Magic Eden NFT Marketplace Explained (Read Before Using)

Magic Eden is the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, with over 10 million unique users and 20,000 daily transactions. It lets users sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs), including art and music NFTs

In August 2022, the company announced it would release Ethereum NFTs, though its primary blockchain would remain Solana. It also released an optional royalty model in October 2022, replacing the 2% platform fee. 

In this article, we’ll look at what the Magic Eden marketplace is, how it works, who founded it, and its unique launchpad feature. 

What Is The Magic Eden NFT Marketplace?

Magic Eden is a decentralized NFT marketplace where users can buy, create, sell and trade Solana and Ethereum NFTs. 

The platform showcases a range of NFT collections, including digital collectibles such as Okay Bears, y00ts, and the Degenerate Ape Academy, as well as music NFTs and gaming collectibles. 

As the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, 90% of all secondary Solana NFT platforms are completed on Magic Eden, which has a trading volume of over $1.44 billion

Magic Eden raised $27 million during its Series A funding round, helping it compete with other NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea. In July 2022, Magic Eden raised an additional $130 million in a Series B funding round, which was led by Electric Capital and Greylock. Magic Eden was valued at $1.6 billion following this second funding round. 

As of December 2022, Magic Eden users have access to a marketplace where they can search using different categories such as “Most Popular,” “Auctions,” or by release date. They also have access to an insights tab, a tab for Magic Eden games, and a unique launchpad. 

When searching for a collection, users can filter stats based on the last 24 hours, week, or 30 days. They can also filter NFTs based on the unique attributes of a collection. These attributes include eyes, mouth, background, and other features. Or, if an investor has a specific budget in mind, they can filter an NFT collection based on its status and price. 

Through the insights tab, users can view live auctions and recent market activity for all collections. This is great for collectors who want to stay up to date, with options for everything from recent transactions to top holders. 

How Does The Magic Eden Marketplace Work?

To get started with Magic Eden, you need a Solana-compatible wallet such as Exodus, Trezor, or SolFlare. You then need to purchase SOL to cover the price of the NFT plus the Solana blockchain fee. 

From here, you can connect your wallet to Magic Eden by clicking the “Connect Wallet” button on the right side of the screen. You don’t need to make an account. Once connected, you can buy any NFT collection on the platform by bidding on it at auction or clicking “Buy now” to make an instant purchase. 

In November 2022 the most popular collection on Magic Eden was Claynosaurz, followed by y00ts and DeGods. The most popular collection of all time remains Okay Bears, a profile-picture NFT collection showcasing a range of bears with unique, quirky characteristics. 

Alongside a comprehensive website, Magic Eden has its own iOS app. This app lets users browse a range of NFT collections; however, it doesn’t let users buy NFTs. NFT purchases are currently limited to the web browser. 

Although mostly focused on Solana collections, Magic Eden also supports Ethereum (ETH) collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Otherdeed For Otherside, and Azuki. These can be found on the “Popular Collections” tab under the “Ethereum” section. 

If you want to get involved in the future of Magic Eden, you can also purchase Magic Tickets on the site. Each ticket grants you access to the Magic Eden decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The DAO is currently an exclusive Discord channel where users can vote on future marketplace policies. 

Who Founded The Magic Eden Marketplace

Magic Eden was founded in 2021 by four friends: Sidney Zhang, Jack Lu, Zhuoxun Yin, and Zhuojie Zhou. Before founding Magic Eden, each member had previous crypto and development experience. 

Sidney Zhang formerly worked as an Uber Eats developer, Jack Lu worked at FTX, Zhuoxun Yin was a product manager at Coinbase, and Zhuojie Zhou worked as a Facebook developer. 

Magic Eden Launchpad

To promote the adoption and success of Solana NFTs, Magic Eden created a unique launchpad to kick-start NFT artists’ projects. The launchpad works in a similar way to an art auction house, with all collections accepted by the launchpad being featured on the front page of the site. 

