O Dearly Beloved,

I’m writing to let you know that Mint or Skip will be going on hiatus, starting this week.

This isn’t a fun decision, but with fewer and fewer drops being announced every week, a newsletter dedicated to covering said drops becomes less interesting both for readers and for us as a team. 

So we’re going quiet for a while until the magic returns, but this isn’t goodbye. 

One day, perhaps sooner than you think, the Horn of Gondor will sound again and you’ll find an email in your inbox from Yours Truly with a simple headline: “We’re Back”. 

And you’ll know—you’ll feel it in your bones—it’s time. 

For now, I want to thank everyone who has been with us on this journey so far. 

We’ve been covering NFTs since February 2023, mostly through a daily format. That’s 315 emails (had to double check because I couldn’t believe the number) that for some reason you’ve kept opening. 

Spending so much time in the dark alleyways of crypto culture has no doubt left us with permanent brain damage. But tracking the highs and lows, from the purest human creativity down to the most malicious griftcore imaginable, has been incredibly fun and I hope you feel the same. 

I truly believe this will be remembered as a historic point in internet culture. And this newsletter may serve as some of the best archeological coverage of what actually happened when productized memes first became a thing.

BTW – this doesn’t mean I’m leaving the space. Over the next few months, I plan to keep expanding on NFT auctions, like this one. I’m looking to bring famous internet objects of all kinds onchain, so if you know of any please reach out. Otherwise follow us on twitter to stay in touch.

keep enjoying ✨

GM

We're back!

How are you doing?

Have you been drinking enough water?

Make any profit on your crypto trades recently?

(you don't have to answer that last one)

On with the show.

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Chimpers Arcadegen Card Collection

• Mint Date: September 11

• Supply: 555

• Price: Free - 0.02 ETH

• Chain: Ethereum (Base)

• Link

A profile picture project from 2022 doing an NFT in the year of our lord 2024? Chat, is this real?

Indeed.

Continuing from where they left off with Amulet Cards last June (covered here), Chimpers is launching a full-fledged Collectibles Platform on the Base L2 alongside a new Arcadegen card collection from artist/founder Timpers.

The cards will be available for free to holders of a related art piece first, before moving on to a paid public sale by the end of the month.

These seem as complete as a trading card can be, including both 3D and 2D versions of the art, accompanying music, an AR experience, and even a physical twin for those who purchase before the end of the month.

The “game” (for now) is just collecting the cards, with at least one more future drop confirmed by the project.

Chimpers already has a positive track record with physicals, and they are one of the few PFP projects still standing that might be able to further grow the audience for their collectibles outside of crypto.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Egomorphs by Dr. Formalyst

• Mint Date: Today, 2 PM ET

• Supply: 15

• Price: $250

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Anybody at this table order a 15-person bizarre art drop reeking of existential crisis?

This Verse collection dropping today comes from the mind of Spanish artist Dr. Formalyst, who you might know from this fairly popular Fellowship collection from last year.

Egomorphs sees CGI and generative AI blend to create 3D animations featuring the artist as protagonist in trippy choreographed scenes that are claustrophobic & schizo, a bit spooky and fairly theatrical.

Don’t get me wrong, there are deeper, valuable messages hidden in these pieces that are not that hard to grasp, but if you’re someone who, for example, doesn’t care for interpretive dance, then this might not be for you.

You’ll need an appreciation for the inherent jankiness of current AI video to be in the buyers camp, which for some, adds to the bizarre charm.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Velocity Series Collection by Martin Grasser

• Mint Date: TBD (probably this month)

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

This will be the second drop for Red Bull’s Velocity Series 2.0 art pass, who’ll be hoping for a faster start than the sale of their first drop by Kjetil Golid, which stumbled a bit before being repriced lower and selling out.

This new collection is from a highly regarded creative coder in the scene, Martin Grasser, who put out last year’s standout Themes and Variations.

The single sneak peek looks clean, with striking colors depicting a racecar on a track, a nice change of pace from the more abstract interpretations found in the Red Bull collections so far.

Generative art sales are still struggling, but some artists you just gotta keep on the watchlist.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Selections by Jan Robert Leegte

• Mint Date: September 12

• Supply: 150

• Price: 0.11 ETH

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Jan Robert Leegte’s Selection is for the real abstract internet heads out there.

Inspired by the selection tool found in most image editing software (you know, the one that highlights areas of an image using an animated dotted line, see above), Leegte has created an entire collection of interactive websites that focus on the simple elegance of this tool.

If that sounds exceptionally niche, it’s because it is.

The visuals are probably best appreciated by GUI geeks, with most of the variety coming from the chaotic dotted outlines and different color backgrounds.

And that’s exactly what the artist’s fans have come to like, as shown by his various sellouts of similar-looking love letters to internet interfaces over the years.

It might not be your cup of tea, but there’s clearly an audience for it.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

Programming note: Mint or Skip will be out for the next 2 weeks, back on September 9th 🫡 

You be good while I’m gone, capeesh?

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Today - Mythic Seeds

• Mint Date: Q3

• Supply: TBD

• Price: Free

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

An upcoming free mint from TODAY, an AI-powered social simulation game (think Animal Crossing meets LLMs) developed by a doxxed team with AAA experience.

It’s a follow-up to their genesis mint from earlier this year, Ancient Seeds, a factory-style collection that provides priority access to most of what’s being cooked up here, including this upcoming drop.

These new seeds will offer holders game & mint-related benefits, but to a lesser degree than the genesis collection, since they are supposed to be of lesser rarity with a higher supply.

Details on holder benefits are slim, but much of what we said about the game’s first mint applies to this one.

This kind of game is hard to pull off (you can judge the gameplay here, they have another playtest starting next week), but getting in on a free gaming drop from an experienced team is a no-brainer if you have the time.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

The End of History by Mowgly Lee

• Mint Date: August 20

• Supply: 80

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

This upcoming AI video art collection from Los Angeles-based artist Mowgly Lee drops tomorrow on Fellowship’s daily.xyz platform.

It envisions the collapse of modern society:

Grand-scale Hollywood-esque urban destruction, shadowy political cabal masters pulling the strings behind the scenes, social media brain rot — these bleak scenes and more have a home in this critique of the current socio-political landscape.

And it wouldn’t be an AI video collection without some downright weird ones.

Thankfully, there’s also a contrasting set of dreamlike ethereal pieces sprinkled in, like Commute from Work or Museum Fatigue, offering Truman Show-esque escapism from the chaos.

Mowgly was part of Fellowship’s first big AI video group show last year where he sold out a similar-looking collection. I enjoyed that one (own a piece), and this seems like a fitting follow-up.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

P.S. They seem to be giving out prices only on inquiry, and I’m not sure that’ll change before the drop time.

100X100 VOID by Scerbo

• Mint Date: August 22

• Supply: 21

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at $1

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

If you thought that last one was weird…

This is a collection of stills from Italian artist Scerbo dropping this week on Verse. It takes his glitch photography collection from last year Anti-crash and feeds it to a host of hallucinating AIs to see if these can transform the pieces while maintaining a semblance of their original identity.

The results can only be described as if my sleep paralysis demons were afflicted by a balloon and dismemberment fetish (don’t google that last one).

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I do know that my mother would interrogate me if she saw one of these hanging on my wall.

