⚓️ march madNFTess
gm.
welcome to madness.
yes…it’s that time of year again when companies, podcasts, and media outlets get together and create their *own* version of March Madness brackets.
(they do things like a bracket for the best fast-food restaurants, for example)
and here at BivNFT, I am a follower and not a leader. so I too will be ripping off this concept.
but because I’m also lazy, I will not be creating an *entire* bracket today (ain’t nobody got time for that). instead, I’m pitting some of the projects with the highest sales volumes over the last 30 days against each other.
the regions will be broken down by price floors. let’s gooooo.
ALPHA ⚓️
under 15 ETH: azuki vs. mutant
in the first region, we have two ‘behemoths' of the space…Azuki vs. Mutants.
they need no introductions for those who know NFTs well. one is the companion collection of the Bored Apes, and the other is possibly one of the *coolest* projects (or so people tell me).
now as it goes with most March Madness picks, they are usually done soley off *vibes* with little to no research. and you are damn sure I’ll be doing it the same way.
ultimately, you can’t go wrong with either. they are iconic and a flex in their own unique ways. both represent a very *particular* type of person on Twitter too. Mutants love being in Twitter Spaces and acting like they know it all.
well actually, now come to think of it….so do Azukis.
so what this decision comes down to is essentially this: do you believe in Yuga, or do you want to fade them?
while Azuki seems to be on a historic rise (I once theorized the gap between them and Apes would get very narrow at some point this year), it is getting hard to bet against “institutions”.
and with Yuga, that’s exactly what they’re becoming with NFTs. they can do no wrong…and people will always bail them out.
the first round goes to Mutants.
BETA ⚓️
under 5 ETH: doodles vs Clone X
the next region is named ‘distressed assets’.
Doodles once were as cool as it got. their IP remains strong, but their partnerships with Pharrell and CEOs from major music companies don’t look as cool when their price floor goes below 4 ETH (which is true right now as I write this).
the same could be said from Clone X. the Nike NFT once was rumored to be recruiting Lebron James. it seemed like a no-brainer to bet on the Swoosh to bring NFTs to the masses…until they created a super confusing ecosystem that didn’t resonate with outsiders (and didn’t really seem to reward its holders that much either).
for me, my choice changes with the wind, but I’ve always trusted the Doodles IP more, for some reason. though I think Clones are clean, I’ve wanted a Doodle forever (and that has to count for something).
the round 2 winner is Doodles.
GAMMA ⚓️
under 5 ETH: Moonbirds vs Pudgy Penguins
region #3 is simply called ‘birds’.
but it goes a lot deeper than that, for sure. Pudgy Penguins and Moonbirds have two well-known leaders but represent two completely different trajectories in the NFT space.
Moonbirds minted at 2 ETH when Ethereum was worth almost $4000. that means that they currently sit at a dollar amount that is *less* than their mint price. ouch.
a lot of that initial hype was thanks to Kevin Rose whose Web2 background had a lot of us excited about the project’s future. but unfortunately, they can’t seem to get out of their way these days, and Moonbirds is starting to look more like the Digg of Web3 every day (sorry for the low-blow KRO).
Pudgy Penguins meanwhile experienced a meteoric rise from humble(ish) beginnings. but after a highly publicized fall…Pudgy Penguins like so many others became a reclamation project. but unlike most fallen NFT projects, they have, against all odds, risen from the ashes…with the help of Luca Netz.
Pudgy Penguins are trending up and though I have my doubts (still), I have no choice but to buy into the *new* hype surrounding them.
that being said, something keeps drawing me to Moonbirds. while they’ve been stumbling, how much worse could their 2023 go *really*? their new shift to focusing on art is promising too, for sure.
but I’d be dumb to buy into their dip.
Pudgy Penguins make it out of round 3.
DELTA ⚓️
under 2 ETH: Checks Editions vs Otherdeeds
the next region is called: ‘Biv, why are you reaching?’
(look there are only so many fair matchups I can come up with at this point)
Checks VV - Editions a few weeks ago were at a 2 ETH floor. for Otherdeeds, you once needed that amount in gas fees just to have a *chance* to mint one.
however, once again, they were chosen for this matchup for a reason:
Otherdeeds represent the NFT space’s shift to gaming, which seems to be gaining a lot of traction lately.
Checks, on the other hand, are simply digital art. Jack Butcher, his story, and the burn mechanisms are awesome and novel, but at their core, they represent digital art as NFTs.
Yuga has made a choice to gamify everything…and Otherdeeds are supposed to be your ticket into NFT’s next *big* chapter.
however, is it crazy for me to want to stay for a bit? I don’t want to go there quite yet…because I feel a lot more work needs to be done to convince artists (of all kinds) that NFTs are the future still. and for that reason, my choice is Checks.
see you next week.
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*this newsletter was made for informational purposes ONLY and does not constitute financial or legal advice*