and it’s mainly for the user.
Community, on the other hand, supports both the user and the creator.
Web3 isn’t a one-way street. Both the user and creator need to build a win-win situation for themselves, or the model won’t work. https://nfts.wtf/the-nft-creator-crypto-artists-and-the-utility-dilemma-part-1/
So you may already know how to build an initial community, but how do you scale it?
Establish scalable systems that align with your community’s desires. You’ll be thanking yourself later as this eases scalability. The beauty of web3 is that network scalable systems are integrated within the blockchain.
As the number of network participants increases, so does the number of nodes in the blockchain. The network becomes more valuable. When I talk about scalable systems, I should specify that it’s about building communication systems that will allow your community to flourish.
If your community is built on gaming, then you must feed their appetite by building a GameFi experience. Members must be able to interact with each other to strengthen the community’s bond.
The easiest way to implement this is through Discord.
Keep your channels limited in the early days of your project. As your community grows, they’ll let you know when it’s time to open new channels.
You don’t want to fragment your community at the start, as a segregated community leads to a disconnected project.
More about building a Minimal Viable Community down here. https://blog.cryptostars.is/from-minimal-viable-product-to-minimal-viable-community-6b6eb0fdb69b
**TL;DR**
Community is your investor
Community is your consumer
Community is your marketing team
Utility drives first-time buyers, community keeps repeat customers
Art dies through trends (99% of the time)
Follow me @wholelottajuju if you enjoyed the content* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju
*Originally published on my* *Twitter account* *and republished on* *Medium**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1496976368088674304 https://wholelottajuju.medium.com/community-is-more-important-than-art-and-utility-95a16bb8a838
Turtle Town — the next PFP project to join the ranks of Alien Frens & CryptoMories
A cute, PFP art done right, with over 300+ badass hand-drawn traits.
A gamified whitelist process.
More below 🧵
Recently there’s been a surge of poorly executed launches.
Founders dive into NFT projects with the hopes of raising millions in funding through greedy mint prices, putting the community in hindsight.
Most of the funds are often kept within the hands of unethical founders.
It’s okay to pay yourself out as a founder for your hard work. What isn’t alright is not reinvesting the community’s liquidity back into the project
What’s more, is that they often seek to build a mintlist through unhealthy practices.
NFT degens spend hours mindlessly grinding for a WL spot, with no guarantees of receiving something in exchange.
We’re slowly learning from our mistakes — at least I hope we are.
Enough with the high mint prices and rigorous WL requirements.
Turtle Town stands with the public. It embodies the Minimal Viable Community approach, opting for longevity over quick profits.
How is the team accomplishing this?
Let’s start off with the whitelist process. Instead of grinding for hours, hop in the Fish Game channel and try your luck at catching a turtle.
If you catch a turtle, you get a WL spot.
Although you may think this doesn’t incentivize a tight-knit community, hear me out 👇
6/ Catching a turtle is tough. The chances are low, and it often takes hundreds of tries before you get lucky.
The thing is… it’s fun. You can catch various fish for different amounts of points.
Red Snapper nets you 5 points, a Coelacanth is 10 points. You get the message.
You can go into the Shop channel and spend all your points on bait. Bait increases your chance of catching a turtle.
You can also take a peep at your track record. How many Yellow Perch have I caught? This is where you’ll find your answer.
The beauty behind this game is that it’s simple, yet addicting.
The cool down timer is set for 5 minutes, meaning you can constantly fish between rounds of your video game of choice, or whenever you take a work break.
If you’ve already won a turtle, and you catch another one, you can donate it to a member of the community!
The gamified whitelist is what first got me hooked. But the art is where Nyh’s project shines.
* **Quick note, you can’t catch any more turtles due to the upcoming mint date. The team is handing out the final WL spots through Twitter giveaways. Cool to see the team’s whitelist process though.** *
It’s not some run-of-the-mill 0x derivative. It isn’t an 8-bit project.
It’s a hand-drawn collection combining fashion traits from various styles, communities, and vibes.
The founder has been working tirelessly on creating the perfect collection.
For the past couple of months, he’s been constantly posting updates on new traits, 1/1s, ideas, etc.
Transparency is vital in space. Nyh has been nothing short of a transparent and active leader.
Another aspect that is often overlooked is the unique emojis, gifs, and commands the team’s built over time.
A community is often stronger when they communicate through peripheral cues.
A simple !gm command particular to the community makes members feel special.
The !chaos command takes the cake. Take a look at what I mean below.
The roadmap isn’t anything special, but then again, I believe roadmaps aren’t all that.
They’re great for seeing the longevity of projects with crappy art. These collections need some sort of utility to thrive, or else they’ll fail.
Turtle Town’s art is where it’s at.
I believe with the Minimal Viable Community the teams fostered from the ground up and Nyh’s meticulous artwork, the project will do fantastic in the long run.
Although this project isn’t too focused on utility, Nyh’s been building a proprietary microverse for TurtleTown’s community behind the scenes.
Get ready for a P2E staking-based game! All the more reason for street turtles to hold their NFT.
If you’re a sucker for roadmaps, Turtle Town is focused on providing airdrops, metaverse integrations, merch, and Save The Turtles donations throughout the year.
Mint takes place February 25th at 6am PST.
Mint price is set at 0.025Ξ + Gas for both presale and public sale.
The first 500 turtles will be dev minted, and thus, reserved for holder giveaways.
After that, the next 1,000 items in the collection will be free to mint. You just have to cover the gas cost.
So that’s pretty much 1,500 NFTs being given out for free!
A cheap mint price is the cherry on top when it comes to this project. Out with the absurd mint prices and in with accessibility for newcomers.
That’s it from me.
If you enjoyed this bite-sized content, follow me at @wholelottajuju https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju
Also, follow me on here where I talk more in-depth about cryptocurrencies, web3, and the metaverse
WAGMI frens 🥂
*This thread was originally posted on my* *Twitter account**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1496556158336786434
From Minimal Viable Product to Minimal Viable Community
It used to be all about attracting prospective consumers with a Minimal Viable Product.
Startups would develop a new, base product and take it directly to the market with a mission to grab the consumer’s attention. By establishing a base product, the marketing team would be able to gauge the responses of the market and thus tailor the product according to the market’s needs. Simple, right?
In the case of web2, marketers would often implement a go-to-market (GTM) strategy, building leads and acquiring consumers via the customer acquisition funnel.
The relationship between the seller and the consumer was a two-way street: The company had to pitch a product that was good enough for consumers (at least, in the beginning), and consumers needed products that fulfilled their needs. If one of the parties in the relationship toppled over, all hell would break loose.
Now designing a Minimal Viable Product and selling it to consumers had three key benefits for marketers:
There were enough features for consumers to purchase the product granting the firm a small portion of the market share
The product integrated a feedback loop, where consumers expressed their thoughts about the product after usage
The firm could offer future benefits for its early adopters
These benefits meant the world to startups, as it provided them with a launchpad to penetrate the industry. It armed them with tools to break through the noise, improve their product according to the consumer’s needs, and reward the consumers who adopted their product first.
In short — creating a Minimal Viable Product and ushering it into the market under the GTM approach was the status quo. It was cost-effective and adaptive to market conditions — a real no-brainer for new entrants.
What's a Minimal Viable Community?
The advent of web3 has turned this strategy on its head: Instead of promoting a Minimal Viable Product, now it’s all about establishing a Minimal Viable Community.
Why? Well, web3 has flattened the power hierarchy and changed the dynamics of the network. Consumers aren’t just buyers in the market — they’re shareholders. They now care about the well-being of the companies they buy from, even if it’s a startup.
The buying process isn’t as simple anymore. If consumers want a product from a promising web3 initiative, they’ll need to acquire products by investing in the project.
So now, the firm isn’t at the top of the buyer-seller relationship. They aren’t cutting-out consumers from development, selling them a basic product, then tinkering with the product until it reaches the consumer’s standards. Rather, they’re integrating the consumer in the development process. As a result, the Minimal Viable Product ethos is being thrown out the window.
Enter Minimal Viable Community: A concept linked to grassroots initiatives. You could think of it as crowdsourcing. It’s all about curating community and inspiring a community-owned business model in the new and improved web3 firm.
It isn’t as easy anymore for startups. They can’t just target the consumer’s needs; They need to involve the consumer, the developer, and the creator in the company’s processes and decision-making. Building a Minimal Viable Community is all about rethinking the “we” mentality in the business ecosystem.
Why **is it Important to build a Minimal Viable Community?**
First things first, if a new entrant doesn’t put the community at the forefront of their project, they will fail. Like I said before, consumers aren’t stakeholders anymore… they’re investors. Investors that care about the well-being of your project just as much as you do.
Aside from picturing this approach as a suffocating lifeline to the web3 firm, try looking at the benefits of building a Minimal Viable Community.
The Minimal Viable Community is a body that’s constantly evolving. It reshapes itself according to the needs and values of the members that form the launchpad.
Startups don’t have to worry about being one step behind market trends and spending money on products that don’t fulfill ever-changing consumer preferences. Since the consumer is a shareholder, the feedback loop has been streamlined. They’ll tell you what they want at the push of a button, instead of having to wait for them to try your products and write out a survey.
Minimal Viable Communities are also a greater asset than products. You could think of the Minimal Viable Community as a brand instead of a product. A strong brand won’t fail, even if it releases new products that don’t necessarily satisfy the consumer’s needs. If the community is tight-knit, then the product isn’t what matters.
What matters is the project’s principles. If the community *lives* by the founders’ principles, then the community is unbreakable.
Minimal Viable Communities also offer something unique: Free marketing. But, more importantly, the marketing is through word-of-mouth. If you ask any marketing professional, student, or professor, they’ll tell you word-of-mouth is *the* strongest form of marketing as people trust the word of their friends and family over an advertiser’s message.
When the community enjoys a project just as much as the founders do, they will gladly promote it to their friends, families, and interest groups.
This is what you should seek as a web3 startup.
How **do you build a Minimal Viable Community?**
Great! We understand why Minimal Viable Communities are crucial for the web3 startup. So, how do we build one?
Launching a Token
Well, as previously discussed, you could consider Minimal Viable Communities as crowdsourcing. The difference is that you aren’t asking for money to develop the initial product or business. Instead, you’re asking for a stake in your project with tokens as the investment medium.
Your shareholders will now entail hundreds, to even thousands of small-time retail supporters, referred to as “evangelists.” Evangelists will purchase your project’s token, and this is how you open the doors to funding while creating the Minimal Viable Community.
Ok, cool. So you launched a token affiliated with your project. Now what?
Building the Right Network
Now you must build the *right network*. If you put all your efforts into a shotgun approach, where you market your project all over Twitter, then you **will never** see the Minimal Viable Community come to fruition.
A community shares interests. Attracting people from different walks of life with clashing interests is not the path you should take.
This is why most NFT projects fail after the minting process. People are only there for a flip, and that’s it. They don’t care about the project’s future, and they’re not willing to stick through the project’s lowest lows. They don’t *believe* in the project.
It would be best if you scoured the web for *people plants*: the early adopters who live by your project’s principles. Without a core group of individuals who are willing to build the initial community and help expand the onset of your project into sub-communities, your firm won’t take off.
Building the right network also involves becoming a role model to the first onboarded members. If you don’t show them the behaviour **you** want in the future of your community, then members will do whatever they please. You must show them *how* to act, and they’ll reflect your behaviours.
In basic terms, this means being active in your community (chatting in Discord, for example), establishing how you want users to interact (do you want to set a positive tone? Is your project tackling a severe issue?), and being transparent from the very beginning.
Make members feel like they’re your friend. Don’t put yourself over top of them, as they’re your lifeline.
So we’ve launched a token and attracted the initial community. What’s next?
**Scaling the Minimal Viable Community**
Scaling your community is the next big challenge. How can you grow your initial community and expand it into a web of smaller communities?
It first starts from forming an initial group of supporters. If you begin segregating your Minimal Viable Community before it reaches critical mass, then the foundation of your project will be disconnected. You need that tight-knit community that will stick with you through thick and thin.
As a project owner, you don’t need to worry about when the *critical mass* moment is reached, as your community will signal to you when the moment is near. They’ll tell you when to start dividing up your Discord into channels for your project’s respective sub-communities.
You need to set scalable systems to ease the expansion process. In web2, this meant purchasing additional servers to increase functionality as the network grows. In web3, you must establish a scalable infrastructure that aligns with your community’s needs.
Let’s say your project’s supporters have an appetite for gaming. So naturally, the next step as a founder would be to build a GameFi experience that exceeds your community’s expectations. Although your sub-communities may be comprised of RPG lovers, FPS fanatics, and Hack n’ Slash enthusiasts, every gamer loves refreshing gameplay with a P2E mechanism integrated within.
Do you see what I mean? Scaling involves looking back at your Minimal Viable Community’s identity and building infrastructure that reflects these principles. Don’t ever steer away from what made you, you.
What's Next?
It’s pretty easy to find lines of code on GitHub to create a shitcoin and market it on Twitter. It’s easy to generate 10,000 NFTs with over 100 traits and mint it out within weeks.
But what’s difficult is surviving the market through its trends, and more importantly, retaining your Minimal Viable Community. As a founder, your community depends on you every single day. Once you begin building, there’s no going back. You are at the mercy of your community.
And although I may have made it sound like you’re selling your soul, trust me, you’re not. If you’re passionate about a project, and you know others will feel the same way, then developing a relationship with your Minimal Viable Community will be one of the most fulfilling experiences for you.
*Sources:*
**Go-to-Market in Web3: New Mindsets, Tactics, Metrics** https://future.a16z.com/go-to-market-in-web3/
**How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes** https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bayc-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-interview-1250461/
**WHAT ARE NETWORK EFFECTS & IMPORTANCE | TAPAN DESAI** https://tapandesai.com/network-effects-importance/
https://twitter.com/alive_eth/status/1296831069065375749
**Building a Minimum Viable Community - MATH Venture Partners** https://www.mathventurepartners.com/blog/2021/11/9/building-a-minimum-viable-community
*Originally published on Medium.*
How tech giants are competing in the Metaverse
The metaverse is here. One may think it’s just another buzzword to describe the evolution of the web, but you have to realize it isn’t all about VR, AR, and other disruptive technologies. It’s about the emergence of a new business environment, never seen before. https://medium.com/cryptostars/what-is-web3-and-why-does-it-matter-6c699f01bdca
But this time around, the goalposts have been moved. Web2 was a point in time in which people worked with what they had. Content creators hopped on platforms that offered the best bang for their buck. Influencers grew followings via their online social networks. Musicians signed to labels to help expand their reach.
And although users of these mediums benefited from the powerful network effects of tech giants, the relationship was toxic at best. Hyperscalers like Google and Facebook accumulated data at a rate never seen before. Data quickly became the most sought-after resource because of its effect on core competencies.
*https://future.a16z.com/why-web3-matters/*
Once the web2 space matured, tech giants experienced a shift in their relationship with users. Now, instead of curating a positive relationship with its communities, tech giants were forced to extract data and compete with the same people that adopted their technology. In short, data was being used against their will. https://future.a16z.com/why-web3-matters/
This phenomenon, called **surveillance capitalism**, led to the development of web3.
Web3 does things differently. **Much** differently. Without a centralized infrastructure to gather data from their robust algorithms, tech giants now have to adapt to the new environment. They can’t monetize eyeballs anymore. Instead, tech companies now compete over one aspect of the human condition: Attention.
In a crowded virtual space, advertisers *need* to break through the noise and grab’s people attention, or else they will fail. Their methods have to change. No more competing via innovative ads and psychological tricks; now we’re ushering in an era where Intellectual Property (IP) is king.
*https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytrippe/2022/01/06/web-30-is-being-hyped-to-the-skies-but-where-are-all-the-patents/?sh=9b12b282faec*
In web3, tech giants lean into the battle for patents. As businesses implement new technologies to compete, a rise in patent fillings follows suit. IP serves to protect innovation, and without it, we would suffer from a lack of originality.
Since users and content creators have become evangelists of sorts in the web3 world, conglomerates need to re-establish control. A further emphasis on acquiring IP and protecting it with patents has become the clear mission for tech giants in the metaverse.
What do I mean by all of this?
It’s always been a question of ownership. With web2, content ownership lies in the hands of record labels, tech giants, and hyperscalers — not content creators. With web3, we’re cultivating a culture of innovation. Ownership is being put back into the hands of creators. They will have full IP rights, as blockchain technology solves a host of issues experienced in web2.
Take a look at the music industry. Record labels control the narrative, as they own the masters of the artists signed to their label. As a result, the artist barely makes any income off of streams and album sales.
But now, with Audius as a top contender to replace the establishment, musicians have complete ownership of their music. They aren’t discouraged from creating their best works, nor are they forced to follow the agenda of a record label. And when ownership lies within the creator’s hands, innovation thrives. https://decrypt.co/resources/what-is-audius-the-decentralized-music-sharing-and-streaming-service
So if creators own their works, how can tech giants compete in the space?
While the environment may have changed, the competitive advantages remain the same. Powered by proprietary software, the digital economy is still prevalent in the new normal. Though this time around, the model needs to include consumers, developers, and creators into the mix. https://hbr.org/2018/11/how-software-is-helping-big-companies-dominate
The overarching “community” doesn’t only have complete ownership of their user-generated content. It also has a stake in the platform via governance tokens. In the eyes of the establishment, their participation, investments, and promotion are the crux of the matter. As a result, we’re witnessing a monumental shift in power dynamics. https://www.notboring.co/p/who-disrupts-the-disrupters
Tech giants are asking themselves: “How can we manifest our software capabilities to foster a set of shared incentives?”. The challenge here is to uphold a win/win scenario as the platform’s core value. No one should be left behind.
To compete in this industry, tech companies could develop smart contracts to bake tokenomics within the code itself. For example, users could earn 1 $TWEET per 100 words tweeted. 5 $TWEET could be awarded for Twitter-thread gurus. The gist is that participants could earn tokens for supporting the network in its journey to success.
In the web3 space, decentralized digital infrastructure is the name of the game. Software capabilities are the same, yet IP rights alter the methods of its use. Monetization lies within open-source code, and the central entity isn’t your employer anymore — it’s your co-founder. You, the creator, own the content you produce, just like it should have from the start.
