⚓️ how to make airdrops matter again

gm.

I’m writing today’s newsletter under the influence of cold medicine.

NFA (as always), but *especially* today.

ALPHA ⚓️

let’s talk airdrops.

you know the drill. a project asks you to “check your wallet”. you open it up and find that there’s a new NFT in there. you sell it for 2 ETH almost immediately. it’s 2021. life is good.

however, gone are the days when airdrops mean *anything*. the novelty wore off quickly (as every project did them) and when the drops started being on Polygon, the quality got a lot worse too.

now airdrops either sit in our hidden folders, or in the case of Cool Pets, Moonbird Oddities, and Coolman’s Babies (the worst of them all), they sit at less than half of their all-time highs.

now airdrops either sit in our hidden folders, or in the case of Cool Pets, Moonbird Oddities, and Coolman’s Babies (the worst of them all), they sit at less than half of their all-time highs.

NFTStatistics.eth @punk9059

How well are airdrops expanding communities? I checked what % of airdrops are owned by the wallets that own the OG NFTs Results are in the chart below: Highest: 74% of Dooplicators are owned by Doodles Lowest: 37% of MAYC are owned by BAYC (1/3)

NFTstatistics.eth put together some awesome data (as usual) on the breakdown of original airdrop holders.

using it and also assuming that MAYC is the poster-child for successful airdrops (not crazy considering they have the largest following and highest price floor), we can use this data to figure out what’ll take to make airdrops matter again.

what makes Mutants so special is that they only *added* to the Ape community (their 20K collection size literally allowed new owners into the ecosystem). more importantly, though, their art was different enough that it allowed new *types* of community members too.

Mutants are now known for their shitposting, something that I can’t imagine the team at Yuga anticipated. however, the diversification of the community’s talents only propped up their brand more. oh, and it made original Ape holders and Mutant holders both rich in the process - win-win all around.

now, which from this group has the best chance of having a Mutant-esq run here? World of Women Galaxy Quirkies, and Cool Pets are all too similar to their original collections to qualify in my opinion. Dooplicators and CryptoKicks are kind of nothing at this point, so they’re out too.

that leaves Beanz, Meebits, and Oddities. I have my pick on which has the best future (the data suggests it too) but I’ll leave you to come to your own conclusion

(spoiler: it’s the other Yuga-owned one).

BETA ⚓️

as a writer, I understand that language is ever-evolving. and as an NFT boomer, I understand that things are now “bricked up”, “cap”, or “pushing P” and I just have to live with that.

however, it’s strange to me that projects in the bear market have decided that NFT is *not* a good name for what we do around here. instead, they’re opting to go the route of “digital collectibles” or worse, a “Web3 brand”.

BETTY @betty_nft

We won’t be using the acronym “NFT” as a catch-all to describe what we’re doing here in the coming years. The underlying tech will be assumed and we will be focussing instead on identifying the specific type of digital asset that is being spoken about.

but it seems silly to me that we’re already trying to abandon NFT as the nomenclature. (granted…this is coming from someone who has ‘NFT’ in his newsletter and Twitter handle.)

people may not *understand* what an NFT is, but they know what they *are* at this point. why set it back to 0 and undo marketing that’s already been done for you?

the only thing I can think of is that on other places online, the acronym “NFT” gets so much hate and is met with so much derision that the *entire* industry we’ve built so far already needs a rebranding.

I don’t think that’s necessary yet.

plus, the only time I can recall someone giving themselves a nickname and it sticking is when Kobe Bryant asked to be called the Black Mamba.

plus, the only time I can recall someone giving themselves a nickname and it sticking is when Kobe Bryant asked to be called the Black Mamba.

you can call yourself a Web3 brand all you want…but let’s not pretend that “NFT” isn’t much catchier. long live NFTs.

DELTA ⚓️

• are we still against celebrity NFT drops if that drop comes with booze? asking for a friend…Remy Martin (famous for their cognac) announced they’ll be dropping a special NFT in honor of Usher’s upcoming residency in Las Vegas. if they don’t do the “watch this” meme as an NFT, this will be an abject failure.

VIBE Magazine @VibeMagazine

The classic Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal bottle will be inscribed with “Usher x 1738 A.I. Powered” and tout an advanced design that compliments the debut of Usher’s “A Taste of Passion Experience.”

trib.alRémy Martin Recruits Usher For “A Taste of Passion” Campaign And Special NFTA multi-sensory, immersive experience will accompany Usher’s My Way: The Las Vegas Residency.

• the first Solana store has been spotted in NYC. this comes on the heels of their phone announcement and I’d imagine it’s where they’ll be “pushing P” over the next few years (that stands for pushing product, right?). it would be absolutely iconic if they sold physical rugs here too…for the culture.

Scott 🦄 @Scott_eth

Solana has physical stores now..