The Chromie Squiggles collection is an iconic NFT collection that has played a pivotal role in the early days of the NFT space. Created by the artist Erick Snowfro, the collection is known for its minimalist, artistic design and its unique traits that cannot be replicated, and beautiful aesthetic that will stand the test of time. The traits have earned the collection a loyal following among early adopters and NFT enthusiasts, who appreciate the collection's ability to capture the essence of what makes NFTs special. To Quote Snowfro, “Simple and easily identifiable, each squiggle embodies the soul of the Art Blocks platform”. This blog post will dive into the collection, its artistic appeal, historical significance, and finally the community; the Squiggles’ lesser-known superpower, and how the squiggles’ recipe for success has continued to make recent successful collections soar to success as well. 

About SnowFro and the Squiggle Community 

Erick Snowfro is the founder of Art Blocks, a platform for generative NFT art which is now at the center of the space. Well-regarded in the NFT industry, some of the most valuable NFTs today have originated from the Art Blocks platform, with collections like Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs and Ringers by Dmitri Cherniak making headlines in the NFT space.

Chromie squiggles, being the first project from Art Blocks, played a big role in the platform’s success. It’s ingrained within the generative art community and its success was not only instrumental to propelling Snowfro and Art Blocks to the front and center of the generative art movement, but also playing a part in setting the stage for the movement itself. 

With a collection that rose to popularity as this one did, the community rallies around it, and the passion is palpable. In this case, the Squiggle community had a strong influence on propelling the collection to new heights by creating demand to buy the NFTs. They also had an influence on which Squiggles were more valuable than others, selecting certain trait combinations and aesthetic patterns to be the “grails” of the Squiggle collection.

The community was such a powerful force in the rise of the Squiggle collection, that a DAO (Decentralized autonomous organization) called SquiggleDAO was formed in order to: “Build a large, authoritative collection of Chromie Squiggles owned and managed by a Community DAO” and “To foster cultural longevity for the Chromie Squiggle art series”. SquiggleDAO will also purchase Squiggles to use in their treasury. The community has bootstrapped a treasury of $13 million (at the time of writing )- $3,734,868 in combined ETH/USDC, and 301 Squiggles valued at $9,610,411- to use to support artists the community votes on. Beyond supporting artists, SquiggleDAO has been a force in starting initiatives that bring awareness to NFTs. From putting Squiggles up on billboards all over New York City, to using the treasury to give out loans against Squiggle NFTs as collateral, providing greater value to the asset, SquiggleDAO has found creative and practical ways to level up Squiggle utility and generate demand.

The Squiggle community is strong, and the DAO is “elevating the Chromie Squiggle to its rightful place in culture as a beloved and seminal art project”

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Reading Between the Squiggles

A Squiggle, in its simplistic, timeless, artistic beauty, is one of 10,000 NFTs items. Not all 10 000 have been minted, however, making the ones that are minted more valuable, and an aura of mystery around the rest that have yet to come. On the surface, what makes them unique among the many others in the collection is their “on-chain traits”. Traits such as spectrum, height, and type are all viewable on the marketplaces they’re purchased on, and attributed to the NFT by something called “metadata” on the blockchain they’re minted on. Your Squiggle is yours, and no one else has the same one.

The fast-paced nature of the NFT industry means that new collections and projects are constantly emerging, making it difficult for newcomers to understand the significance of the Chromie Squiggles collection and the various traits and groups of squiggles within it. This lack of understanding can lead to missed opportunities for those looking to invest in NFTs, as the value of a squiggle is often determined by the knowledge and interpretations of the community. For instance, sets of Squiggles with certain characteristics have been given community value by the strong collective force of SquiggleDAO and other community members that propped Chromie Squiggles up.

Ghost squiggles are known for their ethereal, transparent appearance, which makes them appear almost ghost-like. They are highly sought-after by collectors who appreciate their delicate beauty and elusive nature.

Harmonic squiggles, on the other hand, are characterized by their vibrant colors and harmonious patterns. Harmonics are ribbed Squiggles that perfectly blend with the background when the background color is changed to match with it. These squiggles are known for their ability to create a sense of balance and peace, making them popular among collectors who value these qualities.

Go to this Squiggle and press space bar. This is the magic of Harmonic Squiggles!

Finally, Day 0 squiggles are a special and valuable type of squiggle in the Chromie Squiggles Collection. These squiggles were only available on the first day of the collection's release, making them incredibly scarce and highly sought-after by collectors. In a collection that still hasn’t minted all 10 000 of their NFTs, Day 0 Squiggles are prized. 

Squiggles are now being appreciated by the fine art world as well. Multiple art auctions with strong reputations have sold Squiggles including Christie’s, and renowned galleries such as Venus have displayed Squiggle works.

More than a Collection; Squiggles Created a Movement

Chromie Squiggles is not the only time a collection has been bootstrapped into stardom by its community. In fact, nowadays in the fast-paced NFT space, the formula Chromie Squiggles used to soar to success is seen as a requirement. Other Art Blocks projects such as Fidenza are seeing 89 ETH floors at the time of writing this. Art Blocks being at the center of the generative art movement has allowed its followers and community to prop up other artists such as Tyler Hobbs and his Fidenza collection. The list goes on - projects such as Genesis, Ringers and Meridians have seen similar meteoric rises in value and community support from the Art Blocks ecosystem.**
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Overall, the Chromie Squiggles collection is a testament to the power of community in the NFT space. Its value is not just derived from the unique traits of its squiggles, but also from the collective knowledge and interpretations of the Squiggle community. The collection has become a significant player in the NFT space, with its unique designs and diverse range of squiggles attracting a devoted following of collectors. The people involved The Squiggle Community is living proof that engaged and passionate people rallying around a strong project and generating demand can transform an NFT collection into a fully-flagged artistic movement that will stand the test of time. 

Understanding what a community values beyond traits is hard. Florida Street is an NFT aggregator that allows users to create Sets of NFTs to showcase a group of items they value and why. Explore Sets of squiggles like Day 0s, Ghosts, and Harmonics at Florida Street. The limit is your creativity, and the sets our users create are what gives our platform life; for instance, we’d love for a user to create a set for the Squiggles exhibited at Venus! Join our discord to get access to our private beta and get creating: https://discord.gg/HDAnsC8JMk.

Florida Street Team**

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References 

https://www.thenifty.com/erick-snowfro-artblocks-interview-631/

https://artynft.io/interviews/snowfro-erick/

https://squiggledao.mirror.xyz/s5qbSYLsAfgfzn4xA2nNfiAXhsliYt7PNZuUADY2LAM