Shared values are more important than ever. The scales are tipping in the user’s favour. Power is being distributed across multi-stakeholder approaches, and inclusion is vital to surpass the feats of web2. A new model is forming, and with it, a wave of innovation arises with a mission to topple the hierarchy.
*Originally published on* *Medium* *and republished on* *Publish0x**.* https://medium.com/p/cf26f8ced9ad https://www.publish0x.com/crypto-projects-on-the-rise/how-tech-giants-are-competing-in-the-metaverse-xelkvym
Bitcoin vs. Gold: Why Bitcoin won't ever fail
Ever wondered why cryptocurrencies are valued by younger generations and forward-thinkers? Or maybe the sheer influx of emerging technologies is baffling, and it just doesn't sit right with you.
It's understandable if you're confused. It almost feels crypto adoption exploded throughout the pandemic. People were stuck inside, so they had to find ways to live through their virtual screens. This includes working from home and, more importantly, embodying the virtual lifestyle.
And if you're living your day-to-day through a screen, you're bound to explore virtual worlds. Metaverse initiatives, the NFT world, crypto trading, digital art... you name it. As a result, we've been placing more value on the intangible rather than the physical world.
Naturally, we must adapt to our climate. Going virtual is how we, as a human species, coped with the rapid change imposed through Covid-19.
If you aren't living under a rock, you've probably heard of Bitcoin (BTC). It's a hot topic, and it gained traction when the pandemic struck. Not only were wealthy individuals buying and holding BTC, but institutions also entered the fray. Instead of holding onto their cash reserves, they began to store their earnings in Bitcoin.
The icing on the cake is when you have the president of El Salvador tweeting about BTC and stamping his badge of approval on the digital currency. Literally feels like we're living in an alternate reality.
So what do these institutions and developing countries see in BTC?
Well, BTC is often compared to Gold as a store of value and medium of exchange. However, suppose you neglect the difference between their tangible and intangible state. In that case, they're both similar commodities that serve the same purpose.
I often find that the news cycle frequently bashes on one of these commodities. I can't even go on YouTube nowadays without seeing a conflicting stream of negativity from crypto bros and the anti-crypto crowd. You either despise Gold, or you find Bitcoin invaluable. There's no in-between.
With this article, I aim to present the facts of each commodity while trying to remain as objective as possible. I also wish to encourage you to dip your feet into the crypto world.
Let's delve into it.
What's Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital currency created by the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. That's right—Bitcoin has been around for more than a decade. Hard to believe, hey?
Bitcoin was the first-mover in the crypto world. It introduced the concept of blockchain technology: a public ledger that is decentralized via a network of thousands to millions of computers.
The computers (also called "miners") solve complicated mathematical equations to validate transactions on the network. If they're successful, they are awarded partial amounts of Bitcoin. Such a system encourages validators to continue supporting the blockchain while fulfilling the decentralized mission of the commodity.
The beauty behind Bitcoin lies within its deflationary nature and scarce supply.
As miners get rewards, freshly minted BTC are put into circulation. Now I know what you're thinking: Minting new currency increases the total supply, right?
Wrong. Bitcoin's supply is locked at 21 million. And at this very moment, 19 million BTC has been mined, with 2 million out of circulation. So unlike fiat currency (cash), there isn't an unlimited amount of BTC that can be printed.
*Source:* https://www.investopedia.com/bitcoin-halving-4843769
Add on Bitcoin's halving events—occurring every four years—where the amount of BTC received per every completed block is essentially cut in half, and you have a scarce commodity with a deflationary mechanic. Here's a simple diagram explaining how it's beneficial for the Bitcoin ecosystem: https://www.investopedia.com/bitcoin-halving-4843769
The reward is halved → half the inflation → lower available supply → higher demand → higher price → miners' incentive still remains, regardless of smaller rewards, as the value of Bitcoin is increased in the process
In essence, Bitcoin naturally appreciates over time, and it shouldn't drop in value.
The key attributes of currencies
*Source:* https://www.americanenergyalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/bigstock-A-Man-Counts-Money-And-Blocks-384292907.jpg
Before we dive into the comparison between both commodities, we have to ask ourselves: What makes a currency useful, and more importantly, why does this matter?
Well, quite simply, if a currency doesn't uphold any sort of value for the user, then why even bother using it in the first place? You can just resort to currencies that are already established and regulated by our governments.
With the subject of user value, we must devise specific traits that make a currency useful.
Collectively, we've concluded that a useful currency has six key attributes: Scarcity, divisibility, portability, durability, verifiability, and fungibility.
Scarcity is an economic term used to measure the worth of things like products, currencies, and commodities. It represents how limited the supply of a particular "thing" is. Generally, a rule of thumb is that the more scarce an item, the higher it will be valued.
For example, a 1/1 painting can auction for upwards of millions of dollars, whereas plastic forks and spoons go for a couple of pennies each. Why? It's human nature to want exclusive and limited items more than items you can find anywhere.
Currencies are valued higher if they can be divisible or split into smaller portions. Let's say I own $100 of a non-divisible currency called "XOR." Now, let's say I want to exchange my 1 XOR for an apple since I'm on a cleanse. The apple only costs a dollar, so it's relatively cheap.
In this example, I wouldn't be able to purchase a single apple, as I cannot reduce my XOR. I can't have 1/100th of an XOR. Thus, XOR has self-imposed a barrier as a medium of exchange. How sad :(.
Not only are useful currencies scarce and divisible, but they're also portable. Users should be able to move however much currency they own with ease. This can be applied to conducting transactions or storing your currency in a safe location to hedge against inflation.
Durability is another key aspect of a useful currency. Those who utilize the currency for transactions anticipate it will retain its value, which for the most part, is a social construct. Suppose you bought silver to hold your cold-hard cash during a recession. In that case, you're doing this because you believe silver will keep its value upon the breakthrough of the market downturn.
Of course, commodities can be durable because of their role in manufacturing processes. This doesn't only give them intangible importance, but it also earns them physical utility for consumers.
Noncounterfetiablity/verifiability is last. If I can create the same currency with my own two hands, then why bother purchasing the currency off the market for a much steeper price? As stated here: https://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=wpd&c=dsp&k=money+characteristics
Money that is easily duplicated ceases to be THE medium of exchange.
All six aspects must not be met, but they sure help in the mass adoption of said currency.
Bitcoin vs. Gold
Now for the fun part: The direct comparison between BTC and Gold. Which one's better, and why do I think Bitcoin won't ever fail?
Both share one thing in common: They're seen as stores of value rather than mediums of exchanges. Why?
*Source:* https://medium.com/coinmonks/fiat-v-gold-v-bitcoin-706a03332f2b
They lack certain aspects that make them weak as a medium of exchange. This is why fiat currency (cash) represents Gold (not anymore, though it used to back in the day) and Bitcoin is used as the main comparison of the valuation for other currencies.
On the one hand, Gold lacks portability and divisibility. It's challenging to move Gold from one location to the next due to its weight, physical dimensions, and rarity. You need top-of-the-line security to help you switch places. It's also a tedious task to divide it up into smaller pieces.
On the other hand, Bitcoin isn't as durable as Gold. Although the halving mechanics and scarce supply encourage its appreciation in value, the price is still volatile.
Part of the volatility is derived from the unregulated crypto market. People don't trust crypto as much as stocks on the NYSE or TSX. So if they see a dip, all hell breaks loose.
Bitcoin's underlying technology is also severely outdated. Proof of Work (the consensus mechanism powering BTC mining) doesn't work as efficiently as Proof of Stake due to its small block size. High transaction costs and slow transaction speeds are expected in the network.
It's also energy inefficient. Recently, there's been a push to "cancel" Bitcoin as a currency due to its backwards role in climate change.
So if we're looking at both commodities **purely** from a store of value standpoint, Gold is less volatile as it's more durable. Therefore, if you're hedging against inflation, Gold is the move. At least, this is how it should be on paper.
Bitcoin is riskier, but the rewards are much greater. It's a first-mover in the crypto world, and thus, you'll never see it disappear. There will always be a social value attached to the currency. We've entered a stage in our society where institutions and governments allocate some of their cash into BTC for safe-keeping.
Also, established miners won't ever stop mining BTC. Companies like Bitfarms and Hut 8 Mining Corp have based their entire business model on mining BTC and Ethereum. Even if Proof of Work fades out, the benefit for validating nodes far exceeds the fixed and variable costs of the business.
*Source:* https://www.longtermtrends.net/bitcoin-vs-gold/
The chart above compares the price of Bitcoin and Gold. Let's say you bought BTC at the top of the peak in 2021. You would've lost money. But if you bought a couple of years back, say in 2018, you would have scored exponential profits.
What I'm trying to get at here is that Gold and Bitcoin are both stores of value, and often, they're associated with long-term holding. So if we're looking at historical data, BTC's long-term growth surpasses Gold by a mile.
Takeaways
If you're expecting a market downturn and want to store cash in a durable commodity, stick with Gold.
If you're looking for more of a long-term approach, with greater chances of parabolic growth, stick with Bitcoin.
*Sources:*
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2019/12/10/is-bitcoin-a-better-store-of-value-than-gold/?sh=11df42164939
https://www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2019/11/04/bitcoin-is-better-than-gold-for-one-simple-reason/?sh=413f1544176b
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/why-do-bitcoins-have-value.asp
https://www.investopedia.com/news/should-you-buy-gold-or-bitcoin/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin.asp
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
What is Web3 and why does it matter?
Web3: The next iteration of the Internet. Instead of relying on central entities like tech giants and powerhouses, web3 enables open-source coding, building, deployment, validation, and authentication of actions taken on the web. Clicks, transactions, contracts—all part of the web3 ecosystem.
Ever heard of Alexa's role in Amazon's data collection? She's always listening to what you're saying, even if you're not directly talking to her. Creepy. Some would argue it's a violation of one's privacy, and most agree.
Web3 aims to eliminate the central intermediary. So say goodbye to gatekeepers like record labels and banks.
Instead of getting blasted by ads from Budweiser because you spoke to your friend once about IPAs with Alexa in the same room, targeted ads won't be as targeted anymore. As a result, data-collecting companies won't be able to monetize your data. In this scenario, Amazon won't have the capacity to sell your data to Budweiser.
The central theme of web3 is the decentralization of data. And guess what? Blockchain is the vessel for the evolution of the web, while crypto tokenizes the actions taken on the platform. Crypto provides an incentive for adopters of web3, comparable to purchasing stock from a public corporation—albeit, you have more power as a web3 investor.
Think of it as crowdfunding. The majority of capital isn't coming from one source; it's coming from hundreds, to even thousands of small-time investors. Retail investors will have a more considerable impact on the company’s arc.
The aforementioned "power" can range from governing rights to the allocation of resources, and most importantly, the ecosystem's success. What's more, when buying into decentralized projects, you aren't putting money into a single entity. You're servicing thousands of those who vest a considerable amount of money to keep the network running. You're helping people like you and me… at least on paper. Right now, we aren't at that stage.
With web3, startups, projects, and founders won't require the backing of venture capitalists (VCs) to aid in the structural development of their idea. Although VCs carry weight in the initial growth of companies and help startups graduate into public equity, they aren't the solution for web3. VCs are centralized in nature via their limited partners (LPs). The shot-calling would remain in the hands of wealthy individuals.
So, where are we at with web3? Is the web genuinely decentralized? Who are the major players?
Currently, we're seeing a chunk of forward-thinking individuals entering the space. Projects are taking off in various forms: NFTs, altcoins, decentralized social media, and so on.
We're sitting at the growth stage in the industry. Idealists are experimenting with the applications of web3. Developers are optimizing smart contracts and finding new ways to improve code. Leaders are creating all-star teams to revolutionize the space. And builders are, well, building.
As the industry grows, so will competition. In any market, it's always been a battle between the best and the brightest. Web3 isn't excluded from the list. Which altcoin will surpass the scalability and networking effect of Ethereum? Which NFT collection can build the largest and strongest community? Which social media platform will outperform Twitter via its tokenization model and user experience?
You get the gist of it.
Competition is healthy for market growth. It forces people to adapt by thinking outside of the box. In the case of web3, this means thinking of new protocols or enhancing our current systems for the betterment of the movement. In our current situation, we must first focus on improving the underlying technology: Blockchain.
Blockchain is still relatively new and has yet to reach the design ethos of the anti-centralization crowd. Bitcoin's Proof of Work protocol powering its public ledger is inefficient, to say the least. It's costly, it's slow, and it's terrible for the environment.
Solana, on the other hand, uses a combination of Proof of Stake with Proof of History to get rid of expensive network fees and long transaction times. The downfall of SOL's blockchain is its inaccessibility when trying to become a validator for the network. Voting fees and staking requirements are high at the moment, and only a few have enough funds to reap the passive rewards.
You have to be careful when researching blockchain, as some projects may appear to be decentralized but are inaccessible for the majority of the population. Ethereum's network fees are are a perfect example of this. Solana's validation requirements are the cherry on top.
Once truly decentralized blockchains are formed and gain user transaction, we'll begin to see web3 at its best. But this will take time. Although our adoption of emerging technologies is much quicker than before, and the evolution of technology is outpacing historical data, I believe the web won't reach its next iteration until the next decade.
As for yourself, all you can do is learn about the ins and outs of web3. Read, read, and continue reading about web3. Maybe buy some crypto and support the cryptosphere.
You could also become a creator in the space and help with the movement. Try your luck at Solidity if you're a developer, or practice community engagement if you're looking to start your own project.
Your participation is needed to fuel the industry. Make sure you stay up to date with web3, as it is the future of the Internet.
Dracos are on the come up
It's rare I stumble upon a community that shares all the qualities of my main alpha servers and most active cliques. There are numerous checkboxes that need to be ticked off to pass my rigorous test.
All in all, I'm probably just like you. I don't have enough time to sit in front of the computer all day due to lousy constraints (joking) like work and university.
Therefore, by hand-picking a couple of servers to either work on WL requirements, help build fundamental relationships, establish a core group of community members (aka the OGs), and/or pass my marketing knowledge if needed, I can alleviate the risk of failure and increase my chances to secure a bag upon mint.
Today I'll be talking about Dracoverse, one of the communities that holds a special place in my central Discord chatting hub. I love everything about this project and cannot wait for the TBA mint date.
Enough of the unnecessary chit-chat—let's dive into the project.
What's Dracoverse?
Before I get started, I want to point out that Dracoverse is still in early development. Although the artwork is nearly complete, it still has a way to go. The dev team has been working with all hands on deck, finalizing key components like the website, OpenSea account, mint price and mint date, and roadmap mechanics.
Now that that's out of the way, let's continue.
Dracoverse is a pixelated PFP NFT project containing 4,444 Dracos in its genesis collection (also known as a project's first collection).
The artwork is fresh. The pixelated style combined with dragons as the source of the subject can be described in one word: *Sensational.* Props if you know where that's from.
Real talk though—I'm hyped about this drop from the constant uploads in the sneak peeks channel. I guarantee there will be a Draco for everyone's taste. On the one hand, you have a sparkly Draco with a pink background. If that's your cup of tea, you may just be in luck.
On the other hand, a demonish Draco with fiery eyes is waiting to become your pet. Soon we'll all be riding our Dracos in the metaverse, reenacting Daenerys Targaryen's epic (or cruel, for all the matters) narrative arch.
But it doesn't end there. Even though I said the project is still in development, the artwork is ahead of the curve. Peep the lil' baby Draco:
Sooo cute. I cherish projects that release a baby version of their genesis collection. Wulfz did the exact same thing, and by the looks of it, it was the right move to keep the project relevant.
So how will you be able to get your hands on a baby Draco? Is there a specific requirement you must meet, or can you pick it up upon mint?
This is a perfect time to get into the nitty-gritty!
Roadmap
Again, I want to point out that the roadmap is still in its initial stages. The information is there, it's just that it isn't as detailed and comprehensive as some other projects currently on the market.
$DRA token is a central piece of the roadmap. It is a non-monetary, utility token that will be awarded to those who hold genesis Dracos. From what it seems, the "staking" feature won't *actually* require staking. Instead, holders will earn $DRA by not listing their Draco.
There are pros and cons to awarding tokens via staking or holding. For one, holding doesn't require **any gas fees,** as you aren't performing another transaction on the network to stake your Draco.
Gas fees haven't been going down for the past couple of weeks, so this pushes accessibility as a feature of the Dracoverse. An excellent opportunity for roping-in newcomers and luring newbie NFT members into the pact.
The disadvantage of holding is that it doesn't encourage a supply shock as effectively as staking. This occurs because stakers put more skin in the game than holders by paying gas fees.
Suffice to say that investors don't see it as a hurdle for their NFT's growth; Instead, staking warrants a rapid floor increase—at least in the eyes of stakers.
Another problem with staking is that it doesn't work well with the project's OpenSea page. Take a look here:
The numbers don't add up. There's more than a 50% holding ratio (63% Wulfz staked is **insane** btw), yet OpenSea shows that Wulfz is almost entirely liquid with 1.3k owners out of the 5.6k items. As Wulfz are staked, it's like they're being removed from the collection, even though technically, they're not.
With holding instead of staking, this wouldn't happen.
Just like with Wulfz, once you collect a certain amount of $DRA, you will be able to adopt your own baby Draco. How cool is that?
Breeding will also be introduced, though I don't know how that will work. Will you be able to breed Dracos with other Dracos to reveal their final form? Who knows. There's more exciting news to come.
One thing that caught my eye is that down the road, while accumulating $DRA and reaching a certain threshold, you will have the capacity to unveil your Draco Knight. Draco Knights will have completely different traits & aesthetics compared to the genesis Draco & baby Draco.
Unfortunately, there haven't been any sneak peeks of the Draco Knight, but I think that's for the best. An element of surprise is always welcome.
Adding onto the three collections prepped for takeoff in the coming months, the Dracoverse team is looking to release a 3D, voxel-based collection tailor-made for metaverse initiatives like The Sandbox and Worldwide Webb Land. I wasn't kidding when I said we could potentially ride our Dracos in the metaverse.
*Source:* https://momentranks.com/eth/collection/worldwidewebbland
So let's be real here. The artwork is spectacular and well-thought-out. The team has it in the bag. Like I've previously stated, artwork can carry projects lacking in-depth roadmaps and other components like utility. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/the-formula-for-building-a-successful-nft-project-40c1532c
I can confidently say that this isn't the case for Dracoverse. There's utility, and it's already here. It's the reason why It's part of my main group of active Discord servers.
