Written by: 0xCookie, Rhythm BlockBeats

Written by: 0xCookie, Rhythm BlockBeats

After more than a year of development, the NFT market, a new field with a transaction volume of more than 50 billion US dollars, already has enough project samples. In order to distinguish the quality of each NFT project, the traditional market concept of "blue chip" has also been introduced into the NFT market to label excellent NFT projects.

In most people's concepts, "blue chips" describe some commonalities:

• High market capitalization

• Long life cycle

• Has a large and active user base

• Investors can continue to get rewards during holding

But for the nascent and rapidly changing NFT market, this label seems too general and vague.

In mid-to-late March, Yuga Labs played a set of smooth and powerful combination punches, almost beating the bear away by itself. Since then, there has been a split among the "blue chips": the floor price of BAYC has returned to above 100ETH, Azuki has continuously set new historical highs, while CyberKongz and the land sector have been eclipsed in this round of carnival.

The differentiation of each NFT project in terms of its own capabilities and development direction is dynamic, and the division of project levels with "blue chips" is not only vague, but also time-delayed. From the recent differentiation among "blue chips", a clearer hierarchy has emerged, and a new pyramid is being formed: "Metaverse Ecology" will be at the top of the pyramid, followed by "Metaverse Brand", and the rest of the projects are working hard. On the road of evolution, each has its own sequence, some stand out, and some are frustrated and lonely...

In this article, Rhythm BlockBeats tries to re-layer the "blue chip" range, and observe what the current pyramid of blue chip projects should look like from the perspective of operation, marketing and development routes.

"Metaverse Ecology" - "Ecological Builder" Yuga Labs and the land sector returning to "Infrastructure Provider"

Yuga Labs has come to the top of the new pyramid in the NFT market - "Metaverse Ecology" and monopolized the throne.

Acquisition, issuance of Token, and determination of origin. Yuga Labs showed the market the ambition of building its own metaverse ecology. Self-built something that has never really existed in the market, Yuga Labs not only dares to say, but also makes people believe it.

To build a "metaverse ecology", the necessary conditions are to have a sufficiently deep project lineup (PFP) and a sufficiently reliable integrated platform (land). Land is always just a kind of "infrastructure". Just like the iOS/Android ecosystem, if it only has the technical base provided by Apple/Android but lacks countless application development, the ecosystem will only be empty talk. It’s just that in the initial environment, the PFP project is eagerly looking for new narratives to open up new imagination space for investors. “Metaverse integration” has sprung up on the roadmap of various PFP projects, and the PFP project itself lacks Sufficient resource support to build "infrastructure" by itself, so land projects with strong resource support such as Sandbox and Decentraland are more powerful in the two-way rush, and are widely regarded as "ecological builders."

A large number of projects have purchased their own land, but the formation of the "Metaverse Ecology" is very slow:

1. A considerable number of projects purchase land plots only for marketing, and the subsequent development progress is slow or even not developed.

2. The actual interactivity is not strong. A PFP can give its holders unlimited imagination, only providing them with a themed environment, or only allowing them to use their own PFP as an image in the metaverse to wander around the game map, is far from satisfying the interaction sexual needs.

3. It is difficult to form links between projects within the ecology. Each PFP has a unique community culture, but under the circumstances of low degree of freedom and limited implementation of functions, it cannot be displayed on the metaverse integration platform, and good interaction cannot be formed within the metaverse integration platform.

The publicity effect of these projects on NFT Worlds is even greater than that of NFT Worlds itself. As for WorldWide Webb3, the number of land acquisition projects also exceeds 50, and more importantly, some of the settled projects have begun to form interactions, providing each other with new potential holders.

image description

WorldWide Webb3 Ecological Project Spontaneous "Street Wars"

But the NFT market is a magical place after all. It has only been nearly a year since BAYC was born, and they have grown from a PFP project to a giant with sufficient resources to build their own ecology, and the princes of the PFP sector directly declared war on the land sector.

Yuga Labs, which intends to round up PFP and land, has more possibilities to convince the market:

After swallowing the two giant elephants of CryptoPunks and Meebits, and showing Cool Cats, World of Women, CrypToadz and Nouns in the "Otherside" promotional video, the number of PFP NFT items that can be labeled "Yuga Ecology" has come 9. Among these 9 projects, except Nouns, the total market value of the other projects exceeds 100 million US dollars. Among the top 12 PFP projects by total market capitalization, the “Yuga Ecology” project occupies 8 seats. Azuki, Clone X, Doodles, and CyberKongz, which occupy the remaining 4 seats, seem to be fighting on their own, alone.

image description

In addition, Yuga Labs' modest attitude in respecting the project culture and listening to the voice of the community gives people enough confidence in their ability to develop the potential of their princes. After the acquisition of CryptoPunks and Meebits, Yuga Labs did not choose fast action, but chose to slow down and deepen the understanding of the project culture in the community's spontaneous actions. The various projects in a metaverse ecology should not be separated, and the shining points of their unique charms should be seen and attracted to each other. In-depth understanding and traction can form an effective connection between projects and make the internal connection of the ecology closer.

image description

Yuga Labs is in no rush to do something with CryptoPunks and Meebits, choosing to see what their community does first

2. Sufficient food and grass, sufficient funds for product research and development

In March, Yuga Labs completed a financing of 450 million US dollars at a valuation of 4 billion US dollars, with a star-studded investment lineup.

