By the end of 2020, few doubted the Crypto Bullrun and even fewer understood the implications nor participated in the 2020 release on Niftygateway. When three $969 Open-Edition pieces of digital artwork were sold by an artist named Beeple, for a total of only 601 minted (271 Bullrun, 123 Infected, and 207 Into the Ether). Even less could have predicted that in 2021 Beeple would become a household name with record-breaking sales, along with the word NFT, and that there would be a new kind of Bullrun. An introduction to digital scarcity, identity, and another new word Web3.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) didn’t exist yet, the terms collectible were more commonly associated with physical goods than digital assets and hardly anyone was putting as much thought into their digital identity through a PFP (Profile Photo, Picture For Proof). Yet here we are, halfway through 2022 in a new world and the Bullrun looks to be over. But that doesn’t mean we are done or have to leave, at least not before we burn a bunch of NFTs.
No Discord, No Roadmap, Just Theatre
Thanks to the success of Goblintown, with its theatre of memes, those who remained found humor in what felt like an end to all things NFT. The Free Mint meta kept the band marching, while the Titanic appeared to be sinking. And a new kind of theatre arose, one combining Twitter and the Blockchain along with an exploration in removing platforms and parts that some could blame for our new exploration in lows.
After No Discord, No Roadmap, Goblintown theatre, came We are All Going to Die (WAGDIE) and its own interactive theatre that evolved into a game, with a much more nihilistic and morbid approach. Which hit a crescendo and fell on the radar of many when they burned Mutant Ape #20438. At the time the Mutant was burned, the WAGDIE collection was over 1Ξ and over 30Ξ in NFTs had been willingly burned by the community, the Mutant Ape itself was purchased for 21Ξ and burned within the hour. In a spectacle some would argue was quite wasteful, and funds could have been better allocated.
Arguably more Creation than Destruction
It hasn’t all been destruction, chaos and burning.. I want to least clarify this before I get into the bigger burn that is set to occur at 4:35PM PST on June 30th, 2022. For a quick run-down on what WAGDIE is, read this post by @almostjosiah. I’ll also selfishly plug my own tweet which list out all the Community Building and projects that have spawned from this Free Mint, CC0 Project, while take a moment to recognize my own biases and the fact that I do own (3) of this NFT.
That being said, I do wish to remind everyone that the undoxxed founders donated 30Ξ to Women’s Charities, hardly a whisper in comparison to their destruction of the MAYC.. As well as refunded panic sellers during the OS delisting early on in addition to providing Ethereum to those who built websites and tools without being part of the team.
The Sacrificial End to the Bullrun
As previously mentioned, WAGDIE is an interactive theatre and game. There has been a constant story, told by both the team and community, where players make decisions via Twitter votes and Snapshots. These actions play a role in the story and often have real-world consequences. Which leads to their most recent vote of sacrifice, where both a Cryptoad & Beeple NFT are to be part of a ritual and bring upon the 18th..
OK, I understand how crazy this sounds as I type it out, but this is the end of the Bullrun and there is something poetic about it coming to an end in this way and this is coming from a HUGE fan of Beeple, someone who recognizes how much traffic and awareness he brought to this space. And not that it matters, but I personally voted to burn nothing as I’m on the fence as to whether or not this is a good use of resources, but all our feelings aside (mine included)..The WAGDIE community has decided it’s to happen.
The first Beeple NFT ever to be burned, sent to the burn/dead address takes place today, on June 30th. This NFT was purchased for 22Ξ, it originally cost $969 as an open-edition and was previously purchased for 140Ξ ($255k USD at the time). The seller has taken a $230k USD loss on the sale.. This truly is the end of the Bullrun.
How to mint this article on Optimism
- Go to Hop Exchange Bridge
- Send a small amount of ETH to Optimism Layer 2 from ETH mainnet (EXAMPLE)
- Navigate back this this article
- Click on the “Collect” button in the upper right and if needed switch to the optimism network when prompted by metamask
- With the ETH you sent to Optimism Layer 2 you can mint the article by clicking “Collect” again and completing the mint transaction
- Congrats you now have a NFT on Optimism and you might be eligible for future airdrops from Optimism