Utility
It's hard to find real-time utility in the expanding world of NFTs. On top of this, utility is dependent on what the individual values. Utility for people who don't have the slightest bit of interest in NFTs probably comes in the form of improvements to their quality of life, additional income, or satisfaction of their social needs.
For NFT collectors,g amers, and developers, utility can be established through NFT integrations in the metaverse, application to software and game engines, exclusive Discord communities, and more.
Although Dracoverse doesn't offer the utility NFT outsiders may find attractive, it does excel in two aspects.
First, a stream of high-quality alpha is provided to Dracoverse community members by **Dryzle:** Dracoverse's very own NFT analyst. The alpha ranges from extensive project analysis, voted by the community, or insights into up-and-coming collections.
Above is an example of Dryzle's analysis. I've taken profits from some of his alpha calls after conducting DD apart from his recommendations of course. I've also landed easy whitelist spots from his alpha.
He's always sending out invites for closed Discord communities. This is a chance for you to build a portfolio of winning NFTs!
Next up: **Giveaways**. Almost every project collaborates with other projects to help retain community members. Giveaways are a tool to not only win WL spots, NFTs, and other cool features from like-minded collections, but it's also a chance to learn about NFTs you may not have known about.
It's all about creating a snowball effect for yourself in the NFTverse. The more WL and free NFTs, the more liquidity you'll obtain over time. It's that simple, but it just involves patience on your part. This stuff takes months or even years.
Let's end off with my favourite part of the server: **The Draco Marketplace**.
With the Draco Marketplace, you can earn Draco coins (which can only be used in the server) by using commands every 4 hours in one of the channels. Commands include working, prostituting yourself, committing a crime, or robbing community members who haven't deposited their money.
You can also earn money by gambling in the 'nino. That's right, roll the dice in roulette and bet on black, or maybe try your luck in blackjack. Along with other community members, I have formed a pact to only go all-in every time.
Is that smart? No. Is it fun? Hell yeah.
Oh, you can also spend your money on chickens for cock fighting. I haven't experimented with the feature, but I know some Dracos vibe with this.
Draco coins have a use apart from winning non-monetary tokens. You'll be able bid or purchase for whitelists spots in the server (and I've seen this occur with a handful of members), free mints for legendary items, and partnered whitelist spots.
I can't wait to see the free mints and partnered whitelists spots in action.
Conclusion
Dracoverse has everything going for it right now. A genesis collection, a baby collection, Draco Knights, NFT utility via alpha, giveaways, and earning Draco coins, supply shock mechanics, and a growing community.
Although the mint date is TBA, I'd recommend you join the Discord and introduce yourself. Also, start building up a Draco coin fund, get whitelisted, and continue building your fund to bid for future legendary Dracos and partnered whitelists.
That's it from me! I hope you enjoyed the read.
As always, WAGMI frens ✌️
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
The formula for building a successful NFT project
By now you've probably heard of the NFT craze and the lively community promoting the splurge of tokenized JPEGs. The booming market has been turning heads; Some are curious and join the frenzy, others... not so much.
It shouldn't be a surprise that the community has been met with concerns about the functionality of their beloved tokens from the outside world.
Twitter wars are common nowadays with right-click savers on one side of the battlefield and die-hard NFT enthusiasts on the other. In No Mans Land, battles are fought about the relevancy of NFTs, their contribution to scams and Ponzi schemes, and the monetary value they can bring to the artistic field.
Although there are no clear winners when it comes to these hard-fought battles, it sure feels like NFTers are winning the war against their opponents. Growing industry sales volume, waves of new projects emerging from the ashes, and institutional involvement are all clear indicators of what's to come.
I've been on a path to achieve financial freedom from NFTs throughout the past couple of months. And I'm not the only one with the same mind frame. WAGMI isn't a joke for my NFT friends and I.
We live by this motto in the space, and we'll either live off of food stamps or drive a decked-out Lambo. There's no in-between.
*Source:* https://imgur.com/gallery/zrnBZ79
All jokes aside, my journey in the sphere has been filled with smiles, laughter, and lessons. I may have taken Ls, but I gain a new appreciation for the industry from each dollar I lose.
All in all, I wouldn't trade the people I met nor the pleasurable experiences for my losses. It sure has been a wild ride, to say the least.
Every day I learn something new, and this makes me a more knowledgeable investor who knows when to ape-in to a project and when to pass. From observing the landscape, I've been able to narrow down the qualities that can make or break a project.
Today I'll be showing you how to build a successful NFT collection. Let's get straight into it.
The formula for success
So as a creator, how can you take the W in the NFT world?
Follow this equation:
**Success = Artwork + Utility + Community + Marketing**
Now, this is a tried-and-true strategy, and most blue-chips stick with this recipe to obtain the goodies. But there are levels to each component of the equation. What do I mean by this? Well, it's not set in stone. Each function of the equation has its own properties.
Let's start with the artwork.
The artwork
I would've argued that this is by far the most dignifying part of a collection, but this is just false. Coming into the space, newcomers either dive in with the prospects of wealth or stick to collecting their favourite NFTs because of the artwork.
But if you're a veteran of the space, you'll know an NFT's artwork can look like it's been put together in two minutes while remaining completely unoriginal (aka a copypasta NFT) and it'll still blow the lid off the market.
At the same time though, the dev team can focus *solely* on the artwork without delegating their time to the other aspects of the project, like marketing, and it'll achieve great heights.
What I'm trying to get at is that you don't have to nail the artwork. You don't have to create something that's never been seen before. *But it does help.*
Take BAYC for example. They are considered *the* original ape project, and at the time, it held a unique value proposition seen by no other project in the industry. The art was different and cool. It was a breath of fresh air. Out with 8-bit and in with the apes!
Now we see at least one new ape project trend every single day on Twitter. These are called *derivative* projects, as they take the BAYC idea and expand and modify the art in their own way. Gaming Ape Club, Teen Ape Gang, Alpha Kongs Club, 0xApes.... the list goes on and on. And I'm just touching the tip of the iceberg here.
There are hundreds of ape projects. The same goes for CryptoPunks, Alien Frens, Invisible Friends, and so on.
Artists can either opt to design a high-quality collection that isn't following any trends, in hopes of becoming first-movers in the space, or they can follow a trend for a much safer bet. Although following a trend won't reap you the same rewards as becoming a first-mover, it is less risky.
*In summary:* Either spend months refining a high-quality, original artwork for your NFT collection, or nail an artwork that follows a trend. Of course, the safer option is to follow a trend.
Utility
Picture this: You just purchased a Wulfz and want to show off your new avatar in The Sandbox. So you hop in, equip your Wulfz, and go to your land to make some changes to your home before your virtual house party.
Once you're done, you want to gamble all of your money in the 'Nino because you're a degen. So you cross to Decentraland, purchase some chips, and proceed to lose all your money. Stay classy.
This is all taking place in the same world. It's all in **the metaverse**.
Strap in, because this is likely what the future is going to look like, and it's one of the ways NFT leaders are pushing for utility in the token's fundamental design.
One of the hottest debates out there is the value and utility individuals get from purchasing an NFT. The question we're asking ourselves is:
What value do NFTs bring to us?
There are several ways NFTs can suffice our needs. For one, being part of a community is valuable to some people. It fulfills our social needs.
Other examples include your participation in DAOs, airdrops, alpha, launchpads, charity donations and so on.
But as you can tell, none of these utilities provide what we really want: Integration into the metaverse. We want to embody our NFT, as it's a form of self-expression.
Now as I've explored before, NFTs aren't currently at the metaverse stage. You're probably wondering what I mean by this.
*Source:* https://decentraland.org/blog/announcements/genesis-plaza-relaunched/
What developers deem as "the metaverse" has yet to fulfill the concept of the metaverse. Quite simply, it's just a game with separate servers in which you can purchase land. We've seen this before with popular MMOs and the likes.
What's more, is that a game developed by one studio can't be intertwined with another game made by another studio.
So if there's still no interoperability in the metaverse, then how can NFTs bring utility in such virtual worlds? The utility that comes from owning an NFT and using it in Decentraland is.... having a portrait in your virtual house of an artwork that only you can own. Boring.
Even if you can equip NFT wearables on your Decentraland avatar, you can only show it to a handful of users on the same server. Boring x2.
The previous example is what the industry is aiming for. Albeit, we have to be realistic. It's good to go out and touch some grass once in a while to gain a new perspective on the subject.
At the moment, there is no NFT utility in worlds like Decentraland and The Sandbox. I'd say that the utility we seek as gamers, tech-nerds, and developers, isn't where we want it to be.
We can't equip our NFT and feel like we're walking around as our avatar. In fact, if we don't see metaverse initiatives evolve, then we'll never reach this dream of practical NFT usage in virtual worlds.
The good news is early NFT investors aren't expecting a metaverse integration *yet.* But they do want to see utility in one shape or another. I mentioned a couple of methods blue-chips have tackled to bring investors utility, but utility comes in all shapes and sizes.
I would recommend you build a project that already comes with utility upon mint. Instead of making promises and hoping for the best, give your holders actionable and real-time value. Remember: *Actions speak louder than words*.
And the utility doesn't have to entail a bundle of valuable things. You can just focus your energy on one.
Alien Frens is a perfect example of this. They focused on ONE aspect of utility: Social connection. As a result, the team formed one of the most supportive, positive, and tight-knit communities ever seen. Some people bought into Alien Frens to become a part of the uplifting community.
*In summary:*
Weed out one or two valuable aspects of your project.
Make sure it's polished and refined upon mint.
Build on it. Make it better over time.
Aim for other forms of utility as well, but really hone in on one or two versions of your project's utility at first.
Community-building
You can have the most beautiful, picturesque, 1/1 NFTsever seen, but without a strong community backing the project, your NFT will never see the light of day.
Think of building NFT projects as crowdfunding. You need to intrigue potential investors via your artwork, marketing, and utility. But once you've got their foot in the door, you also need to get them in the house and shut the door behind them (politely of course, as they're your guest). You need their financial support to succeed.
So now we know a community provides funding for your project, but it also comes with a range of other valuable materials. That's right! Community members provide free word-of-mouth marketing (which is hands down the best form of marketing), user-generated content (UGC), hype, and long-lasting support.
Wait. Let me go back. A **strong** and **tight-knit** community accomplishes all of the above. You can have over 100k followers on Twitter and 150k Discord members, but if all the members are bots, inactive, or there for a pump &dump, then say goodbye to your NFT dreams.
I've seen projects fail with thousands upon thousands of followers. But on the other hand, I've witnessed projects with 1k Discord members pump then consolidate way above their mint price.
Okay, so how do you build a strong community?
Like everything in the NFT space, there are various methods to succeed in this:
A closed Discord
Intriguing whitelist requirements
Access to tools like free alpha and collab giveaways
A special label for community members (Frens, Dracos, Gang, Apes, you name it. Whatever works best with your art)
GIFs, Emojis, and special commands that relate to your art
Fun games in a channel (Maybe add a casino or a fun game everyone can play)
Special events with the community (Movie night)
Mods, and even more mods
Dev team chatting with community members, answering questions
Good vibes
Continued hype
Recognition of early adopters and die-hard supporters
And the list goes on and on. I found that the best way to build a community is to make your Discord members feel special. You want them to feel like they're accessing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Give them a good time and they'll leave with a positive impression.
All of the points listed above are highly encouraged. The only point that you may want to skip out on is the closed Discord since it makes it less accessible for 9-5 workers/full-timers.
I found that closing your Discord early and releasing spots once in a while helps build commitment within your members. Why? They have to spend more time and get more creative to enter your exclusive community. Then, once they're in, it feels like they FINALLY made it.
Whitelist requirements
I want to delve a bit deeper into whitelist requirements, as I've seen projects doing it all wrong.
Just like community-building, there are numerous WL requirements you experiment with to build a core group of adopters:
Ranking up in Discord
Inviting friends to the Discord
Hand-picking active and helpful members
Raffles and giveaways
Collaborations
Games (my favourite)
Acknowledging artistry (Fan art, music, poetry, and such)
The first two points are the most popular. After all, it's a question of opportunity cost for the consumer. As they spend more time chatting with others and racking up invites, they're more emotionally and mentally invested in the project without knowing it.
But many are turned off by this method. Most coin it as "grinding," as you often have surface-level chats with others in the same position, and you never really get to know your project's brothers and sisters.
I'd always recommend you offer whitelist positions via giveaways, raffles, collabs, and fan submissions. I'll talk more about the first three later because it's a great way to gain exposure in the Twitter space.
My favourite projects are often hand-picking WL members and building fun and interactive games to play for WL. I'll give you an example of two projects that nailed this aspect.
To get a whitelist spot for Turtle Town, you have to fish for a turtle. The mechanics are pretty rudimentary:
Type the /fish command for a minimum of every 5 minutes
Once you get 4 points, go to the store and /buy bait. This will increase your chances of catching a turtle by 5%
Continue fishing and you'll land a turtle eventually. Make sure you read the descriptions of the fish you catch as they all have their own unique personalities!
If you're active and cheerful, other members can gift you a turtle if you haven't caught one. Incentivizes building a tight-knit community!
Next, we have Dracoverse. One of the ways you can get WL here is by getting income through:
$work, $slut, $crime, and $rob. $work guarantees income, while the other three are up to RNG. You could $rob someone who hasn't deposited their money, but that isn't nice!
Roll the dice at the casino. Here you can try your luck at blackjack, roulette, and some other classics.
Once you have 10k coins, you get a free WL.
Donating to other players is another mechanic that is crucial for inspiring friendships and a close community. Players can reward Draco money to un-WL members for their participation in the Discord.
Marketing
Marketing is an essential tool for reaching your desired target market. Without promoting your project to the right group of people, or failing at grasping the concept of targeted advertisements and organic engagement, your project won't succeed.
Marketing is used to build *hype* in the NFT world. You want people to be ecstatic about your project. But you also want to make sure that the hype you build is organic. Say no to bots!
How can one achieve an effective marketing plan?
Follow these steps:
Establish a mission. Where do you see your project over the long run (and I'm talking about years ahead)?
Don't just create. **Build**. The difference is that creating involves fulfilling one step (like creating the art), whereas building is a long-term approach.
Be passionate about what you're building. If it doesn't align with your likes and values, then the project won't succeed over time. A strong leader shows they're in it for the long haul. A strong leader is the face of their business.
Find your target market. Is it cartoon-lovers? Pokemon fans? Young women? The more niche, the better.
Follow an organic marketing plan. This is where you can differentiate your approach. You've seen how most projects do it: Create a Twitter, conduct giveaways offering ETH or WL spots, promote tagging and genuine comments, etc. This is a fantastic approach, but try to switch it up!
You can host fun games where people have to solve a puzzle or riddle to enter the Discord (Some projects broke Twitter using this method)
If you focus on building a niche community, promote the content you and your niche love. If they like cereal, ask them what kind of cereal they stan.
Tweet your artwork
Reveal the utility your project delivers
Target popular influencers in the space, get their badge of approval
Host giveaways for other projects, and get them to do the same with you. I've seen projects establish solid relationships with similar artwork, and this could help bring like-minded individuals into your community!
Promote UGC and reward those who've helped you tremendously. Twitter threads, fan submissions, mentions... these are all forms of UGC that aid in your cause.
Don't ever stop marketing. Remember, it's all about hype, and if the hype dies off, it might take a miracle to make a comeback.
The two main takeaways about marketing in the NFT world are that there's *always* a fresh take on the organic engagement approach. The sky is truly the limit.
Also, building a smaller community of members with similar interests will beat a large community of pump & dumpers who could care less about the well-being of your baby. This stuff takes time, so don't worry if you don't reach the golden number of 10k Twitter followers in the first, second, or third month.
I'd much rather see a 1k page with dozens of comments under each tweet than a 10k page with a handful of botty replies. This is what experts look for in long-term projects.
Last words
I hope this helps guide you in your NFT journey. Remember, it's all about building, not creating. People will notice if you put your heart and soul into your creation. The NFTs I still support to this very day are the ones with active dev teams that I've spoken to, given feedback to, and put my confidence in their hands.
We're still early adopters of NFTs, so don't be disheartened if takes longer than anticipated to build a one-of-a-kind project. Just make sure that you don't hop on the trend too late if you choose this route.
As always, WAGMI frens 🥂
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
Early whitelist opportunities (01/18)
*This post was originally published on my* *Twitter account**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1483587490380353542
*Source:* https://dune.xyz/queries/133588/263001?Days=30
Over the past couple of weeks, the NFT industry has been doing phenomenal, continuously breaking sales volume day-in and day-out.
Even with all the incoming traffic blowing up gas fees and slowing transaction times, it seems like the industry will continue on its bull run. China’s legalization of NFTs (albeit, crypto is still banned) may be the cherry on top for the mass adoption of NFTs.
In this new series, instead of writing about one NFT project with long-term potential, I’ll be providing a list of early projects with WL/mint-list opportunities and other bits of crucial information.
Let’s get straight into it.
Turtle Town (@TurtleTownNFT) https://twitter.com/TurtleTownNFT
Discord: Closed, 708 members
Twitter: 843 followers
Mint date: February, date is TBA
Mint price: Free mint for first 1,000 items
Public mint: Ξ0.025
How to get WL: Play a fishing game that’s based on RNG. Whenever you get 4 points, you can buy bait that will increase your chances of fishing a turtle. Once you catch & release a turtle, you will be granted WL.
Supply: 10,000
Drop mechanic: WL mint then public mint
Why I'm bullish on this project
It’s still early to predict how well this project will do, as it requires a more complete roadmap and real-time utility. Right now, it’s a one-man team, so don’t expect it to blow up in social presence anytime soon.
I will say that I enjoy the artwork and the closed Discord server. The artwork follows the cute PFP trend that has proven its worth with collections like Alien Frens and CryptoMories.
The dev’s mission is to create a lively community that stands with Turtle Town’s environmentally-friendly cause. So you may as well give the project a shot and try to get whitelisted ASAP.
Cloud Friends (@CloudFriendsNFT) https://twitter.com/CloudFriendsNFT
Discord: Closed, 5.1k members. Allowing 100 people per day into the server via Twitter posts.