As well as promoting NFT collections, the Magic Eden Launchpad helps creators actually mint their NFTs. It uses an innovative automatic distribution system that takes care of the technical side of NFT creation. This lets creators focus on the artwork instead of worrying about complex coding. 

To be part of the launchpad, creators are required to go through a vigorous application process, which will look at the project, its utility, and its design. This process is extremely strict, and only 5% of applications are accepted. 

Popular launchpad collections include Syberials: Mint Scrolls, Moon Strike NFT, and WADE Collab. HumanX, Plato Eats: Foodies, and Toys R Us are also set to be released at the start of December. 

Final Thoughts: Magic Eden Is The Best Marketplace For Solana NFTs 

With over 90% of secondary Solana NFT sales, Magic Eden is by far the most preferred NFT marketplace for Solana-based projects. It’s easy to use, with a seamless interface that makes it easy to find top collections, analyze current stats and search for gaming-based NFTs. 

By combining Solana and Ethereum NFTs, the platform has made itself a one-stop shop for NFTs, where both creators and investors can find and buy the collections they want. 

The standout feature of the Magic Eden marketplace is its launchpad. As its launchpad grows in popularity, it will help the platform become the first place new creators look towards when creating their collections. This will only speed up the widespread adoption of Magic Eden, which could one day compete with the likes of OpenSea to become one of the world’s largest NFT marketplaces. 

The Biggest NFT Rug Pulls of All Time

Rug pulls have made headlines since the 2021 NFT boom, with investors losing over $25 billion as of November 2022. These headlines have sparked fear among investors, who are now skeptical when it comes to new NFT projects.

The likelihood of a rug pull, or a scam in which a cryptocurrency or NFT team exits a project along with its investors’ funds with them, seems to be increasingly greater.

In this article, we’ll cover the seven biggest NFT rug pulls of all time ranked by the amount of money stolen from investors. 

Iconics- $140,000

Iconics was a Solana-based NFT project consisting of 8000 unique pieces of 3D artwork. It was created by an unknown 17-year-old 3D digital artist who promised unique 3D images to investors. Fourteen initial samples were showcased through the project’s Discord channel, which created the demand for more.

The project started with a pre-sale of 2000 items at 0.5 SOL; however, investors didn’t get what they paid for. Instead of 3D art, they received a random collection of emojis. After the sale, the project’s Discord went offline, and its official Twitter disappeared. 

Blockchain data showed that the scammer had around 1000 SOL at the time, which equaled around $140,000. Investors never got their money back. 

Mercenary- $750,000

Mercenary was a medieval Play-and-Earn game where players could recruit a team of mercenaries to fight for MGOLD. The game was promoted on sites like thebittimes.com and BSC news, where it was praised for its innovative mechanics and unique gameplay. 

Unfortunately, the game ended up being a rug pull. 

After building a loyal group of players, a new Twitter handle known as the Mercenary Golg Community claimed that the Twitter and Telegram groups had been hacked. Within 24 hours of this post, everything connected to the project was wiped entirely, with only a few Twitter promotions remaining. 

It’s estimated that the team stole around $760k of investors’ funds. 

Frosties NFT – $1,300,000

Frosties was the first big NFT rug pull of 2022, and one that shocked the NFT community. It started with a huge marketing campaign, advertising 8,888 cartoon ice cream NFTs. The project was one of the fastest to ever sell out, with the team making an estimated $1.3 million in the process. 

The team had promised investors unique staking features, a metaverse game, mint passes, and other long-term benefits. However, shortly after release, the Frosties social media channels, Discord servers, and website all disappeared. The project was completely shut down, and the project team disappeared. 

Fortunately, rumors have stated that the creators were caught and charged with one count of wire fraud. Although the investors didn’t get their money back, the devs were punished for their scam. 

