Introducing the next project in the ‘Canto Builder Spotlight’ series!
Canto Cares is a community-run collective simplifying the Canto ecosystem by spreading awareness and providing helpful resources for those who want more information on Canto.
Our third spotlight focuses on an OG Canto project, CanToes. We had the opportunity to learn more about CanToes and their journey launching on Canto.
Let’s get started.
Meet CanToes
CanToe is a new and inventive Web+ replacement for the terrible Web2 foot images. Drawing their inspiration from the struggles of market participants who joked about selling feet pictures to survive the bear market, CanToes facilitates foot pic trading for everyone. CanToe plans to dethrone OnlyFans and Feetfinder as the source for feet pictures.
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Q&A w/ the CanToe Team
What is CanToes and what is your mission?
CanToes are the New innovative Web+ replacement for evil Web2 feet pics. During these hard times, some have joked about selling feet pics to survive the bear market. Unfortunately, not everyone was born with photogenic toes & the monopoly FeetFinder and OnlyFans have on the feet pic market makes it incredibly difficult for the average individual to capitalize on it.
CanToes aims to make the ability to buy and sell Feet Pics available for anyone, no matter who you are. A truly decentralized and even playing field for Toe trading. Together we will destroy FeetFinder and OnlyFans with the help of the Canto Network.
What inspired the CanToe idea, and how did it evolve?
The idea of CanToes originated a little while ago between a friend and me. We initially thought up the idea to make a project on ETH named “CrypToes,” and we started drawing the art. We thought it was a clever name that was very easy and fun to make memes about. Unfortunately, at the time, we were very new to this space (and still are somewhat), so we weren’t confident in our ability to compete with other projects on Ethereum. We ended up sitting on our hands with the artwork/project half done for a couple of months. Over that time, we hung out on CT, gambled on multiple jpegs and coins, networked, and learned the necessary skills to compete in this space.
That’s when I heard about the Canto launch. I remembered I tried their testnet and people were getting airdrops who had used it.
I immediately checked and saw I had some Canto myself!
Why have you launched this project?
We launched because we wanted to help bring more people to the Canto Network. In this space, sometimes it can get overwhelming for newer people, and you feel like you’re just shouting into a void and late to everything you see (speaking from experience).
As soon as I was active within Canto, I knew this ecosystem was different. It was small enough in the beginning that most people knew each other, everyone was having fun, and it was honestly one of the most communal/social places I’d joined since starting my journey through this rabbit hole some people call “Web+”. Even the main place to trade Canto at first (Slingshot) had a chatbox for people to talk while actively trading. I wanted more people to come to experience this amazing culture and have some fun during this harsh bear market, and one of the best ways we’ve seen in the past to attract people to new networks is NFTs!
What makes you different from other NFT projects?
As for what makes us different, we’re Toes! I believe we’re the first Toe-themed NFT collection on any chain that I know of, which honestly surprised me that no one had done this before. Then there’s our art which I think is very unique. I made the art specifically to reflect real toes; some are clean and cute, some are ugly and gross, and some are just downright funky and weird looking. They’re just like toes in real life; everyone’s born with different toes. No matter how weird or funky looking or cute they are, they are your unique toes, and you should be proud to have them! Also, we are the only project on Canto that is a homophone for Canto! I think that makes us is very unique!
What has the community's response been to CanToes?
It has been unbelievable, to say the least!
A year ago I never would’ve expected to be behind a project at the center of almost every conversation about a thriving network with 10s of millions in TVL. And it’s not just the Canto community members' response that shocked us. Nearly every Canto contributor took notice of us initially and showed us a ridiculous amount of support that we are so unbelievably grateful for.
The Toes are where we are because of all of you and how amazing and welcoming you are. We are so thankful that you loved our honoraries, our art, and our vision with the Toes. We will never stop thanking you for being there through our difficulties and sharing about CanToes 🖤.
What are the team member's backgrounds?
Our team comprises individuals with artistic backgrounds and Web+ experience for the past two years. There's me (artist), our developer, and our third team member with an extensive background in marketing and business.
How did you get into NFTs?
I got into NFTs by purchasing them. I always knew they would become revolutionary, being an artist myself, but buying and trading them and experiencing the communities they create and the lives they changed drove me to dive much deeper into the world of Web+.
What advice do you have for other builders looking to launch NFT projects?
Trust. Find people you trust, not just in the sense of “Oh, I’d trust them to watch my house.”
No. Network and find people you trust wholeheartedly to work hard, support you and your ideas, and push past obstacles when things get tough. This space is not easy to succeed in, but you better your chances by being surrounded by good people.
And always listen to your community. As with anything in life, if you are good to people, they will be good to you. What goes around comes around.
How did you learn about Canto?
I learned about Canto when a friend on CT tweeted that verification tweet about being an early settler. I experimented with the testnet, got my airdrop, and now here we are!
Why did you decide to launch on Canto?
The public infrastructure got me sold. There are no large holders(VCs) waiting to dump on you, and it is an extremely niche, welcoming, supportive community. We also thought, "why not call it CanToes?" from the network name.
How has the process been launched on Canto?
Amazing!
We started on August 22nd with the first tweet of our Toe. It immediately got attention, and we decided, well, let’s make some honorary Toes for the Canto contributors and see if they like it!
As soon as we posted Scott’s toe, he immediately responded, “wtf,” and then a few days later, made it his PFP for a couple of weeks. During that time, we made a bunch of honorary Toes for Canto Contributors and Canto community members. Because everyone loved the joke and the Toes so much, we knew we had to do whatever we could to get the CanToes launched ASAP.
What is on your roadmap? Are any exciting things on the horizon?
I want to share a bit about something we have not spoken about here since I think this would be the best place to share (not related to anything we’re building but to my friend/our Dev).
So we started this project together (two friends and me, one of which was our developer for the project). We had a tough time getting everything to work on Canto as we are newer to this space and extremely new to Canto. Still, he pushed through all the obstacles with help from many Canto contributors/devs and managed to get everything to work for our CanToes Contract and Project.
Since we started minting, we haven’t updated our plans for building within the Canto ecosystem, and I apologize for that. The day after we had begun minting the Toes, I tried to contact my friend (our developer), and he wasn’t responding. A couple of days passed, and I started getting worried, wondering what was happening. All the while still promoting the CanToes as best as I could on Twitter, Discord, etc.
Well, a couple more weeks went by of messaging and calling him every day, wondering what was going on until finally, just recently, he returned my calls and told me he was in the hospital. The day after we started, he got into a motorcycle accident and broke his back, ribs, and several other things. He almost died.
The good news was that they told him they’re optimistic about his recovery, and he’s been doing much better recently after starting physical therapy. I told him his focus should be on himself and not to worry about the project, but he was adamant that he wants to try and get back to work on stuff for the Toes as he gets better in his recovery. We intend to enter a hackathon on Canto soon, but in the meantime, we just hope people enjoy the memes, art, and community we’re building for them with the Toes!
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About CanToes
CanToes are the New innovative Web+ replacement for evil Web2 feet pics. CanToes seeks to allow anyone to buy and sell feet pics, no matter who you are, creating a decentralized and even playing field for Toe trading. Together with the help of the Canto Network, we will destroy FeetFinder and OnlyFans.
About Us, Canto Cares
Canto Cares is a loosely organized group of community members dedicated to sharing helpful resources and information with the Canto Community.
Follow our Twitter for updates on the Canto ecosystem.