Marquee NFT Collection "DeGods" Turns Project Into a Memecoin
Marquee NFT Collection "DeGods" Turns Project Into a Memecoin
And the new $degod token has a wild rollercoaster ride in its first few hours of trading.
TylerD's Market Summary
GM!
Today's top news:
Crypto majors fall overnight, BTC at $58,650
DeGods launch $degod token as hybrid 404 for its NFTs, now at $78M
The "OG" NEIRO on ETH soars 700% to $140M mc, leads memes
BTC DeFi ecosystem 5x's in size since January
Base faces backlash over Discord debacle
💡 DeGods Introduce $degod
It was shaping up to be a slow weekend in the NFT and crypto market.
And then Frank DeGods saw his chance to take the spotlight with a blockbuster announcement.
One that will likely since shock waves through the broader NFT ecosystem in the days and weeks to come.
What Happened?
Early Sunday morning, founder Frank DeGods announced that DeGods are launching a token in their team telegram.
The ticker is $degod, and it will function somewhat like a 404.
This means that the DeGods NFTs will convert into the token at the following rates:
y00ts and $DUST must be burned to get the $degod tokens, but the DeGod NFTs can be swapped (thus the 404 analogy).
This means that someone with 550,000 $degod can swap that back into 1 DeGod NFT (and vice versa).
As for tokenomics:
85% to holders
10% to the DeGods Foundation (for growth, mm, exchanges and more)
5% for the token launch (bonding curve, LP)
For those interested, the public can sign up at http://degods.com/list.
Market Reaction
The market liked the announcement:
DeGods +40% to 2.1 ETH (34 SOL)
y00ts +60% to 8.15 SOL
$DUST +60% to $6.645M market cap
As for the $degod coin, it soared to $330M market cap on open and then fell back to $70M immediately. It grinded up to $100M in the hours to follow, but has since settled in the $75M range overnight.
Why It Matters
This is a very polarizing decision here from the DeGods team, and one that will likely have a ripple effect through the rest of the NFT market.
They are effectively consolidating their NFT ecosystem into a token, with the option to keep the JPEGs.
There are advantages of a token model:
Lower barrier to entry
Higher upside
Less baggage / expectations
But there are disadvantages as well:
Anyone with a "rare" NFT has less incentive to convert to the token since it's a flat rate (devalues rarity)
Removes IP
Price action still anchored by existing NFTs and 404 swap
In some ways, this seems like the exit path for Frank and team.
NFTs have generally carried expectations of a roadmap and a team to drive them forward (as Frank has actively promised done with the past).
Memecoins don't have those expectations.
Thus it feels like maybe Frank is shaking off any future expectations in a conversion into a memecoin.
Which he has every right to do.
The million dollar question here though is - does anyone want to buy an NFT memecoin who didn't want to buy the NFT?
My gut feeling is - no, not really.
Especially in the DeGods ecosystem, the barrier to entry wasn't that large (y00ts were trading at 4 SOL or $500 in the past week).
And if the memecoin doesn't do well, then it likely caps any future upside for the NFT / broader ecosystem.
It's a risky gambit.
But if Frank pulls it off, expect many more to follow.
🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
Solana led NFT trading volume with $4.5M on the day (on the back of the $degod news); ETH was next with $3.5M, and then Bitcoin with $1.5M
ETH NFT leaders mostly chopped but DeGods outperformed on $degod news; Pudgy even at 10.8 ETH, BAYC even at 12 ETH, Azuki even at 5.5, DeGods +33% to 1.96 ETH
Sam Spratt - Luci (+52%) & TinFun (+56%) were other notable top movers
BTC NFT leaders were mostly red; NodeMonkes -2% at 0.127 BTC, Puppets -3% at 0.082 BTC, Quantum Cats -3% at 0.236 and OMB -1% to 0.158
The Runes leaders were also red; DOG -4% at $214M mc, RSIC -5% at $52M mc, PUPS -5% to $22.5M
Solana NFTs were green led by y00ts; Mad Lads even at 60 SOL, SMB Gen 2 +2% at 26.3, DeGods +40% at 33 SOL, y00ts +60% to 8 SOL
Doodles' "Dullsville and The Doodleverse" went live on Friday
The Otherside opened its ODK Pre-Alpha to creators and developers
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here's a rundown of major token or airdrop news from the day:
Fantasy Top hit a new local high in active users over the weekend
Opensea kicked off its Creator Legal Defense Fund after $5M pledge to help creators who receive Wells Notices
Animoca Brands invested in Titan Chain, the mainnet from Tokenoize, hailed as a global leader in entertainment, blockchain and gamification
Base faced backlash after banning Kemonokaki holders from its Discord, which caused those holders disruption to other Discord servers as well
🌎 Around Crypto and Web3
A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Crypto majors are red this morning after a green start to the weekend; BTC -2% at $58,730; ETH -4% at $2,310, SOL -2.5% at $132; ETH/BTC falls below 0.04 in the lowest level since April 2021
Memecoin majors are also red with DOGE -3%, PEPE -5%, WIF -4%, BONK -2%, MOG -8%; NEIRO soars 700%
Bitcoin's DeFi ecosystem has 5x'd in size since January, now at $1B+ in TVL
Bitcoin ETFs saw their highest inflows in nearly 2 months on Friday with $263M
Circle is moving its headquarters to Manhattan ahead of its planned IPO
🚀 Memecoin Movers
$NEIRO (+700%, $140M market cap, ETH)
$BABYDOGE (+45%, $245M market cap, BNB)
$TURBO (+15%, $315M market cap, ETH)
$APES (+14%, $23M market cap, SOL)
$mini (+7%, $16M market cap, SOL)
📈 NFT Floor Price Increase (ETH)
TinFun (67%, 0.16 ETH Floor)
Sam Spratt - Luci (52%, 12.5 ETH)
DeGods (37%, 2.03 ETH)
Boo Bears (29%, 22 ETH)
egg (21%, 0.14 ETH)
🗓 Upcoming Mints and Events
Today is a slower day of mints to kick off the week.
There are art drops across Bitcoin, Base and ETH from artists Eka Lestienne, PlayfulPaint and xiA.
See the full list and dive in for more details with Swizzy's daily mint monitor.
ChibiZen (9:00 a.m. ET)
Ordinal Pop (9:15 a.m. ET)
Goo Friends (12:00 p.m. ET)
Error 404 (12:00 p.m. ET)
xiA - Worn Wires and Wrinkles (1:30 p.m. ET)
Enjoy this write-up and/or want to sponsor the Morning Minute? Follow along with me on Twitter @tyler_did_it or reach out via email to tyler.warner@luckytrader.com.