A major confusion for investors with the current metaverse integrated platform is that what is realized is just one mini-game after another, and it does not give users the feeling of "aborigines of the metaverse". The process of these small games is similar and less interesting, and it is impossible to strengthen users' social needs for the entire large platform through games. After the user's novelty passed, he found that there were only a handful of things he could do besides shopping in the game to enjoy the scenery. This is not only a technical issue, but also a product form planning issue. With sufficient funds, it means that a professional team can plan and implement the product, so that users can truly "settle" in the ecosystem.

Judging from the total amount of land to be issued by Yuga Labs (200,000 blocks), they don't want to take a ticket to the top of the PFP circle to play closed games, but more likely to create an open ecology, allowing countless PFP projects to settle in and create prosperity. Members of the land sector who have returned to the position of "infrastructure provider" must strengthen their connection with the PFP project as soon as possible, provide more support for their development, and guide the formation of cultural connections within the ecology.

Under the highest level of "Metaverse Ecology", Azuki's breakthrough is very dazzling. Since March 17, the floor price of Azuki has continued to hit record highs, reaching nearly 30ETH at the peak, an increase of more than 200%.

image description

"Metaverse Brand" is Azuki's positioning for themselves, and they have a deep understanding of this - "Metaverse Brand" is not a brand that lives in the Metaverse, but a brand that was born in the Metaverse and is well-known to the outside world. That is what we often call "out of the circle". Not only "out of the circle", but also to gain a firm foothold outside the circle.

image description

Azuki's vision left on the official website

To do this, you must have the following foundations:

1. Unique beauty. Aesthetics is one of the value foundations of PFP. Different aesthetics will attract potential consumers with different characteristics. Only outstanding and unique aesthetics can truly accumulate "diamond hands".

2. Strong communities. Brand development is a grand vision that requires holders to "believe in the process." Every holder is a billboard. They communicate like friends and create like artists in the community. During this process, the culture is enriched bit by bit and radiates outward.

3. Mature operation. For many projects, the moment when they are sold out is the last glory. When the hunger marketing game is over, the project party becomes a headless fly in the follow-up operation. Physical goods, entering the metaverse, providing free data analysis tools, and holding offline parties... These operating methods are repeatedly used by countless projects, which is actually a manifestation of the weak operating capabilities of most projects-homogeneous content is difficult to accumulate. , and cannot attract increments.

The above three foundations determine the ranking of the NFT project in the brand evolution competition. The more solid it is, the bigger the hill in the NFT circle will be. The more you become the top stream in a circle, the greater the possibility of radiating outside the circle. Among the blue-chip projects below the "Metaverse Ecology" level, Azuki squeezed to the forefront in the race to brand evolution:

1. Unique Asian animation style

Before Azuki, there was no blue chip of this style in the NFT market, and Asian NFT players actually lacked a truly attractive artistic creation. Zzzagabond, the head of Azuki, was born in China. He once said that my intuition is that they (buyers) are Asians and seeing art that really resonates with them for the first time. I talked to investors in Asia a few times and they told me that this is the first NFT they bought. "

In addition, this artistic style gives the holder a lot of room for imagination and has a strong sense of substitution. It is not only a good material for secondary creation, but also inspires the holder to continue to have unconstrained imaginations about their Azuki. Laying the groundwork for Azuki's creative community.

Before the release of Azuki, there were endless secondary creations on Twitter, and after the release, such creative enthusiasm did not fade because of "liver white", but continued.

image description

In addition to high community activity, the strong consensus of the Azuki community has also been demonstrated in the recent airdrop. Azuki's new NFT series BEANZ is just a pile of dirt after opening the airdrop box. However, almost no Azuki holders think it is just a pile of dirt, and the number of pending orders has been below 350. Without a consensus basis, no matter what the airdrop is, it may only be worth a real pile of wasteland in the real world. However, under a strong consensus, selling off will only make the holders more imaginative.

image description

From the historical trend of BEANZ's market pending orders, we can see the confidence of Azuki holders in "a pile of soil"

3. Textbook-like operations

Some project parties are afraid that "overcommitment" will hurt the consensus, so they fall into the dilemma of "the smell of wine is afraid of the deep alley". On the other hand, Azuki is just right in controlling the heat.

