It’s crypto winter. While holders warm their hands at the bonfire of flaming digital asset prices, established projects move back to building from schilling. Many infant projects deferred their mint, intending to hibernate through the bear market.
Despite the FUD, some projects braved no man’s land, trying a different approach in the face of uncertainty: the free mint.
Web3 is trimming the fat, and mints must do the same if they want a fighting chance. The trend is not to promise anymore. Projects like Moonrunners, WZRDS, and Goblintown, are jumping straight to delivery, skipping steps and challenging conventional wisdom, committing to less of a product than ever before.
They’re sticking to their story with no plan on hand. It takes hubris to launch in a bear market, especially with a loose strategy, but the bear is biting.
Their communities live on Twitter. They’ve bypassed the mess of management that Discord demands. They’ve foregone whitepapers and roadmaps, letting their lore do the talking. One project mocks the concept of utility altogether. They’ve embraced the degen, uniting flippers and collectors alike as a wave.
The free mint experience revitalises the NFT space with a welcome sardonic enthusiasm. Despite a dip in trading, they all hold more than enough value to make their free mint worth it. Free mints are a breath of fresh air, if not a glimmer of hope for everyone collecting precious jpegs in these dark times.
The value of sacrifice: “Protect the Moonrunners at all costs.”
Moonrunners feature majestic 16-bit Web3 wolves vying for survival. The crises that beset their dwindling population mirror IRL FUD in a hopeful way. Holders make real sacrifices to serve the pack, and noble martyrdom reaps rewards from the rich community narrative.
The Moonrunners project encourages participation in the history of Primordia in a meaningful way. Primordia just recently emerged from a great war, resulting in the loss (and very real burning) of many Moonrunners.
The free mint nature of the project eases loss. The team has memorialised many lost Moonrunners and rewarded their holders with airdrops of loot and tools to weather future catastrophes.
Also Read: How Southeast Asia is embracing the Web3 era
The emerging story has holders at the edge of their seats, awaiting the next vote or decision that shapes their shared universe. The cost to participate grows even without a clear promise of things to come, but that doesn’t matter much to Moonrunners’ earliest holders and free minters. They all wait patiently for the next chapter, proudly participating in an evolving chronicle, while their token floor value holds.
WZRDS, razing stakes: “CoWZRDs will be burned.”
WZRDs encapsulates the comical tragedy of mages failing badly at pursuing happiness. Despite each vibrant expression of dishevelled discontent, there’s no telling what will happen in the world of WZRDs without lurking on Twitter. Cryptic and ominous announcements thrill holders at the prospects of power and consequence in and around the city of Tyrol.
Holders stake their wizards to commit their choices on the blockchain. The project is fomenting conflict between staked WZRDs and unstaked CoWZRDS. Multiple alt Twitter accounts paint a picture in stark contrast as one side digs at the other while stating its case.
The developing plot is entertaining. Holders’ decisions will have lasting effects on their digital assets, and they’ll have to pick sides and they may have to put their WZRDs on the line.
Each WZRD is valued well over the gas holders spent on their free mint, but the lore is sustaining both the interest and the floor price of this promising project. The whole market is anticipating the fates of these disgruntled WZRDs.
Gobluminati
Aping into a project is risky, but you can usually count on the better judgement of the holders you’re aping. Degen is what most NFT traders will blame for their most costly mistakes.
That unique mix of FOMO and Monster Energy Drink has left many holding the bag. Goblintown is a celebration of the bag, the Degen, the FOMO, the Monster, and all the piss that comes after.
Truth Labs, the founders of two previously successful NFT projects (Illuminati and the 187), touched a nerve with Goblintown and its unconventional marketing.
Only around NFT NYC did Goblintown founders finally dox themselves, letting speculation on their identities drive interest. Truth Labs and their Illuminati community pulled off the stealthiest of viral mints with the drop of Goblintown.
Also Read: Web3 marketing: Building a cult-like community
The self-deprecating humour of Goblintown tastes precisely like the burning boot at the bottom of the crash. With their introduction and launch, the NFT community is laughing again, roleplaying the spirit of Degen at Goblintown’s infamous Twitter spaces.
It takes the load off all the losses and helps investors and founders make light of a dire market. Everyone is eager to participate: Goblintowns floor price can only skyrocket. If that wasn’t enough, they just served free McGoblin Burgers to holders that might be taking interviews at McDonald’s.
Goblintown is only the first of the 187 universes up Truth Labs’ sleeve. It started with Nagunda Gobberbun and escalated into mayhem we won’t soon forget. There’s some stellar talent at Truth Labs, and we’re eager for what’s next.
Final thoughts
These projects are a product of the market they are serving. In a downturn, everyone is looking for uncorrelated or negatively correlated gains. By selling stories without a promise, these projects might have a place in a bear market portfolio.
But it’s not just economics. Each project tells a story of perseverance, optimism, and levity. These might be the intangibles that get through hard times.
As project best practices fall to the wayside, time will tell if there’s more to these projects than bravery and comic relief. Their cumulative royalties should offer enough rope for these teams to macrame something magical, or they could just take the money and run. They never really promised anything.
One thing is for sure: Creators will create.
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