There is growing tension between the owners of prominent NFT project Doodles and the collection’s founders, as the project attempts to build a brand in the increasingly competitive Web3 space. Now that tension boils over thanks to comments from a Doodles co-founder that pushed back against critics—and it may not go down well with collectors if the floor price of the NFTs is anything to go by.
Doodles co-founder Jordan “poopie” Castro shared a post to the project’s official Discord server on Wednesday to defend the team’s approach to building new features and products away from the spotlight — moves that some see as at odds with the “open” ethos of Web3. A screenshot of the post (as Decrypt confirmed to be legit) is spreading across Twitter today.
“We are trying to go from a startup to a leading media franchise. We are no longer an “NFT project,” Castro wrote. “The more time/money/resources we invest in following the latest ‘build in public’ trends fueling speculation, the less we have to achieve our long-term vision.”
“We are not going to spend any resources appeasing those with financial motivations. We never have and never will, he continued. “If we are going to focus energy on someone [group] of people, it will certainly be our most loyal collectors.”
Decrypt reached out to Doodles reps for comment this morning, and this afternoon they sent another link a new tweet from Castro addresses the response.
In the tweet, he largely doubled down on the comments, but said NFTs will continue to be the “connective tissue” across future plans. Furthermore, he said he would help start the trend of Web3 users “being nicer” in their interactions, adding that he would “take the L on this one” given the backlash.
The response to his initial comments has been mixed on social media. Some see Castro’s comments as ambitious, suggesting he is saying Doodles is no longer just an NFT project because it aims higher. “The sooner we get rid of the term ‘NFT project’, the better [to be honest]” a Web3 project founder tweeted in response.
Others see it as a rejection of Web3 principles, and a sign of Doodles pushing back on the scene that helped the project find prominence in the first place. It follows earlier complaints from proprietors and other observers about lack of communication from the founders, as well as an NFT NYC party last year which felt like a corporate presentation.
“So [Doodles] got $50 million and decided not to be an NFT project anymore. tweeted Farmer Nashthe pseudonymous founder of Google NFT project. “This is basically a long way of saying, ‘We’re going to be a Web2 company, and we don’t care about our holders.'”
Doodles also faced backlash from some members of the community regarding Wednesday’s launch of limited edition digital NFT socks. Many people on Crypto Twitter criticized it as a relatively small update after Doodles recently teased big moves ahead.
“It’s actually wild how disconnected some project founders are from the community,” a pseudonymous NFT collector named Fetty tweeted. “Doodles think they can hype up a ‘sock’ after not tweeting for months.”
Doodles prices have fallen over the past 24 hours due to backlash to the sock announcement and the co-founder’s comments. The floor price – or the price of the cheapest NFT on a secondary marketplace – has fallen about 13% over this time in USD terms, down to about $5,850 (3.53 ETH), per data from NFT Price Floor.
The floor price in USD is down 33% since March 1 Bored Ape Yacht Club The NFT collection is down 4% in the last 24 hours to a current price of $106,200 (over 64 ETH), and has fallen nearly 7% since March 1st.
Doodles launched its Ethereum NFT collection in 2021. The project raised $54 million last year at a $704 million valuation, in a round led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six VC firm. The original Doodles NFTs have generated around $600 million worth of trading volume to date, per data from CryptoSlam.
The company too added musician Pharrell Williams as head of brand last year, and recently announced a larger Doodles 2 project on Flow blockchain. Doodles 2 features full-body customizable avatars with interchangeable NFT clothing and accessories.
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to include Castro’s afternoon tweet response.
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