Announcing the launch of Wrapped Pastel Conversion Services

We are excited to announce that the Wrapped PSL (wPSL) Wrapping / Unwrapping Conversion Services are now available. Try it out today at WrappedPastel.Com!

Introduction — What is wPSL?

Wrapped Pastel, or wPSL, is an Ethereum token based on the ERC-20 standard that is used as an equivalent to regular Pastel (PSL) to work on the existing Ethereum ecosystem. This allows it to be stored in wallets such as MetaMask, and also allows wPSL to be traded on Ethereum DEXs. Currently, wPSL is available on Uniswap, where users can swap between ETH and WPSL, as well as provide liquidity to the ETH/WPSL pool.

How wPSL Works

First, Pastel granted 250,000,000 PSL to a multi-signature wallet address on the Pastel blockhain held by a third-party custodian, Wrapped Pastel Custody LLC, which can be viewed and verified here. Correspondingly, Wrapped Pastel Custody LLC issued a smart-contract on the Ethereum Mainnet and created 250,000,000 wPSL such that there is a one-to-one relationship of wPSL to PSL in circulation. The ERC-20 smart contract can be found here, while viewers can also verify the contract source code openly here.

Launch of the Wrapping and Unwrapping Services

Now, users are able to convert from wPSL to “native” PSL coins that can be used on the Pastel Network to mint or trade NFTs and run Pastel services such as our Near-Duplicate NFT Detection Protocol and our NFT Storage Protocol. Likewise, existing PSL holders can wrap their PSL into wPSL to access functionality directly on Ethereum such as pooling liquidity.

How to use WrappedPastel.Com

Holders of PSL or wPSL are able to leverage the conversion services of WrappedPastel.com. Note that for regulatory reasons, the Wrapped Pastel conversion services are not available to citizens or residents of the United States and other sanctioned countries. Read below for a brief tutorial on how to use the Wrapped Pastel conversion services:

Signing up for WrappedPastel.Com

  1. Sign up for an account at WrappedPastel.com using Google Authorization.

2. Verify your identity using Stripe’s Identity Service in order to ensure that your country of origin is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.

3. Once your account is verified, users will be able to wrap from native PSL to wPSL, and unwrap from wPSL to PSL. Note that it can take up to 24 hours for your account to be verified by Stripe. Once your account is verified, you will be able to log-in directly to access your dashboard and conversion services.

There is a 100,000 PSL/wPSL Minimum and 500,000 PSL/wPSL Maximum per conversion request. Note that users are able to convert as little as 10,000 PSL/wPSL for their first conversion in each direction to try out the conversion services.

Wrapping: PSL to wPSL

  1. To wrap from native PSL to wPSL, users simply click the “Convert PSL to Wrapped PSL” prompt.

2. Then, simply enter the Amount of PSL to convert into wPSL (note minimum 100,000 PSL to 500,000 wPSL), your ETH address for where you want to receive your wPSL and your PSL Transparent Address should a refund need to be issued.

3. Once your account is verified, users will be able to wrap from native PSL to wPSL, and unwrap from wPSL to PSL. Note that it can take up to 24 hours for your account to be verified by Stripe. Once your account is verified, you will be able to log-in directly to access your dashboard and conversion services.

There is a 100,000 PSL/wPSL Minimum and 500,000 PSL/wPSL Maximum per conversion request. Note that users are able to convert as little as 10,000 PSL/wPSL for their first conversion in each direction to try out the conversion services.

Wrapping: PSL to wPSL

  1. To wrap from native PSL to wPSL, users simply click the “Convert PSL to Wrapped PSL” prompt.

2. Then, simply enter the Amount of PSL to convert into wPSL (note minimum 100,000 PSL to 500,000 wPSL), your ETH address for where you want to receive your wPSL and your PSL Transparent Address should a refund need to be issued.

3. Once you click “Validate” you will receive a prompt for where to send your PSL, which uses a unique temporary z-address. Note — you must send exactly the amount of PSL as you initially entered.

4. Once you click “Convert”, you should see a prompt that the conversion has been Initiated.

5. Once the Pastel blockchain receives the adequate PSL to the temporary z-address, the transaction will show as ‘Pending’ until there is at least 1 block confirmation.

6. Lastly, the user will be sent the corresponding amount of wPSL, less a 1% fee that is used to handle costs like Ethereum Gas fees.

You will then find your wPSL in your ETH wallet!

Unwrapping: wPSL to PSL

  1. To unwrap from wPSL to native PSL, simply click the “Convert Wrapped PSL to PSL” prompt.

2. Then, simply enter the Amount of wPSL to convert into PSL (note minimum 100,000 PSL to maximum 500,000 wPSL), your PSL address for where you want to receive the PSL (note that only Transparent Addresses are supported) and your ETH Address for where you are sending the wPSL from.

3. Once you click “Validate” you will receive a prompt for where to send your wPSL, which is the Wrapped Pastel ETH address. Note — you must send the EXACT amount of wPSL as you initially entered.

4. Once you send your wPSL and the transaction has been received on the Ethereum blockchain, you will see the following prompt showing that the conversion has been inititated:

5. Wait a few minutes for the transaction to be confirmed

How much does it cost to Wrap or Unwrap on WrappedPastel.com?

