GM

“I'll be down in a second just sending my readers some thoughts on the latest non-fungible tokens.”

In today’s edition:

• The casino is officially open

• The Top 25

• 4 new drops

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

Did you know?

We have a premium pass that gives you access to a directory of every drop we cover, complete with detailed information on how to get on every whitelist (including those underrated ones that aren’t already full).

And for those curatooors out there, you can get free NFTs just by finding drops that end up on the Mint or Watch list.

Lastly, hang with me and the MoS team in a private discord with weekly voice chats. The vibes are great.

Would you like to be featured in Mint or Skip like the above ☝️ ?

The casino is officially open

On the previous episode of NFT Exchanges Are Dying:

• Opensea said they would stop enforcing royalties in 2024

• Yuga Labs responded by saying they’d block OS in the future

• Rumors suggested Yuga might build their own marketplace

• Almost every other creator was considering the same

This added another nail to the coffin for OS, Blur, LooksRare, Magic Eden, etc.

Not only is the lack of NFT volume killing their bottom line, but they’re now also at risk of being squeezed out when the next wave of activity does return.

So what do you do when your back is against the wall?

You turn yourself into a casino, apparently.

Exhibit A: YOLO (by Looksrare)

Looksrare’s new roulette feature is getting popular.

Here’s how it works.

1. Multiple players add ETH or NFTs into a pool (min 0.01 ETH)

2. Your odds of winning are based on how much you put in

3. The wheel spins and a winner is selected

4. Looksrare takes a 5% fee

5. New games start every few minutes

I tuned into one of these games while sipping coffee this morning and the scene was as hilarious and crude as you might expect.

Here we see a humble gambler named chirag throwing 7 ETH (~$11,000) into a single spin, giving him a 91% chance of winning.

What was he aiming to win? About 0.7 ETH…and a random Akutar NFT.

42 people watching.

The chat on the website BUZZING.

Everyone hoping for an upset.

But the whale wins. GGWP. See you all again in 3 minutes?

Exhibit B: Lucky Buy (by Magiceden)

This week Magiceden announced a feature that basically lets you roll dice to buy an NFT at a fraction of its floor price.

Here’s how it works:

1. You find an NFT that you like (only Degenerate Ape Academy for now)

2. You commit some amount that’s less than the floor price

3. Odds are based on how much you put in (e.g. putting 15 SOL when the price is 100 SOL means you get a 15% chance of winning)

4. RNG determines whether you win the NFT

5. If you lose, you lose all the SOL you put in

6. BUT you get a consolation prize called diamonds

7. “Stay tuned!” to find out what diamonds are actually used for.

In other words, it’s a slot machine.

I guess it makes sense in a way. Magiceden traders were already on the more degen side of the spectrum, and this just leans more into the speculative rush that their customers are after.

Is it legal? I have no idea, seems iffy, but we tend to shoot from the hip around these parts anyway.

Bottom line

NFT exchanges were amongst the main characters of the 2021 bull run.

They controlled the flow of royalties and determined who would get featured on their platform, or who might get banned for violating some obscure rule. They were kingmakers.

But the tables have turned, and their future is more uncertain than ever before.

You hate to see it, but pivoting into straight gambling or lending seems like the logical next step.

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

Human Made by ntent.art & Bright Moments

An IRL art experience merging the past and the future takes place this Sunday in Berlin with Human Made, an event by Bright Moments and ntent.art.

Both remote and IRL participants will be able to mint a generative collage made from vintage magazines and AI-generated characters, but those who make the trip to Berlin will also be able to interact with the custom-built AI bot in an immersive environment and take home a framed print of their mint.

One for Deutschland collage enthusiasts.

Machine Hallucinations - Burned - NYC by Refik Anadol

Refik Anadol, a current main character in NFT art, is releasing a visual upgrade for his November 2021 collection Machine Hallucinations - NYC.

Until Sunday, you can burn 3 tokens from the original collection and get 1 token from the new one, transforming the old static images into a dynamic 4k 60-second video that showcases the original art in a new light.

Although this one will cost you a pretty penny (nearly 5 ETH at the time of this writing), the results are stunning, especially for NYC enthusiasts.

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨

The Horizon Collection

Art collective HODLERS gears up for a big drop with The Horizon Collection, a 200-supply mix of generative and AI creations featuring ten names that emerging art enthusiasts might already be familiar with:

Haze Long / qubibi / agoria / Katie Morris / Olga Fradina / Stephan Vasement / Javier Tomeo / Ganchitecture / Ira Greenberg / Tristan Rettich

Holders of the collective’s membership tokens (Genesis & Collector Pass) get guaranteed early access to the drop.

Nyan Balloon Season 3

Those who lived through the early 2023 open edition bubble might remember PRguitarman (a.k.a. Chris Torres) and his Nyan Balloon, a piece that helped popularize the “burn to claim” meta.

So many variations of the original have been minted that these are being serialized as seasons. With Season 2 nearing conclusion, Torres has just announced Season 3, which will see everyone’s favorite pixel cat in even more costumes, like this flying mushroom lumberjack.

One for those longing for early internet nostalgia.