#97 Blast Off: The Next Airdrop Opportunity
$380M raised in days: the best airdrop opportunity?
GM - this is The Snapshot, edition #97.
This is what I’ve got for you this week:
This Week In NFT World - Crypto Kingpin CZ forced out of Binance
Sponsored Post - Lil Nouns sponsor me (!) for 6 ETH
Notable Sales - RarePepe, Madlads, Tyler Hobbs
Investor Focus - The Blast Machine: the next airdrop opportunity
For sponsorship enquires, please DM me on Twitter.
Have a great day,
B
This Week In NFT World - Crypto Kingpin CZ forced out of Binance
Crypto-kingpin CZ was toppled this week after pleading guilty to not properly conducting KYC/AML checks on US customers as CEO of Binance, one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges.
Binance settled charges with the DOJ, agreeing to pay a whopping $4.3 billion (Binance fined $1.805bn, discount for partial cooperation, paid over 15months + $2.51bn for sanctions), and CZ agreed to pay $50M and to not be involved in Binance operations for 3 years (not that long, right?).
This is a monumental piece of news - why?
Because it removes the “overhang” in crypto. (And also because CZ is widely considered such a huge contributor to the crypto industry.)
Cobie, legendary trader, came back from hiatus to say as much.
As huge traditional finance entities circle crypto with their applications for ETFs, it feels like the incumbents are ready to take over the reigns.
Bullish for 2024.
Jack Butcher sells more than $1.5M of NFTs in one day
Jack Butcher is one of my favourite artists.
He released two collections this week:
1. Trademark
The first generative art collection by Jack Butcher speaks volumes of the high-energy race environment where branding is as fierce as the competition itself.
10k minted at 0.069 ETH. Floor currently at 0.1 ETH
2. Signature
SIGNATURE is a homage to the singular, defining moment of triumph in motorsport—the victory burnout.
These digital creations encapsulate the raw, celebratory release of tension and joy that marks the conclusion of an intense battle for victory.
Minted out via Dutch auction between 4.2 ETH & 1.69 ETH. Floor currently at 1.25 ETH
ACK Warothy collection instant 5x on secondary market
The 25 ACK Warothy editions were sold at around $5k each via a raffle.
In the last 48 hours we have seen a 4/5x after they were finally distributed to the winners.
- Tiger Lily sold for 10.5Ξ ($21.6k)
- Devil sold for 12.0Ξ ($24.7k)
- Louvre sold for 12.69Ξ ($26.1k)
- Star-Crossed sold for 12.8196Ξ ($26.3k)
The cool thing about this collection is that the buyers did not know they would be receiving a unique piece (as they thought all the editions would be alike).
Huge win for artist & collectors.
Web3 game Big Time sells out 6k cosmetics for $2m in 5 minutes
Details from @LambolandNFT: "Big Time just raised $2 million in 5 minutes Selling 6,000 mystery boxes at $350 each Just shows it’s possible to sell at these price points & demand levels even in this market."
The web3 gaming market is on fire right now with so much interest and excitement because many games are ready to come to market.
A must-watch industry right now.
Zentrum by Herbert Franke sells out for 2.45 ETH ($4.9k each)
Herbert Franke is considered one of the fathers of computer art.
This collection by his estate in collaboration with Aaron Penne is stunning.
It sold out via a dutch auction at around $5k, however the price rapidly decreased on the secondary market to around 1.4 ETH ($3k).
The art is great, but speculators are back!
Sponsored Post - Lil Nouns sponsor me (!) for 6 ETH
It is hard to get sponsorship; it is harder to retain sponsorship.
I am delighted to announce that I will continue to work with Lil Nouns DAO for another 6 months, taking our total time working together to 1 year.
Check out my full proposal here
I am super happy to work with some of the smartest, well intentioned and interesting individuals in web3 who are trying to push boundaries and do cool stuff we simply have not done before.
If you want to see how I won 2,011 votes (vs 12 against) - check out my proposal here.
And if you are curious about contributing to a cutting-edge DAO and getting paid to bring your ideas to life check out our website.
Notable Sales - RarePepe, Madlads, Tyler Hobbs
Rarepepe, Nakamoto - 53E ($110,000)
Madlad #442, 792 SOL ($43,241)
Tyler Hobbs, Incomplete Control - 26E ($52,000)
Tyler Hobbs, Fidenza - 110 ETH ($224,000)
Investor Focus - The Blast Machine: the next airdrop opportunity
In this piece I explain my approach to the Blast protocol and the airdrop opportunity.
Blast stats after only 48 hours
What is Blast?
Blast is the only Ethereum L2 with native yield for ETH and stablecoins.
It has raised $20m from @Paradigm and @StandardCrypto to build the L2 that helps you earn more.
Why is Blast interesting?
Blast is run by the same team who made Blur - the NFT marketplace which attracted so much activity and TVL to become the premier NFT marketplace.
It has already attracted $387M in capital (!) because people believe they will be handsomely rewarded via a token airdrop for being an early supporter.
What have I done?
I bridged 21 ETH to Blast
I received about 1 ETH in Blur as an airdrop and bought 1 more ETH - all deposited for holder points
I will bid NFT collections I like
Why?
- Blur "redacted" rewards will be split down the middle between Blur Traders and Blur Holders - so I will have exposure to both by holding and bidding (and listing)
- Blast rewards will be split down the middle between Early Access Members and Developers - so I will have exposure to the former by my deposit and inviting others
- It's a good idea. Idle ETH is not ideal (thought I think they should have communicated that earning interest is not risk free)
- Pacman and team have proven to be fantastic product builders and superior marketers. In addition, they have proven to deliver value to early backers
- I recognise the multi-sig trust assumptions risk - and the non-zero risk of yield from ETH staking and RWA protocols
- At 20 ETH you get one single referral code
*DYOR. Do not wreck yourself following someone else blindly*
What can you do?
You have 3 options to get exposure to Blast and the next Blur airdrop:
Bridge ETH over to Blast
Hold the Blur token
Bid, list, and lend on Blur
If you would like to bridge over to participate you can do so by using my referral link: http://blast.io/0VNF5
I am currently #592 on the leaderboard and would appreciate your support if you want in.
Have a great day,
B
Disclaimer: The content covered in this newsletter is not to be considered as investment advice. It is for informational and educational purposes only.
I hold some of the NFTs mentioned in these newsletters