In order to cover the administrative and legal costs associated with operating the service — such as Ethereum Gas fees and Stripe Identity Service costs — WrappedPastel.com charges users a service fee equal to 1% of the converted amount. For example, if you convert 100,000 wPSL into PSL, you will receive 99,000 PSL at your PSL address (i.e., the converted amount will be net of the 1% service fee).

Want to learn more or still have a question? Visit us here.

About Pastel

Pastel is the world’s preeminent protocol standard for NFT technology. Pastel also allows for the development of third-party applications to sit on top of its Network, enabling developers to enjoy the scalable registration features, storage processes, and security of the broader ecosystem. Lightweight protocols such as Sense — which was built to assess the relative rareness of a given NFT against near-duplicate metadata — and Cascade — which conducts permanent, distributed storage of underlying NFT data — can be integrated across any native L1 blockchains or L2 marketplaces.

The native platform living directly on top of the Pastel Network also gives creators a way to securely connect with fans and sell unique, limited edition digital assets –without the high fees or storage constraints of other crypto projects. By leveraging a purpose-built native blockchain, Pastel can deploy a number of key features such as Sense’s deep-learning based near-duplicate detection system to ensure proven authenticity.

Pastel is an entirely native blockchain supported by SuperNodes, which provide computational resources to the network to support asset registration, distribution, and permanent storage. Pastel is managed by world-class developers, cryptographers, and technologists, supported alongside an experienced and extensive network of marketers, influencers, and third-party agencies. Pastel is backed by key stakeholders including Innovating Capital, a prominent venture fund.

Originally Published on Pastel Network’s Medium

NFT Overview: The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is an Ethereum-based NFT collection of 10,000 unique Bored Apes. Each Bored Ape has a basket of traits programmatically generated from over 170 traits, including expression, clothing, headware, and more. 

Each Bored Ape doubles as a Yacht Club membership card, which grants the holder access to members-only benefits. The first released benefit is a collaborative graffiti board called THE BATHROOM, a digital board likened to a dive bar bathroom wall. 

BAYC holders get access to the BAYC Discord, a server where owners chat and hang out. 

Perhaps the most notable advantage of the BAYC is access to additional NFT collectibles such as Bored Ape Kennel Club dogs, which are usually airdropped for free to wallets holding a BAYC NFT. These new NFTs are often resold for decent chunks of change.

BAYC #8287

Future benefits plan to be unlocked as the project progresses along with its roadmap. 

Ape holders also have full commercial usage rights over their NFT.

Bored Apes became incredibly popular in the throes of an early-2021 NFT profile picture wave, and they have become particularly popular among NFT-savvy celebrities. 

About Bored Ape Yacht Club

The Bored Apes are ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, and are hosted on IPFS. 

When the project launched in April 2021, an ape could be purchased for just 0.08 ETH. Thirty apes were withheld from the initial sale, and were earmarked to be used for giveaways, puzzle rewards, and the four creators. 

Today, Bored Apes regularly sell for six to seven figures; a collection of 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs recently sold for a whopping $24.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction in September 2021. 

BAYC has generated upwards of $1 billion of trading volume for the original BAYC and its variant sets, like Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Kennel Club.

The BAYC project was created by Yuga Labs, a group of four friends under pseudonyms: 

  • GARGAMEL. 
  • GORDON GONER. 
  • EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP. 
  • NO SASS.

The official BAYC site can be found here.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Collaborations and Airdrops

The BAYC has seen two airdrops:

  1. Free Bored Ape Kennel Club dog NFTs
  2. A “mutant serum” NFT that generated a Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT. 

In August 2021, Bored Ape holders were given a “mutant serum” which allowed them to mint a free Mutant Ape in the likeness of their original form. 

 

Yuga Apes also listed 10,000 new Mutant Apes for sale that anyone could buy for 3 ETH, all of which sold out in under an hour, generating $96 million for the project. 

Notable Bored Ape Yacht Club Holders

One of the first athlete celebrities to buy a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT and use it as a social media avatar was three-time NBA champion Steph Curry, who purchased an Ape for $180,000 in Ethereum in August 2021.

Steph Curry’s Twitter with a BAYC profile picture.

The list of BAYC athlete celebrities includes the NBA’s Josh Hart and Tyrese Haliburton, the NFL’s Dez Bryant and Von Miller, and artists like The Chainsmokers, Waka Flocka Flame, and Jermaine Dupri.

Plenty of corporations and publications have aped into the BAYC, including Arizona Iced Tea. 

Final Thoughts: What’s Next for the Bored Ape Yacht Club

Among future NFT drops (unannounced), the BAYC plans to launch an ERC-20 token in Q1 2022. The mechanics and functionality of the token are currently being smoothed over, but some speculate it could work as a DAO governance token, or perhaps something to help the project expand into DeFi. 

The BAYC is regarded as the most valuable NFT project launched in 2021 in terms of its community and market volume, and it’s nestled into the rankings just behind Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks. 

Mutant Ape Yacht Club #26574 (source: OpenSea) – You’ll notice this one is a “mutant” version of the BAYC in the beginning of the article.

Perhaps the most notable metric for the BAYC success is its secondary market activity– the project has taken on a life of its own due to an active, and now increasingly more affluent, the base of users. The most popular BAYC secondary market is on OpenSea

As BAYC helps lead the charge for NFTs as profile pictures, NFT fans would be keen to observe how certain projects develop into status symbols– and how quickly a project can transition from a quiet launch of .08 ETH to selling for millions in just months.