Twitter: 737 followers
Mint date: Spring 2022, date is TBA
Mint price: TBA
Public mint: TBA
How to get WL: 973 spots available. Be active on Twitter, share invite tweets, and chat with community members in the Discord. Can also just reach level 10 in the Discord.
Supply: TBA
Drop mechanic: TBA
Why I'm bullish on this project
Another project that may be too early to tell if it will succeed in the NFT market. Whitelist is relatively easy to get, just have to be active in the community and you’ll get level 10 in no time.
The artwork is unique for a PFP collection. The devs have yet to release a roadmap, but I would be perfectly fine with a simple roadmap honed in on the artwork. It does not have to include utility through DAOs, metaverse integrations, or the likes.
Instead, I would cherish community events and networking opportunities. I've noticed that with cute PFP collections, community-building is key. People really don't care about V2 utility with this trend.
Women Tribue (@WomenTribue_nfts) https://twitter.com/CloudFriendsNFT
Discord: Open, 3.8k members
Twitter: 5.5k followers
Pre-sale date: Feb 15
Public sale date: Feb 19
Mint price: Ξ0.04
How to get WL: Be active, must get recognized by mods. They’re also hosting contests on Twitter for guaranteed spots.
Supply: 10,000
Drop mechanic: Pre-sale then public sale
Why I'm bullish on this project
In terms of artwork, this is by far my favourite on the list. Each NFT was algorithmically generated from over 900 hand-drawn traits. In addition, there are ten 1/1 women featuring short tracks from known musicians.
100% of secondary sales royalties will go to ten charities. The roadmap includes utility amongst charitable donations, a community wallet, merch, the development of an app, and a Women Tribe Scholarship program.
It may be challenging to get whitelisted for this project, but I'd wager that it has the highest chance to break through the crowded NFT market. Women-empowering NFTs are currently trending, and I believe they will continue to overtake the market for several months.
Broken Machina (@brokenmachina) https://twitter.com/CloudFriendsNFT
Discord: Open, 8.8k members
Twitter: 1.7k followers
Pre-sale date: Feb 03
Public sale date: Feb 04
Mint price: TBA
How to get WL: Free whitelist at the moment! Just post proof in their #whitelist-claim channel and you’ll be awarded WL. https://twitter.com/hashtag/whitelist?src=hashtag_click
Supply: 10,000… 5,000 Machinas and 5,000 Broken Humans
Drop mechanic: Pre-sale then public sale
Why I'm bullish on this project
Another hand-drawn collection comprised of diversified artwork. This project is a bit further down the road than some of the others on this list, but it’s showing promising community growth and a solid vision.
I think the most exciting feature of this NFT it’s community-led mission to create a playable P2E game with social interaction as a requirement to level up and earn more. The game will come with its own monetary token ($ORE).
Final comments
Hopefully, you're able to get WL'd for one of these projects. I believe WL is one of the strongest methods to take profits and build your liquidity. If the project is hyped-up and backed by a supportive community, then floor price will almost always push up right after mint.
As always, this is NFA and please DYOR before making any decisions based on this article/thread. Cheers 🥂
Why Non-Fungible People is primed for takeoff
*This post was originally published on my* *Twitter account**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1483163170592022533
About a month ago, I wrote about Non-Fungible People (NFP), a women-led 3D NFT project that at the time, I thought would reach unprecedented heights upon public mint. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/non-fungible-people-a-utility-based-3d-nft-1a743287
I mean, the project has EVERYTHING going for it, including:
A multi-billion dollar company backing the project (Tafi)
A cutting-edge 3D studio in charge of the collection (Daz3D)
Partnerships and collabs with well-known companies like Champion, CloneX, Stellar X, and Louis Monet
Bad-ass 3D avatars empowering women from every walk of life
40k Discord members + 21k Twitter followers
Clean merch
Utility kits, allowing owners to deploy their 3D avatar to livestreams, 3D softwares, and game engines (partners include Daz3D, Unity, Unreal, Blender, & more)
Daz Studio Software tutorials
Customization of your NFP to your liking
And more!
I was shocked when it took almost a week to sell out. How can a project that arguably has some of the best real-time utility in the space not sell out after mint?
I couldn't believe it. Copy/paste NFT collections are skyrocketing for no good reason. This project is a gem amongst a sea of derivative NFTs.
Well, today may just be your lucky day. A catalyst is taking place tomorrow, and with the project's leadership, partnerships, and utility, we could see NFP reach blue-chip status.
Let me break it down for you.
For one, NFP has yet to be revealed. So set an alarm, as tomorrow (January 18th) at 6pm EST, NFPs will finally be showcased in all their glory and built-up hype.
I wholeheartedly believe that an initial pump will be followed by a dump, then an upward trend throughout the year. NFP is a long-term play, no doubt about that.
First, whales will likely sell off their common NFPs to de-risk their position. Then we'll see a surge in price. Of course, this is a prediction, but the low outstanding supply and healthy pumps leading up to the reveal are all signs of sustained growth.
We may not feel the impact of the initial dump though. Why do I say this?
The team has done a tremendous job in encouraging holders to diamond hand their NFP, even after reveal. **Diamond Hands Club** members will be eligible for special giveaways, drops, and other benefits.
From a quick glance at their OpenSea collection, **only** 200 NFPs are listed. I've never seen such a low number of project listings before 😮
And as we all know by now, as more individuals delist, the floor price tends to rise as outstanding supply drops.
*Source:* https://www.nft-stats.com/collection/non-fungible-people-daz3d
Take a look at this chart. It may not be the prettiest, but it demonstrates to me that NFP is ready for takeoff.
You got two weeks of consolidation, followed by a pump on the 13th from recent news involving major partnerships and the introduction of the Diamond Hands Club.
*Source:* https://www.nft-stats.com/collection/alienfrensnft
Now take a look at the price action of Alien Frens. You can see that it followed the same trend as NFP, but the difference is that Alien Frens got the good ol' Gary Vee treatment.
Those who've been making NFT plays for more than a minute know that it's almost a requirement to have Gary Vee's notis on, as whenever he tweets about an NFT, it's pretty much guaranteed to pump.
NFP doesn't have the support of Gary Vee (*yet*). But what it does have is the endorsements of famous figures, blue chips, and market leaders.
I could go on and on about NFP, but quite frankly, this project shouldn't be valued at Ξ0.5. It has *too* much going for it.
As always, please DYOR as this is NFA.
WAGMI frens 🥂
How China is adopting NFTs
Over the course of the past decade, China has been ramping up its efforts to compete on the global stage.
An expansive network of trade routes, a growing national GDP, and an emphasis on building business-government relationships are all part of China's ultimate plan to overtake the West as *the* economic powerhouse.
Although you may still see China as a threat to democracy and capitalism, one thing that you must understand is that China houses some of the largest companies in the world, more famously known as BAT: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent.
These companies have always been known to be technologically forward in their decision-making. For example, to facilitate NFT transactions under Chinese law, Alipay and WeChat Pay have created a system to purchase digital artwork with fiat currency.
However, we all know NFTs and crypto are intertwined. You could argue that without a public blockchain and a token to process transactions within a blockchain's ecosystem, NFTs wouldn't be NFTs.
Why? Well, the concept of selling artwork, minting a unique digital asset, and exchanging digital items for cryptocurrency works better when all parties use a public ledger.
Without a public ledger, artists and creators would be under the scrutiny of the entity that controls the blockchain. This is taking away one of the pillars of digital art: Protection of IP rights. If an organization manages what goes into its blockchain, then the creator's IP rights go out the window.
If I had to ELI5: The ledger recording NFT transactions wouldn't be transparent or trustworthy since the governing entity has the power to manipulate ledger entries whenever they feel like it.
So how is China tackling this challenge? By banning the essential uses of cryptocurrency, companies that want to dive into the NFT craze have to think outside of the box.
Luckily, one thing that China does right is that they're always thinking ahead of time.
BAT has already deployed **alliance chains**: Semi-public blockchains monitored by a select number of governing bodies like national regulators, blockchain gurus, and technical committees.
Although this isn't exactly the same as a public blockchain like Ethereum's Mainnet, it's a step in the right direction.
Furthermore, Tencent has been able to narrow down the applications of its alliance chain. In fact, it has previously used the blockchain for "supply chain finance and invoicing, among other things." https://www.ledgerinsights.com/tencent-blockchain-alliance-targets-100-members-this-year/
Add on the trading of "digital collectibles" with no monetary value and a minimum holding requirement of 180 days, and you have a recipe for success amidst China's NFT adoption.
I say this because the systems and technology are there. They've been tested rigorously and used publicly among Chinese art collectors and NFT enthusiasts.
Now, on the other hand, one could argue that even by implementing semi-public blockchain technology for the ownership of digital collectibles, it will never be considered an NFT without a fully-transparent network.
As long as a larger entity can access a mutable entry, make changes, and validate it on the blockchain, then there will never be true authenticity, ownership, and security.
This is why Ethereum is the number 1 network for NFT trading. People *trust* the technology behind it.
It'll be interesting to see how the situation unfolds. I'd wager Chinese companies will continue to use a hybrid model not only to avoid the wrath of Chinese law, but also to implement the best-use cases of blockchain technology within their business model.
*Sources:*
https://www.protocol.com/china/china-nft-crypto-workarounds
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/tencent-ant-distance-themselves-nft-market-china-cryptocurrency-crackdown-2021-10
https://cointelegraph.com/news/tencent-aims-to-establish-100-member-blockchain-alliance-in-2020
https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2018/01/article_0005.html
How Egg Heads Club could push NFTs to a new frontier
*This post was originally published on my* *Twitter account**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1482141471935381507
It's no secret that derivative projects and lacklustre artwork have overtaken the NFT world. Sometimes, these projects succeed due to their sheer utility; Other times, simple roadmaps, short-term hype, and bad leadership lead to their eventual downfall.
Once in a blue moon (which, to be honest, is every couple of hours in the NFTverse), we get blessed by a collection gunning for the top spot. These projects push the space to new frontiers.
I recently stumbled upon a collection that exceeds this criterion. Say hello to Egg Heads Club, a P2E mobile gaming platform with its roots in retro arcade games that we all know and love. https://twitter.com/eggheadsclub
The Egg Heads Club world consists of Egg Heads (who would've thought?): Cute & pixelated NFTs that reside in the world of Eggtopia.
Let's first get into the artwork. I'm a sucker for pixelated art, and this collection meets everything I want in an NFT.
The first drop will be comprised of 3.5k generative items with over 200 components amongst nine properties. All NFTs are split into four different classes:
Since this is a P2E mobile game, Egg Heads also come with attribute scores across four different categories. The categories include:
Speed
Health (Shell Strength)
Jumping
Attack Power (Force)
Each attribute has a maximum score of 40. Furthermore, special traits are associated with each Egg Head, which can be thought of as abilities in turn-based games or ultimates in MOBAs.
What stood out to me is the 2D gaming empire they're refining throughout development with the ultimate goal of expanding into the 3D metaverse further into the project's journey.
Yup, that's right! We're getting 3D Egg Heads in the Sandbox 🔥
The devs have already created and begun testing the first installment of their 2D arcade games: **Egg Jump**.
I won't get into the details of the game as it is quite simple to understand. You can see for yourself here ⬇️
There's an aspect that I have yet to talk about and is by far one of the most key features of the Egg Heads Club concept: **The P2E mechanic**. This will allow gamers to earn EggBux ($EGBX), a monetary ERC-20 token, for their leaderboard scores.
Simply put, as you compete against others for the number 1 spot on the leaderboard, you will earn $EGBX.
$EGBX will be released in Q2 2022 as a deflationary and finite governance token. Hearing this is music to my ears, as deflationary currencies naturally rise in price over time due to the reduced supply.
Holders will have a say in the project's outcome via a community DAO. There will also be other mechanisms introduced like:
Burning
Taxing
Breeding
And more.
The utility of $EGBX doesn't only come from its monetary value. As I've pointed out above, you can also redeem EggBux for tangible merch and breeding of second-gen Egg Heads, coming in Q3 2022.
There's even more. I won't lie to you when I say the depth of this project amazes me. They've included a mint roadmap with donations to a cause decided by the community and a digital story-book series.
They've also included IRL meetups and networking events for holders at the end of 2022. What more could you ask for? Egg Heads Club has everything you need.
This desire to become a staple NFT collection in the P2E gaming industry shouldn't go unnoticed. They've only just begun, but their extensive and comprehensive roadmap, vision, and development prove to me that they're in it for the long haul.
Oh, and one last thing: Just look at their website. It pops, it's easy to use, and most importantly, it's fun and unique. https://eggheadsclub.io/
As a student of business and design, seeing all these websites that have plagued the NFT world with their obnoxious colour palettes and insufficient use of basic design principles irritates me.
Like, c'mon... what is this 🤣?
I would recommend you join their community via their Discord. The devs are always active in chat, so don't be afraid to ask questions!
As always, WAGMI frens 🚀
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
The future is bright for Wulfz
*This post was originally published on my* *Twitter account**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1481380591396216834
Wulfz is a collection of 5,555 pixelated ERC-721 NFTs backed by one of the strongest communities in the space: **The Pack**. Wulfz traits are inspired by pop culture, anime, movies, and television.
Although I've already written about Wulfz (click here to see my first article) and my love for the artwork and community, today I'll be tailoring this article on the future of Wulfz. Recent developments have made me more confident than ever about the project. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/wulfz-my-favourite-pixelated-nft-collection-e20346bf
So what changed? Isn't the roadmap still the same as before?
As I've been preaching since the start of my degen NFT career, dev teams must be transparent to the community supporting the project in order to succeed.
Without transparency, there is a lack of trust. Without trust, people become skeptical about the project.
Once this occurs, holders list, sell, and dip. Say goodbye to the backbone of your collection.
No community causes no longevity in the project. It's as simple as that. Who wants to invest in an initiative in which the owners could scam you within seconds?
Enter the recent developments in the Wulfz Discord. Since the start, the dev team has been promoting a staking feature for Wulfz holders.
Staking is sought after within the NFT industry. For the most part, this mechanic causes what's known as a *supply shock*.
Degens like myself buy into the collection for the sole purpose of staking their NFT, earning some sort of passive reward (either monetary or non-monetary).
Thus, investors aren't only incentivized to hold for the potential of future monetary gains (aka a pump), but they're also staking for concrete rewards.
Simply put, they're staking for passive income. More NFTs staked in a collection lead to a higher number of holders.
A higher amount of holders = More unlisted NFTs.
More unlisted NFTs = A lower outstanding supply.
You can see where I'm getting at here. If you've learned the basics of economics, demand and supply share an inverse relationship. Hence, as supply drops, demand soars. The price skyrockets, taking us to the moon 🚀
*Source:* https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/1811/markets/diagrams-for-supply-and-demand/
Well, that's what we dream about. Most of the time it doesn't skyrocket, but the price tends to go up after staking is introduced.
With Wulfz, we already knew the team was working towards an easy-to-use staking mechanic. The community was ecstatic about it.
Just remember: $AWOO coins earned from staking aren't monetary tokens.
Instead, you can collect $AWOO with the prospects of merging your OG Wulfz with a Pupz to create a legendary Alpha Wulfz: An animated Wulfz available to all holders who are willing to stick with the team.
Ok cool. Again, we knew about this already. So what changed?
Gas prices have been incredibly high for the past couple of days. The $LOOKS airdrop probably had something to do with it. So the devs, thinking that they were putting the community first, decided to scrap the idea of staking, opting to give passive $AWOO to holders.
*Source:* https://ycharts.com/indicators/ethereum_average_gas_price
No staking would be needed. You would think the Pack would be happy about this decision. No need to pay gas fees for staking your Wulfz. True passive income! LFG 🔥
The problem is that without staking, there is less of a supply shock. I mean, you could even argue there isn't a supply shock *at all.*
Why do I say this? Well, if holders are required to pay for gas fees every time they stake/unstake, then what would be the point of staking your Wulfz for a short period of time?
It doesn't make sense. Overall, you're losing money due to absurd gas fees, even if you're earning $AWOO. So, staking with high gas fees encourages the Pack to stake their Wulfz for a longer timeframe, thus offsetting the deposit and withdrawal fee. Now THIS works.
The devs didn't think this through. They thought they were putting the community first by eliminating gas fees altogether.
But like any human, they made a mistake.
And guess what? Some people were furious. Paper hands left, not believing in the project anymore. How could the devs not consult with their most vital asset: the Pack?
*Source:* https://www.niftyprice.io/collections/wulfz-official
Well, if you believe in a project and you know the team is hardworking and trying their best to fulfill all the objectives in the roadmap, then have a little faith in them. People make mistakes.
In this case, the dev team thought they wouldn't need to put it to a vote because they were doing their holders a favour. A lack of judgement on their part.
Sure enough, the dev team learned from their mistake and:
Admitted to their mishap
Wrote out a thorough explanation about why they made the initial decision
& tested a solution that will allow for mass staking/unstaking in one transaction
Not only was the problem solved, but reading through their apologetic and reflective announcement built more trust than ever in the dev team. I bet other Pack members felt the same.
It takes balls for a leader to admit that they f*cked up, especially when shot-calling for a project with 33k supporters.
So yeah. That is pretty much what went down the past couple of days.
Albeit, there's more news that came out of the blue.
Wulfz is partnering with World Wide Webb to integrate Wulfz onto their metaverse platform. I didn't expect a game-changing announcement to be released at such an early stage of Wulfz's journey.
I can't wait for staking to be introduced. The future is bright for the Pack!
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
Wunks: A platform for women-led NFT initiatives
*This post was originally published on my* *Twitter account**.* https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju/status/1480730713552949249
Wunks is a collection of 6,000 women-themed punk derivatives. It was founded by a husband-wife duo with one goal in mind: To build a supportive community for women-led initiatives.
I know what you're thinking: *Yet another punk derivative? It never ends!*
Punk derivatives generally succeed in the short term but often come face-to-face with a lack of strong leadership in the long term. So how is Wunks positioning itself in a crowded market?
The idea is ingenious: Create the first-ever launchpad for new, women-led projects in the NFTverse.
Not only are the cost of paying for engineers and entering the market reduced substantially, but the integration of assets to the deployed contract is also improved.
What does this mean in plain English? The launchpad streamlines the deployment of a collection on Ethereum's Mainnet. This includes:
Uploading PNGs for token generation
Setting weights for properties and attributes
Setting up tokenomics
Gas optimization
And much more.