It might not be a collection for the masses, but a style this striking is sure to captivate those with an affinity for the bizarre, like those who bought out Scerbo’s similarly strange Unrealized Project just a few months ago.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

DOM2 by Leander Herzog & Milian Mori

• Mint Date: August 21

• Supply: Open Edition

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Base)

• Link

This generative music and glitch creation by Swiss artists Leander Herzog and Milian Mori is dropping as part of Coinbase’s Onchain Summer.

Minimal techno beats drive brutalist animation changes in an infinite array of pieces (best enjoyed on a huge screen – see above, forest optional).

DOM2’s precursor, DOM1, sold out on fxhash last year.

This might be for you if you’re an explorator of niche electronic music… just don’t show these videos to your epileptic friends.

GM

don’t mind me just auctioning another classic meme tomorrow

on with the show

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

CULTCOIN

• Launch Date: This Month

• Chain: Ethereum

• Link

Milady — the meme PFP that has stood the test of time for nearly 3 years thanks to a strong community united by schizo accelerationism, network spirituality and anime-flavored deep-fried memes — is launching an official coin.

Cultcoin ($CULT) embraces what we’ve all already known — Milady is a cult. And it does it with a smiley on its face while metameming about #CHEESEWORLD (don’t ask me).

In true Milady fashion, it’s not constrained by any notions of a “roadmap”, even though it’s described as the official ecosystem token of Remilia Corp, the company behind Milady. As they put it, “(...) No VC’s, no promises: Just conviction.”

They had a community presale in June, with the token scheduled to be launched this month alongside a public sale for up to 15% of the supply (more on that here).

You probably don’t want to recommend this to your uncle Jimmy next Thanksgiving, but if you already had your fairly online eye on Milady, a fungible coin is a practical way to dip your toe in the “schizoautist revolution” at your own size.

Brutal Edge by Harto x FAR

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: Open Edition (Details TBD)

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

An Ordinals art collaboration that almost seems too good to be true is coming soon with BRUTAL EDGE, an open edition by FAR and Harto, two of the best-selling artists on the chain.

But that’s pretty much all that’s been revealed so far.

They’ve set a price of 6.9 BTC on the project’s mint page, but for now I’m assuming that’s just some good old-fashioned “haha funny number” trolling.

The few video previews hint that this will be a highly neon, 3D work of…rocks.

I don’t necessarily dislike that, and I need not mention how crypto mfs have been known to like a good rock from time to time.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

8 Ball Sages by Ed Fornieles

• Mint Date: September 13

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

One of the best-performing NFT art programs of the past year is back after a 3-month hiatus as Verse gears up for its next SOLOS release, 8 Ball Sages by British artist Ed Fornieles.

Fornieles is mainly known as the creative mind behind the Fini project, NFTs with built-in coin trackers in the form of cute tamagotchi-like animals which received quite a bit of attention in mid-2022.

He’s keeping that interactive mascot feel in 8 Ball Sages, but instead of a cute pixel dog telling you $DOGE is down 12% via a sad roll on the floor, you’ll have mysterious fortune-telling hands holding Magic 8 Balls giving you life advice that’s influenced by the weather.

Yes, these AI-powered characters’ narratives are shaped by live data feeds of the weather, shaping the tone of their advice. Perhaps as helpful as your favorite Mercury in retrograde astrology influencer.

We’re going to see more and more AI experimentation like this as progress in that space continues, and as a Fini fan, I’m curious to see what Fornieles has cooked up.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Dark Machine

• Mint Date: August 19

• Supply: 333

• Price: Free

• Chain: Ethereum (Immutable)

• Link

Dark Machine is an esports-focused mech shooter game scheduled to release in 2025, and it’s having a small genesis collection mint on the Immutable ETH L2 soon.

The game’s got some big backers, with a supposed $8.7M raised from investors including Chinese corporate behemoth Tencent.

It also has some really good art direction courtesy of two well-known anime directors who already pulled off a good-looking trailer.

Game development, though, is being handled by META-X, a smaller company that features a doxxed Japanese crew with experience in the games industry but not under the META-X name (more about them here and here).

I can’t in good faith hype the game up very much given the lack of gameplay shown so far (only this 9-month-old prototype video), but this is a free mint by a doxxed, funded and experienced team who have already put out some genuinely appealing anime visuals.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

BitSplits by ChainVirus

• Mint Date: August 20

• Supply: 2,222

• Price: 0.00042 BTC

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Pseudonymous artist ChainVirus, known for various generative glitch art releases on Ethereum and Bitcoin, delves into abstract expressionism with BitSplits.

Like their last June release, Glitchmarks, this is a gen art collection that pays tribute to another artist, except instead of web3’s Jack Butcher, BitSplits celebrates Rothko with colorful rectangles in his style.

The mint supply is a bit high for my taste, but we’ve seen the market go feral for Rothko derivatives before, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see BitSplits mint out.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

look, I know, there’s a lot of negative energy in the world and in the markets right now

…but how about some NFT drops tho

on with the show

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Inscripedia Season 0 – Casey's Collection

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

This is a new onchain publishing house founded by pseudonymous threader Jiurn, an account you might recognize if you’ve spent time on the Ordinals side of Twitter.

You can think of it like a fully decentralized bookstore that facilitates the inscription of text-based media on Bitcoin, which sometimes publishes stories from the public domain.

Their first drop is a series of five texts by Ordinals founder Casey Rodarmor, all taken from Casey’s blog and inscribed in an easy-to-read onchain format.

This definitely isn’t for your average online user, who prefers TikTok over books, much less hard-to-access onchain crypto text. Also, the value of an onchain copy of a publicly accessible blog post is hard to grasp.

But in a time when we keep losing valuable internet archives, there is something to be said for safekeeping mementos on the immutable orange chain.

/aligned by Tim Maxwell & Enrico Penzo

• Mint Date: August 7

• Supply: 1 (with 542 variations)

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at 0.01 BTC

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

This is the next big generative art release from VIVID Gallery. It follows their last drop in June, which was the first one to break the 7-drop sellout streak they’d kept since launching.

With this in mind, it seems, they’re changing their sales structure in a big way.

/aligned, a collab between experienced NFT artists Tim Maxwell and Enrico Penzo, will be the inaugural release under the platform’s new Chefs d’Œuvre line, where artworks with multiple outputs from a single algorithm will be sold as 1/1s.

So /aligned will be a 1/1 with 542 different variations. Instead of selling 542 different outputs to hundreds of people like we’re used to with gen art auctions, here a single buyer will collect every variation.

I know not how this will play out, but I welcome the innovative distribution when gen art sales are in the dirt.

It also doesn’t hurt that the collection’s trippy black-and-white architectural loops are right up my alley.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Sparks by Katie Morris

• Mint Date: August 12

• Supply: 25

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at $1

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Scottish artist Katie Morris (previously featured in many Fellowship drops) is on deck for the next release in Verse and Tender’s In Spirit AI art exhibit, which has been knocking it out of the park with nothing but sellouts.

It’s a small curated set of post-photography stills that will quell your cravings if you’re in the market for vivid, surrealistic imagery focused more on creating an energetic vibe than representing a hard-defined concept.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

no time for pleasantries, there’s imaginary internet objects to pontificate about

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

8 NFT drops I’m watching in August 👀

HolyMath by Orkhan

August 1st - @orkhan_art

Media artist Orkhan Mammadov, known for Middle Eastern-inspired generative works, will debut on Ordinals with this collection.

Drawing inspiration from the work of ancient Persian scholars, Orkhan has created complex colorful works on what looks like sketchbook pages reminiscent of your childhood notebooks… if you were an Islamic child savant with an affinity for math.

