If you’re on Crypto Twitter, chances are your timeline is currently filled with mentions of DeGods and y00ts. In this post I’ll explain why, and how you could possibly get in on the hype.
What are DeGods?
If you have been living under a rock, let me give you the low-down:
- DeGods are the #1 NFT project on Solana and are fucking shit up (in the best way, of course).
- Frank, their outspoken founder is one of the most respected innovators in the space and has just hit 100k Twitter followers.
- The total floor value of the project is upwards of US $140m.
In their own words:
DeGods is a digital art collection and global community of creators, developers, entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, experimenters and innovators.
From DeGods website
The 10k supply collection minted on 8 October 2021 at 3 SOL. SOL was around US $150 at the time. I was present during this hyped mint waiting for a link in Discord, when it suddenly appeared on Twitter instead. Mints were crazy back then and I missed it. I remember being sad about missing out, and unfortunately I didn’t end up buying on secondaries, even during the dip that followed.
As you can see from the floor price chart above, even floor DeGods have been trading for as much as US $13k (over 400 $SOL) at the time of writing. Recently they’ve been flipping top Ethereum bluechip projects. From the 3 SOL mint, their price has increased a cool 28x and according to Frank, they are only getting started.
But before we look at what the future might hold, let’s take a look at how DeGods got here…
Bitch tax (33.3%)
The number 33.3% is synonymous with the project.
DeGods invented the bitch tax, a utility to counter the biggest plague of the Solana NFT space: paperhands (admittedly, these were simpler times). The concept was simple – if you sold a DeGod under floor price you would incur a 33.3% bitch tax.
This controversial utility would be enforced by their own market place they were trying to launch shortly after launch. During these times we didn’t have the MagicEden monopoly, and new market places were popping up everywhere so it actually seemed quite possible.
Many projects had their own successful market places, most notably Solana Monkey Business. It turned out that this vision was too difficult to implement and failed. The market place launched but never worked, casting a shadow over the project’s ability to deliver on ambitious promises.
Staking and $DUST Protocol
DeGods may not have been the first project to implement staking, or launch a token but fast forward a few months and it is clear they did it best.
DeGod holders are incentivised to stake their NFTs to earn the token $DUST, initially for raffles and auctions of special merch and NFTs. Later, $DUST would be required to upgrade your DeGod’s art and mints (more on this below ).
$DUST is regarded as one of the strongest SPL tokens on Solana, especially for an NFT project. It’s traded as high as US $6 per token. It retraced back to US $1 but has recently started a new upward trend.
There is a lot of demand for this currency and recently gambling projects have sprung up where players can bet with $DUST.
DeadGods – 1000 $DUST Needed
Up until the DeadGods release, I suppose you could have faded DeGods based on art only. Some traits just seemed, well, weird. However, this was all made right with the DeadGods art upgrade.
For 1000 $DUST holders had the ability to transform their DeGod into a DeadGod. The NFT would keep the same attributes, but in a redesigned format. A DeadGod also yielded 3x the amount of $DUST per day.
DeadGods marked a bit of a turning point for the project. Suddenly they all looked cool – even the ones with weird traits. It also caused $DUST to pump as there wasn’t enough to go around, and I believe to this day there are still DeGods who have yet to transform.
Duppies errr, y00ts.
By now it should be clear that DeGods is no ordinary project and that the NFT is a solid investment and will appreciate over time. But you may also be thinking that an entry price of US $13,000 is just too steep. Well, there is some good news – maybe.
They are about to drop their follow up collection, y00ts. Previously named Duppies, this collection has been teased for quite some time. It will be a whitelist/yootlist only mint and minted with $DUST.
Aside from great art, y00ts have a unique utility (surprise, surprise) that will enable holders to customise their NFT’s. Holders will also be able to earn $SOL in various ways from participating in the Y ecosystem. You can read more about these ideas in the Y paper here.
Whilst many y00tlist spots will go to DeGod holders, there are still spots available. Unlike usual WL giveaways you may have seen, Frank and the DeGods team are personally selecting spots based on applications.
From their website you can access the application form, specify your Discord and Twitter and motivate why you should be selected.
Thanks to the y00ts whitelist process all eyes on Solana. With the hype around the upcoming mint, trading volumes have returns and DeGods have hit new all-time highs.
The start of a new NFT bull run?
Okay Bears may have started the migration to Solana, but y00ts is showing the world that the future of NFTs is on Solana. With fresh ideas for utility and fun whitelist applications, people are talking about Solana NFTs at the most unusual time. Who knows, Frank and his team may have played a big role in putting an end to a gruesome NFT bear market and kicked off the next bull-run.
Not everyone will be y00tlisted but something tells me that secondaries will be heated and bring in a lot of new capital. In turn this will boost the entire ecosystem. As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.