GM

Oh boy, it's that time of year when I ask my readers what they actually want to read.

Tell me - more art, more gaming, more collectibles, more music? What does your heart desire:

In today’s edition:

• Making money as an NFT curator

• Changes in the rankings

• 4 new drops (with 2 making the Lists)

More info on Mint/Watch lists 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.

Making money as an NFT curator

How many people would you say are making real money with NFTs right now?

Maybe a handful of artists, a handful of traders, a few software providers, perhaps some founders still paying themselves from mint funds raised in 2021.

In other words, not many.

Now that doesn’t mean people aren’t spending on NFTs. You’d be surprised how many six and seven-figure NFT buys are made even during one of the quietest periods we’ve seen.

But they’re often concentrated in the same popular creators; it’s a case of the big getting bigger.

However, today I’m going to share some emerging trends that I think will shake things up.

Specifically, this’ll be huge for an entirely new group of participants: The Curator Class.

And that could very well include many of you, Dear Readers, so there’s no time to waste.

Let’s get into it.

Trend #1: Launching NFTs is getting easier

We’re seeing a rise in platforms letting creators release mints permissionlessly.

Prohibition launched this week as a DIY gen-art platform on Arbitrum. They’re trying to take the Art Blocks category and open it up to everyone.

You can find all their upcoming drops here.

fx(hash), another open gen-art platform that’s very popular on Tezos, announced a few weeks ago that they’re going to be expanding to Ethereum.

There’s already a huge collector culture on fx(hash) so this will probably be popular from day 1 when it launches in a few months.

Sound.xyz launched their open platform last week for anyone that wants to mint music NFTs.

Previously it was invite-only, and in the last week alone they doubled the artists on their platform by adding 500 new musicians.

And then you have Manifold, which we used for our own Mint or Skip pass a couple of months ago and will probably just keep getting better with each update.

Trend #2: Making NFTs is getting easier

Thanks to AI, we’re going to see a huge spike in creators launching NFTs.

This is both good and bad.

It’s good because it lowers the barriers for people to share their creativity; AI makes it cheaper and easier to launch without a ton of resources.

But it’s also going to get abused. We saw Fiverr factories pumping endless junk in 2021, and now we’ll see the same with AI – except at a much greater scale.

For example, we’ve already seen artists like 0xBASIIC show how you can use ChatGPT to make refined gen-art. Expect way more of this.

Trend #3: Affiliate revenue, baby

You may or may not know this, but affiliate marketing is huge in web2. It’s estimated to generate $17 billion a year, and expected to be $40 billion by 2030.

So far we haven’t really seen this in Web 3, but I think that’s about to change.

Early examples:

• Sound.xyz lets you earn 5% of primary mints using referral links.

• Foundation’s Worlds are storefronts you can set up yourself and earn from mints that occur on your page.

• Manifold lets you earn 6.9% on NFTs sold through their gallery.

This can all start racking up fast. For example, a winning bid on this piece could equal, at a minimum, ~$200 for an affiliate.

What comes next

The rise of AI, the rise of DIY platforms, the rise of NFT popularity in general – we’re all going to be absolutely drowning in tokens soon.

The only way out is through curation. These are people who can find noteworthy creators and share their stories. It’s why I started Mint or Skip, and I fully expect more competition at some point soon (publishing this story doesn’t really help I guess).

Thankfully, I see curators benefitting from more platforms turning referral programs on, and small creators will have new ways to bring attention to their works. It’s a win-win for everyone.

My advice: start refining your taste. Focus less on macro news and more on individual creators/drops, and figure out what you like and see if others feel the same.

Then, spread those wings and fly like a majestic bird – fly like you’ve never flown before.

Vaya con dios.

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

N=12

Feral File, an online art gallery co-founded in 2020 by influential artist Casey Reas (co-creator of the ubiquitous art programming language Processing), just launched Feral File 2.0, a platform upgrade that emphasizes group exhibitions and collecting art in “sets”.

The first sale showcasing this upgrade is the N=12 exhibition curated by artist Aaron Penne. It features 12 different artists who have contributed 144 pieces each (1,728 artworks total).

While each artwork is an individual NFT (and will trade as such in secondary markets), they can only be acquired as part of a complete set featuring all 12 artists, meaning tomorrow’s supply comes in at 144 sets.

Art sets are an interesting idea that puts a lot of weight on the curator. We’ll see how it plays out over the long term.

Pentoshi Control Center

Pentoshi (a prominent pseudonymous crypto Twitter account, well-known Pudgy Penguins holder and team member at the investment DAO Merit Circle) has been talking about putting penguins in space for some time now.

They just unveiled the Pentoshi Control Center, claiming a penguin will actually go to space tomorrow.

A mint is also being teased alongside this cosmic bird voyage, set to start tomorrow at 11 AM ET, with some utility in the form of…games? Would fit his profile as a Merit Circle member.

We still lack plenty of details but if you’re not tired of animal PFPs just yet, this one might be for you.

Proof Grails IV

Immeasurable engagement has been farmed and social media horses beaten to death over PROOF’s multiple NFT collections over the past year.

But the one thing people would be hard-pressed to fault is the project’s art curation. Their impressive artist catalog now includes almost every single big name in the web3 art scene.

This art effort is headlined by the Grails series, which has proven engaging in its past three releases through its gamified minting and reveal mechanism. Now with the 4th Grails release just announced, it’ll be curious to see who they bring on, and if they push the envelope in any way.

For now, we can expect Proof Pass holders to get dibs on the mint, and some Moonbirds could have a shot at it, but details are still scarce, so we’ll keep you posted.

This release could feature some pretty substantial artists, so I’ve…

✨ Added to Mint List #9 ✨

Deafbeef Bright Moments Untitled

OG onchain (you can keep the hyphen) creator Deafbeef just teased his next project on Twitter, featuring strobing lights, machinery audiovisuals, cryptic metal engraving and a rock. Yeah, I don’t know either.

Releasing on Bright Moments, a digital platform focused on IRL experiences, we should see more collection details revealed in August, but given the artist’s track record, I’m already excited.

Deafbeef is a bit of a favorite at Mint or Skip HQ, with a collector base that speaks for itself, so I’ve tentatively…

✨ Added to Watch List ✨

The Mint List

1. Taproot Wizards. OG Bitcoin meme inscribed as ordinals

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

3. Themes and Variations. Sotheby’s showcases pioneer gen artist

4. 10KTF PFP. Drop from a team that includes Yuga and Beeple

5. Symbiogenesis. Square Enix's upcoming gaming NFT

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

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

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

9. Proof Grails IV. Proof flexes their art curation abilities for a 4th time

10. LUCI: Chapter 5. NFT art series with an esteemed following