Swipathefox – $1,500,000

Swipathefox was an NFT project created by NBA basketball player De’Aaron Fox, consisting of 6000 unique fox-themed NFTs. Fox promised investors exclusive NFT ownership perks, including giveaways, tickets, and exclusive chats with Fox himself. 

Unfortunately, the project never bore fruit, with Fox stating that he didn’t have the time to work on it during the middle of the NBA season. In an interview, Fox said that he would be working on the collection in the future. However, he had to focus on his NBA career at that time. 

As of November 2022, action has yet to be taken on the project, and investors have claimed they never got their money back. 

Though not entirely a “rug pull” in nature, this one is in the “TBD” category.

Baller Ape Club – $2,000,000

Baller Ape Club looked like a legit NFT project when it was first released. Inspired by Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC,) it had a complete development team, a dedicated community, and plenty of investors supporting the project. The collection consisted of 5,000 NFTs that sold for a price of 2 SOL each. 

After the public mint, the dev team rugged the project. They deleted all socials and stole around $2 million of investor funds. However, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has since taken the project’s founder to court. 

Le Anh Traun, a Vietnamese national, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and international money laundering. Traun could face up to 40 years in prison as a result. 

Evolved Apes – $2.7 million

Evolved Apes was an NFT collection of 10,000 apes that would battle one another to win rewards. To attract investors, the founder, known as “Evil Ape,” created competitions in which investors could win NFTs and other rewards. However, once the project sold out, Evil Ape disappeared and deleted all accounts associated with the project. 

In total, $2.7 million was stolen, including funds that should have gone to the development team, marketing department, and artists. None of the competition winners were ever awarded their prizes, and the teams were never paid for their work. 

Evil Ape was never found.

Bored Bunny- $21 million

Bored Bunny was one of the biggest NFT projects of 2022 and gained celebrity endorsements from French Montana, Jake Paul, and Floyd Mayweather. The 4,999 NFTs sold out in hours, minting for 0.4 ETH. 

However, very quickly, in-house sources suggested that the founder was simply looking to steal investors’ money. Before launch, a dev wallet bought celebrity NFTs for additional profits, and after the initial launch, a second collection known as Bored Bad Bunny NFTs went on sale. 

After the second collection sold out, the floor price dramatically dropped, and the dev team went missing, stealing $21 million in the process. 

If this wasn’t bad enough, the remaining team released a third collection known as Bored Mutant Bunny, consisting of 3,000 NFTs selling for 0.25ETH. By this time, investors had realized the project was a scam, and it failed to sell. 

Final Thoughts: Rugpulls and Mass NFT Adoption?

Rugpulls pose a threat to mass NFT adoption. With NFT scams consistently making headlines, many investors are forgetting the practical benefits of NFTs.

Without an adequate solution addressing the disparate set of NFT exchanges lacking authentication tools, we’ll unfortunately probably see more rug pulls occur– this is why it’s incredibly important to do your research and not YOLO into unverified projects.

However, the NFT market continues to grow despite rugpulls and the negative press surrounding rugpulls. We shouldn’t let the high-flying conquests of a few malicious bad actors blind us to the good work many NFT collections are doing– even if it’s just bringing a community of like-minded crypto-savvy people together.

Doodles NFTs Explained (Read Before Buying)

Doodles is a collection of 10,000 PFP (profile-picture) NFTs featuring art by Burnt Toast. Burnt Toast is the artist name of Scott Martin, a Canadian–based illustrator, designer, animator, and muralist.

Minted on October 17th, 2021, Doodles come in a wide range of colors, sizes, and traits, with each owner having the right to vote for experiences paid for by the Doodles Community Treasury. 

Since its release, Doodles has become one of the most successful NFT collections worldwide, with a sales volume of 150,000 ETH and a current floor price of 7.95 ETH ($10,235.) 

Doodle’s vision is to revolutionize media and entertainment through Web 3, impacting industries such as gaming, music, and real-life events through Doodle NFT avatars. 

This article will cover what Doodles are, how Doodles work, the founding of the Doodles, and the project’s future. 

