GM

Mint or Skip: made for overinvested jpeg holders, by overinvested jpeg holders.

In today’s edition:

• Will Reddit kill their NFTs?

• Top 25 NFTs

• 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 ☝️ ?

Will Reddit kill their NFTs?

Quick context

Reddit ended its blockchain-based community points program, including the popular “moons” currency from r/cryptocurrency (which is now crashing).  

Main reasons stated: It was difficult to scale, most of the desired features are available elsewhere on the app already and ye olde regulatory concerns.

This led people to wonder if Reddit Avatars might be next. Some suggested they’d stop buying avatars given the risk that Reddit might sunset the program entirely.

The only direct comment from Reddit is them telling Decrypt “Collectible Avatars initiative continues”, which admittedly is a pretty weak statement.

So let’s take a look at both sides.

The pessimistic take

Some reasons supporting the fears that Avatars could get axed:

• Very slow progress on major updates so far. Where’s that marketplace we heard about?

• Still not prominent inside the app. Even locating the store is a pain.

• Underwhelming last few drops. Community support is wavering.

• Bear market vibes have all big corps shifting away from crypto.

The optimistic take

Let’s start with the obvious: Reddit Avatars are far more successful than Community Points.

There are 21 million wallets holding an Avatar today, whereas Reddit claimed that Community Points were adopted by so few subreddits that “you’d be able to count them on one hand and have a finger or two left over.”

Avatars are also a much more profitable business (people have spent millions so far), have more brand collab potential than Points ever did and are less exposed to regulatory risk.

But more importantly, they continue to release new Avatars at a consistent pace.

Currently, there are three rumored drops coming:

1. The Gen 5 Series – will have a much more limited supply than Gen 4

2. This free drop – comes with a new animated “expressions” feature

3. Potentially an NBA collab – this one is a stretch looking at the proof

Bottom line

O Dearly Beloved, you’re always taking a risk when the value of your NFTs relies on a centralized platform that can pivot at any moment.

Even worse when 99% of that platform’s users are staunch no-coiners who, if anything, would fully support Reddit distancing itself from all things crypto.

Personally, I see enough evidence suggesting that Avatars aren’t going away anytime soon. And I’m still bullish on the whole concept, although I’d like to see some more creative risk-taking.

But I have no inside knowledge and try to spend as little time as possible on Reddit these days, so look to the heavens and seek your own truth on this one.

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

2023 Crypties Awards – Voting Pass

This free drop from Decrypt gives you a voice in their 2023 Crypties Awards, where the best crypto projects of the past year are voted on.

Voting is not 100% decentralized (four nominees in each of the seven categories have already been picked by the media company), but whether you’re a Pudgy Penguin stan, a Sam Spratt fanboy or one of many shadowy lurkers, this seems like a fun, risk-free way to interact onchain.

Cool Cats Avatars & Halloween Avatar Pack

Tired of jpeg speculation, anon? Enter Cool Cats Avatars.

The OG milk-chuggers PFP launches this new soulbound NFT collection tomorrow, allowing new participants to rep an official Cool Cats PFP at no cost, seemingly avoiding any dilution for the original 10k PFP collection.

However, it’s likely people will speculate when it comes to the tradeable limited-edition accessory sets that one can dress their avatar with, the first of which also drops tomorrow. Future sets may also drop alongside physicals (Pudgy Penguins, anyone?).

Constraint by Eric Andwer

Generative artist (and woodworker) Eric Andwer debuts on Verse and Ethereum with his 232-supply Constraint next month.

The collection offers tremendous variety in its pieces (possibly hand-curated?), showcasing a similar style to the artist’s past Tezos work. It’s accompanied by a dreary writeup on the drop page that elevated the art for me, but it might not be everyone’s cup of tea (wagmi).

HAHArtifacts

A collection ten years in the making comes to life as OG anon crypto artist burst_ makes their Bitcoin Ordinals debut with the colorful 123-supply HAHArtifacts.

Though mint details are limited, the team seems to be collaborating with a core Ordinals developer, making me wonder if we’ll see further technical innovations in this release.