You could think of the tool as an eCommerce website. Instead of learning how to code, creating the website from scratch using HTML/CSS, and buying a domain, you could just make your website under a user-friendly interface like Shopify.
In this case, **the launchpad is Shopify.**
The tool will be funded by a Women Artist DAO. The Women Artist DAO will be funded by 35% of the royalties generated from secondary Wunk sales.
You can see how this system emphasizes Wunk sales; It will be the fuel for the launchpad.
There is *no upfront cost* to use the launchpad, as the Women Artist DAO will create enough funding for candidates.
The DAO will have a voting system for projects they deem as contenders for their financial support. The power will remain in Wunk hodlers' hands!
It doesn't end there though. The dev team is in the middle of designing a Wunk Community DAO as well. Don't get it confused with the Women Artist DAO purely meant for the launchpad.
The Wunk Community DAO is for deciding the future of the Wunks project.
Instead of putting all the stress of decision-making on the dev team's shoulders, Wunks hodlers will be able to cast their votes and decide for the future of Wunks. Decentralization at its finest!
A 2% commission will fund the Wunk Community DAO upon a project's withdrawal from the launchpad (aka: Launch). Another 5% is distributed amongst the dev team, though this percentage is subject to change.
Utility will also come from automatic whitelists in launchpad-affiliated projects.
That's right: Out with the late-night grinding for a WL spot in a competitive, blue-chip chat, and in with the easy WLs for collections that stand for a good cause.
The team has been working tirelessly for months to refine the utility provided by this project. The devs are:
Doxxed
Supported by @NFTLLama
Recognized by countless A-list celebs like Roman Atwood and Paris Hilton
Transparent
For example, the smart contract dev created an optimized contract saving OG Wunk members hundreds of dollars in gas fees. Unfortunately, there was a human mistake in the process.
To resolve this issue, the devs spent days airdropping free Wunks to those who received failed transactions due to human error.
Again, transparency is vital. We all make mistakes. The dev team took ownership of the problem and implemented a fix.
I've never been so bullish on a project of this calibre. The Discord community is tight-knit, positive, and active. Wunks has achieved feats like reaching the front page of OS, pushing sales volume to 800 in 3-4 days, and growing its Discord to 3k without much marketing.
And that's a wrap! 🙌
I hope you enjoyed reading through the analysis. If you would like to read more about the roadmap, visit this link:
https://medium.com/@phereford/draft-wunks-roadmap-utility-and-mission-v1-0-6d02c35324
As always, *I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my thread, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
WAGMI frens 🚀
Out with OpenSea and in with LooksRare!
If you've been following the NFT space through Twitter, you'll know OpenSea is the community's most used platform to conduct NFT transactions. It's simple to use, supported by popular wallets like MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet, and has the largest network of NFT listings in the sphere.
It shouldn't be a secret that no one *actually* likes the platform. Just search through #brokensea on Twitter and you'll see what I mean. On top of all the sh*t talk, OpenSea isn't necessarily decentralized in its business model. It's backed by the multi-billion VC firm *Andreessen Horowitz,* and all fees on the platform go directly into the pockets of OpenSea owners. https://twitter.com/search?q=%23brokensea&src=typed_query&f=top
And with the DAO phenomenon building new market entry opportunities for those wishing to become a pioneer in the transition to Web3, centralized platforms will now have steep competition from their decentralized counterparts.
I know what you're thinking. *What other platform is he talking about? Is he trying to shill a new network like Solana or smartBCH?*
Nope! Say hello to LooksRare, an NFT marketplace looking to take the throne from OpenSea. It's the first marketplace to put community members on a pedestal. As their motto emphasizes, LooksRare is: https://looksrare.org/
By NFT people, for NFT people.
Nice motto! But are they following through on their promise?
Royalties
First comes the topic of royalty payment. Are artists being compensated quickly enough for their royalties on secondary sales?
On OpenSea: https://nfts.wtf/opensea-withholds-royalties-from-its-artists/
payments happen on a monthly basis when an artist has “accumulated more than ~$60.00 worth of fees.”
On a monthly basis?! Artists trying to make a living off of NFTs won't ever be able to quit their 9-5s at this rate. People need the money ASAP to put food on the table, pay their bills, and maybe even have a life outside of NFTs.
Ok, that may have gone a bit too far. But like, come on, who isn't consumed by NFTs 24/7? Nothing to be ashamed of 😂
It doesn't stop there though. Even if artists have met the bare minimum, it isn't rare to see a lack of urgency in the payment schedule from the OpenSea team. As a result, some artists don't get paid *for months*.
This is because OpenSea processes payments manually. Crazy to think that such an established and profitable marketplace has yet to create an on-chain payment system to support its users.
LooksRare is changing the game with automatic, on-chain payments. Instead of waiting for weeks to claim royalty fees, creators can instantly claim their royalty as soon as a transaction is made within their collection.
+1 brownie points for LooksRare. What else is there to explore?
Fees
That's right! LooksRare's 2% fees on basic sales out-competes OpenSea's fee percentage. Plus, you get the added benefit of 0% fees on private sales!
This doesn't even reach the tip of the iceberg.
All trading fees go into the hands of LooksRare's stakers. Yup! There's a new token in town by the name of $LOOKS, and just with $SOS, NFT traders who meet certain requirements can claim free $LOOKS when listing their first NFT on the platform. https://docs.looksrare.org/guides/faqs/what-is-the-looks-airdrop
It's basically free money! Airdrops galore.
You could also opt to provide liquidity to the LOOKS-ETH pair on Uniswap to earn additional passive income. How cool is that?
My thoughts
OpenSea will always stick around. It was a first-mover in the NFT industry and has built a network worth millions, if not billions of dollars (or ETH I guess).
But this doesn't mean other NFT marketplaces can't dethrone OpenSea. LooksRare has already brought on countless popular collections like MAYC, CyberKongz, Doodles, and Alien Frens onto its platform.
They are refining their platform as time goes on, and listening to community feedback via their Discord server.
I am rooting for this project. I hope the NFT industry improves as community-led initiatives take a more prominent position in the market. It's time for a change.
*Sources:*
https://docs.looksrare.org/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nft-marketplace-looksrare-goes-live-143055620.html
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
Pixels Online: A P2E MMO with real utility
Are you a fan of Stardew Valley? Do you remember the good ol' days of Farmville?
If you said yes to any of these questions, I might just have the right NFT for you!
Say hello to Pixels Online, a playable P2E MMO that is doing things a bit differently from other land-based P2E NFT games. https://www.pixels.online/
I was first intrigued by this project via this tweet from @NFTLLama:
If you're deep in the NFT space, you know that projects backed by popular influencers are primed for takeoff. NFTLLama's built a following of like-minded individuals who seek long-term projects with the potential to grow into a staple of the NFT community.
Sure enough, I checked out their website and everything was legit! What does Play-to-mint mean though?
Well, instead of spending your time chatting in a boring Discord with other NFTers who are looking to get WL'd, you can complete quests in the project's playable game and earn points towards a whitelist spot. Neat! https://play.pixels.online/
The quests are easy to complete as well. Just follow this page here, and you'll be able to complete 3 out of the 4 quests in no time! It should just take 10-15 minutes. https://meshonline.notion.site/7aae36c5ac4845438c42305f8ffe10f3?v=6f2fa43f067c4abf81f0a35622c8cc7f
Heads up: The last quest ("Let it snow," released on December 25, 2021) isn't available anymore. Unfortunately, this quest was only a limited holiday event.
The top 1,000 point earners will get access to the first collection's whitelist. So make sure you complete the three quests ASAP for a higher chance of getting a cheap mint.
Ok, that's a cool mechanic. I know what you're thinking though. What's so special about this P2E farming game? What does it have going for it? Should I even bother getting whitelisted?
First and foremost, the team has been partnering with notable projects like CryptoPunks, CryptoKitties, and Lazy Lions to bridge their NFTs onto Pixel Online's platform:
On January 14, the team will be releasing the project's first collection: Farm Land. https://twitter.com/pixels_online/status/1466893278461186051
There will be a total of 2,000 plots of Farm Land that will give owners access to farming features like planting crops. Owners will also be able to build themselves a home and customize their land with trees, bushes, furniture etc.
Now let's say you don't have the time to care for your farm. I mean, let's be honest: Most of us haven't made it yet. It'd be nice to live off of NFTs, but right now, it's just a dream.
Luckily, Pixels Online will incorporate a system to get help from your friends and split rewards.
Bear in mind that the game is still in pre-Alpha. The Alpha will be released to the public in the summer, with a token being developed to exchange goods in the Pixel Online universe. It will also serve as fuel to customize your land.
Big things are coming for this project. Although it is still being developed, it's incredible to see the support it's been receiving from fellow NFT communities.
It doesn't hurt to complete a couple of quests and get whitelisted!
As always, WAGMI 🚀.
*Sources:*
https://www.pixels.online/
https://twitter.com/pixels_online/status/1466889257696518150
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CyWJxHEz-E&t=438s
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
How to spot trending NFT collections
Let me take a wild guess: You've been trying to get into NFTs after seeing the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria, and other famous A-list celebs buying their very first digital item.
But you just don't know where to start. It seems too complicated, and it's like the NFT sphere is a world on its own.
I'm with you here. It took me a couple of months to wrap my head around NFTs and the utility they can offer. But now, I feel that I have a solid grasp of the industry, and I've been able to share my knowledge with newbies who were just like me months ago. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/my-definitive-strategy-for-flipping-nfts-on-opensea-c8f6dcef
I'm always experimenting with different strategies. My eyes are peeled to my two monitors all day long (yes, I know, it's unhealthy—don't worry, I still go outside 😂), and through trial and error, I've learned that some strategies are better for targeting early projects, while others can almost guarantee a 10x return on blue chips.
The strategy I will be introducing to you today is pretty straightforward. Like I always preach, it involves gauging organic engagement to find the project that will break through the notorious low floors that hit collections right after mint.
It may be easy, but it is **risky**. If the project doesn't break through the low floor, it probably won't succeed long term. Wen moon? Never 😔.
The concept
The concept is simple. Find trending projects using tools like icy.tools, OpenSea, Twitter, and Discord, and buy into the collections with potential for growth and an active, tight-knit community looking to shill the project on Twitter. https://icy.tools/
Search for trending
First, go on your Twitter, follow both of these accounts, and turn on notifications:
NFT Whale Alert https://twitter.com/nftwhalealert
NFT Society https://twitter.com/NFTrepreneur
NFT Whale Alerts tweets hourly high volume and top mints. In addition, NFT Society tweets the top 10 trending on OpenSea and top mints.
Keep your eyes peeled for their Tweets, as this is one of the gateways for entering into an in-demand collection. In this article, I'll be using Wunks as an example. I bought two when the floor price was Ξ0.07: https://twitter.com/wunksnft
I first found out about Wunks in this tweet:
When I saw that it surpassed projects like Coodles and Oxya Origin, I knew something had to be particular about this collection.
Then, I went on icy.tools, clicked **Trending**, and saw that it was top-of-the-page as well:
Of course, at the time of writing, it isn't #1 in trending anymore. But scroll down a bit and you'll still see Wunks there!
When I saw the project on icy.tools, I looked at the floor price, volume, and sales. All the numbers were still *too* low for a #1 trending project! I knew that If I checked their Twitter and Discord, they would still have a small community under 10k.
And would you look at that! I was right.
I peeped the Twitter and saw that @NFTLLama shilled the project. Whenever you see a big-time influencer putting their badge of approval on a trending collection, it will probably gather more attention from the larger NFT community. https://twitter.com/NFTLlama/status/1479635792104407045
The next step is to join the project's Discord. I joined when the Disc was sitting at 1k, but it's grown to double that amount now.
I know what you're thinking: *Only 2k in Discord? That's a low number*.
Yes, it is. But what intrigued me is how active the community is. I like to measure the organic engagement on Discord by checking how many messages are being sent per minute, how many people are typing at once, and how authentic the messages are.
And guess what? Wunks checks each and every one of these boxes
If you buy in early, remember...
There's a window right after minting in which those that minted two items from the collection tend to sell the most common one to de-risk their positions.
Alright, @wholelottajuju... What does this mean?
This means that once they sell their common or less rare NFT for 2x the mint price, it will cover the cost of the other, rarer NFT. Therefore, the rare NFT will experience pure profit, except if it dips below the mint price (this rarely happens though).
Got it?
Now, this window can range from a couple of hours for bigger, blue chips to a day or two for smaller projects. So sometimes, minters will list their common item below floor price, just to de-risk their position.
Hence, the floor price could stay low for a bit. But if the project has the organic engagement you're looking for, **do not worry**. Eventually, whales will come in and sweep the cheap floor.
While you're waiting for this to happen, be active in the community! Use your influence on Twitter. Show off your NFT under influencers' "Show me your less than Ξ1 NFTs" tweets. Retweet and leave genuine comments under the dev team's posts.
If you know that you landed the one, it's only a matter of time before the price will skyrocket.
Remember, it's a question of trial and error. You may misgauge the engagement from the project. It has happened to me. You may also buy into a project with an undoxxed team that could easily pull the rug from underneath you.
The NFT space is still risky. You will most likely lose money, so please, be cautious.
But if you stick with it and adjust your strategy to avoid the failures from before, you may just come out on top.
As always, WAGMI frens 🥂.
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
Crookz: Streetwear meets NFTs
It's no secret fashion has been a staple of pop culture ever since the dawn of the modern era. Brands like BAPE, Yeezy, and Anti Social Social Club have had their own respective time in the spotlight, garnering the loyalty of millions.
Enter the NFT market. We've seen trends like 8-bit pixelated PFP collections from Punks derivatives, colourful and playful PFPs like Doodles and Little Lemon Friends, and now, original 3D models as NFTs waiting to be integrated into the metaverse.
As a streetwear/fashion fan, you may be asking yourself: Where are all the fashion-related NFT collections? There's space for it in the market, so why hasn't it become popularized?
Well, we began to see the rise of fashion NFTs last year with partnerships between sportswear conglomerates and prominent NFT communities. Take Adidas' NFTs, for example. Adidas leveraged its established consumer base with BAYC's success to pioneer the mainstream adoption of NFTs. Nike's on the same wavelength. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/adidas-nft-drop-4e0f5b7e
You also have sophisticated grassroots projects like C-01 and Reincarnated as an NFT budding into the sphere to mark their place as leaders of the NFT fashion community. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/3-nft-projects-with-blue-chip-potential-f6f8c79f
Don't get me wrong, this is great. Power to the fashion community. But where is the love for streetwear? I want to see street culture in the NFT world from community-built projects, not from billionaire companies.
What is Crookz?
Unlike the competition mentioned above, I have yet to see this one blow up on Twitter. And it's got all the ingredients to become an icon in the community. What do I mean by this, you may ask?
Just scroll through their website and take a look for yourself. https://crookznft.io/
10,000 original 3D models with variation in its base models, jewelry, eyes, grills, drip, guns... you name it. All 1-1 NFTs with randomized traits.
I'm honestly in awe of the artwork. Some of these NFTs remind me of peak 6ix9ine with the rainbow grills, chains, and multi-coloured hair. Out with the darkness (I'm looking at you, Psychedelic Anonymous) and in with the expression of colour! https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/the-curious-case-of-the-psychedelics-anonymous-nft-03d43fb4
The story
So yeah, dope artwork. But as we all know by now, artwork doesn't cut it on its own. The project needs life. It needs a compelling story with the full support of a team that knows what they're doing.
And who would've thought? Crookz has all these elements in the bag.
The story behind the project goes something like this:
One day, Nixon (aka Trevor Farbo), a big shot at an entertainment marketing agency with affection for street and pop art, decided to finally stand firm against centralization and the corruption that accompanies it. https://twitter.com/trevorfarbo
He's always been an activist of decentralization. By using his artistic talents to create satirical/cultural pieces, he believes in acknowledging the failures of traditional systems while rolling in with the new.
His moniker literally comes from US President Nixon. It's a testament to the downfall of the US dollar, as in 1971, Nixon ended the convertibility of the US dollar to gold. Tremendous power was given to the Federal Reserve and thus, changed the tides of centralization as we see it today.
And, as Nixon famously stated prior to leaving office:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M
Crookz is a true "f*ck the system" movement. We needed something like this in the NFT world.
And, with the help of a Web3 specialist and a developer, Trevor hopes to build a strong community of like-minded individuals. Catch me in the Discord server trying to get WL'd.
The marketing
Trevor isn't a fool. On his profile, you can see he has a background in digital marketing and other applicable industries. An entrepreneur who has dipped their toes in the startup world knows that effective marketing is one of the components that can lead to the growth or eventual death of the project.
With Trevor's digital marketing experience, he knows there needs to be something more than organic Twitter engagement to win the hearts of NFTers.
Influencer partnerships, supply drops, VIP influencer boxes, and a focus on TikTok are all strategies that have been proven to work in the initial stages of a company. Nixon knows this and is working hard to execute all these tactics.
To get whitelisted, you need to provide value to the community. This means positive vibes in the chat, creating art to support the cause and retweeting giveaways. Discord server boosts are always welcomed.
The roadmap
The roadmap is categorized by "operations" carried out in the Crookz nation. I love this roadmap because currently, there's a focus on community-building and the artwork over everything.
Holders are called "citizens of the nation" and will benefit from airdrops, merch, and other tangible goodies.
Nixon is also forming a community-led voting system for the "Nixon Reserve Community Treasury." It might even be a DAO in the future, who knows.
With their Mint Map, whitelisted members and early adopters will benefit from rewards while the team allocates funds to the Community Treasury.
Over time, citizens of the nation will cast votes for electing representatives, details of the second roadmap, marketing expenditures for growth, metaverse integration, and so much more.
Oh, and I should also mention this:
Wen mint?
At the moment, the mint date is TBA. However, the devs recently announced that they're on track for a mid-January reveal. Just another week, and we're there!
Mint price will start at Ξ0.08, though it is subject to change depending on the cost of ETH.
I cannot wait for the reveal. This is an upcoming collection that could easily reach blue-chip status under proper management.
Let me know what you think of Crookz down below!
Peace ✌️
*Sources:*
https://crookznft.io/
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
Are we in an NFT bubble?
*Source:* https://dune.xyz/rantum/NFT-Collection-Dashboard
"How long can the NFT bull market last?"