What are Doodles?

Doodles is a colorful hand-drawn collection of 10,000 NFTs designed by Burnt Toast. 

Each NFT represents a playful character showcasing unique animal costumes, hairstyles, and accessories such as sunglasses. The collection includes non-human characters, including apes, skeletons, cats, and pickles.

In total, there are 100 different traits that influence the rarity and price of each NFT.

The rarest traits include devil horns (0.43%), 60’s sunglasses (0.22%), and a Holographic space background which belongs to only one Doodle.

On September 13th, 2022, Doodle raised $54 million at a funding round led by Seven Seven Six, with a valuation of $704 million. Despite being valued amongst projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, the Doodles NFT price stayed the same. 

However, the funding has provided Doodles with the financial leverage they need to expand their project. According to the team, the funds will be used to “acquire a world-class team of engineers, creatives, marketers, and business executives.” It will also be used to promote the project, influence other areas of DeFi, and fund Doodles 2, which we’ll cover later in this article. 

How Do Doodles Work?

Doodles is a community-driven project launched to “bring joy to everyone who sees them.” Since its initial release, the project has released additional NFT collections, sold Doodles merchandise (though this is currently only hold), and held live events, all exclusive to Doodle holders. 

Holders have power over how the Doodles Community Treasury is used. Known as the Doodlebank, holders can vote on campaigns and experiences for the community. They can also submit proposals that are voted on by the community and implemented by the team. Each holder gets one vote per Doodle they hold. 

When a Doodle is sold on OpenSea, half of the 5% royalty fee is deposited into the treasury. This is then used to scale the Doodles development team and grow the brand through marketing efforts and promotions. 

On February 28th, 2022, Doodles released a second NFT project, Space Doodles. Space Doodles were designed as free companion NFTs for existing Doodle holders. To claim their NFT, holders could launch their own personal spaceship to claim their Space Doodle. 

To avoid diluting the supply, Doodles used wrapped NFTs. A process in which the original NFT would be stored in a digital vault when a smart contract was used to create a Space Doodle. This meant holders could own either a Doodle or Space Doodle and not both at the same time. Space Doodles can be unwrapped at any time to receive their original Doodle NFT. 

The dev team has stated that Space Doodles will be used in future Doodles experiences such as NFT gaming, music, and other “universe expansions.”

Who Founded Doodles?

Doodles was founded by Scott Martin and former Dapper Labs employees Evan Keast and Jordan Castro.

Scott Martin, also known as Burnt Toast, is the artist behind the project, with prior experience as a designer, animator, and muralist. Previously, he worked with brands such as Google, Dropbox, and Adobe. 

Evan Keast, also known as Tulip, helped develop the project’s branding. Before Doodles, he worked at Dapper Labs, where he helped market the blockchain game CryptoKitties. 

Jordan Castro, known as Poopie, works on the product side of Doodles and previously worked with Evan on CryptoKitties. 

The team has since expanded, recruiting former Billboard President Julian Holguin as partner and CEO. Julian is helping the team move into the gaming, music, and consumer goods market. They’ve also brought on Pharrell Williams, American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer, as the project’s chief brand officer. His job includes product music projects, animated films, and project launches. 

The Future of Doodles

Having already made headlines, the Doodles team has big goals for the project with the release of Doodles 2.

The team plans to attract a greater audience with Doodles 2, allowing more NFT enthusiasts to get involved in the project. Rumors suggest Doodles 2 will be created on a different blockchain and will be released this year; however, there’s no exact date or blockchain in place. 

Unlike most NFT projects, Doodles 2 is giving investors the chance to customize their NFTs by choosing traits like hair color and skin tone, then adding different accessories and wearables. Once owned, holders can change their look, swapping between PFP perspectives and full-body options, as well as unlock animated versions of their NFTs with music. 