Mint this if you…

Like intricate geometric works featuring colorful tessellations reminiscent of your visits to the Persian rug store, or perhaps the aftermath of an unrelenting LSD trip.

🆕 Machine In The Ghost by Diid

August 1 - @0xdiid

Pseudonymous artist Diid mixes pixel art, fully onchain shenanigans and old museum art in this release.

Museum images from public domain databases are compressed and dithered to the point where they’d fit into a zip file, then they’re decompressed and edited within Ethereum, reviving these ancient institutional pieces into genuine blockchain art.

Mint this if you…

Like Diid’s pixel art experiments (some of which we’ve previously covered) or are just a deep-fried aesthetic enjoyoor.

SUPERBASEDD

August 8 - @superbasedd

A “publication & leading online destination for degeneracy” by Jake Hillhouse (an internet personality known for Jackass-type stunts) and Steve McHugh (co-founder of the now defunct men’s magazine Shagmag, findable through bits of content here and there).

This one’s got a mint date and a lot of frat house-adjacent content mixing Full Send and Playboy vibes.

Apart from that, we don’t know much. Is the mint for a PFP, an access pass, something else? We also don’t know pricing, which could change how we view this.

Mint this if you…

Want even more exposure to everything you (probably) wouldn’t wanna discuss at church: crypto, sports betting, sex.

🆕 Issues by DeltaSauce

August 8 - @delta_sauce

An upcoming AI art collection by pseudonymous artist DeltaSauce.

Delta’s created covers for eight different fictitious magazines centered on everything from travel to gaming to memes, some referencing real-world events, others an act of memetic reverence.

Mint this if you…

Enjoyed Delta’s successful Views collection from 2023, or you simply long for simpler media content in these terminally online times (not the Sears bikini catalog, you filthy animal).

🆕 Endless Art Ordinal

July TBD - @ordzaar

Ordinals marketplace and launchpad Ordzaar recently created the 4th largest inscription ever with an art piece by Turkish artist Osman Kubat, and now they’re launching a free mint with it.

The video piece is a 56-second-long endless zoom through space and time, referencing all the major collections and main characters who helped write the Ordinals story so far.

This monumental piece will spawn a free-to-claim collection tied to airdrops related to the platform and their partner OdinSwap, although specific details are still unknown (including the supply).

Mint this if you…

Are an airdrop-hunting free mint maxi with a proclivity for crypto history.

Inscribed Fakes

Maybe August - @inscribedfakes

Internet frog aficionados keep on winning with this 20+ artist collection courtesy of the InscribedPepes PFP project and the Fake Rares art initiative.

They’ve already revealed artists James Bloom and Arsonic, with rumors of heavyweights like Jack Butcher and Darkfarms soon joining the club.

Given that Fake Rares is founded by the original Rare Pepe creator, Rare Scrilla, I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to have an impressive lineup.

Mint this if you…

Are a big Rare Pepe collector looking for new avenues to express your frog-related trade ideas or missed the train on Rare Pepes but can’t bring yourself to buy ancient NFTs.

🆕 Scream Variations from Asprey Studio

Maybe August - @AspreyStudio

Asprey Studio, one of the first big movers in Ordinals with their controversial Bugatti Egg Collection in 2023, is teaming up with prominent crypto artists for this collection reimagining The Scream.

This all started a few months ago when Asprey (copyright clearance in hand) sold ten silver physical + digital pieces for $200k.

Now we have Scream Variations, a collection where popular artists like OSF and Harto will have a shot at remixing the famous artwork.

Mint this if you…

Are a fan of the above artists (I assume more are coming) and don’t mind splurging on derivative art.

Airhead

Maybe August - @airheadfun

An irreverent and degen-loving Ordinals collection from Arthur Hayes — BitMEX co-founder, former crypto main character and writer of often prescient trading essays.

It’s a collaboration with Oyl Wallet, an Ordinals-focused Bitcoin startup founded last year, which Hayes has invested in.

We’re missing a ton of details, but it looks like it’ll be a 10k 3D PFP filled with crypto culture references. No pricing details yet, though, which could change the vibes.

Mint this if you…

Are fiending for a new Ordinals PFP and don’t mind some social media influencing on your mints.

GM

Markets hath rippeth, and I have my biggest meme auction yet this Friday (details coming soon).

We pray for times like these (sans all the other not-so-savory things going on in the world rn).

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

The 5 best NFTs minting this week

Piezo by rudxane

• Mint Date: Today at 1 PM ET

• Supply: 20

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at $1

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

A new generative art collection from Dutch creator rudxane, an OG in the NFT art scene whose work frequently features in gallery exhibitions.

Watch right-angled brushstrokes blend and fill up the canvas in these colorful works.

This might not be my particular gen art cup of tea (I’m a coffee guy anyway), but I could see some collectors enjoying the clean progressive animations, and you don’t have to look very far to find rudxane enjoyers.

Boldinals

• Mint Date: Today at 2 PM ET

• Supply: 100

• Price: 0.01 BTC

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

The long-awaited Ordinals debut from BoldLeonidas, a crypto cartoonist who’s been dropping daily crypto memes for years, making social commentary often to viral success.

It’s his first attempt at pixel art, and he’s chosen Pepe as his muse, yielding an exclusive collection of 1/1 PFPs with a bunch of web3 references.

I can’t help but feel like a little of Bold’s unique social commentary from his comics is lost in 2021-reminiscent pixel art, but I like the lighthearted nature of these and enjoy the references.

And so do other people, given it’s close to minting out in presale as I write this.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Airhead

• Mint Date: July 24

• Supply: 10,000

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Arthur Hayes, BitMEX co-founder and former crypto main character, is launching this Ordinals collection which could drop as soon as Wednesday.

It’s a collaboration with Oyl Wallet, an Ordinals-focused Bitcoin startup founded last year, which Hayes has invested in.

We’re missing tons of details, but it looks like it’ll be a 10k 3D PFP with irreverent content aimed at the degens.

The pricing could change how I feel, but given Hayes’s reach I’ve tentatively…

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

IMMUTABLE MEMORIES by Harto

• Mint Date: July 25

• Supply: 25

• Price: €1,500 (~0.47 ETH)

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Harto, one of the golden children of Bitcoin Ordinals art, returns to Ethereum with this small collection that includes not just the ETH-based artwork, but also a bonus Bitcoin ordinal with the source code and a physical drawing.

Another one for all the Abstract Arthurs out there, these fall-colored works have been penned with the robotic aid of a pen plotter.

If you enjoyed Harto’s February collaboration with the Belvedere Museum, FloraForms, you’ll probably like this one too.

Twenty-two of the twenty-five pieces have already been reserved, so there’s no shortage of demand for this one.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Inscribed Fakes

• Mint Date: TBD (Maybe July 25)

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Internet frog aficionados might just keep on winning with this upcoming 20+ artist collection courtesy of the InscribedPepes PFP project and the Fake Rares art initiative.

We don’t have an exact mint date, but it’s meant to be “unveiled” this Thursday at a physical event in Nashville, so we’ll have to wait and see if there’s a surprise drop that day too.

They’ve already confirmed artists James Bloom and Arsonic (both previously covered in this reputable publication), with rumors of heavyweights like Jack Butcher and Darkfarms soon joining the club (how veritable these claims are, I don’t know).