"It'll be interesting to see what happens to NFTs during a bear market."
These are comments I get from my readers every so often whenever I talk about the NFTs. And they are genuine, preemptive questions. Investors want to be prepared whenever there's talk of an upcoming recession. They want to have that extra liquidity to buy the dip. Smart.
People are making thousands, if not millions, on digital items. But the industry hasn't even taken its first steps yet; The NFT market is still crawling like a toddler. It's tried to stand up and walk, but its legs just give out. What's the ordeal?
Although I'm an avid supporter of NFTs, I'm also a realist. NFTs don't *really* offer utility at the moment. Or, if they do, it's a primitive form of utility. It comes from companion NFTs, merch, meetups, free coins, etc. We'll call this **V1 utility** (a term coined by Giancarlo buys tokens). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj-XyEajyZI&t=227s
There's nothing wrong with V1 utility. It's just that it doesn't offer much in terms of human needs. It doesn't drastically amplify the human experience. We can already obtain V1 utility through other means.
I like talking about this theme through Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
*Source:* https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
When you generally think of a need, you think of it as a tool for survival.
But when I, and marketers, talk about needs, we're talking about social needs. We're talking about the need to fulfill one's true desires. We're talking about showing off our wealth to others.
And at the moment, owning an NFT fulfills the two middle categories on the pyramid. Belongingness comes from the NFT community. We say GM and GN to each other, and we applaud each other when we flip an NFT for 10x value. We're also there for each other when the floor drops to 0.
NFTs are also currently providing esteem needs. So you own a BAYC worth a whole lotta ETH? Put that sh*t on your profile. We love to see you succeed. You're showing us that you know what you're doing, or at least that you got lucky 😉.
But what is absent is our self-actualization needs in the NFT sphere. At the moment, we can't hop in a game and put on our Tronwars outfit. And even if we could do that, we haven't reached a point that the metaverse experience *actually* feels like a metaverse experience.
What I mean by this is that we have yet to reach a point where our virtual environments are interoperable. As a result, we, as users, cannot go dive into an open and seamless virtual universe with millions of other players. Instead, we are fragmented among different servers, and we only get to see a handful of the true daily active user (DAU) base.
So not only can you not show off your NFT skin among "metaverse" experiences like Decentraland and Sandbox, but you also can't traverse an open virtual space with thousands of environments with your NFT avatar.
V2 utility will push the human experience, but it won't be anything we've ever seen before. Yes, you'll be able to hop in Decentraland with your sick Psychedelic Anonymous NFT and talk to fellow community members. Don't get me wrong, that'll be a turning point in the NFT industry.
And yes, you'll be a part of NFT-project DAO's. We'll have a say in the future of our beloved NFT.
But V2 utility will not offer that new, never-seen-before utility that the NFT sphere promises.
Because of this question of utility and its crucial role in NFTs, I believe the NFT industry is propped up. What project creators, community members, and influencers *really* offer is hype. Hype about what's to come next. Hype about the V2 utility holders will get in the future.
So is the NFT market in a bubble?
Yes, I believe so.
Because of the lack of new-and-improved utility, it is in a bubble. Let's face it; most people are buying for the hype.
Don't get me wrong though. Some people are collectors and genuinely appreciate the art. They could care less about what utility the project offers.
But let's be real—most people are here for the money.
Also, we could be in a bubble because people have more disposable income to spend on NFTs. The NFT market https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/16/nfts-market-hits-22bn-as-craze-turns-digital-images-into-assets
"reached $22bn in 2021, compared with just $100m in 2020."
That's a parabolic amount of growth. Such a rapid increase in market size is unhealthy for the NFT industry, let alone any sector of the economy.
As you can also see from the chart at the very top, sales volume has followed through over the past year; albeit, aggregate volatility is present within the market. This shows that the market is not stable and is built on hype.
**Instability + rapid growth + no real utility = a recipe for disaster.**
OMG. I should sell!
I wouldn't recommend you do that. NFTs are here to stay since the potential utility is game-changing.
Just follow the steps you would be taking when you fear a market pullback is around the corner. For example, you wouldn't go balls deep in OTM $TSLA calls. Instead, you would keep some extra cash on you so you can buy the dip on your favourite stocks. They do say that the dip is a fire sale!
The same applies to NFTs. Don't pour your entire life savings into a flipped version of BAYC. Instead, look for blue-chip projects with A-list devs, S-tier artwork, and a comprehensive and developed roadmap. Even if the NFT market fell by half tomorrow, these projects will still succeed.
And if you're a short-term flipper like myself, look for the strongest of communities when researching NFT collections. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/my-definitive-strategy-for-flipping-nfts-on-opensea-c8f6dcef
The market always bounces. We've seen it in 2008, and more recently, with COVID-19. Sometimes it takes years. Other times, not even months.
Don't fret, friend. Be patient!
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
My definitive strategy for flipping NFTs on OpenSea
Picture this: A friend has been making hefty profits off of NFTs, becoming an early adopter of popular projects like BAYC and CryptoPunks. He also flips undervalued projects in the secondary market for 10x value. This stream of income has been more than enough for him to quit his 9-5 job.
You never believed in him though. How can it be possible to make a living off of NFTs? It just *doesn't make sense*. Can't you screenshot an NFT and sell it for money?
Your friend's always trying to get you into the world of NFTs. He keeps on saying things like "We're all gonna make it man" and "Bro, I gotta cope now after cashing out of PA."
He's also been oddly cheerful for the past year, texting you things like "GM" and "GN fren" as if he were a clingy ex. Can this guy stop with all the unnecessary jargon 😡.
You don't know what any of this means, but you have money to spare, $400 to be exact. So why not learn a bit about NFTs and try your luck.
Let me be that friend for you. Except, let me put out a quick disclaimer before getting into the nitty-gritty:
I got into NFTs in Q4 of last year. So no, I don't own any BAYC or CryptoPunks. But I actively flip collections without working my ass off to get whitelisted.
Instead, I wait until public sale, pick up low-floor projects with high community engagement, and ape into those.
Enough of the chit-chat. Let's get into the details.
Risks involved
Before we get started, you must understand the risks involved with NFTs. At the moment, the utility offered by most projects fall under the basics like merch, 2nd collections, staking, and other incentives to keep holders enticed.
Besides that, most utility comes from promises. For example, blue-chip projects predict they will integrate with metaverse platforms like Decentraland and Sandbox this year. But for now, it's just a vision.
If you invest in NFTs, you're buying into the hype. You're also becoming a member of a tight-knit, good vibes community.
Just know that there is a *massive* amount of volatility within the NFT market. Also, most projects fail or never reach their true potential.
So if you have disposable income to spare, go ahead, try your luck. Remember though: The chances of losing your initial capital are high. I've lost hundreds of dollars in NFTs. Big-shots have lost thousands.
Now that we got that out of the way, how do you find the right project?
Finding the right project
First, head over to OpenSea and connect your MetaMask wallet.
Once done, click on the **Stats** tab at the top-right and select **Rankings**.
You should see this screen.
Now, sort the ranking by **Owners**. Click once on Owners and it'll sort from highest to lowest!
Your goal here is to look for collections with an **owner-to-asset ratio** (**O/A ratio** for short) within the 2.8k+ range. I generally look for projects with an O/A ratio of around 28-35% (or 2.8k to 3.5k owners).
Why should you be looking for this, though?
Well, a popular measure of success for NFT creators is a 50%-or-over O/A ratio for their collection. This is a benchmark within the NFT sphere because the community:
Believes that the floor will continue to rise
Believes in the future of the project
Collects the project's NFTs because of the artwork
Actively creates user-generated content (UGC) on Twitter and Discord to further promote the project
Expands the network effect on a broad scale
So if you see a project in its infancy with increasing ownership, this is a sign that the project could increase in floor price over the next couple of days. But, again, definitely not a guarantee.
In a bit, we'll be taking a look at how to check for other signs of promising growth.
Floor price
Now it's time to look at the floor price and volume for the project, as this is where you seek undervalued projects within your price range.
I would recommend looking for projects under the **Ξ0.1 mark**. If you can find one for even less, great!
In this article, I will be using NounPunks.eth as an example. From the image here, you can see that:
Ownership is at 3.4k
Floor price is at Ξ0.08
Volume is under the 1k mark
Looks promising!
Volume
Another key indicator to measure a project's potential is **volume**. If the collection is in OpenSea's top rankings with either no drop or a steady climb in volume, then the project is still in its early phases and has healthy market growth. Exactly what you want to see!
To see the historical volume of a specific NFT collection, head over to their OpenSea and click **Activity**.
In this case, NounPunks.eth hasn't seen any action until right after the New Year. Weird. Let's take a look at the other stats to compare.
It seems like there has been some sort of hype building up with this project, right? A 1,337,527% increase in volume over the past week? Well, that's because there was no significant volume before. Don't get mesmerized by the numbers.
I live by this golden rule: **When it's too good to be true, don't FOMO in.**
To further support my argument, it's time to research the project's socials and website.
Twitter
The first stop in my social media research strategy—Twitter is where the larger NFT community resides. It's where community members, new and old, find upcoming projects from shill threads, giveaways, UGC, and retweets.
You can head over to the project's linked website to get a grasp on the direction of the NFTs. You can also join their Twitter Spaces to learn more about the creator of the project and the team behind the development (also called **the devs**).
This is on a good day though. Most of the time, you'll get a high follower count in the thousands with only a couple of comments under a regular tweet. Ignore giveaway tweets as they always get high engagement.
Or you'll find pages with inorganic growth; Instead of authentic comments under each post, you'll have people commenting "LFG" and "👀👀👀."
These two situations occur because a large portion of creators purchase follower bots and/or commenting bots to give the illusion that their collection is hyped up.
Be *extremely* cautious of these pages, as you can get rugged (aka scammed) with no hesitation.
*In summary:*
Look at their follower count.
Check the amount and authenticity of the community's comments under each regular tweet.
Scan all the dev's posts to see how involved they are in the project.
See what the community is saying through hashtags and general sentiment.
Discord
Phase 2 of NFT social media research. Discord servers are where the project's fans, holders, potential buyers, and supporters chill and chat. It's the heart of the NFT collection. As a result, it tends to be larger than the artwork's Twitter page.
Discord has a polished UI which allows for easier and quicker knowledge-gathering. For example, you can look at the project's roadmap, number of WL (whitelisted) members, announcements, and much more.
I would recommend you first head into the general chat and see how many messages are being sent per minute. Just like with Twitter, you also want to render out inauthentic/botty chatter.
Look at how the community interacts. Are they supportive of one another? Do they share a common language amongst each other?
For example, in the Alien Frens server, members refer to themselves as "frens" and treat each other with the utmost respect. The server lives by the "good vibes only" motto. No bad vibes are tolerated.
The website
There should be a link to the project's website on their Twitter page. Once you access the webpage, prioritize reading about the team and the roadmap.
I've noticed that projects with known team members in the NFT sphere tend to get propped up in the market. Popular influencers often leverage their following to help create their own project.
Also, team members with years of experience in relevant fields like startups, design, or digital marketing, to name a few, and without hiding behind a metaverse identity, often decrease the chances of rug pulls and project failure as their reputation is on the line.
When analyzing the project's roadmap, ask yourself: What are the devs' plans for the collection? Is it comprehensive, or is it half-assed? Do they have a list of partners they would like to collaborate with? Are they standing behind a good cause?
These are all questions you should be asking yourself when reading the roadmap.
Another golden @wholelottajuju rule: **The more comprehensive the roadmap, the lower the chance of failure.**
A stellar example of a well-built roadmap is Psychedelic Anonymous: https://psychedelicsanonymous.com/roadmap
One more thing, how is the website designed? Does it have an identity, and more so, is it robust? Single-page websites with minimal amounts of information could be a rug pull!
When conducting social media research, stick to your gut feeling. If it sounds too good to be true and if the project has a short-term roadmap, **DO NOT INVEST!** You could lose all your money.
So @wholelottajuju, I found a project that ticks all of the checkboxes for organic social media growth with a strong community, gorgeous website, and a sophisticated, long-term roadmap. So how do I buy into the project?
Finding a steal
Let's say theoretically, NounPunks.eth is a strong buy. Mind you, I did not research this collection at all... stay with me here.
You could simply buy a floor-priced NFT in the collection and hold onto it until you see growth.
Opting for this method has its pros and cons. For one, if the floor price rises, so will the value of your NFT. Also, you're not throwing more liquidity into the collection like if you were to purchase a rare NFT for a higher price. This reduces your financial position and de-risks your entire NFT portfolio.
On the other hand, purchasing a rare NFT is high risk/high reward. If the floor pushes up, you could see the value of your NFT exponentially rising as enthusiasts only want the rarest of the collection. But, rare NFTs come at a higher price tag.
Why not just take the best of both worlds to avoid any of these cons? That's right, purchase an NFT at a steal!
There are a couple of methods you can use to find a steal for a rare NFT item:
You could use tools like raritysniper or rarity.tools to scan for items with rare traits and a high rarity rank within your price range. https://raritysniper.com/ https://rarity.tools/
Here, I sorted by highest to lowest rank and scanned all buy offers until I reached my price range.
You could also go onto OpenSea, select a couple of rare traits, and look for buy offers within your price range.
The latter is the strategy I use whenever I have the time since it gives you the best bang for your buck. However, if you find that selecting 2+ rare traits filters only one or two items in the entire collection, stick to just one rare trait.
Then all you have to do is carry on with your web browsing, blogging, tweeting... whatever you do on the Internet at night. Every minute or so, go back to the OpenSea tab and CTRL+R or hit refresh.
In a couple of hours, you're bound to find an item at floor price with the rare trait you selected. Fortunately, some individuals don't know the value of rarities and are often content with flipping the item off of floor price.
My preference for this strategy is Buy Now auctions as English auctions can take forever.
The end
And that's it! Hopefully, you're able to land your first big win flipping an NFT off of public sale.
For my last golden rule, I'll stick to an Argentine saying: "**Más vale pájaro en mano que cien volando"**, which translates to: **"One bird in hand is worth more than one hundred flying"**
What does this mean? **Take profits. Don't be greedy.**
Yes, it sucks to see an NFT you bought at Ξ0.08 and sold at Ξ0.6 shoot up to Ξ1.5 days after you auctioned off the item. But you made a profit. So be proud of yourself; that's all the matters. It's all about the baby steps.
Good luck in your endeavours!
*Sources:*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF5yw4qJPGg&t=358s
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
The Ultimate Guide For Purchasing smartBCH NFTs
Howdy! In the past couple of days, I've observed an increase in NFT discourse among the read.cash community. Frankly, with the NFT market booming throughout 2021 and snowballing into the New Year, it's to be expected.
One thing that most NFT bros don't talk about is the steep entry barrier for those trying to mint or purchase their first item on Ethereum's Mainnet. Gas fees are notoriously high, and the surrounding hype has made the network even more congested over the holidays.
Thankfully, there are other networks with Web3 capabilities. Today I'll be showing you how to leverage your earnings from read/noise.cash to purchase your very first NFT on the smartBCH network via oasis.cash, the network's most prominent NFT marketplace. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/smartbch-oasiscash-nfts-498afae2
Let's get it 😎.
First off, I wanted to give a huge shoutout to @Jumper-01 for explaining his very first experience purchasing a smartBCH NFT in an easy-to-follow format. https://read.cash/@Jumper-01/smartbch-episode-my-first-smartbch-nft-a21f0087
His article inspired me to mint my first smartBCH NFT: Cattos NFT. https://www.cattos.cash/
Before we get into how I purchased the NFT, I will be providing the resources for swapping BCH to SEP20, the token for smartBCH's sidechain.
Step 0: The setup
Here is the general overview of what you will need to set up before exploring the oasis.cash NFT marketplace:
A MetaMask wallet to hold your SEP20 tokens.
Another external wallet where you hold your BCH from your read/noise.cash earnings. I use the Coinbase wallet.
SmartBCH network added to your MetaMask wallet
MetaMask wallet connected to CoinFlex
I'll be going over everything except setting up your MetaMask wallet since there are already thousands of articles on the web explaining how to do this.
Step 1: Add smartBCH network to MetaMask wallet
Begin by opening your MetaMask on your browser. You should see something like this:
Now, click "Ethereum Mainnet" at the top of the page, and you'll see a popup. Ignore the other networks I've added on there. You will not see smartBCH as of yet.
Click "Add Network" at the bottom. You will be directed to this page:
From here, plug-in this info into each of its respective info boxes:
**Network Name** --> smartBCH
**ChainID** --> 0x2710
**Block Explorer URL** --> https://www.smartscan.cash/
**New RPC URL** --> https://smartbch.greyh.at
**Currency Symbol** --> BCH
And you're done! Once you go back into your MetaMask wallet, you will be able to switch between the Ethereum Mainnet and smartBCH! Just remember to switch back to Ethereum Mainnet when using OpenSea or any other Ethereum Dapp or DEX.
Step 2: Swap BCH to SEP20
You need to swap BCH to SEP20 tokens to use Dapps, DEXs, and DeFi on the smartBCH network. Without SEP20, you will not be able to purchase NFTs.
Now you may be wondering what the difference is between SEP20 and BCH. It is particularly confusing because when you're done swapping BCH to SEP20, it will still appear as BCH in your MetaMask wallet.
This is because they are essentially the same thing, except one is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (SEP20) and referred to as a token, while the other is just the regular BCH coin run on the hard-forked BCH payment network.
So how do I swap?
It's not a complicated process. You first need to connect your MetaMask wallet to a "bridge." Several bridges out there will allow you to fulfill this step, but the one I chose was CoinFlex because of this guide. https://www.publish0x.com/the-cryptochain/how-to-convert-bch-into-smartbch-xjodzvl
I won't bother going into the details of swapping BCH to SEP20, as the hyperlink listed above explains the process in a simple step-by-step guide. Please follow this article to a tee as it will be the only way you will be able to mint/purchase NFTs on the smartBCH network.
Step 3: Exploring smartBCH NFTs!
Okay, now you finally have BCH in your MetaMask wallet on the smartBCH network. Congrats! It should look something like this:
Hopefully, you don't have the tiny amount of BCH as I do. I spent it all Cattos NFT, so I guess you could say it was a guilty pleasure 🤷.
