Nakamigo’s NFT Project overview | NFT CULTURE | NFT News | Web3 culture
Nakamigo’s NFT project has taken the Web3 community by storm with its unexpected success. The collection’s March 23 public mint took just four days to surpass NFT giant Bored Ape Yacht Club in lifetime trades. This performance is unexpected given the current state of the market.
The Nakamigos project, created by HiFo Labs, is a 20K PFP project consisting of 24×24 pixels in a style reminiscent of CryptoPunks. The collection’s name derives from the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, with Nakamigos meaning “friends of Nakamoto.” The project’s success is attributed to the founder’s proven track record and the exciting project’s origins and associations.
Sartoshi’s role in Nakamigos
One of the reasons for the collection’s success is the involvement of Sartoshi, an OG crypto artist and NFT influencer behind 2021’s popular mfers collection. Sartoshi’s departure from mfers in June 2022 was controversial, with many labeling it a rye-pull scam. However, he returned to the NFT stage in February 2023 to announce the Nakamigos Project, which he had helped create. Although there is no official clarification on his exact role in the project, some speculate that Sartoshi is the anonymous artist behind Nakamigos.
Rumors abound
Another rumor surrounding the Nakamigos project is that it is linked to Larva Labs, the company that was originally behind CryptoPunks. The collections’ aesthetic similarities and the fact that Nakamigos’ licensing agreement is modeled after Yuga Labs’ deal for CryptoPunk’s IP acquisition have led to speculation of a potential connection. However, there is currently no evidence to support this claim.
A notable aspect of the Nakamigos project is that the team grants holders commercial rights to their NFTs, allowing them to monetize them as they see fit. Although this type of IP license is not a Creative Commons (CC0) license, it is still powerful and has enabled holders of blue-chip NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club to leverage their digital tokens in significant ways.
All 20,000 Nakamigo’s NFTs have been minted, but interested buyers can find them on the secondary market, with the collection’s floor currently at 0.32 ETH or $577.96. The Nakamigos team has awarded 24 honorary Nakamigos NFTs to notable figures including farokh and zeneca, as well as other influencers in the NFT community, further promoting the project.
Despite the project’s success, HiFo Labs remains an esoteric company, with no Discord and no social media channel other than its official Twitter handle. The team’s emphasis on proprietary commercialization rights is an interesting aspect of the project that could indicate a larger, as-yet-undisclosed IP game from HiFo Labs. However, the company needs to create greater confidence among its holder base to motivate them to take advantage of these opportunities.
Overall, the Nakamigos project is worth keeping an eye on as it aims to be a kind of spiritual successor to CryptoPunks. However, it remains to be seen how the project will develop and whether it can maintain its success in the highly competitive NFT market.