Given the team includes Fake Rares founder and OG Rare Pepe creator Rare Scrilla, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up having a fire lineup.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

Doing a little experiment by having this edition focus on what’s minting from our Top 25 this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think.

Also, I auctioned off another banger meme today for 5 ETH. Check it out.

Without further ado, let’s get minting (or skipping, I don’t judge).

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

NFT drops I’m watching this week 👀

Champions Tactics

Today at 2 PM ET - @championsverse

• Supply: 75,000

• Price: Free

• Chain: Oasys

Gaming giant Ubisoft just opened a closed beta for this web3-powered strategy game (gameplay visible here), and they’re following it up with today’s Champions drop.

These are 3D figurines with different stats and abilities that players are meant to mix and match to form teams and then battle each other PVP turn-based style (more info here).

We’ve criticized the project before, but it looks real now (plus it’s free).

Why you might want to mint this:

If you wished your Pokémon battles had little 3D samurai men instead of fantastical Japanese creatures when you were growing up.

Manufactured Transcendence by Alkan Avcıoğlu

Today at 2 PM ET - @evergreendazed

• Supply: 50

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at $1

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

We talked about this one last week — Turkish artist Alkan Avcıoğlu is dropping a new AI art collection.

Course-slinging TikTok mental health gurus get roasted as the collection pokes fun at commercialized spirituality.

Why you might want to mint this:

If you like mesmerizing, large-scale scenes that border on optical illusions with sharp undertones of satire.

An Old Soul by Grant Yun

Thursday at 12 PM ET - @GrantYun2

• Supply: 150

• Price: $425

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

This new drop from popular minimalist artist Grant Yun will showcase in the inaugural digital exhibition of a new museum opening in Kansas this November.

Generative art heavyweights like Snowfro, Emily Xie and Tyler Hobbs will join him in the exhibition (those mints coming later).

Why you might want to mint this:

You’re into trees and Grant Yun. The art is in the same style as Yun’s most popular art series, Life In Japan, which sold out a SOL edition last April and also features closeups of tree bark.

IMAGINED WRECKAGE by Chuck Anderson

Thursday at 1 PM ET - @nopattern

• Supply: 64

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at $1

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

This is an experimental AI release from Chuck Anderson, an artist with a 20-year track record who’s probably worked with your favorite brand.

Collage, photography and AI software all blend together to create a series of colorful pieces that prioritize aesthetics above all.

Why you might want to mint this:

You can vibe without needing explanations.

Frontline by Alexis André

Friday at 1 PM ET - @nopattern

• Supply: 10,000

• Price: 0.00095 BTC

• Chain: Bitcoin

The debut Ordinals collection from Alexis André, the generative artist who brought us one of ArtBlocks’s biggest releases of 2022 with Friendship Bracelets.

The drop has a huge supply for a generative art collection, but that might not be a problem for André — Bracelets had 4x the supply (it was a free mint though). Also, he has the support of the OnChainMonkey team, one of the best in Ordinals.

Why you might want to mint this:

You like to watch your generative digital squiggles fight it out in the blockchain ether, warring kingdoms style.

GM

NFTs have been quiet recently (have you noticed?), so we're moving to one email per week instead of three, at least for the rest of summer.

We’ll send out emails every Monday to give you a great preview of all the mints of the week and any new drops we find.

See you next Monday ✨

PS: I just auctioned off the Vibing Cat meme for 15 ETH. Watch the livestream replay here.

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Manufactured Transcendence by Alkan Avcıoğlu

• Mint Date: July 15

• Supply: 50

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at $1

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Following back-to-back sellouts of his last two collections (Overpopulated Symphonies on ETH in 2023 and Strata on Solana earlier this year), Turkish artist Alkan Avcıoğlu is back with a new drop for all AI art apologists out there, Manufactured Transcendence.

The art features a similar style to his previous works, with grand-scale, multilayered scenes creating intricate perspectives, almost resembling optical illusions.

This time it’s all about depicting massive crowds attending artificial (i.e. probably paid) spirituality conferences.

Your favorite instagram mental health guru who sells a new course every month might be getting called out here… in esoteric fashion.

The artist is on a multichain roll, it’s the third release in the popular In Spirit exhibition by the Verse and Tender platforms (which just saw two sellouts) and I just…like the art.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Pepehaus by Movsum

• Mint Date: Today

• Supply: 21

• Price: 0.15 ETH (Reserve price)

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Tired of using good ole regular Pepe the Frog in your online memes? (how dare u)

If so, pseudonymous artist Movsum’s got you covered, as he reinvents the internet’s favorite amphibian with Pepehaus (apologies to the Axolotl community).

Pepe gets stretched and deconstructed into industrial, minimalist and geometric shapes in this Bauhaus-influenced collection.

It’s a big enough makeover to create plausible deniability if a buyer should end up ashamed of hanging art about the green frog in their dining room (how dare u), as most onlookers wouldn’t suspect that this is about Pepe (handsome squidward on the other hand…)

Batzdu’s Geometric Pepes saw incredible success with a similar idea, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some collector action for Pepehaus.

As a famous art critic once said: Where there is art, there is Pepe. (I’m the art critic).

GM

TLDR on our main story today:

I'm hosting an auction for this famous cat meme today and then livestreaming the finale on Monday

bc that's what the internet is all about

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

A rare classic meme suddenly appears

It's amazing that less than 1% of internet culture has moved onchain.

Despite all the money being thrown around in memecoins and NFTs, almost every video/image that has ever gone viral remains offchain in web2.

I have full conviction that we'll see a big migration in the coming years as crypto-natives feel more wealthy/comfortable buying these objects and as creators realize the opportunities in front of them.

Soon it'll be natural for every big content creator to mint their work.

But what about those objects that were a huge part of the culture before this phase kicked in?

We'll likely have two eras: one where online culture wasn't "ownable", and then suddenly, one where it was.

I've thought about this recently with "classic memes" — aka pieces of content that explode in popularity and organically lead to offshoots that refer back to them (you know one when you see one).

You might think there's an infinite number of these, but that's not really true

When you start filtering for memes that:

1. have survived a multi-year attention cycle

2. don't depend on copyrighted work (like spongebob memes)

3. and enough collectors would find valuable 

You'll see that the list is short, maybe hundreds at most. In other words, smaller than your average PFP community.

And only a handful join this list each year.

Then combine this with the fact that many of these are being lost to time — their creators unreachable, their origins unverifiable. This is true for memes, webcomics, classic youtube videos, vines, etc. And opportunities are permanently closing for some of these day by day.

So it's special when one makes it onchain with verified provenance and becomes "immortalized". 

Later I'll write more about the buyer perspective and why I think a small group of smart collectors have been scooping these up before everyone realizes how rare they are.

For now, I'm excited about a series of these objects that I'll be bringing to auction over the coming weeks, starting with today's Vibing Cat auction at 1 PM ET.

You've likely seen this one: a video of a white cat bobbing her head to music. The original creator Mick Lagi posted this on TikTok in 2020 and it quickly blew up across Twitch and other platforms with millions of views. 

It reminds me of those years after 2020 when we all went online a little more than before, and it seemed like this cat was everywhere then. 

Even more amazing is that Mick wasn't really a traditional creator shooting for virality, it just happened out of nowhere.

This will be a 72-hour auction that ends with a finale livestream on my X profile on Monday.

It’ll be fun to watch even if you don’t bid, see you there. 

