GM

Welcome to our 11 new subs.

I'm writing to you from the past, specifically ~30 minutes before this email is sent. Praytell, how is the future?

Did we win? Are there statues of me? Are there statues of you? Eagerly awaiting your response.

In today’s edition:

• Big day for Bitcoin NFTs

• BTC drop jumps 2 spots

• 4 new drops

More info on Mint/Watch lists HERE.

Big day for Bitcoin NFTs

When the clock strikes 12 PM PT today, On Chain Monkeys will begin minting one of the most innovative Ordinals collections to date.

Here’s a snippet of some of the magic going into this one:

This is crypto nerd heaven, and it’s a lot to take in – but today I want to focus on their first bullet point, Recursion, since this has been the talk of the town and really could change the space.

Why is Recursion a big deal?

Recursion lets NFTs refer to code from other NFTs. In other words, there is now a shared open library being built on Bitcoin, inscription by inscription, that any future creator can use for their own project.

Want to make an Ordinals collection? Well with Recursion this experience can start to look more like grocery shopping – you’re walking down aisles choosing art traits from one project, a code library from another, game assets from another, etc.

There’s a lot of good that can come from this. But also, as you’ll see in a minute, some dark stuff as well.

THE GOOD

Recursion is going to tap into the superpower of composability, which I talked about here.

Essentially: Many people openly innovating together = exponential growth

Some examples of what Recursion enables:

• Borrow traits from CC0 collections. Want to add Nouns glasses to your jpeg? Now you can just write code that refers to the glasses trait from another collection. h/t

• Create generative on-chain art. Want to make “Art Blocks…but on Bitcoin”? Now you can use code packages like p5.js and three.js from OCM’s drop to build this.

• Lower barrier to entry. Ordinals will get cheaper and cheaper as time goes on, which means more creators can join in. Today that's just JPEGs, but later on this could include complex software like browser games.

THE BAD

As you know, we started covering Ordinals this week. So your Generous Author has been spending a lot more time looking through all the latest projects being announced.

And – holy shit. This is like an endless Slip n Slide of horror and cringe. For every one interesting project, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of truly bottom barrel swill.

Some patterns I’ve noticed while reviewing these gems:

• Anon founders is the standard

• There’s no such thing as too much (bad) Pixel art

• 90% don’t have websites

• The websites you do find make you wish this was 100%

• Vision, roadmaps, ideas – optional

• Bitcoin in the name – not optional. Bitcoin Kings, Bitcoin Kongs, Bitcoin Koingz. What is happening?

The irony: one of the promises of Bitcoin NFTs was that the fees would lead to higher quality collections.

Unlike other chains, where grifters launch ruggy 10k pfps daily without flinching, Bitcoin is supposed to be the home of luxury goods because of how expensive it was.

We’re…not there yet.

This is going to get 100x worse with Recursion. Somewhere a scammer is jumping in the air clicking his heels at the thought of launching a low-effort Bitcoin PFP for a fraction of what it used to cost.

What to expect in the future

So in the short term expect more rugs, more low-effort BS, just more attempts to get you to spend money on things that will swiftly trend to zero.

But of course, this is unavoidable when you make it easier for creators to launch projects. It’s a small price to pay, and in this case, the good will very likely outweigh the bad in the long run.

And, as usual, we’ll be here finding the rare ones worth highlighting.

NOTE: These drops are lightly curated. Our only requirement is that they have recognizable founders. As usual, DYOR. To learn more go here.

Dopamine Machines by Steve Pikelny

Brooklyn artist Steve Pixelny will release his 6th Art Blocks on June 21st with the very fluorescent and tremendously overstimulating Dopamine Machines.

This AB Presents features looping animations of neon signs flashing overused web3 crutch phrases, generic advertisements and cliché emojis that you might see on your “For You” Twitter timeline.

The satire is delightfully exaggerated. And I haven’t even mentioned the sound bites that play when clicking on different sections of each piece, which build on top of each other to provide fitting bear market derangement syndrome vibes.

GOLD by crashblossom

London artist James Bloom (aka crashblossom), known for his abstract glitch work, is collaborating with Fingerprints DAO for his next release, Gold, dropping June 21st.

This collection’s 500 on-chain artworks change, along with the collection as a whole, based on the NFTs' movement in the secondary markets, which raises a meta question about the market's impact on art appreciation.

Big Inc – Acceptance Letter Redemption

The time has come for all eligible employees to clock in at Big Inc come June 23rd.

Burning an Acceptance Letter that day will get you an avatar in the collection. More information on the exact mechanics should be announced soon.

Not sure what Big Inc even is. Check out our previous feature on it for more info.

CTRL

CTRL is a 404-supply Ordinals art collection centered on the Bitcoin ideals of individual sovereignty and independence from the state.

It’s a project by Jameson Mah, an investment analyst and popular Twitter threador, who as part of the project, recently inscribed the first ever Rare Satoshi (only 392 of those exist), and put on a bit of a show at the last Bitcoin Miami conference.

The attempts at viral content here show some signs of promise.

THE MINT LIST

1. Taproot Wizards. OG Bitcoin meme inscribed as ordinals

2. Project Animus. RTFKT's biggest launch since Clone-X

3. FewoWorld. New PFP by Fewocious, a rising star in the art world

4. Symbiogenesis. Square Enix's upcoming gaming NFT

5. Garbage Friends. New PFP from the creator of Invisible Friends

6. 10KTF PFP. Drop from a team that includes Yuga and Beeple

7. Dimensionals - EVE. Free gaming PFP from doxxed studio

8. OCM Dimensions. 3D gen art on Bitcoin from the innovative team

9. Tony Babel x Typical Friends. Limited edition from the popular artist

10. Ether. Anime PFP collection by viii, an artist with a cult following