Doodles 2 will also introduce the Doodles Genesis Box. The Doodles Genesis Box will hold a range of first-edition wearables that can be sent to Doodles 2. This collection will feature 24,000 boxes and will launch via what Doodles have called a Bucket Auction. 

Final Thoughts: Are Doodles Worth The Investment?

Doodles is considered one of the most exciting NFT projects due to its continuous investment in its team and community. The project has the potential to revolutionize NFTs with a customizable Doodle 2 collection, which is eagerly anticipated throughout the community. 

Despite the 2022 NFT market turbulence, Doodles has continued to thrive, building a huge community of loyal fans, releasing merchandise, and expanding on their project.

With the addition of new team members, we’ll likely see more of Doodles in markets across Web 3. 

Nonetheless, it’s always important to remember that the NFT market is unpredictable. Always do your research before making an investment to reduce risk and maximize your profits. 

What Are Soulbound Tokens & Why Should You Care?

Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) are permanent, non-transferable NFTs that represent a holder’s identity and reputation. 

They contain data such as an individual’s work history, credit score, education, medical history, and personal certifications, all of which are stored on the blockchain. This data is used to verify information during processes such as going for a job interview. 

However, SBTs have created a divide amongst crypto enthusiasts; some argue that they’d be a great way to verify information, while others have compared them to an authoritarian social credit system. 

This article will cover what Soulbound Tokens are, how they work, the team behind SBTs, and various Soulbound Token applications. 

What Are Soulbound Tokens?

Soulbound Tokens are permanent non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can’t be given away or stolen from a crypto wallet. 

The idea behind Soulbound Tokens comes from the video game World of Warcraft (WoW.) In the game, “Soulbound” refers to ownership of an item that cannot be traded or gifted to another player. 

Think of Soulbound Tokens like CV’s for everyday life. They display your achievements, such as a professional certification, degree, award, or experience in a particular field. They also include achievements outside work, such as sports teams you’ve played for, events you’ve completed, and medical records for hospital appointments. 

SBTs also include personal information such as your name, date of birth, political parties you support, criminal record, religious beliefs, and just about anything else you want to showcase to the world. If there’s a fact you want to share, it can be done through your Soulbound Token. 

How Do Soulbound Tokens Work?

Soulbound Tokens work by proving a particular statement to be fact. On social media platforms, anyone can claim just about anything. However, with SBTs, claims must be backed by another wallet. 

Each individual has their own “Soul” which is basically a private wallet. Institutions would also have “Souls” (wallets) and would be able to give Soulbound Tokens to prove a particular statement. For example, if you went to Oxford University, the university would have to give you an SBT to prove you have a degree from the institution. In theory, this would make it impossible for someone to make a false statement.

By granting SBTs to individuals, the project team believes they can solve many of the problems associated with decentralized finance. In particular, they believe it could prevent theft and scams, as individuals would be able to verify their identity before any transaction takes place. 

It would also let investors check a project’s reputation before buying. From July 2021 to July 2022 over $100m worth of NFTs have been stolen through rug pulls and other cryptocurrency scams. With SBTs, investors can check if the individuals behind a project can be trusted before getting involved. This will help individuals make better-informed decisions and limit scams throughout the community. 

However, there’s one big flaw in the current system: once an individual has an SBT, they can’t get rid of it. In theory, this means an organization or individual could potentially sabotage an individual’s “Soul” by sending them unwarranted tokens. 

To tackle this, features are being developed that would let individuals hide or destroy an SBT if it doesn’t belong in their wallet. A “social recovery model” has also been proposed, where an individual can appoint “guardians” for their wallet. These guardians can be individuals or institutions who can change the private keys of a user’s wallet. Therefore they could keep a user safe if their wallet is compromised. However, this idea is still in early development. 

Who Created Soulbound Tokens?

 Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin, Puja Ohlhaver, and Eric Glen Weyl created the Soulbound Tokens in May 2022. 

Buterin is a Russian-born Canadian programmer and writer who’s been in the cryptocurrency space since 2011. He co-founded Bitcoin Magazine and is best known as the face of Ethereum. 

