🎁 Wrapped: The Weekly Web3 Newsletter - 3.30.22

By @DepecheNode_

We love to talk about price action, distribution, volume, and unique holders, but all of these metrics are simply byproducts of one thing: attention. The winners of the world all have one thing in common: they attracted, and held onto, the attention of others. 

My guiding thesis for investing in NFTs is that all value accrues to the top. Why? Because the only truly scarce resource is what we do with our time…aka where we focus our attention. 

The sad truth in NFTs (and in life) is that anything ‘average’ will quickly fade into irrelevance. Michael Saylor, bless his heart, is on to something:

Take a look at Coingecko. The market cap of Bitcoin and Ethereum is about 1.3 trillion right now, which is about 60% of the total crypto market! That’s right, two coins are worth more than the rest combined. The same is happening with NFTs. The good news is the NFT market is quite broad and each category will only grow in size and scope as time passes. Entire ecosystems are being created around art, PFPs, games, music, and more. However, within each category, only the top will capture and retain the attention of the masses. 

Your grandma knows about Bitcoin by now. She does not know about Polygon, and she probably never will. 

Only so much room in our little brains. 

The most successful d2c brands already know this secret. It’s the community you build that will make or break your company. Give them something they want, and they’ll join your club. Give them a purpose and a mission, and they’ll stick with you. 

PFPs are a natural representation of what a community can be. Only this time, community members have true ownership. A PFP can become one’s online identity, and offer a sense of belonging and purpose. That’s a powerful moat. An engaged community is the very definition of attention. So while you may not like the oversaturation of PFPs on your timeline, it’s unlikely this is going to stop anytime soon. PFPs have achieved product market fit in a way that few other NFTs have. Everyone wants to belong, and a quality PFP project can open the door to meaningful and exciting communities. 

Apply the attention power law to PFPs and it’s easy to see why BAYC continues to absolutely smash everything else. Normies have heard of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, but they have no idea what an Azuki or Doodle or Metahero is. 

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