Now we've reached the fun part: Connecting your MetaMask wallet to oasis.cash and exploring which collection you would like to partake! https://oasis.cash/
Connecting your wallet is the same process as any other website. All you have to do is click the "Connect" button on the right side of the screen. Make sure your wallet is set on the smartBCH network!
Once you're good to go, you should see this on your screen:
And voila! Now it's time to explore all the collections listed on the oasis.cash NFT marketplace.
To do this, simply hit "Explore" on the main page:
You should see all the collections including LAW Punks, CryptoR.AT, CashCats, DAIQUI.DUDES and so on.
Which collection should I support?
In my opinion, the entire smartBCH NFT market will grow as a whole over 2022. Therefore, buying into any of these collections could reap the profits you seek.
But this doesn't mean you should randomly pick one and ape in. Instead, commit to your due diligence (DD) as you would with any other NFT project.
I found that Cattos NFT has a growing Telegram community with hundreds of mints occurring each and every day.
A reminder: smartBCH NFT projects won't nearly have the same amount of hype or community following as Ethereum NFT projects. SmartBCH is still a relatively new network without the backing of millions of active users.
Therefore, I would highly recommend you look into the creators of each NFT project listed on oasis.cash. For example, the creator of Cattos NFT (called "Rugg" on Telegram) has frequently participated in the chat and has been transparent about the direction of the project.
If you would like to mint your first Cattos NFT, click here. https://www.cattos.cash/
Final remarks
And that's a wrap!
Remember to tell all your friends about smartBCH if you want to see the network grow to the likes of Ethereum! Also, continue to use the various Dapps and DEXs to expand smartBCH's network effect.
Without your continued support, we may never see smartBCH come to fruition.
*Sources:*
https://read.cash/@Jumper-01/smartbch-episode-my-first-smartbch-nft-a21f0087
https://www.publish0x.com/the-cryptochain/how-to-convert-bch-into-smartbch-xjodzvl
https://read.cash/@Pantera/smartbch-for-beginners-start-here-9f7ec63e
https://docs.smartbch.org/smartbch/smartbch-evolution-proposals-seps/sep-20#1--summary
Wulfz: My Favourite Pixelated NFT Collection
What a crazy world we live in.
I never would have thought I would be buying tokenized JPEGs for hundreds of dollars, intending to flip them for 10x value.
Take a look at my Wulfz #2080, repping a bold colour 'cause he just doesn't care. Let's see if my Wulfz over here does me wonders like Alien Frens has done for me in the past week.
So why did I ape into Wulfz NFTs? What unique value proposition does the NFT offer in comparison to others? Or is it purely based on the art?
As always, let's get straight into the details of this project and why I think the floor will escalate over the next couple of weeks.
The artwork
Wulfz is a collection of 5,555 badass pixelated NFTs with traits inspired by pop culture, anime, movies, and television.
Wulfz is one of the only pixelated NFT projects I genuinely care about. Unfortunately, projects like CryptoPunks are just outdated and simply remain on top of the NFT industry because of its first-mover advantage.
That is just my opinion though. To each their own.
The NFT collection comes with different rarities. For example, 10 items are considered *Legendary* Wulfz as they're animated and have one-of-a-kind traits. Move down a tier and you have *Hero* Wulfz, static 1/1 NFTs that are top contenders for your PFPs.
There are over 150 traits in the collection. My Wulfz has a rarity rank of 880, mainly because of the two bunnies sitting on top of his head, the staff he's wielding, and his pink fur. https://raritysniper.com/wulfz/2080
The roadmap
The team is taking it slow with the roadmap, which is something I like to see. Currently, there are four phases, and we have yet to reach phase 1.
Phase 1
The first phase involves staking your Wulfz NFT for $AWOO, a non-monetary utility token for the game mechanics of the Wulfz ecosystem. This means that you cannot swap $AWOO for other currencies.
When staked, Each Wulfz generates 10 $AWOO per day. Once the 600 $AWOO benchmark is reached, you will be able to redeem a Pupz.
All of the staking will occur on the simple-to-use Wulfz Hub dashboard. Take a look at it here:
Phase 2
There will be a total of 10,000 Pupz in the collection, all unique to one another with over 300 traits. The Wulfz Hub will allow you to access the Daycare, a place where your Pupz will reside.
The team also plans to add more features to the Wulfz Hub in the future, but for now, they're keeping it simple. Quality over quantity.
Phase 3
This phase is the last in the first rendition of the roadmap.
It will be similar to projects like MAYC in some aspects, as if you have a Full Moon reservation token (which is limited to *only* 100 supply) and 1,500 $AWOO, you will have the opportunity to burn your Wulfz into an Alpha Wulfz.
The Alpha Wulfz will be animated, and will come with special utility that is TBA shortly. I bet this collection will go for a pretty penny.
2nd roadmap
The team is in the process of creating a Wulfz Game, integrating the Wulfz ecosystem with the metaverse, developing merch, and turning the staking feature into a community voting system for future decisions.
I applaud the team's desire to establish an ecosystem with no monetary value, as it shows they care about the actual artwork more than anything. However, even if you FOMO'd in for the prospects of 10x gains, you may be rewarded by staking your Wulfz and waiting to flip the upcoming Pupz and Alpha Wulfz collection.
The fact that there's an incentive to both NFT collectionists and community members who flip NFTs a full-time job is a win in my books.
The team
*Source:* https://wulfznft.com/
Consisting of members with years of experience in UI, start-ups, blockchain and full-stack development, the team is well-rounded and active in the community.
From my time in the Wulfz Discord channel, they have been transparent and cooperative with their deadlines. For example, the staking feature may not even release on the 7th of January, as they want to make sure it is perfect before releasing the next step of the Wulfz ecosystem.
Community engagement
As always, NFT due diligence requires a peek at the project's Twitter and Discord channel.
Wulfz has built a substantial following of **41.8k** followers on Twitter and **35.6k** members in their Discord channel.
Although engagement isn't as hectic as blue-chip projects like C-01 or Oxya Origin, the Discord server has an active fanbase with dozens of messages every minute and positive vibes in the chat. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/3-nft-projects-with-blue-chip-potential-f6f8c79f
To be fair though, slow mode is constantly enabled. Meaningful chatter is a priority for the moderators of the channel. Again, this speaks volumes about the direction of this project.
Also, big names like @PunkieEth and Snoop's team whitelisted and/or swept the floor to help with the Wulfz cause. https://twitter.com/PunkieEth/status/1477915446682791937/photo/1
At the time of writing, floor price is at Ξ0.26 with the mint set as Ξ0.08. That's already an increase of 3x! Let's hope it reaches Ξ1.00 this year.
WAGMI frens 🚀.
*Sources:*
https://mobile.twitter.com/xdoubleq/status/1472752922178080770
https://www.niftyprice.io/collections/wulfz-official
https://wulfznft.com/
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
3 NFT Projects With Blue Chip Potential
I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing New Year surrounded by loved ones! I sure did, especially after seeing the rise in NFT sales volume over the turn of the year.
*Source:* https://dune.xyz/rantum/NFT-Sales-Overview-by-Project
Clearly, the NFT market is still on a roll. Projects like C-01 and Mutant Shiba Club have racked thousands of follows just from a single tweet. And it's not just bots; it's full of organic engagement among the lively NFT community.
I will say one thing, though; Some projects have been piggy-backing off of the success of others like CryptoPunks and BAYC/MAYC.
It's even got to the point that some projects literally flip the image vertically, put it on the market, and call it a day. Please be wary of these collections as there's no originality within the project. You say it's an easy flip? I say it could be a rug pull. Once that ETH is gone, there's no getting it back.
On a lighter note, there has been an accumulation of NFT collections promising big things in 2022. These projects have managed to build a strong community within the tens of thousands while also giving its fans high-quality sneak peeks and extensive roadmaps.
The projects I will be talking about today with the potential to become blue chips in 2022 are: C-01, Oxya Origin, and Alien Frens
Let's get into the key points that make these NFT projects so special.
C-01
In just a period of two days, C-01 has managed to gather over 18.9k followers on Twitter and **165k** members on Discord. And mind you, I have only seen a couple of bots in the comments.
At this point, any 3D NFT with an intricate amount of detail, especially with close-ups of the NFT's textures, is almost guaranteed to receive a wave of support during its pre-release.
Members in the Discord server are trying their best to reach level 7 and invite as many friends as possible to boost the NFT's impact and earn a spot on the WL.
I've been doing the same, spending countless hours chatting with fellow members at the end of the night to earn my spot. I believe this project has a bright future ahead of itself, as the team is working hard to merge the worlds of fashion and NFTs.
I can't see how this project would fail by getting members to contribute to the community through meaningful acts like chatting, creating fan art, and inviting others. At the end of the day, it's all free user-generated content that further promotes C-01.
**If you would like to learn more about the project or participate in the community...**
➡️ *Join the Discord server* http://discord.gg/c-01
✅ *Use my code:* **QexxLtBFf7**
Alien Frens
Alien Frens blew up around Christmas time, and it is now experiencing a resurgence in floor price. I originally bought in at 0.07 ETH and sold recently at 0.6. I bet I could've sold for much more, but it's best to be safe and take profit, especially when creating a base NFT fund to invest in artwork you genuinely care about. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/alien-frens-a-fun-take-on-the-nft-universe-e899654e
Alien Frens has two beneficial effects going for it: A baffling amount of community engagement, with a unified entity, and doxxed influencers supporting the project day-in and day-out.
Just go into their Discord. You'll see what I'm saying. The NFT community is already positive and forward-thinking, but Alien Frens is on a whole 'nother level: Constant engagement, bubbly messages supporting one another, and the #frenfollowfren trend on Twitter speak volumes.
Plus, you got the biggest names in the sphere like Gary Vee tweeting about the project and holding onto their respective portion of the collection.
Quite honestly, I believe the collection will surpass 1 ETH. It's been in the top 30 OpenSea rankings for too long with more exciting news coming in 2022. Keep an eye on this one.
Oxya Origin
Oxya Origin is just like C-01 when it boils down to 3D NFT hype, with the exception of its robust roadmap, S-tier team, interesting lore, and hands-down the best website in the NFT industry.
Not saying C-01 is inferior to this project. It's just that Oxya Origin is almost at mint, while C-01 just launched it's Twitter a couple of days.
Also, Oxya Origin is honed in on the P2E NFT gaming space, whereas C-01 wants to land virtual fashion shows with designer brands like LV. They have two completely different objectives.
Their Discord server already has **215k** Oxyans! Pretty crazy if you ask me. General chat constantly pops off with messages, a tell-tale sign of high community engagement.
You can peep their roadmap here:
If I had to put all my eggs in one basket, it would be with Oxya. The sheer utility that will come within 2022 is too good to pass on.
One last thing (and probably one of the biggest takeaways from this project): The **thirty-person** team is fully doxxed with years of experience in gaming, development, design, and marketing fields.
They've worked for market leaders like Ubisoft, Marvel, Netflix, Disney, Blizzard, and so forth.
The artwork is something else too. Take a look at it here:
2022 will be a big year for the NFTverse. Mark my words 😏.
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
SmartBCH, Oasis.cash & NFTs
Recently, there's been an influx of criticism towards OpenSea's NFT marketplace—Scandals, no responses from support tickets, glitches and bugs... you name it. OpenSea hasn't treated the NFT community with the respect it deserves.
Ethereum is on the same boat, though there's hope for the network as it is currently going through an overhaul. With the Beacon Chain running parallel to Ethereum's Mainnet for the past couple of months; I, along with the other active users, hope to see long-awaited improvements to the network's capabilities.
More specifically, we hope to see a reduction in gas fees and transaction times on the network. The NFT community has grown substantially during the holiday season, and network fees have been at an all-time high.
I've already discussed what other solutions are being presented to counter Ethereum's systemic issue. For example, Solana is a great choice for minting NFTs, and some artists are opting to release their collections on platforms like Solanart to avoid paying for the ludicrous ETH gas fees. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/solana-vs-ethereum-in-the-nft-space-who-wins-7b28403b
What about Bitcoin Cash though? Are developers creating projects in the NFT world through SmartBCH?
OASIS
Enter Oasis, a fully decentralized NFT Marketplace run on Bitcoin Cash's promising sidechain: SmartBCH.
You could think of Oasis as a DApp on the SmartBCH blockchain. The DApp is connected directly to a decentralized exchange (called the OasisDEX) smart contract where all transactions occur.
The OasisDEX protocol allows users to buy and sell NFTs from other users on-chain. How neat! https://oasisdex.com/faq
OASIS comes with three functions: A marketplace, wallet, and explorer.
Marketplace
The marketplace is just like OpenSea. Users can sell their NFTs via three types of auctions: Dutch auction, English auction and a fixed price.
The Dutch auction has a higher start price and lower end price. As time goes by, the price decreases linearly according to the difference between the start and end price.
The English auction is well known in North America, as it has been used in countless other platforms like eBay. It contains a start price, and potential buyers can place staggering bids to purchase the NFT. The highest bidder wins.
Fixed price is pretty self-explanatory. Set a price, and if someone buys it before the auction expires, you will sell it at the enlisted price.
*Auction time* is based on block numbers. The platform will guesstimate the time and date the block number is met in the future.
Explorer
OASIS is compatible with a range of tokens like ERC-721. You can take a look at the explorer here. Currently, there's only a couple of NFT collections listed, but I bet as time goes on, OASIS will be able to find its niche in the NFT world. https://oasis.cash/collections
Wallet
OASIS carries its own built-in wallet, unlike MetaMask's integration with OpenSea's platform. As a result, users can pretty much do anything with the wallet, from verifying collections to listing NFTs on the marketplace.
Although OASIS is still in its early stages, I see potential in the project. Once they begin to promote the platform on popular NFT communities like Twitter and Discord, and in Bitcoin Cash communities like read.cash and noise.cash, we could experience tremendous growth in the platform.
Why SmartBCH?
SmartBCH is a Bitcoin Cash sidechain enabling compatibility with EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) and Web3. In summary, it's creating a bridge between Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum.
When initially developing the blockchain, the founders believed that SmartBCH shouldn't try to rebuild an entire decentralized ecosystem to achieve its goal.
Instead, by building the SmartBCH blockchain using Ethereum's coding language, Solidity, developers can take advantage of Ethereum's vast network effect.
Therefore, SmartBCH's developers believe in the *compatibility* between their beloved sidechain and Ethereum. Ethereum developers will have the capacity to quickly transfer files onto the SmartBCH network without needing to recode everything due to a lapse in coding languages.
The founders also believe that SmartBCH will
provide the same benefits of ETH2.0 in... much shorter time.
Unlike Ethereum's expensive network, BCH already has low fees and near-instantaneous transaction speeds thanks to the network's shorter block intervals.
Furthermore, at the end of SmartBCH epochs' (a method to prove ownership and vote for the validators of 2,016 blocks), which typically take two weeks, 50% of gas fees will be rewarded to validators while the other 50% will be burned.
In essence, BCH will become even more of a deflationary currency. Power to BCH holders!
As SmartBCH tests the foundation of its current libraries, the network's developers continue to enrich the sidechain's capabilities. For example, they plan to introduce a multi-shard chain in the future. This means we could see layer 2 solutions built upon SmartBCH's network ontop of Defi, Dapps, and NFTs.
My thoughts
I can't wait for 2022. Both OASIS and SmartBCH took baby steps to ensure they succeed in a crowded market. However, OASIS has to further promote its platform, as it only has a mere 500 followers on Twitter. https://twitter.com/OasisCash
In contrast, supporters of the SmartBCH sidechain must show the crypto world how developers could benefit from moving onto the SmartBCH network.
To my readers, please continue to promote Bitcoin Cash. We need all the eyes we can get on our dearest network.
I hope everyone has a happy New Year!
*Sources:*
https://leofinance.io/@pantera1/smartbch-what-is-this-about-and-why-we-should-care
https://assets.smartbch.org/whitepaper/SmartBCH_Whitepaper-en.pdf
https://read.cash/@OASIS/introducing-oasis-a-fully-decentralized-nft-exchange-on-smartbch-b9513c71
https://read.cash/@BCHouseVE/smartbch-english-aa578ba4
https://smartbch.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moYqXW9cbPg&list=WL&index=1&t=263s
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
Gas DAO: The New $SOS?
The recent surge in DAOs seeking to improve the crypto sphere has not been an unprecedented event. $SOS was one of the most recent to unleash a DAO with the mission to give NFTers a voice in the direction of the industry. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/opendao-and-sos-token-why-twitter-is-going-crazy-over-this-project-53df513b
The newest of the bunch is Gas DAO, a unified organization with a mission to become the voice of Ethereum's users. Over the past couple of days, ΞGAS has erupted on Twitter, with some individuals FOMOing in while others remain skeptical.
So the question is: Is ΞGAS legitimate? And if so, what are the benefits of owning ΞGAS?
Let's get straight into it the details.
What is Gas DAO?
As I said, Gas DAO aims to form a decentralized union of the network's most active users. It strives to become the largest community in the crypto sphere, with future plans to become more than just a cog in the Ethereum machine.
So how will they accomplish this?
First comes building power through funding. And as we've seen in the past couple of months, airdrops are a beloved marketing tactic that benefits both the organization and its potential investors. Who doesn't like free money?
On December 27th, Gas DAO launched its ΞGAS token to help recover some of the network expenses of Ethereum's users. Unfortunately, gas prices have been ridiculously high in the past week, with prices reaching up to 150 Gwei.
There's no doubt that the Ethereum network is congested. While developers work towards Ethereum2.0, gas prices will remain high. Fortunately, if you've spent more than $1,559 on gas, you can claim your free ΞGAS airdrop!
And it seems like their strategy has been partially successful, with over 65,000 addresses claiming the airdrop and 40,000 unique investors holding the token.
*Source:* https://dune.xyz/0xroll/GasDao
The thing is, we have to take a deeper look into the allocation of the total supply to get a better understanding of the DAO's underlying goals.
*Source:* https://mirror.xyz/gasdao.eth/AwZGIpiVuIOkcwUaKqn4ZdcI4MetmYmvVdnuZsNZlaQ
As you can see in the above pie chart, there are 1 trillion ΞGAS tokens, with *only* 550 billion in airdrop supply and a circulating supply (total claimed from the airdrop) of 150 billion. That means that approximately **27%** of the airdrop has been claimed. https://dune.xyz/0xroll/GasDao
In comparison, $SOS now has 80% of its total airdropped supply claimed. At this rate, ΞGAS won't ever reach the magnitude of OpenDAO's presence in the NFT community.
