We Need to Talk About Kevin... 🎁Wrapped: The Weekly Web3 Newsletter

By @DepecheNode_

The situation in Ukraine made me think about one thing: JPGs are not that important. It’s sad that it took a war for me to really zoom out, but here we are. Some of the recent project launches, along with the behavior of NFT enthusiasts, have been downright laughable. So without further ado, here are three things I don’t like right now:

The gap between Pixelmon’s $70M haul and the NFTs the project produced will perhaps never be equaled. The characters are so incredibly bad it’s being labeled ‘historic’. People paid 3 ETH for these. It hurts to even think about it. We often equate many projects to the lottery, and Pixelmon is no exception: literally almost everyone lost!! The randomized, secret nature of the minting process is now officially dangerous. 

Oh, and shoutout to De’Aaron Fox for shutting down his NFT project after pulling in $1.5M.

Takeaway: The days of little to no information on new projects are over. Expect a higher standard from upcoming projects or forget about minting. It’s time to raise the bar when it comes to due diligence. And btw, celebrity-endorsed NFT projects are usually a bad idea. 

Invisible Friends achieved a 13 ETH floor pre-reveal. I begged my whitelisted friends to immediately sell (they didn’t). Not only is this unsustainable, but it’s also bad for the industry. Listen, I think the art is fine and the animation is great, but it’s not THAT great. The IF hype is bad for the project and bad for the industry. Those poor suckers who bought at 13 ETH are down over 60% in a matter of days (floor under 6 ETH at time of writing). And if I’m being totally honest (s/o cobie) I don’t think they make great PFPs…they’re literally invisible. 

*To be clear, I’m not hating on Invisible Friends, I’m hating on the amount of hype and the ridiculous price action that ensued. 

Takeaway: We may never learn this lesson because humans can’t help it. We want so badly to win that we ignore the odds. Why did I tell everyone to immediately sell their IF at 13 eth? Because there are exactly 0 projects that have held a floor that high in their first week. Start thinking in numbers, not in hope. 

Noobs are particularly vulnerable to gaslighting as they try to navigate the dark forest of crypto and NFT land. I was no exception, and I still find myself questioning my own thoughts at times after reading an over-confident take on ‘xyz’ project. Tubby Cats are the most recent example. 

Here is my stream of consciousness from last week:

Then I took a few moments and actually thought for myself:

Takeaway: Take the time to form your own thesis. Don’t rely completely on others’ opinions. Spend an inordinate amount of time curating your timeline to include only those who have established themselves as reputable long-term individuals. Even then, remember that their opinions are their opinions, not yours.

DISCLOSURE: I own NFTs. Specifically, punk #2971 if you’d like to dig around.