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Except for your non-fungible token collection.

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Huge drop announced

Context

Taproot Wizards announced the upcoming mint of Quantum Cats. 

Here’s what we know: 

• Supply: 3,333 Bitcoin NFTs (inscriptions)

• Mint date: January 24 

• Price: TBD

This coincides with a 1-of-1 Genesis Cat being auctioned at Sotheby’s on January 22. 

Our take 

The Ordinals space feels like an episode of Game of Thrones right now. 

Memecults, in the form of PFPs, are jostling for supremacy as overinvested holders turn on each other and watch their fortunes rise and fall on a daily basis. 

Turf wars with frogs doing drive-bys on monkes who are dunking on puppets and so on.  

All while brand new PFPs emerge weekly and present themselves as fresh ammo for all those who missed the prior boat. 

This aggressiveness comes from people feeling that there still isn’t an apex community at the top of the Ordinals social ladder, which means the throne is open for the taking. 

But that’s not quite right.

There’s a looming presence in the background, which in our heart of hearts we all already know to be the de facto flagbearer for the space until further notice. 

Our Most Attentive Readers will remember that this project was once #1 on our now-retired Mint List (RIP). 

Yes, it’s Taproot Wizards.

Taproot Wizards

If Taproot Wizards were to auction off their collection of 2,121 NFTs today, it would likely be one of the highest-grossing NFT sales ever, on any chain. 

Wizards began with a sub 1,000 inscription that was part of the largest Bitcoin block ever. They’re the clear mascot for the entire Ordinals movement, led by its most popular evangelist. And they’re based on the original and most iconic Bitcoin meme from back in 2013.  

Be honest, that mint would bang. 

Yet it doesn’t feel like we’re close to any sale. A few contributors have received one for free, while other supporters have undergone a series of increasingly embarrassing side-quests to try to get themselves on the mint list. 

However, this week they announced a second collection…

Quantum Cats 

A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to, and sells you cats in the meantime. 

This is the first expansion from the Taproot Wizards ecosystem and the first thing they’ve ever offered for sale. 

The meme is based on OP_CAT, a function in Satoshi’s original Bitcoin scripting language capable of performing complex features (somewhat similar to smart contracts). 

It was removed early on in 2010, but many are still longing to bring it back in some respect (whether with an L2 or some other method), and Quantum Cats is apparently a celebration of that movement. 

The art is simplistic, like Taproot Wizards, and opts for a memetic aesthetic that even a 9-year-old could appreciate. 

But the real magic is under the hood. Quantum Cats are pioneering a new model called Evolving Inscriptions, which uses Recursion (covered here) to chain a series of unrevealed images together programmatically. 

Put more simply, the cat images will automatically change at predetermined times that were set in stone the minute they were inscribed, and only the team knows what those future versions will look like. 

Super cool, and really flexes the potential future on Ordinals, which is looking more expressive by the day. 

It also follows a model that we just saw from Forgotten Runes Wizard’s Cult: Start with a sacred collection that isn’t for sale (Wizards, Shadow Hats), and use that pent-up demand to elevate a related collection.

For FRWC that strategy led to an insane $5.5 million mint for Shadows earlier this week. 

And my guess is Quantum Cats easily breaks that if they go the auction route. 

Bottom line

Part meme, part storytelling NFT, part technical breakthrough. 

One for those who are strapped in for the future of Bitcoin's digital economy. 

✨ Added to Top 25 & Favorites 🔥

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

Natively Digital: An Ordinals Curated Sale

Following Sotheby’s astounding Bitcoin Shrooms sales last November, one would expect the auction house to keep its foot on the sats pedal.

And that they have, as today they revealed the 19-supply Natively Digital exhibition.

The roster features notable creators in the Ordinals space, including Nullish, FAR, Shroomtoshi, and Nodemonkes, as well as artists more known on the Ethereum side, like Rudxane and Lucréce, among others.

Bidding is open until the 22nd of January. Ze institutions are coming, perhaps.

TERRAINS by ThankYouX

Akin to the majestic barnacle goose seasonally migrating between hemispheres, the great Ethereum → Bitcoin artist migration continues, this time featuring LA-based street artist turned blockchain creator ThankYouX, who’ll be releasing the 100-supply TERRAINS.

Like the artist’s recent past work (which coincidentally includes an ongoing Sotheby’s exhibition), the art looks to be on the more handpainted, abstract side of things, but we’ll have to wait for updates to confirm.

Pebbles by Zeblocks

A long-awaited release comes to fruition as the 6529 platform finally gears up to drop their first ever fully on-chain generative collection, Pebbles, by artist duo Zeblocks.

This will also be the inaugural drop in 6529’s NextGen program which also aims to explore non-art use cases for fully on-chain NFTs (my interest is piqued).

No art teasers yet, but it’s confirmed that the mint will follow the usual 6529 allowlist model determined by collector holdings.