the cats are driving the ship
What’s the most annoying trope on NFT Twitter? I’ve listed some of my least favorite NFT Twitter people (no particular order):
The person calling the top, but they do this every week so when it comes crashing down they’ll be able to say they were “right”.
The person in talks with a MAJOR celebrity who’s interested in buying an NFT. Spoiler: the major celebrity is not A-list, B-list, or even C-list.
The person who writes 500 words in a thread on how their project is the next blue chip/is undervalued. Take that to Substack like the rest of us.
The person who asks random, non-NFT related questions to farm engagement. “What’s your favorite emoji? What’s a good TV show? What do you think of the latest Kanye album?”
Farokh.
That being said, I’m reminded how awesome NFT Twitter is every time I venture into any other thread on the bird app. Sports replies are toxic. Political replies are unbearable. I’ll take all my degens pumping their own bags 10 times out of 10 than debate anything with a reply guy on Twitter.
ALPHA
Friday night we were all blessed with a BAYC trailer. The momentous week for Yuga Labs kept rolling as they teased their “metaverse” play and a lot of their potential as a Web3 juggernaut.
My summary of the trailer for those who continue to live under a rock: A Bored Ape is enjoying some time by the bayou. He catches a drink with his fishing rod, sucks it down, and then realizes he probably shouldn’t have done that. The landscape transforms and a sprite-looking creature whisks him off to the “Otherside” (the name of the trailer).
The shocking part for most came when some familiar NFTs made cameo appearances (see above). It all crystallized for me at that moment. Yes, Yuga Labs really is trying to become the Disney of Web3…in that, they’ll be buying up all the good IP under the sun.
Now, nothing is official yet with any of the NFT projects that made an appearance (other than CryptoPunks). But it’s now so obvious to me how this will all go down. When Yuga Labs needs to make a play into a women-centered project? They won’t start their own, they simply will acquire World of Women. Need something a bit more family-friendly and a game? Just go out and buy Cool Cats, they’re limping right now.
They will likely continue to “collab” with all these projects and utilize their characters in the metaverse (for now…). But if discussions have not already been had, they surely will soon. Yuga is raising seed funding at a $4 billion valuation. Its presence and power will only go up with time and they will start to cannibalize projects positioned better than them in certain verticals. This is how they’ll win.
So how do we win? Since the vast majority of us don’t have access to Yuga insider info, we have to rely on leaked pitch decks and online rumblings to speculate…
You’ll notice that 4 projects from this deck are missing in the Otherside trailer. CloneX is likely out as a potential partner or acquisition target since they are now owned by Nike effectively (BAYC conversely is partnered with Adidas). Everything else you’re looking at 10 ETH plus per NFT (other than Cool Cats and Cryptoadz).
That leaves us with Mfers and Deadfellaz (currently around 3 ETH per NFT) that can still be acquired on an individual level without having to pay a hefty premium. Could they pop up later in future Yuga trailers and have their price pump? They are obviously on Yuga’s radar and they consider them to be “blue chips” if they are putting them in a slideshow shown to investors. Just food for thought.
Either way, Yuga is modeling themselves after Web2 companies (for better or for worse). I imagine they keep the ball rolling leading up to April’s Otherside rollout with additional acquisitions…expect the unexpected with them.
BETA
Safety and security are at the forefront of NFT Twitter again. And once again, it’s for the wrong reasons.
This week, a project called the Sunnies had to start a new Discord as one of the team members up and absconded the old one. He had access to all the permissions including the ones to ban his fellow team members from the Discord.
Then, @Arthur_0x who represents a crypto venture fund was “hacked” and had his Azukis, CloneX and other valuable NFTs lifted from his hot wallet. He vowed vengeance like Batman, but we all know it’s unlikely that payback will come.
It’s a valuable lesson to us all. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are in the space. You are not above or below being scammed (unless you just have a wallet full of Yetis, in which case I imagine the hacker would leave you alone).
When I was a kid, I went around touting the gamertag “PARANOID” for good reason. (Oddly, I just discovered that my TurboTax account is still under that pseudonym). I’m still scared I’m going to slip up and have all my assets stolen one day. All it takes is one mistake, one bad mint, so I’m once again encouraging my readers and anyone running a project…plan for every kind of scam imaginable. The Yetis in your wallet depend on it. Keep your circle tight (with limited access to your Discord). Links are the enemy so trust no one and nothing:
DELTA
“Do the Croc walk, yo.” Coolman’s Universe dropped an absolute banger in a partnership with Crocs this week. I haven’t seen a synergy so perfect as a project with a dad hat trait partnering up with the official shoe of dads everywhere. Good job by all involved.
Speaking of dads, I’m considering taking a Twitter sabbatical. My mind and body are surprisingly not coping well with caring for a 6-month old and also degen’ing on Twitter all day. I’m thinking of a week to start. Has anyone ever done something like this? Is it actually helpful?