Kanoi

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Base)

• Link

Multiple trading card games hit my desk every quarter, each one with its own homebrewed blend of Magic, Yugioh and Hearthstone mechanics that mostly end up feeling like a downgrade from its original inspiration.

Today’s feature, Kanoi, is a TCG with very little gameplay details revealed so far, so I don’t know if it’ll be different, but its background is more interesting than most.

The game is inspired by Japanese Yokai (supernatural spirits), and it has players engage in turn-based battles that feature play-to-earn mechanics with NFT cards and a $KANOI ERC-20 token (more in their whitepaper).

Japan-based gmlabs, founded in 2022 by Takeshi Kuroda (former e-commerce strategy manager at The Pokémon Company), is developing the game and has secured 600k USD from various Asia-based VCs (one of them here), which is in the usual range for indie game development.

You can see some of gmlabs’s dev work in their first release, the oshimo mobile app, a 3D game where you obsequiously interact with a miniature version of your favorite idol (I’m not Japanese enough for this).

There are still a lot of question marks here, but there’s enough for me to keep tabs on it.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

HolyMath by ORKHAN

• Mint Date: July 10

• Supply: 100

• Price: 0.02 - 0.03 BTC

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Media artist Orkhan Mammadov, known for Middle Eastern-inspired generative works, will soon be debuting on Ordinals with this exclusive collection.

Drawing inspiration from the work of ancient Persian mathematicians, Orkhan has created intricate geometrical works featuring colorful tessellations reminiscent of one’s visit to a Persian rug store… or perhaps a resplendent yet unrelenting LSD trip.

It’s a genuinely exclusive sale, available only upon request (registration period ending today) with no public mint.

I’m more of a fan of open mints, but I could see BTC collectors enjoying this work, as the artist has had success with similar styles in the past.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

Programming Note: Mint or Skip will be off on Wednesday in celebration of the 4th of July. Back on Friday

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Monument by Hideki Tsukamoto

• Mint Date: July 11

• Supply: 128

• Price: Dutch Auction - 5 ▶️ 0.1 ETH

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Hideki Tsukamoto, the creator of Singularity (one of Art Blocks’s standout hits during the glorious degeneracy of the 2021 NFT bull run), has announced a new generative art collection, Monument.

It drops on The Disruptive Gallery’s platform, which last housed Matt DesLauriers’s sold-out collection Filigree in April.

Singularity captivated collectors with hypnotic depictions of black holes to the point of amassing over 5,000 ETH in traded volume.

Monument seems to be a spiritual follow-up, almost as if the black holes from Singularity burst with beams of color and light, or what I imagine happens inside an artist’s head the moment they get a concussion.

Rekindling an old flame?

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Anthropocene by Sheldrick

• Mint Date: Today

• Supply: 25

• Price: 24-Hour Auction starting at $1

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

David Sheldrick, a London-based AI artist, is releasing a series of generative videos today titled Anthropocene.

The geological name refers to the human era on Earth, and the videos play into this, showing 30-second-long artificial timelapses of rapidly changing environments representing the (mostly negative) changes to the planet due to humans.

The speed at which these move is disorienting, but that’s the point, the message is not necessarily pleasant (though it’s all a bit ironic given the alarming amount of energy used to create these).

Sheldrick was the standout in Fellowship’s last PPP show, and this series is the second drop for the In Spirit exhibition by Verse and Tender, which just saw Emi Kusano sell out last month, so I reckon collectors will be watching.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Blast Beeings

• Mint Date: July 4

• Supply: 1,000

• Price: 0.15 ETH

• Chain: Ethereum (Blast)

• Link

While some might be a bit disillusioned with Blast following the token’s lack of up only after its airdrop, others continue experimenting on the chain, like pseudonymous artist bee with their upcoming collection, Blast Beeings.

It’s a derivative of the popular PFP mfers, done in the artist’s cartoony sketch style, previously seen in the sold-out Bitcoin Beeings and their work with Opepen.

Its main objective, however, is to farm that sweet sweet Blast yield which is why, like most other farms, the mint is fully refundable through Blastr (covered here).

These farms might be the crypto equivalent of the degenerate 4 AM slot machine hall at the casino, but at least in this case you’re getting a full PFP collection with your buy-in.

SUPERBASEDD

• Mint Date: August 8

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Solana

• Link

This is “a publication & leading online destination for degeneracy” by Jake Hillhouse (an internet personality known for Jackass-type stunts) and Steve McHugh (co-founder of the now defunct men’s magazine Shagmag, findable through bits of content here and there).

They revealed a mint date, but we’re still missing a lot of details. What we do know is that they seem to be going all in on everything your youth pastor would warn you about — crypto, sports betting, sex…

It’s like if Full Send fused with Playboy then connected to crypto.

Do crypto participants need something like that? Dubious.

Do crypto participants want something like that? Probably. Definitely.

GM

Not a single mention of crypto in last night’s U.S. presidential debate, but that don’t matter because it’s Friday, time to vibe.

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

8 NFT drops I’m watching in July 👀

THE PATH TO THE PRESENT, 1954–2024

July 2 - @ExpandedArt

An exhibition by the EXPANDED.ART platform covering the entire journey of generative and AI art stretching back to the 1950s.

An impressive cast of 30+ artists — including the popular Harto, Roope Rainisto and Far — will join the exhibition.

Right now it’s unclear how many of these will release NFTs as part of it, but you can already see some drops lined up for July 2nd on the website. I’m liking this one by Bard Ionson.

nullMachines by Kerim Safa & loackme

July 3 - @kerimsafa& @loackme_

Black-and-white art enjoyers rejoice, as two of the most liked monochromatic artists in NFTs join hands for this Verse collection.

These animations combine handmade art with generative algorithms to create useless machines that mirror the often meaningless spinning wheels of consumerism.

Both Safa and loackme sold out similar-looking collections on Verse before, and I wouldn’t be surprised if collectors show up again.

Champions Tactics - The Champions

July 15 - @championsverse

This is the second NFT collection for Champions Tactics, an upcoming game by industry giant Ubisoft.

These 3D NFT figurines (each with different stats and abilities) will be the playable characters in this PVP turn-based strategy game (more info here).

I still hold my criticisms from the first time we covered this project, but the game looks real now, coming off the back of a gameplay trailer with a closed beta starting next week.

We wouldn’t normally cover this one since it mints on the Oasys blockchain (we deal in BTC, ETH and SOL), but we can’t ignore a drop from one of the biggest studios in the world.

IMAGINED WRECKAGE by Chuck Anderson

July 18 - @nopattern

This is an experimental AI release from Chuck Anderson, a commercially successful digital artist with a 20-year track record, who’s probably worked with your favorite brand.

He used collage, photography and AI software to create this series of colorful pieces that’s hard to describe, mixing photorealism with mechanical imagery and surreal colors.

Best to check it out for yourself.

Frontline by Alexis André

July TBD - @MacTuitui

The debut Ordinals collection from Alexis André, the generative artist who brought us one of ArtBlocks’s biggest releases of 2022 with Friendship Bracelets.

The drop site tells the story of two algorithms fighting for canvas space in these animated works. Other than that, there’s little information, and we only have one sneak peek (above).

Regardless, this is from a respected artist collaborating with one of the best teams in Ordinals (OnChainMonkeys).

PROFILES

July TBD - @profilesbymoto

I don’t know if this collection by artist MONKEEMOTO will be this quarter’s anime hype train, but I could see it striking a chord thanks to its emphasis on drip, with characters’ coats ranging from “pretty normal” to “you’d only see this on Crunchyroll.com”.

