Originally posted on Sep 4th PunkScape.xyz

10 Hours.
10k Tokens.
10k Owners.

Dear all!

Today marks the one year anniversary for this project!

One year ago, i launched the OneDayPunks Smart Contract, without any expectation about what would happen. Let me reflect a little bit on how they came to be…

While i was working on the (Punk-)Scapes, i was very inspired by the smart contract work the team behind the Tom Sachs Rocket Factory did. Even wrote a little thread about it:

In order to manage the public sale they first released a free token to act as an “early access token”, the Test Flight Badges.

To prove i was capable of developing similar smart contract dynamics — remember the PunkScapes were “just an experiment” for me, a portfolio piece to enter web3 — i also wanted to build a separate early access token.

It felt only logical to do something punk-related. A simple derivative that would enable anyone to have a complete web3 profile (Scape banner + Punk PFP). That’s where the idea of the ODP was born.

While building, i extracted general logic into extensions that anyone could use and open sourced them: ERC-721 Extensions.

I was very very happy with the OneDayPunk contract.

Zero admin rights.

A random token distribution.

Open collection content (The whole collection was browsable via IPFS from the start).

In my estimation it is / was a very clean / well coded project.

Also, the storyline is sweet. CryptoPunks were completely out of reach for me and many others. But we all can aim to one day have one. PunkScapes built on the CryptoPunks community without taking anything from it. It’s a pure value add. And the same is true for ODPs. While visually being a simple abstraction, they celebrate the Punks and if anything, instill the wish to own one one day in more people.

The Mint

I had absolutely no idea about the fire that would happen after i published it. My expectation was to get a few dozen to friends and maybe friends of friends.

Within a couple hours, there were already over 50 holders.

By 3PM we had close to 800 holders. Then, it got crazy. Within a couple more hours the entire thing sold out. We got to the front page of Etherscan as largest gas consumer after OpenSea 🤯.

It was a completely surreal experience. A true “internet, now i get you”-moment. Build something; Put it out there; And do it over and over again until something hits.

After years of startup fails (never got my stuff into peoples hands), this was a revelation “hey jalil — you can build something, and people might actually be interested in it”.

10k NFTs sold out within 10 hours to 10k owners. How crazy is that?!

I still am unbelievably proud of them.

The Future

Scapes wouldn’t be what it is without the ODPs. They go together. Always have and always will. But as you all know, we’re focusing on making Scapes as compatible as possible and integrate it throughout web3.

What originally inspired me to become a developer is online education. Coming out of a very rigid school, the internet was my safe haven when it came to learning what i was interested in. New developments like the Khan Academy, Udacity, Coursera etc. pointed at the future for me. When i think about the unlocking of human potential that is possible by improving education, i get excited for the future.

A few months ago i announced that i’d like to build something (small to start) along those lines. An online school i called “Punks.Uni”. To that — an apology. I haven’t delivered on that promise and that sucks two-fold — i hate announcing things i don’t deliver on and i hate underdelivering when i actually do deliver 😅. To my excuse — the past few months have been crazy, as i welcomed child #4 to my family.

So here the renewed underpromise: I will still build the Punks Uni. It will not be a crazy new platform with hundreds of courses and video content. It will be a sweet space to celebrate the ethos of the OneDayPunks. I will do it on the side, but i want to iterate on it regularly. I’ll do it in the open and with whoever wants to contribute. Here is a sneak peek of what we’ll build:

Thank you all for being here!

Onwards and upwards!

Much love to you and yours!