Second, they show reassuring caution in details, such as their attitude towards game development:

image description

We know it's hard, but we can do it. we will do it and do it best

In addition to online art creation and other activities, they also held offline themed parties. Not only did they invite big names like Wiz Khalifa, but they also announced the news of the airdrop at the party. The moment they opened their wallets to view the airdrop at the party, the interlacing of Web3 and reality directly filled the experience of the participants.

Ambitious projects are also making their own moves to explore ways to expand their influence, especially offline. Karafuru held an offline theme exhibition at the end of March, which attracted more than 200,000 people to participate within 10 days. On the NFT LA that ended not long ago, many projects went to preach offline. All these let us see new ideas - offline activities such as themed parties, art exhibitions, and sports events all gather a large number of people with different interests. Starting from their interests, more people can learn from the real world. Attracted by virtual small pictures, could it be a new idea to rise to the forefront in the brand evolution race? The ambitious PFP project is racing against time on the road of "connecting Web2 and Web3".

image description

Karafuru's offline theme exhibition is a success

In this wave of top PFP carnival, there is a top blue-chip project that seems very frustrated, and it is CyberKongz.

image description

CyberKongz Continues to Fall Amid Head PFP Surge Caused by Yuga Labs

When PFP first fell into the involution of traditional scoring items such as artistic style, identity, and social attributes, CyberKongz successfully broke out and established itself by issuing its own Token BANANA and empowering it with reproduction and renaming. status in the rivers and lakes.

Compared with other top PFP blue chips, CyberKongz looks like a partial student, and is overshadowed by other top PFP blue chips in art style, community culture and operation. Although they are also maintaining the exploration of the metaverse - the development of Sandbox land, the purchase of Worldwide Webb3's Penthouse... But judging from the results of the work, the main energy is still on improving the internal economic mechanism of their project. This is their path to success, but sometimes failure comes from past successes. CyberKongz, as the originator of the "app school", the future imagination space is gradually shrinking:

1. CyberKongz is more and more DeFi

CyberKongz actually has 3 series, Genesis CyberKongz, Baby CyberKongz and CyberKongz VX. These three series are like three different levels of mining machines: Genesis CyberKongz is the most high-end mining machine with the highest floor price, maintained in the 50-70ETH range, and gets 10 BANANA per day. The floor price of Baby CyberKongz is currently around 4ETH, and you can get 10 SHARDZ per day. SHARDZ is not tradable, and is used to cast boosters in their game Play 2 Kollect. The floor price of CyberKongz VX is currently 1.1ETH. In addition to being used as a role model in Sandbox, it is also an entry ticket for participating in the Play 2 Kollect game. Participating in Play 2 Kollect is the only way for Baby CyberKongz and CyberKongz VX holders to obtain BANANA benefits. The more points you get in the game, the higher the BANANA you can get.

The project party seems to want to reduce the entry cost to attract more potential holders, which is quite different from the development ideas of "Metaverse Ecology" and "Metaverse Brand". This may not be the original intention of the project party, but it is inevitable that the first reaction of more potential holders when considering buying is to "calculate the payback period".

2. The application of BANANA is weak, limited within the project and strongly bound to the value of the project

In the very beginning, BANANA's most important application was to breed Baby CyberKongz. With the breeding of Baby CyberKongz over and BANANA SHOP (a store for purchasing wearable equipment in the Sandbox) delayed, BANANA can only be used for renaming one's own monkey, writing autobiography, and secondary market transactions for a while .

In order to solve this problem, CyberKongz launched the KONGZ TANK plan to promote the implementation of new projects through community voting and team screening, and make BANANA circulate in these new projects. So far, the KONGZ TANK program has successfully incubated two projects, The Littles and ZenApe. But the problem remains: In addition to breeding, applications such as changing names, writing autobiographies, and modifying features will not consume BANANA. Holders are more willing to sell BANANA in the secondary market for cash rather than use it for crazy DIY.

Although the combination of Yuga Labs absorbed a lot of funds from the land sector in a short period of time, it made the land sector more clear about what it should do to meet the market's demand for the "Metaverse Ecology", and the products in the land sector have their own strengths , with different forms, these "applied schools" still have a lot of space in the long run. However, for the PFP “app faction” led by CyberKongz, it is difficult to achieve breakthroughs in DeFi-like gameplay. It is time to consider making changes to change the market’s interest in them from investment to consumption.

epilogue

epilogue

A new pyramid in the NFT market is taking shape, and "blue chip" as a project-level label is too general. At the top of the pyramid, the Yuga system of the "Yuan Universe Ecology" is seeking defeat by Dugu. At the lower level of the "metaverse brand", although there is no obvious project to gain a firm foothold here, there are already promising projects that are forging ahead.

After all, the new level is caused by the differentiation of operations, marketing and development routes. How to provide holders with diversified experiences will become more and more important. The truly fascinating NFT project will continue to widen the gap with ordinary projects, and with the development of the metaverse, it will bring more real consumers to the market, and complete the real maturity of the transition from speculative to consumer.