Fashion is the focus. Holders can customize the base PFPs with interchangeable clothing, themselves unique assets sold through quarterly booster pack drops.

This isn’t the first digital fashion PFP attempt we’ve seen. Maybe MONKEEMOTO (an Adidas collaborator) can finally get it going.

Pizza Pets

Maybe July? - @pizza_pets

Another “tamagotchi-like” crypto game enters the fray with this airdrop from Ordinal PFP projects Pizza Ninjas and MegaPunks.

Your objective is to keep your pet (an inscription) alive by feeding it and keeping it happy. Should you fail, your critter is removed from the game and the collection (more on this in the game’s manifesto).

This makes the game an ephemeral spectacle that can never be played again after the last pet dies, which adds a certain “you had to be there” allure.

But all of this is done through Bitcoin transactions, which could get pricey, so let’s hope that doesn’t get in the way of the experience.

DSTRCT 111

Maybe July? - @mydstrct

JR, one of the original team members at 0N1 FORCE, is back as the cofounder of this upcoming PFP collection on Bitcoin.

The project starts with the 111, an application-only free mint that serves as a sort of “council selection” for the project (it already started selecting members earlier this month).

0N1 Force felt like a classic case of 2021 before the original team left – overpromising and underdelivering. But it’s too early to tell how this will turn out, and this free mint requires only a little of your time.

GM

Unexpected reason #5224252334 why your fav NFT game might fail

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Champions Tactics – The Champions

• Mint Date: July 15

• Supply: 75,000

• Price: Free

• Chain: Oasys

• Link

Gaming giant Ubisoft, known for publishing generation-defining titles like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, will soon launch The Champions, a free mint for their upcoming NFT game Champions Tactics.

As the name suggests, these 3D Champion figurines will be the playable characters in this PVP turn-based strategy game.

Players can mix and match Champions with different stats and abilities to form teams and then battle other players online (like a Pokémon game battle). More info here.

I covered this project at the end of 2023 during the launch of their Warlords PFP, where I was critical of their engagement farming tactics and Ubisoft’s seeming lack of care for the project.

I still have those gripes (Ubisoft doesn’t tweet about the game), but this is a freebie from a team with resources, coming off the back of a gameplay trailer, with a closed beta starting next week. So it’s looking better.

The drop is on the Oasys blockchain (home to many other game studios), which would usually preclude it from our Top 25, but I’m making an executive exception in the name of crypto games.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GigaBuds

• Mint Date: June 27

• Supply: 10,000

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Solana

• Link

This is the PFP and genesis NFT from AI company Grass, whose app has been downloaded over 100k times over the last year.

On first look, Grass might look like a Nigerian prince — a Chrome extension promising you passive income by selling your unused internet bandwidth.

Specifically, it visits (safe) websites using your internet to compile datasets that it then sells to AI companies’ bottomless data stomachs.

If that doesn’t sound sketchy, then you’re probably deep in the techbro rabbit hole.

The app claims not to access your personal data, its source code is viewable online, the founder is doxxed, and reputable VCs have backed the project. So there’s accountability in case of foul play.

Drop details are limited and mostly locked behind gated Discord channels, but it looks like a project that will probably reward engaged app users.

Installing an app like this may be icky for many, but it’s a working, funded product launching a PFP on Solana, and we’ve seen how those can play out.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

It’s that time of the year again…

Reports of imminent Mt. Gox repayments are coming through, causing mass dumpage on the charts.

But fret not, I’ve already requested uppies from our market maker overlords.

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

1897 Collection | inBetweeners x Juventus x Adidas

• Mint Date: June 28

• Supply: 1,897

• Price: 0.14 - 0.99 ETH

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Ah, beloved 2021… a time of crypto make-believe, sprinkled with grifty non-fungible promises from celebrities ranging from your favorite emo rapper to forgotten child stars.

And I wouldn’t blame you for throwing the Justin Bieber-backed inBetweeners PFP in that camp, with its 2021 animal cartoon art and down-only chart.

But unlike other celebrity-backed NFTs, inBetweeners is still pushing its IP with surprisingly big collabs.

They had Dolce & Gabbana physicals last year, and now they’re dropping Adidas x Juventus utility passes.

The mint on OpenSea will appeal primarily to fútbol (aka soccer) fans and will have three tiers offering merch, game tickets, access to parties, and a chance to win a Jeep.

I'm not huge on Juventus myself, but consider me impressed that Gianpiero D'Alessandro and co. keep getting these huge brand deals even during one of the quietest NFT seasons we've seen.

Also, Bieber appears to be a ride-or-die, still sporting the PFP on Twitter. That or he forgot his password after two years with no tweets.

OneFootball Club ID

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: Open Edition

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Base)

• Link

Animoca Brands, the crypto company that never sleeps, has announced a new partnership with German company OneFootball, whose app has over 50M downloads on Google Play.

Now they’re opening up the One Football Club on Base, a gamified journey for fútbol fans who can earn rewards for interacting in the ecosystem.

The club will have its own system using the same technology as Moca IDs, enabling you to grab a messi.football NFT ID, should you be quick enough (you won’t). These IDs will probably be non-transferrable like in Mocaverse.

Maybe I’m influenced by all of the fútbol in the air this month, but I’ve tentatively…

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

New Realities by INFINITEYAY

• Mint Date: June 28

• Supply: 300

• Price: 0.05 ETH

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

A new BrainDrops collection is hitting the chain this week with New Realities.

From pseudonymous artist INFINITEYAY (active since 2022), their work has been collected by notable tastemakers like Claire Silver and co-signed by Beeple.

As far as visuals go, it’s a retro daydream of colorful AI fantasies, featuring miniature worlds bubbling up from worlds with perspectives that make my brain itch… in a good way (more sneak peeks here).

BrainDrops hasn’t been selling out recently, but the platform has taken the hint and halved pricing for this one, which will probably help.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

calling all pepe enthusiasts and amateur doodlers, beeple is doing some kind of pepe fest and is taking submissions. this is your time to shine. https://beeple-studios.xyz/submit/

enough pleasantries, there are a lot of drops to cover

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Ephemera

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: TBD

• Price: English Auction (start price TBD)

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Erin Redwing (aka co-host of the Hell Money podcast with protocol founder Casey Rodarmor, aka the “Ordinals Mommy”) just announced her new project, Ephemera.

It attempts to cement Bitcoin’s role as a decentralized clock by linking sats’ mining times to astronomical timekeeping data.

And the result is trippy 3D sci-fi art pieces inscribed on sats mined at specific times, with metadata telling you where the Sun and planets were then.

But why do this?

Well, in the case of nuclear armageddon, this project could provide the aliens some additional cosmic context.

It’s similar to postwook’s drop featured last week. I might not be a horoscope reader, but the trend is there.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Chimpers Amulet Cards

• Mint Date: Today

• Supply: 1,645

• Price: Airdrop

• Chain: Ethereum (Base)

• Link

Chimpers, one of the few 2021-2022 PFPs still standing, jumps into the Trading Card Game scene with Amulet Card drop.

This airdrop is for quest-enjoying holders who interacted with the project’s custom-made games last year.

And it’ll kick off a new digital-physical line of products supported by a custom platform later this summer, as well as more trading card drops.

There are some cool possibilities here, especially considering how popular the brand is on social media.