Puja Ohlhaver is a lawyer in the crypto space who’s worked with Buterin on previous projects. 

Eric Glen Weyl is an economist and social technologist. He works as a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research New England and is a Visiting Senior Research Scholar at Yale University, where he teaches an economics-computer science course. 

Soulbound Token Applications

Decentralized Banks

SBTs provide banks with financial data that can be used to grant loans, overdrafts, and other financial incentives. They can help verify an individual’s reputation based on their financial history, including loans already taken out, when they were paid, and if they’ve ever missed a payment. 

DAO Voting

DAOs play an important part in decentralized governance models, allowing users to vote on the future of a protocol. SBTs could be used to prove an individual’s identity and reduce the risk of Sybil attacks. 

CV’s

When applying for a job, everyone needs a CV and cover letter. SBTs could replace these forms by displaying an application’s work experience, qualifications, and employer reviews in one place. They’d work as proof of skill set and prevent individuals from lying on their applications. 

Medical Records 

Getting your hands on your own medical records is a lengthy process and can often take days for a doctor to send over. Instead of relying on slow governing institutions, SBTs can be used to store medical records, replacing physical paper records. When visiting a doctor or hospital, individuals could use their SBTs to show any prior accidents, surgeries, and general medical information. 

Final Thoughts: Could Soulbound Tokens Revolutionize Personal Data?

With Soulbound Tokens planned to be available by the end of 2022, many crypto enthusiasts are asking how they’ll impact how we use and interact with personal data. 

For Web3 users, SBTs are a great way to resolve many issues around scams and fraud, verifying a user’s identity. They’re a great way to showcase skill sets and qualifications and have many applications in everyday life. 

However, will they be adopted by everyone? With cryptocurrency still being somewhat of a fringe subject, it’s unlikely that the general public will currently adopt Soulbound Tokens. Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean SBTs haven’t got potential. 

As the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency continues to grow, so does the potential for mass SBT adoption. To keep up with the latest updates, you can join the Soulbound Discord and Telegram channels, where the developers reveal their latest innovations on the project.

Gary’s Vee Friends NFTs Explained (Read Before Buying)

VeeFriends is an NFT project built on the Ethereum blockchain by Gary Vee. The collection consists of two series and was created to help Gary Vee give back to his community. 

The first series was released in May 2021 and included 10,255 NFTs and 268 characters, 1242 of which were held by Gary Vee. 

The second series was released in April 2022 and included 251 characters and 55,555 tokens. This series was released alongside VeeFriends Mini Drops and Book Games NFT projects.

This article will cover what VeeFriends are, how they work, who created them, how you can buy and what VeeFriends season two brings to the table. 

What is VeeFriends?

VeeFriends is an NFT collection created by Gary Vee. The series one collection is based on 268 characters hand-drawn by Gary, each of which was inspired by human traits he admires. 

The original collection consisted of 10,255 NFTs; however, 12% of the supply was held by Gary Vee and is referred to as G.O.O. (Gary Originally Owned). 

The NFTs take the appearance of cartoon animals, bugs, and unique characters, each with different backgrounds and features. These are then divided into three categories: access, gift, and admission, each of which gives holders different benefits.

Access tokens provide direct access to Gary Vee or other holders.

Gift tokens offer unique experiences created by Gary Vee and his team. 

Admission tokens provide holders a three-year access pass to VeeCon and are the most common in the collection. 

As of October 2022, the highest-selling VeeFriend was a Watchful and Attentive Embarking Ape, which sold for 105 ETH (around $333,807) to Wu-Tang Clan. The project currently has a market cap of $133.5 million and a floor price of 4.96 ETH. 

How Does VeeFriends Work?

VeeFriends series one consists of 10,255 tokens, categorized by access tokens, gift tokens, and admission tokens. Here’s how they work. 

