Pixelmon, Hape Prime and more
We’ve all seen it happen: a PFP project with 10,000 supplies comes out of nowhere and becomes the new thing, seemingly overnight. Dressed in flashy animated teasers and cryptic tweets, the social media accounts supporting these projects somehow find a way to attract hundreds of thousands of followers in record time, causing those in the NFT space to turn on alerts lest they be left out.
Still, at this current stage of maturation in the NFT space, we know that hyped NFT projects are never what they seem. When a hot new collection catches fire and sells out immediately, it often inevitably burns out just as quickly, leaving a trail of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) in its wake.
While the intentions of those behind hyped collections may be pure, permission lists and questionable social media tactics have ultimately tarnished the reputation of many projects. And while these types of projects are now few and far between, perhaps the only thing hyped NFT project use cases are good for in 2023 is reminding creators, collectors, and builders that maximum exposure isn’t always a good thing.
The anatomy of a hyped NFT
Aside from appearing out of nowhere and gaining steam quickly, there are some other telltale signs that can be used to identify hyped NFT projects. Contrary to expected ecosystem extensions from established (or at least well-known) brands in Web3, NFT efforts often have:
- Sounds a little too good to be true;
- Use FOMO (fear of missing out) as a marketing tactic; or
- Show unknown founders, influencers or developers.
But even if the development team has some influence on the blockchain, there is often nothing to explain the exponential growth many of these hyped coins experience. While it can be difficult to detect or prove unethical growth tactics — like buying fake fans or using burner accounts to promote content — some projects find it possible to amass upwards of six figures in Twitter followers and Discord members within days. Of course, there’s more to hyped mint than meets the eye. To understand the whole picture, we can dissect examples of projects that have become somewhat of hype archetypes (ie cautionary tales) for Web3.
Exhibit A: MekaVerse
In October 2021, Mekaverse became one of the most anticipated PFP projects since Bored Ape Yacht Club. Considering that the NFT space was at the end of the PFP summer – a period where generative avatars spread across the NFT market – it felt like every collector was hoping to win big by getting in early on the next big 10,000 collection supplies. MekaVerse seemed to capitalize on their newly bestowed attention by hosting sweepstakes and giving out spots on the endorsement list to their loyal backers.
Once the coin came and went, everything seemed to be in order. The project quickly passed $60 million in secondary sales volume in less than 24 hours, and even before the collection’s 8,888 NFTs were revealed, the floor price for a single Meka had reached around 8 ETH (over $25,000 at the time). But then came the first nail in the coffin, a potential insider trading fiasco that created a domino effect.
Soon after its launch, many collectors and enthusiasts took to Twitter to accuse the MekaVerse drop of being rigged. Highlighting figures from OpenSea, Etherscan and other public databases, they created a picture that suggested that the developers behind the project were somehow able to purchase some of the rarest Meka NFTs revealed. A feat that should not be possible unless the project’s metadata was accessed by an external source or deliberately changed by the originator.
Then came the botched NFT disclosure. After a period of delay due to technical difficulties, MekaVerse unveiled its full supply of NFTs to mixed reviews. While some cited personal distaste for the PFPs, compared the images to upside down vacuum cleanersor propane heaters, others noted that the identical functionality issue faced by MekaVerse developers was apparently not resolved after all. In side-by-side comparisons, users showed their “unique” NFTs near mirror images of each other, apart from single color changes. With floor prices rapidly falling, this seemed to be a blow MekaVerse could not recover from.
Exhibit B: HAPE PRIME
After MekaVerse came Hape Prime and Pixelmon. None of these ventures proved to be as significant of an Icarus moment as MekaVerse. However, they still helped the NFT space understand the caveats of hyped NFT coins, what spotlight attention can do to a collection, and why any “hot new thing” should always be taken with a grain of salt.
In the case of Hape Prime (formerly known as Hapebeast), the hype was built up in an almost identical fashion to MekaVerse. Twitter followers and Discord members tried hard to secure endorsement lists and raffle spots, even going as far as creating intricate fan art or writing and recording entire hip-hop songs to try and win the tag. But again, in a similar fashion, things took a turn when the collection’s 8,192 NFTs were revealed.
After quickly selling out in January 2022, after Hape Prime NFTs were unveiled, users realized that the quality of their assets didn’t exactly match what was originally promised. Sure, all the characters and traits were there, but with the hat property glitch art and reduced detail, some compared it to catfishing, comparing the debacle to the MekaVerse. And with floor prices peaking around the equivalent of 8.5 ETH (also more than $25,000 at the time) before disclosure, collectors began to feel the FUD as prices plummeted over the coming months to the sub-1 ETH range.
Exhibit C: Pixelmon
Not even a month after Hape Prime, the NFT space suffered a similar incident with Pixelmon, a project that got hype early and quickly sold out at a price of 3 ETH. However, after the collection’s 10,000 NFTs were revealed, the collective NFT community lost their shit over Kevin, the unfinished Pixelmon zombie. Still, even Kevin memes couldn’t save Pixelmon from being known, by some, as the worst project ever.
Why do hyped mints inevitably fail?
So, three separate projects (more if you’re counting Squiggles, Invisible friends, and the like) grew quickly, launched quickly, and spilled over. Certainly, some, like Hape, are still seeking to innovate within Web3, with big brand collaborations boosting their profits. But by and large, hyped mint seemingly always leads to failure. But why? While it may be easy to point out that developers of these projects are simply biting off more than they can chew, in reality it may be the hype itself that leads to a project’s demise.
As pointed out by NFT collector and prominent Twitter thread writer wale. swoosh, heightened expectations combined with an increased amount of attention to a project’s every move can often lead to disaster. “[Projects] are only hyped because everyone is talking about them. There is no other topic on NFT Twitter, everyone wants a piece of the pie, a piece of the next big thing,” wale.swoosh said in a thread. “But after the mint, or at the latest after the unveiling, attention moves on to the next project.”
Nevertheless, perhaps the NFT community itself is also to blame for the hyped NFT project. Because, as is often witnessed in the NFT area, those who either could not secure a place on the approval list for a specific collection or are otherwise in opposition to the aforementioned collection, will often publicize the R&D project as sketchy or unethical. Of course, while these claims sometimes turn out to be accurate, given the importance Web3 places on Twitter engagement, it’s never a surprise when others join in to stir the pot.
Oddly enough, the moral here is not that creators and developers should avoid hype altogether. Considering the speed at which the NFT space operates, securing a spot on your Twitter feed is just as important as any other digital marketing tactic. Instead, avoiding artificial hype (buying followers, promoting FOMO) and building out into the open while abandoning restrictive coin mechanics may be the way forward. While this may seem obvious to some, surely the failures of hyped NFTs that have passed have helped reinforce the values of accessibility and transparency in Web3.