Could this be their Pudgy’s plushies moment?

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

SORAH Membership NFT

• Mint Date: Open now until July 30

• Supply: Open Edition

• Price: Free

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

The Japanese arm of Animoca just announced SORAH, a new NFT launchpad and marketplace focused on Japanese IPs.

This includes a drop for a membership/early access pass NFT (a tried-and-true accoutrement for a new platform).

Details on holder benefits are limited but attractive enough, including access to limited NFT sales and token airdrops.

Most importantly, it’s free (with fine print).

Anyone can mint it until the end of July if you buy at least one NFT on the platform. There are only 3 collections listed right now (including two niche Sandbox skins)

But the pass’s long-term potential is there.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

nullMachines by Kerim Safa & loackme

• Mint Date: July 3

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

This just might be a dream come true for B&W animation enjoyers, as two of the most popular achromatic NFT artists collaborate for this Verse collection.

It’s industrial vibes all the way (best paired with this vintage), with animated pieces that comment on the sometimes meaningless spinning wheels of capitalism.

Both Safa and loackme sold out similar-looking B&W collections before, and I wouldn’t be surprised if collectors show up again.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Frontline by Alexis André

• Mint Date: July TBD

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Alexis André, the generative artist who brought us one of ArtBlocks’s biggest releases of 2022 with Friendship Bracelets, is making his Ordinals debut.

The drop site tells the story of two algorithms fighting for canvas space in these animated works. Other than that, there’s little information, and we only have one sneak peek (above).

For now, we know this is from a respected artist collaborating with one of the best teams in Ordinals (OnChainMonkeys), so I’ve tentatively…

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

Programming note: Mint or Skip will be off on Wednesday for Juneteenth. Back on Friday

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Wu-Tang’s $34 Million NFT Album

Last Thursday, PleasrDAO launched The Album, a $1 open edition on Base that lasts until 2103 (78 years).

It gives holders an encrypted NFT copy of legendary rap group Wu-Tang Clan’s 10-year-old secret album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

As if that weren't wild enough, both Martin Shkreli and the US Department of Justice previously owned the album, and now its total sales could reach $34 million.

I briefly mentioned this Friday, but it’s not every day that an NFT story gets picked up by Forbes, Reuters, Pitchfork and the internet’s busiest music nerd, so let’s dive in a little more.

Context

Here’s a quick run-through of the events leading up to last week:

2014: Disgusted by the effects of streaming and piracy on the value of music, Wu Tang’s producers press an album, secretly recorded years prior, on a single two-CD copy, with all other digital files deleted.

2015: The album is auctioned off online to an anonymous buyer for $2 million, with the condition that it cannot be commercialized until 2103. This anon turns out to be hated pharma bro turned CT darling Martin Shkreli. The album’s now the most expensive work of music ever.

2018: Following Shkreli’s incarceration for fraud, the US Department of Justice seizes the album.

2021: PleasrDAO purchases the album from the DoJ for $4 million and promises to make it available to the public. You can see their original video announcement here, in all of its peak 2021 bubble glory.

2024, June 9th: Shkreli hosts a “Wu tang official listening party” where he streams the album to 4.9k listeners, showing he made copies of his original purchase (I mean, I would too).

2024, June 10th: Shrekli gets sued by PleasrDAO for diminishing the value of the album they legally own. A judge issues a restraining order blocking Shrekli from playing any more of the songs (top 10 funniest restraining orders).

Which finally leads us to last Thursday, June 13th…

Pleasr launches The Album after listening events at majestic-looking churches (the album’s owner is legally allowed to play the music at gatherings)

Mint details

This $1 open edition Base NFT is an encrypted copy of the album that can be converted into an $ALBUM fungible coin through ERC-404 functionality (this last part doesn’t seem to be live yet).

Pleasr managed to skirt the commercialization ban by negotiating the rights from Wu-Tang’s producers.

Amusingly, that article also mentions that they only own the rights to 16 out of the 31 total tracks (so far), so they are technically selling only half the album.

The year 2103 is the current due date for the music’s decryption, but each mint reduces the remaining time by 88 seconds.

There’s even a leaderboard showing those who have reduced the counter the most:

This also means that it would cost ~$28 million to fully unlock the album right now, making the total lifetime sales for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin a whopping $34 million.

Pleasr has teased that there are other ways to speed up the release apart from minting the albums (so far ~244k sold), but we’re still waiting on more info.

Our take

This is a weird one.

An album that was supposed to be enjoyed as a 1/1 by a single person could now be owned by up to 28 million people thanks to crypto fractionalization.

It probably won’t reach that number but the increased liquidity from the fungible conversion makes this like a presale for a memecoin that already has mainstream attention.

And we don’t even know if the music is good – it’s the longest blind mint in history.

Imagine the poetic amusement of the album being a lukewarm 6/10 after all this.

GM

Wu-Tang Clan releasing a 10-year-old secret album as a time-locked open edition. Gladiator 2 coming out after a 24-year wait.

What’s next?

This bad boy dropping as a memecoin?

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

The Astronomer’s Daughter by Postwook

• Mint Date: June 20

• Supply: 100

• Price: 0.015 BTC

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Bitcoin sats and provenance maxis rejoice, for postwook has added cosmic context to her newest collection The Astronomer’s Daughter.

With the help of her NASA engineer father, postwook matched up 100 rare sats with satellite readings taken at the time of each sat’s mining.

Then she used these readings to create the collage-style art pieces inscribed on the sats, with variables like moon phases and constellations influencing the collection’s traits.

We all seem to like space-themed collections (e.g. Gazers), and I could see this attracting hardened Satoshi apostles (it’s a drop that’s only possible on Bitcoin).

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

[test] by John Provencher

• Mint Date: June 20

• Supply: 64

• Price: Ranked Auction (starting price TBD)

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

New York artist John Provencher, one of our favorites at MoS HQ over the past year, is releasing his first Ordinals collection, [test], as part of Verse’s All At Once exhibition.

Like LORE, my favorite Provencher drop from last year, [test] features lower-resolution visuals for aesthetic and research purposes.

Using the Mona Lisa as a test subject, the artist tests the limits of digital image processing, seeing how much the image can be degraded while still being recognizable (or not).

This is especially relevant for ordinal enjoyers, as JPEGs on BTC must fit in the archaic 4MB limit.

Da Vinci may not like it, but he’s getting irrevocably inscribed on the Mother Chain.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

BasedVC

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: 2,000

• Price: Free

• Chain: Ethereum

• Link

Venture capital firm BasedVC, partner of well-known NFT projects CyberKongz and Neo Tokyo, has announced an upcoming NFT pass that will grant access to their $BASED token, networking, and “alpha” opportunities.

NFT-gated investing groups tend to be a skip, but BasedVC is a regulated entity run by a doxxed team, plus the pass is a free mint.

But there’s some fine print: You’ll need to stake the project’s $BASED token to “increase level of access & benefits”. Worth keeping an eye on this as they release more details.

For now, a free access pass to early-stage crypto opportunities is compelling enough for me.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

Me? Oh yeah, I’m a fan of the CPI — the Cicero Price Index.

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

crystalline work by John Gerrard

• Mint Date: June 18

• Supply: 8,760

• Price: $100

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

Irish artist John Gerrard, known for his physical art installations and Pace x Art Blocks NFTs, will soon launch crystalline work, a generative collection that will take one year to complete.

