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Today's newsletter will make you want to buy shiny digital objects.

Look away now if you're someone who is not looking to acquire beautiful things. You've been warned.

In today’s edition:

• Crypto art is heating up

• Mint and Watch Lists

• Two new drops

Links for the Mint/Watch list 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 ☝️ ?

Crypto art is heating up

There’s a saying:

Read it, memorize it, get it tattooed on your lower back if you need to. It’ll come in handy.

This is especially relevant today, Dear Readers, because we’ll be discussing one of those elusive trends that I’ve been seeing lately.

Without further ado, I’m happy to share: IT’S ART SZN.

Despite attention around NFTs being at a multi-year low, we’re still seeing successful high-profile art mints nearly every single day.

These are drops that not only sell out, but often receive even more demand on secondary markets post-mint.

In some cases, they’re highly promoted 7 figure collections, which is amazing to see for the artists involved. In others, they’re niche tastes that are still finding loyal collectors.

And there’s plenty more on the way.

Today I’ll be sharing the next art mints that I’m watching in the coming days and weeks.

But first, let’s look at some…

Recent successes previously highlighted in this Most Refined Newsletter.

Jake Fried: Open Eyes (Flower)

• Minted on July 25

• Mentioned on July 5th 

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 2.5 eth

• Current price: 2.8 eth

Themes and Variations by Vera Molnár

• Minted on July 26th

• Mentioned on June 29th

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 1.03 eth

• Current price: 4.8 eth

Possibility Spaces by Look Highward

• Minted on August 3rd

• Mentioned on July 18th

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 0.069 eth

• Current price: 0.09 eth

Velocity Series: Velocity Pass

• Minted on August 3rd

• Mentioned on August 3rd 

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 0.3 eth

• Current price: 0.72 eth

Bright by Heeey

• Minted on August 7th

• Mentioned on July 11th 

• Status: Minted out:

• Mint price (lowest): 0.05 eth

• Current price: 0.19 eth

Threads by Professor Jun

• Minted on August 7th

• Mentioned on August 2nd

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 0.07 eth

• Current price: 0.2 eth

Kingdom of the Laughing Man: Boundless by Yue Minjun

• Minted on August 8th

• Mentioned on June 20th

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 0.3 eth

• Current price: 0.6 eth

Fold by rudxane

• Minted on August 8th

• Mentioned on August 1st

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 0.18 eth

• Current price: 0.22 eth

Color Blinds Study by Zach Lieberman

• Minted on August 8th

• Mentioned on July 20th

• Status: Minted out

• Mint price (lowest): 3.2 eth

• Current price: no trades yet

Now, let’s look at some of my favorite drops coming up

Subtle by William Stallwood

August 9th

Twitter

Philadelphia-based designer and game developer makes his Art Blocks debut; 3D art that’s as sleek as it gets.

Cone Gradient Study by Zach Lieberman

August 10th

Twitter

Follow-up to the wildly popular Color Blinds Study drop yesterday; this one will have 150 still works (instead of videos).

923 Empty Rooms by Casey Reas

August 14th

Twitter

Highly influential digital artist who has co-created award-winning design programming languages. Launching as part of an Art Blocks x Bright Moments collab.

SPACE/TIME by loackme

August 14th

Twitter 

Pseudonymous artist known for monochromatic work on Tezos; I’m really liking the sneak peeks.

The Boys of Summer by Mitchell F. Chan

August 16th

Twitter

An interactive art PFP game by an OG who previously launched (maybe) the first piece of abstract performance crypto art back in 2017.

Luci: Chapter 5 by Sam Spratt

August 21st

Twitter

The fifth chapter in a multi-year primate story from a supremely popular New York artist. Hype is growing fast.

Quasi Dragons by Harvey Rayner

August 22nd

Twitter

Highly anticipated collection from an Art Blocks artist; features an innovative mechanic that lets collectors burn and combine multiple NFTs to form new ones.

Rhythm & the Machine by Lars Wander

August 24th

Twitter

Former Google engineer who has amassed a notable collector base since he started publishing generative art in 2020.

Flourish by Sterling Crispin

August 30th

Twitter

The second AB drop from a neurotechnology researcher; imagines a linguistic structure that unconventionally combines different geometric shapes.

Bottom line

There’s no denying that crypto art is having a moment.

However, we know mini-cycles come and go, and collectors often get ahead of themselves when there’s too much of a good thing.

Want some alpha? Here’s one weird trick to keep the vibes right all summer: only buy what you like. ✨

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

Become the Citizen

Citizen Conflict, a free-to-play shooter game from QORPO, is dropping a free NFT today at 3 PM ET via an open edition.

The NFT grants early access to the studio’s flagship game, for which we already have some gameplay footage (public release due in 2024).

Feels like a low-stakes way for shooter enthusiasts to get involved.

Parallel - BASE Starter Decks

If you’ve recently been seething and coping about not being let into the Parallel Beta yet, don’t fret. I present you solution:

Coinbase’s Onchain Summer program starts today, and they’ll be having daily mints on Base with various partners. One of these confirmed partners is Parallel who, according to a recent tweet from the co-founder, will be dropping some starter decks on this chain.

Each of these decks has 40 NFTs and grants immediate access to the game’s beta and $PRIME earnings.

We don’t yet have price/supply info but it seems like it’s time to duel mint.

The Mint List

1. Taproot Wizards. OG Bitcoin meme inscribed as ordinals

2. 10KTF PFP. Drop from a team that includes Yuga and Beeple

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

4. Shadow Hats. Ordinals drop from the creators of Forgotten Runes

5. Genesis SFT Pass. Digital anime collectibles from a notable team

6. LUCI: Chapter 5. Follow-up from artist with esteemed collector base

7. Symbiogenesis. Square Enix's upcoming gaming NFT

8. Quasi Dragons. Innovative drop from an Art Blocks veteran

9. Cone Gradient Study. Art drop from a pioneer and museum exhibitor

10. Memeland [TBC]. High-value treasure MVPs minting on BTC