The roadmap
I believe the lack of trust from the community is significantly dependent on Gas DAO's late roadmap. I mean, it could've just been a rug pull up until this moment, right? No one wants to be left holding the bag.
Luckily, Gas DAO's contributors have finally released a roadmap; It's polished, forward-thinking, and most importantly, long-term.
Let's first begin by exploring token allocation.
55% airdropped from the total supply is pretty decent. $SOS only had 50% of its supply airdropped.
30% of the 1 trillion ΞGAS tokens will be going towards the DAO treasury. Again, this is something that could be good or bad depending on the goals of the treasury. For example, $SOS has a comprehensive list of uses for its 20% allocation of the total supply to the treasury.
Not only will the OpenDAO's treasury compensate victims of NFT scams, but most importantly, it will provide funding for emerging artists in the NFT sphere, NFT communities, and developers in the $SOS ecosystem. That's more than fair!
On the other hand, Gas DAO doesn't even remotely have a goal with its 30% token allocation to its treasury. So what is the DAO going to do with this money?
Next up, we have one of the most controversial allocations in their roadmap. 15% of the total supply is reserved for 25 core contributors. Take a look at what @0xQuit— an influencer in the NFT world—had to say about this issue: https://twitter.com/0xQuit/status/1476097151994187777
Add on the little effort put into the original development code, and you have one of the most effortless rug pulls in crypto history. https://twitter.com/0xQuit/status/1476097151994187777
Ok, so the allocation of funding isn't very appealing to be completely honest with you. Thankfully, the core contributors have changed the initial allocation, thus favouring the community and avoiding a dump in the millions. Thank goodness!
But, we haven't even looked at the actual roadmap.
I would recommend reading through the organization's mission whenever you have the time. If you don't though, here's a quick run-down: https://mirror.xyz/gasdao.eth/oK-twc7QGL1Vi5kMiiGNCYzH3ZsqkLZsMd_FUFxJqc4
Gas DAO wants to become the first DAO to propose to the Ethereum Foundation that Gas DAO snapshot votes become a part of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP)
EIPs provide improvements for the Ethereum platform. It's an integral feature in Ethereum's future
Want to offer developer grants for Ethereum's gas optimization
Will provide financial incentives to developers to research ways of reducing gas fees
In the future, they would like to release 10,000 unique ΞGAS NFTs, with a token amount set to be burnt
Contributor allocation will be reduced to 12% of the total supply by burning the immediate claimable amount. Therefore, core contributors will only be able to sell their ΞGAS tokens received in the six-month period
Staking will be integrated into the ΞGAS ecosystem
My final thoughts
So what should you do with all this information?
I may avoid investing in the ΞGAS ecosystem until their initial EIP proposal goes through. Without a say in future EIP proposals, the DAO will never take off. Its core mission is to become an essential aspect in Ethereum's decision-making.
Also, with the core contributor allocation, the team has listened to the community, put it to a vote, and reduced their allocation based on feedback. It seems like they're listening to their investors.
But again, I think it's still too early to decide if this will triumph or not. This goes with most DAOs emerging in the past two weeks. For example, BlockbusterDAO hasn't even bought Blockbuster, the main ingredient in the DAO's mission 😂. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/is-blockbuster-making-a-comeback-40d9c745https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/is-blockbuster-making-a-comeback-40d9c745
*Sources:*
https://twitter.com/0xGasDAO/status/1476654045808971778
https://twitter.com/0xQuit/status/1476097136982839297
https://mirror.xyz/gasdao.eth
https://www.gasdao.org/
https://dune.xyz/0xroll/OpenDAO
https://dune.xyz/0xroll/GasDao
https://www.theopendao.com/
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
What is the Proof-of-Stake Consensus Mechanism?
With the year coming to an end, a period of self-reflection is upon us. Some of us are looking at the goals we've achieved or failed during this year, while others are analyzing deeper issues like global instability and the volatility of financial markets in 2021.
What we can all agree though, is that crypto has continued on its trajectory to reach mass adoption. I mean, we've witnessed headlines straight out of a simulation: "The President of El Salvador Buys the Dip... Again!" or "Elon Musk Tweets About DogeCoin for the 6th Time".
Welcome to the new normal.
Q4 2021 was especially hectic with the rise of the metaverse. You have blue chips like Facebook rebranding to Meta to mark their entry into this vastly unexplored world. You also have big names like Adidas and Nike releasing NFT drops to streetwear and sportswear fans.
What a crazy time to be alive.
Aside from all the small bits of crypto and metaverse news, one of the most discussed topics was Tesla's purchase of Bitcoin as a store of value, investment, and transaction method.
In February of 2021, Elon bought $1.5 million worth of Bitcoin on Tesla's balance sheet. This marked another stunt in the automaker's long list of disruptive moves.
And it was primarily based on a decision to invest a portion of Tesla's cash in alternative reserve assets. The problem with the decision was the flak Elon Musk received for choosing BTC as a holding asset.
As you can see here, the problem with BTC and other networks that run on a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism is two-fold. For one, specialized hardware is required to perform crypto mining.
The more power an individual, organization, or mining pool has in terms of hardware capability, the more rewards they will reap. The more they mine, the more control they have over the price of the PoW network.
PoW is too centralized for Satoshi's original whitepaper. The whole point of blockchain technology is to eliminate centralization and create a world run on equal opportunity.
This isn't saying that PoW cannot be a solution to centralization. It's just that at the moment, PoW is inferior to other consensus mechanisms when it comes to scalability.
The other problem with the PoW consensus mechanism it's inefficient energy consumption, as seen here: https://cointelegraph.com/news/green-bitcoin-the-impact-and-importance-of-energy-use-for-pow
According to data released in 2019 by the scientific journal Joule, Bitcoin's carbon footprint is between 22 and 22.9 metric tons of CO2... comparable to Jordan or Sri Lanka's emission rates. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435119302557
With climate change being a striking issue, especially this year with the harsher wildfires, extreme heat, droughts, floodings, and an unprecedented amount of snowfall, we cannot build a decentralized world with energy-inefficient cryptos.
So how can this be solved?
What is Proof-of-Stake (PoS)?
Queue PoS, a consensus mechanism that aims to solve the key issues of PoW. Instead of relying on a competitive validation method that requires powerful hardware to run mathematical operations, PoS uses randomly selected validators to validate new transactions and create new blocks.
It accomplishes this by requiring investors to lock up their coins within the network. You can think of it as if the network were a bank and you are the individual putting money into your savings account.
The bank needs to use your lent money to run its operations. It pays out loans to other entities, provides funding, and it does a whole host of other things with your money.
Since you choose to store your money with your favourite bank, the bank will pay you interest for your troubles. It's a win-win. The bank can operate, and you earn passive income.
So, why stake?
Quite simply, staking, or the strategy of *yield farming*, provides passive income to crypto-investors. This allows investors to create a safety net during a bear market and snowball their investments to reach parabolic gains.
Here is a list of the other benefits and pros staking provides:
You don't need a significant initial investment, unlike crypto mining
You Don't need specialized hardware to run the validation of nodes
You can support the crypto ecosystem by helping the network function
Different layer 1s use different PoS mechanisms to validate blocks. Take Cardano for example. The Cardano PoS consensus protocol (called *Ouroboros*) uses stake pools in which investors can delegate their stake.
In plain English, this means that once you lock up your $ADA (Cardano's coin), you will allocate a portion of your holdings to a staking pool. This entity will then combine all of the other delegators' holdings and stakes on your behalves.
You can think of a staking pool as a mutual fund. Mutual funds pool money from individual investors and invest in stocks according to the fund's expertise, research, and experience. Mutual funds are a trusted entity.
On the other hand, staking pools are a trusted entity because they are crucial in the protocol's transaction process. Staking pools provide ledger maintenance and keep the network running.
Incentivization comes from the size and desirability of the pool you choose to stake with. Larger pools with a higher amount of $ADA holdings have a higher chance of being elected as the validator for the next block; albeit, larger stake pools also come with issues like *pool saturation:* A parameter that creates diminishing rewards to larger pools. This keeps the network decentralized.
Cardano isn't the only player in the push towards PoS adoption. Recently, Ethererum's Beacon Chain introduced the PoS mechanism to the network. Once The Merge occurs, Ethereum's Mainnet will run on PoS instead of a PoW mechanism.
And so on and so forth. There's are so many options out there for staking in the cryptosphere. You just have to do your own due diligence and see which coin fits your needs.
*Sources:*
https://medium.com/cardanorss/choosing-a-stake-pool-and-delegating-your-ada-113d71b0963f
https://docs.cardano.org/core-concepts/stake-pools
https://docs.cardano.org/new-to-cardano/proof-of-stake
https://www.investopedia.com/tech/bitcoin-vs-bitcoin-cash-whats-difference/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/08/investing/tesla-bitcoins/index.html
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/proof-stake-pos.asp
https://docs.rocketpool.net/guides/staking/overview.html#how-eth2-staking-works
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
Is Blockbuster Making a Comeback?
What a week it's been for Web 3.0! $SOS has been deemed "the people's token" since OpenDAO has been able to do what OpenSea has failed to accomplish with their marketplace: Support those who have participated in the NFT world.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are the poster child of Web 3.0. Unlike your regular blue-chip companies that run on a system built by the wealthy, thus keeping power at the top of the organizational pyramid, DAOs aim to provide equal opportunity to all interested parties in an organization.
Quite simply, DAOs accomplish this through a governing rule-set based on the initial open-source code. This eliminates the need for a board of directors or any other managerial body within a company. Unlike public companies listed on a stock market, investors all have an equal vote.
The rise of BlockbusterDAO
So what do DAOs have to do with Blockbuster? Blockbuster has been bankrupt for the better part of two decades, and many remember it as the company that missed out on purchasing Netflix for a steal. So why is Blockbuster back in the spotlight then?
Well, just two days ago a new DAO emerged in the Twitterverse. And guess what? Its mission is to take Blockbuster from the ashes and give it an opportunity to win the public's heart yet again.
BlockbusterDAO is the name of the game. The decentralized organization believes Blockbuster is a nostalgic brand that could turn into the first-ever DeFilm streaming platform if managed correctly. That's right; decentralization is coming to all aspects of the Web.
One of Blockbuster's problems amidst its financial growth and cultural impact was its lack of adaptation to the business climate. Netflix entered the market around the mid to late 90s and came to Blockbuster with an attractive deal: $50 million to acquire the entire company.
And as well all know by know, the management at Blockbuster laughed them out of the room. How could streaming services top Blockbuster's tried-and-true business model? There was no way!
Clearly, they were wrong. Netflix is now a 1/4 trillion-dollar company that continues to grow YoY, whereas Blockbuster is bankrupt. How sad 😢.
But there's hope for the brand. From BlockbusterDAO's Twitter page: https://twitter.com/BlockbusterDAO/status/1474960375292436483
The DAO didn't just break headlines for the fun of it. They see real value in Blockbuster as a brand.
What's more, Blockbuster is currently owned by Dish Network. The parent company has been receiving low-ball offers to take Blockbuster off its hands for some time now. The thing is, BlockbusterDAO still has to counter-offer what's on the table.
The roadmap
So how will they manage this?
First, they will try to raise $5 million in the BlockbusterDAO NFT mint set at 0.13 ETH each. This will provide enough funding for them to negotiate a lucrative counter-offer that will surpass anything Blockbuster has received until this moment.
One of their other vital missions is to build a community marketing campaign to pressure Dish Network to sell. Even with the funding, if Dish Network chooses not to sell, the DAO will not have anything to work with.
What happens once Blockbuster is bought?
This is where the fun begins.
Investors will be able to stake the DAO's token for Blockbuster rewards. You could say this is the equivalent of public companies paying out dividends each quarter. Who doesn't like passive income?
Next is the question of scaling the organization. BlockbusterDAO plans to develop its NFT presence, thus entering a new round of funding. This will go to the development of the commercial content platform.
Now comes the concern of purchasing film assets. With only a single IP, buying other film IPs is a priority to grow the initial content offered in the eventual release of the DeFilm streaming platform.
A lack of content = a failing business model.
Then comes the moment we have all been waiting for: The glorious return of Blockbuster with a new and improved business model. Not only will BlockbusterDAO's DeFilm streaming platform become the first-mover in this industry, but it will also have the first-ever streaming subscription model based on ERC-20 tokens. How cool is that?
And this roadmap goes on and on. If you want to check out the full Twitter thread, click here. https://twitter.com/BlockbusterDAO/status/1474960373291749378
My thoughts
I don't know what to think about BlockbusterDAO. For one, I think it's a step in the right direction for the evolution of the Web. It's cool to see how talented individuals tackle systemic issues in the business world.
On the other hand, there are too many "ifs," and nothing is concrete yet. Will the DAO even raise enough funds to purchase the brand name? Only time will tell.
I can't wait to see what 2022 has in store for us.
*Sources:*
https://twitter.com/BlockbusterDAO/status/1474960373291749378
https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-blockbuster#in-2002-blockbusters-other-big-competitor-redbox-launched-9
*I am not a financial advisor. Please do your own due diligence before making a decision based on my article, as I am not responsible or liable for your investment decisions.*
*Originally posted on* *Publish0x**.* https://www.publish0x.com/crypto-projects-on-the-rise/is-blockbuster-making-a-comeback-xppkjzq
Tronwars: Bionicles in the Metaverse?
Hello everyone! Today I'll be talking about *Tronwars*, a 3D NFT collection on the up and up. I believe this project will be great once minting occurs in Q1 2022 because of the sophisticated, Bionicle-like art and the emphasis on expanding into the metaverse once the NFTs are established.
What is Tronwars?
Before I get into the project, I would like to notify you that it is still in its early stages. There has been no date set for minting as of yet, and apart from the sneak peeks we've gotten through Twitter, there isn't much else backing this collection *at the moment*. So be wary of any announcements in their Discord. https://twitter.com/thetronwars/status/1466547942173523969
Besides this, I believe Tronwars will be a ground-breaking NFT with utility inside the metaverse.
Tronwars is a unique collection of three clans with a backstory based on sci-fi-esque lore. First, you got the Ninjas, the rulers of our galaxy, followed by the lower-class Robots and Samurais.
There still isn't much information about the story behind the TronVerse, but there have been glimpses here and there:
I'm personally a huge fan of sci-fi and used to play with Bionicles as a kid. I can't wait to read into the Tronwars lore when more is revealed.
Roadmap
The team will be announcing the minting price and potential partners soon enough. They have already established that one of their main goals is to
become a reference in **the** world of NFTs and video games in the future.
During Q2 2022, holders of legendary Trons will receive a 3D-printed, human-size character of high-quality material. I bet the secondary market price of the legendary NFTs will go for a ridiculous amount of ETH.
Don't be a Debbie Downer if you aren't able to get your hands on a legendary Tron. The team plans to reward regular Tron holders with BabyTrons, a free collection of randomized 3D NFTs as seen above. Even common Tron holders will have the chance to receive a legendary BabyTron.
Merch drops and other goods will be released during this quarter to holders of the NFT. There is currently no information on the merch drop.
Q3 2022 will be the most hyped timeframe for the TronVerse.
This quarter will also bring a couple of other benefits to the community. First, it seems like they want to go down the DAO path as the NFTverse has already established this is a crucial stage in the development of Web 3.0. If they pull it off, we will have a completely decentralized TronVerse with a democratic voting system for the future of Tronwars. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/opendao-and-sos-token-why-twitter-is-going-crazy-over-this-project-53df513b
Furthermore, a holders private investment program will be created during this period. Initiatives like this program and a Tronwars DAO convey how much thought the team is putting into the community.
Through the program, holders will have access to financial resources for their entrepreneurial projects inside the crypto ecosystem. As listed on the website: https://thetronwars.com/
If you want to start an entrepreneurial project, purchase real estate or any other type of project related to the blockchain world, we will be there to support you with a substantial capital contribution and we will put you in touch with our most prestigious partners.
I have yet to see something like this in other NFT projects!
In Q4 2022, Tronwars will implement itself into various metaverse ecosystems. Maybe we'll see it inside of Unity or gaming metaverses like Decentraland! I recommend you look at this awesome video showing off the creation process for Tronwars NFTs. It is truly remarkable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIENRF1GpHw
Maybe Tronwars will go down the Non-Fungible People route by partnering with a 3D studio armed with the capabilities in customizing your Tron to your liking. Who knows. https://read.cash/@wholelottajuju/non-fungible-people-a-utility-based-3d-nft-1a743287
And as with any other NFT project, Tronwars will be hosting private events for Tron holders. I foresee an event filled with entrepreneurs and sci-fi enthusiasts networking over their Trons.
The team
The team is small yet experienced.
Nicolas Baratto, the creator of Tronwars, is a computer security engineer with four years in the field. He has been working on blockchain projects for the past three years, and his knowledge in the area has helped him define a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for Tronwars. https://www.instagram.com/nicolas_baratto/
Michael Weisheim is more well-known in the 3D graphic design field. He is incredibly talented and has applied his skills by founding RaidMask, a cosplay company specializing in printables and entertainment props. https://www.instagram.com/michael_weisheim/
What I like about the doxxed team is their transparency and open-minded approach to the TronVerse.
For example, the community requested representation of women in the TronVerse, and they delivered! Therefore, a small portion of the supply will be reserved for Female Trons.
One last thing: How are their Twitter and Discord?
Although the Twitter page is still pretty small for a project of this magnitude, the engagement proves that the NFT sphere is backing the collection.
The Discord server on the other hand has 53,000 members!
If you can get your hands on a WL spot, I can guarantee you will be able to flip your NFT for quite a bit of ETH. Personally though, I don't think this project is meant for flipping. The utility it offers is just too much to pass on, especially if you are an entrepreneur, or even if you want to look cool inside of the metaverse.
I'll post updates on my Twitter and noise.cash once there are more updates on the project's roll-out. https://twitter.com/wholelottajuju https://noise.cash/u/wholelottajuju
*Sources:*
https://twitter.com/xdoubleq/status/1475498488402227204
https://twitter.com/thetronwars
https://thetronwars.com/#top
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJVvXbJtjJM&t=206s
@wholelottajuju