Like his previous releases, it involves 3D art but with one big difference — all of the pieces are created in real-time by a virtual robot.

This artificial critter is said to be left alone on a barren platform at the North Pole and tasked with building 8,760 worlds of ice over the next year (24 per day) starting on the summer solstice.

Kinda like a modern myth of Sisyphus but with R2D2 beeps of agony echoing in the background.

These interactive ice worlds will go up for sale as the robot finishes them, and you can already see previews on the drop site.

It’s a drop that plays with time (big fan of those), by an artist who’s sold out multiple times in recent years, and it’s bringing some cool alien crop circle vibes.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

CTRL – N0 0rdinary Kind

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: 7,680

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

You see that above?

Yeah, that’s a condom wrapper with a PFP inside. Because if you’re gonna fuck the (financial) system, you better stay safe while doing it.

At least that’s what CTRL believes, which had its limited genesis mint last year centered on the Bitcoin ideal of individual sovereignty.

Now they’re looking to further develop the IP with N0 0rdinary Kind, a set of PFPs created by British artist Penny, known in the London art scene for his stencil artwork.

A lot is going on with these:

• Gamified Reveal: After mint, you can “rip” the condom wrappers (via transactions) to partially or fully reveal the PFP art, allowing you to play with rarity when trading

• Runes Game: Ripping these wrappers yields the upcoming NO•ORDINARY•KIND Bitcoin rune which will be used to play KARDS, a poker-style game

• Recursion: All PFPs descend from 2 Rare Sats (I don’t really care for sat rarity) including the project’s first inscribed one

• Allowlist game featuring a side-scrolling platformer

Plus there’s the PFP art that’s reminiscent of 2022’s Cyberbrokers, and I could see it striking a chord with people.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Whispers & Closed Doors

• Mint Date: June 18

• Supply: 13

• Price: Auction

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

The Art Of This Millenium (AOTM), a platform co-founded by famous NFT collector Vincent Van Dough, recently announced its next curated exhibition, Whispers & Closed Doors.

It celebrates crypto’s cypherpunk roots with 1/1s from thirteen artists, some of which you’ll probably recognize.

There’s a little something for everyone, including deep-fried fluorescence from ROBNESS, a calming Drifter photograph, and a tutorial on anonymity from Sabato.

As a low-supply set of auctions I don’t expect this to hit a wide crowd, but that hasn’t stopped collectors in the past.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

self-proclaimed onchain savants when they manage to exit their position in a deep-fried Cardano L2 dogwifhat derivative right before the $9 of liquidity and Telegram channel get wiped off the face of the earth by the anon anime-PFP-wearing team:

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Entangled by Bjorn Staal

• Mint Date: June 20

• Supply: 512

• Price: Dutch Auction (0.145 – 0.065 ETH)

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet) and Tezos

• Link

It all started on November 22nd, 2023 when artist Bjorn Staal tweeted a short video of animated plasma spheres that somehow interacted with each other across separate browser windows.

The tweet went viral, with over 10 million views, and we wrote about the project shortly after.

Then silence for 7 months…

Most hyped drops would get written off after that long, but lo and behold, Entangled is dropping next week.

It will have separate collections on Ethereum and Tezos (supply equally split) where each sphere is paired with one on the other chain, enabling cross-chain interactions that alter the visuals in real-time.

This is one of the best multi-chain gen art collections I’ve seen, with past authentic virality, gamification through the use of pairs, and an accessible price to boot. What’s not to like?

✨ Top 25 & Favorite 🔥 

Pizza Pets

• Mint Date: TBD

• Supply: TBD

• Price: Free Airdrop for MegaPunks and Pizza Ninjas holders

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Tamagotchi-influenced crypto founders are at it again with Pizza Pets, a fully onchain game on Bitcoin from popular ordinal PFPs Pizza Ninjas and MegaPunks.

Much like the classic Japanese game, the objective is to keep your pet alive by feeding it and keeping it happy. If your virtual critter should suffer an untimely death, it’s removed from the game and the collection (more on this in the game’s manifesto).

This makes the game an ephemeral spectacle that can never be played again after the last pet dies, which adds a certain “you had to be there” allure.

It will start with the pets (Ordinal inscriptions) being airdropped for free to holders of the above PFPs and other select partner communities.

Taking care of the pets using Bitcoin transactions could get pricey, so let’s hope that doesn’t get in the way of the experience.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

Gamma Summer Pass

• Mint Date: This Week

• Supply: TBD

• Price: 0.0012 BTC

• Chain: Bitcoin

• Link

Popular Ordinals platform Gamma.io, mainly known for its limited edition drops (a.k.a. Prints), is releasing an art pass of its own, the Gamma Summer Pass.

The pass art is by ordinals OG Billy Restey, who’ll also be responsible for a free airdrop piece due to arrive on the Summer Solstice (June 20th).

Other benefits include exclusive access to three curated mints (artists unknown) and priority access to a mysterious “experience” later this year.

The pass is exclusive — only people who’ve collected at least three pieces on Gamma will have access to the mint.

Seems like a good deal to me if you’re an Ordinals art enjoyooor.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

GM

me when I'm asked to speak on the mints I held to 0:

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

MENACE ON THE PLAYGROUND by AllSeeingSeneca

• Mint Date: Today

• Supply: 2-Day Open Edition

• Price: 0.0047 ETH

• Chain: Ethereum (Base)

• Link

The original Bored Apes designer, AllSeeingSeneca, launched this Base open edition earlier today, and it’s open to mint through the weekend.

It looked like the project would have multiple drops when I mentioned it earlier this week, but there’s just one (for now).

The art is a meme-riddled follow-up to Seneca’s million-dollar drop from November, Perils of Sēsē, one of the few big NFT sellouts that quarter.

And I think you’ll find at least one of your favorite crypto characters referenced in the more than 1,500 possible mint permutations – whether it be a dog wif hat, XCOPY, or just good old Pepe.

Onchain Summer open editions are killing it so far (like Emily Xie’s from two days ago), and this one’s got the right memegredients at an affordable price.

✨Added to Top 25 ✨

ESCAPES by Tù.úk’z

• Mint Date: June 13

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: Ethereum (Mainnet)

• Link

This Verse drop is one for the cozy maxxers in the chat, with soft ethereal landscapes that whisper “happy place in an alternate, palette-swapped universe” (also the title of my upcoming anime light novel).

Emergent art scene enjoyoors may already recognize this style from Tù.úk’z, a.k.a. Arthur Machado, a prolific artist whose work often combines AI, collage, and other methods, resulting in mellow worlds of color.

It’ll be the artist’s second Verse drop following his sellout of Isles of Alcina in March, and I bet collectors could show up again. Some key mint details are missing but I’ve tentatively…

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

PROFILES

• Mint Date: July

• Supply: TBD

• Price: TBD

• Chain: TBD

• Link

Oh, anime PFPs… it seems like every quarter we get a new one that hypes weebs and non-weebs alike.

And this drop from MONKEEMOTO could strike a chord thanks to its left-facing characters and emphasis on drip, with coats ranging from pretty normal to you’d only see this on Crunchyroll.com.

This fashion focus is a core part of the project — you can customize the base PFPs with different pieces of interchangeable clothing, which themselves are unique assets that will sell in quarterly booster pack drops.

FewoWorld tried something like this but had other issues hampering it.

Adidas cosigned MONKEEMOTO last year as part of its RESIDENCY program, and if it’s good enough for the three stripes, it’s good enough for me.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