Parallel Launches PFPs with ERC-6551s and AI
Parallel Launches PFPs with ERC-6551s and AI
Parallel is combining the latest NFT tech with AI in its upcoming Avatar and game release. Read on to learn how this could be a game-changer for the Web3 gaming space.
TylerD's Market Summary
GM!
Today's top news includes:
Parallel Avatars, ERC-6551s and AI
BAYC launching "Made by Apes" IP tool
Memeland shares new $MEME details + confirms airdrop
Fatzuki pumps while Elementals fall
Arkham Intelligence launches controversial on-chain intelligence exchange
🎮 Parallel's New PFP Recipe
One of the biggest projects in NFT history is back in the news with a major PFP drop.
Sci-fi trading card game Parallel is dropping its Avatars today on OpenSea.
For quick background, Parallel is one of the largest collections on OpenSea with 5.8M items, is #23 in all-time trading volume ($232M), and they have their own native token in $PRIME.
Now they're launching PFPs, and the natural question is - why?
What makes this PFP drop unique?
The answer - the tech they're using with ERC-6551 and their order of operations.
Community First, PFPs Second
Parallel is flipping the script on how and when to launch PFPs.
Most projects in our small NFT history have launched with PFPs first, tried to use those to build community, and expand from there.
Parallel has done the opposite, using its trading cards in high volume and lower entry price to build a hardcore fan base, launching $PRIME to reward them, and now doing Avatars/PFPs to give them a way to represent themselves.
It is a recipe that makes more sense in many ways than the original order of operations, and one we will likely see more of in the future.
But these Avatars are more than basic PFPs - they're bringing some new tech with them in the launch.
ERC-6551s for Avatars
Ever since the ERC-6551 standard launched, many have theorized that its major use case would be in gaming.
Now Parallel is about to put that to the test, launching its Avatars with ERC-6551s.
With ERC-6551 tech, each Avatar NFT can "own" digital possessions (ERC-1155s and $PRIME) and basically act as its own NFT wallet.
This means that Avatars can buy, sell and trade NFTs with other Avatars, bundle their NFTs and assets within their Avatar, and then sell them all as a bundle (if they'd like).
For example, let's say a player acquires quite the war chest via playing for several weeks, including high-value weapons, skins and more. They then run into a new player who wants to level up quickly without weeks of effort. They can sell their Avatar and all those assets together in one package.
This feels like a major unlock for the Web3 gaming sector, and the Parallel community may be the first to benefit.
It provides time savings and likely cost savings at a minimum, and surely there will be some "surprise" outcomes with how players use the feature.
Other Parallel Avatar Details
For those interested, here are the primary drop details:
Time: July 11, 5 pm ET
Supply: 11,000 total with 6,371 available to mint
Price: 0.11 ETH
Where: OpenSea
Over 4,600 of the Avatars have already been minted (in a $PRIME-based presale) and are holding a 0.2 ETH floor at the time of writing.
Benefits of holding the Avatars include increased $PRIME for playing and winning the upcoming TCG (beta starting this month), access to full capability play in their AI game "Colony" (in development), and chances at casting calls for features in other Parallel franchise media.
"Colony" will be an AI simulation game where Avatars are dropped into a mining colony. The game features its own LLM to bring about "digital intelligence" (Avatars powered by AI). And the team plans to use UE5 to upgrade the Avatars to make them more “life-like” in the near future.
Clearly, the Parallel team is leaning heavy into new tech, and it's exciting to see this innovation play out in real-time.
We will see if the market rewards their efforts later today...
🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the weekend in NFTs:
Trading volume came in below 12k ETH on Monday, NFTs again saw a mix of red and green on the day with Punks and BAYC up but most others down
BAYC announced a new IP tool called "Made by Apes" with on-chain verification is coming later this month
Blur added both Elementals and Elemental Beans to its Blend program on Monday; floors fell on the news, now 1.18 ETH (-5%) and 1.68 ETH (-6%)
Memeland CEO 9Gag shared new details for the upcoming $MEME sale, where Captainz will be given priority for Allowlist spots with more spots for rarer Captainz, bonuses for Full Crew & Super Crew holders, and Potatoz get Waitlist spots; max buy-in fee noted as 0.69 ETH
Low-cap derivative Fatzuki caught the market by storm yesterday, surging 175% to 0.09 ETH at peak before settling at 0.075 this morning
9Gag followed up with a note that all NFT holders in the Memeland ecosystem would receive an airdrop
The Prohibition team announced a formal launch date of next Tuesday, July 18; their Arbitrum-based platform uses the Art Blocks Engine & promises a platform with no mint passes, no allowlists, pairing artists with coders, and more
Sorare began auctions for Victor Wembanyama and the rest of the 2023-2024 top 5 NBA draft picks on July 9
UFC and Concept Labs announced a multi-year partnership to bring UFC Strike to fans worldwide, with plans for launching a mobile-first game, new fan experiences and more
🌎 Around Crypto and Web3
A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
The crypto market was up slightly on the day; BTC +0.8% to $30,400; ETH +0.3% at $1,870
Arkham Intelligence launched the first on-chain Intelligence Exchange, using a bounty system with "intel-to-earn" incentives which enable users to buy and sell blockchain wallet address information anonymously
Andy Murray, Wimbledon, and Refik Anadol partnered to create "The Exposition," a digital sculpture derived from 18 years of Murray's Wimbledon performance data; it will mint as an open edition for $147
🚀 NFT Total Volume
BAYC (2,744 ETH, 34.5 ETH Floor)
Azuki (2,516 ETH, 6.96 ETH)
MAYC (1,248 ETH, 6.66 ETH)
Azuki Elemental Beans (991 ETH, 1.68 ETH)
DeGods (784 ETH, 8.74 ETH)
📈 NFT Floor Price Increase
QQL Mint Pass (34%, 6.75 ETH Floor)
10ktf Kagami (31%, 2.56 ETH)
Pixelmon (22%, 0.47 ETH)
0xMahjong (21%, 0.59 ETH)
Otherside Vessels (20%, 0.22 ETH)
🗓 Upcoming NFT Mints and Reveals
Today is likely the marquee day of the week for new drops, featuring 2 art projects and a major PFP release from Parallel (described above).
Richard Nadler's drop "Yamabushi's Horizons" on Verse is a particular highlight, with some very aesthetic outputs. But this one will be a ranked auction, a format we don't see as much in the art minting world, so there may be less immediate upside on secondary.
The Art Blocks drop may be overshadowed by Horizons, but Semblance is in a style that has resonated well with collectors in the past.
If you want more, see the full list of today's drops from Swizzy's daily mint monitor.
Veve x Marvel Comics - HULK Comic (11:00 a.m. ET)
Art Blocks Presents "Semblance" (1:00 p.m. ET); Dutch auction
Richard Nadler - Yamabushi's Horizons on Verse (1:00 p.m. ET)
Parallel Avatars (5:00 p.m. ET); 0.11 ETH
Enjoy this write-up? Follow along with me on Twitter @tyler_did_it or reach out via email tyler.warner@luckytrader.com.
For all volume and floor price data, see Lucky Trader's Project Rankings page.
For all upcoming mints, see Lucky Trader's NFT Calendar page.