GM

Let us reflect today on these words from one of our Patron Saints:

There is no life I know

To compare with pure imagination

Living there, you'll be free

If you truly wish to be

– Willard Wilbur “Willy” Wonka

Links for the Top 25 drops are HERE.

The next big Bitcoin drop

Context

The team behind Forgotten Runes Wizard's Cult will soon release Shadows, a highly anticipated 666-piece art collection on Bitcoin.

More info will be released “this week or next”.

Our take

One way to think about NFTs is that they’re belief tokens.

These are real packets of data, but their value is based on an imaginary game that we all collectively agree to play along with. 

And in some ways, Bitcoin NFTs are maybe the most imaginary game in town. 

Not only do they inherit all the existing fiction from normal NFTs (e.g. “this token is valuable because it came from so-and-so’s wallet or because it has a certain ID number and for some reason we all agree that’s important”) but it also adds a new layer:

Bitcoin NFTs can only be indexed, tracked, and traded using a brand new lens (Ordinal Theory) that doesn’t exist in any of the underlying Bitcoin code. 

In other words, Ordinals are an overlay on top of Bitcoin that lets you tap into a made-up index that you wouldn’t notice without it, sort of like writing invisible code that can only be viewed under UV light.  

And while humans are pretty good at playing along with imaginary games, the value of any particular game depends on who believes in it. The neighborhood game of D&D, for example, is fairly limited because no one is buying in outside of a few nerds gathering on Tuesdays. 

But get enough people to larp together, especially uber-wealthy crypto whales, and suddenly you’ve accidentally bootstrapped a new global digital economy. Oops! 

Why am I bringing all of this up? Well, because the upcoming Shadows mint on Bitcoin might be the biggest exercise in imagination that I’ve seen in a long time, and I just need everyone to understand that we’re all already larping on the reg, and that’s ok. 

But before we get to Shadows, we need to talk about Shadow Hats (confusing names, I know). 

TLDR: Shadow Hats

Dotta was one of the first people I remember talking about Ordinals.

Even though he’s best known for co-founding Forgotten Runes, one of the few 2021 Ethereum PFPs that has maintained a core following to this day, he was also extremely early to Bitcoin NFTs, which is a testament to his openness. 

And he seized this opportunity by minting (inscribing) 10 collectibles called Shadow Hats all the way back in January 2023. 

These Shadow Hats were minted within the first 1,000 inscriptions (again – an imaginary index), which means that they’re now considered to be extremely valuable. In fact, the most affordable sub-1k ordinal you can get today is currently ~$28,000. 

Unfortunately, these Shadow Hats are currently not for sale.

But another collection called Shadows is, and people are already spending up to 6 ETH to get one at mint. 

What are Shadows? 

After inscribing Shadow Hats, Dotta and team returned to Ordinals in August to mint a second collection of 666 pixelated ghosts called Shadows. 

Unlike Shadow Hats, Shadows don’t have low inscription numbers. Therefore the intention was to connect Shadows to Shadow Hats onchain, and perhaps share in some of that sweet sub-1k provenance that might trickle down to them. 

But there was an issue.

The main method for connecting two Bitcoin collections, called Parent-Child inscriptions, wasn’t introduced until after Shadow Hats were inscribed (and it needed to be referenced in the original code for it to work). 

So the team had to get creative. 

And here, O Dearest Readers, is where I need you to free your mind and let yourself drift into the world of turbo fantasy that we prepared for. 

The following is a summary of how Shadows and Shadow Hats are connected, according to a blog post released yesterday: 

1. First, the OG Shadow Hats were each sent to a specific address 

2. Then these addresses were tied together by sending tx’s to each other

3. And finally, each Shadow Hat address inscribed Shadows that looked like itself 

4. Therefore, these Shadows are linked to a Shadow Hat by being inscribed by it (and by sharing traits) 

They claim that, with step two, they’ve turned the OG 10 Shadow Hats into a sort of summoning circle from which new NFTs will emerge (as seen below). 

Another way to look at it is that this pentagram is yet another imaginary overlay on top of the imaginary Ordinals overlay on top of Bitcoin (which some call imaginary money!). 

We’re multiple levels of larping deep now.

At this point, you could throw your hands up and say this is all bs and you’d rather just touch grass or get laid (you won’t). Or…you could suspend disbelief, see this as an expression of the technical arts, and have fun with your friends on the internet. 

Some have already made their choice. People have been buying up certain NFTs on Ethereum that grant free Shadows from the upcoming mint, and they’ve been paying upwards of 5-6 ETH each. 

This seems aggressive to me. At 6 ETH, with a 666 supply, that would make this a $9 million mint. 

Then again Bitcoin is built different, and we did just have a ~$10 million mint with Nodemonkes a couple of weeks ago. So we’ll see. 

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

Fini Cards

Fini’s latest cute animal software drop might be up your alley if you want to stay updated on market prices but just can’t bear staring at a chart any longer.

This open edition sees early project sketches repurposed to match over 60 different price oracles, allowing you to visualize everything from boring commodities to degenerate non-fungibles through a very yellow tamagotchi-like creature.

MOD by Kevin Abosch

Kevin Abosch is back with a new AI art release today following last October’s IYKYK open edition, which got over 1,500 mints.

Formally announced just a couple of days ago and dropped on OpenSea by the time you read this, MOD is a 150-supply collection that depicts AI reimaginings of vinyl records that tie back to the artist’s life.

One for the fans.

Open Eyes (Signal) by Jake Fried

Jake Fried’s mind-bending black-and-white animations once again find their way to Avant Arte’s printers with the 30-supply Open Eyes (Signal), a digital + physical release, which follows the sellout of last July’s Open Eyes (Flower).

Surrealistic eyeballs stare back at the viewer in this new piece. Perfect for fans of the renowned artist’s usual style (or anyone who enjoys having menacing eyes watch them from across the room).

✨ Added to Top 25 ✨