Access Tokens

Access tokens are broken up into four categories: one-to-one- group, competition, and scholarship. Ninety of these tokens offer in-person access, and 210 offer virtual access. 

There are 165 group access tokens, where investors can spend time with GaryVee or other VeeFriends holders. These tokens include: 

  • Ten Breakfast Bat tokens for in-person access
  • Ten Lunch Lady Bug tokens for in-person access
  • Ten Dinner Deer tokens for in-person access
  • Ten Brunch Bear tokens for in-person access
  • 125 Hangout Hawks tokens for virtual access

There are 108 one-on-one access tokens, each offering a unique experience. For example, courtside seats at sporting events, a wine shopping experience, and other one-to-one experiences with GaryVee. Other tokens include FaceTime calls with Gary; five tokens give holders access to events where GaryVee is a speaker. 

There are 22 competition tokens, allowing holders to compete with GaryVee in a pre-chosen game. Games include basketball, chess, bowling, and more. 

There are five Sorcerer Scholarship tokens, which investors must apply for to be accepted. If accepted, holders will receive mentorship from Gary Vaynerchuk.

Gift Tokens

Out of the 10,255 VeeFriends tokens, 555 are Gift Goat tokens. These tokens give holders three years of access to VeeCon. They’ll also receive a minimum of six physical gifts annually for three years. Each Gift Goat was hand drawn by Gary and can be verified on VeeFriends.com.  

Admission Tokens

Admission tokens make up the largest percentage of VeeFriends, with 9,400 tokens in total. Each character has 40 tokens with different rarity levels, the rarest of which is “Epic,” of which only two exist for each character. Other levels include very rare, rare, limited, and core levels. 

The tokens come with a three-year access pass to VeeCon.

There are forty tokens in differing rarity levels and a total of 9,400 tokens, making this category the largest within the VeeFriends NFT universe. The rarest category is “Spectaculars,” of which only one token exists. “Epic,” the next rarest, as only two.

Additional categories include very rare, rare, limited, and core levels that gradually increase in numbers. 

Who Created VeeFriends?

VeeFriends was created by Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee,) a serial entrepreneur and content pioneer. Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia, VaynerSports, and four-time New York Times bestselling author. He has an estimated net worth of $200 million. 

Gary was one of the first entrepreneurs to realize the potential of cryptocurrency and NFTs, first acknowledging the trend in 2014. He’s since launched VeeFriends and VaynerNFT, a project designed to help brands create their own NFT collections.  

VeeFriends was created by Gary to help pioneer the future of NFTs, with Gary stating that NFTs will change the way we interact online. 

VeeFriends Series 2 NFTs

VeeFriends Series 2 was released in April 2022 and included 55,555 tokens which originally sold for 0.33 ETH ($995.) Holders of Series 1 NFTs had the opportunity to claim a Series 2 for free, claiming the same character they already own. 

As the collection has more NFTs, GaryVee launched the collection at a lower price than the first to give more people opportunities to buy. The floor price for Series 1 is 5.96 ETH, pricing many investors out of the collection. 

The project was released in four mint periods throughout April:

Friends List (32,000 Supply) | 4/18/22

Series 1 Free Claim (10,255 Supply) | 4/18/22

Public Mint (10,000 Supply) | Date: 4/25/22

15 New Characters (3,300 Supply) | Date: 4/27/22

After release, many VeeFriends increased in value, for example, Adaptable Alien #13905, which sold for 42 ETH. This one-of-a-kind NFT featured an alien character with a Glitch Emerald background. 

How to Buy VeeFriends 

You can buy VeeFriends on several NFT platforms, including Bybit and OpenSea. 

To buy, open your platform of choice and connect your cryptocurrency wallet (MetaMask is a good option for this.) 

Make sure your wallet has the correct amount of ETH to complete the transaction and place a bid on an NFT or “Buy Now” to receive it instantly. Before you buy, check the transaction fees to ensure you have enough ETH to cover the whole transaction. 

Final Thoughts: Are VeeFriends A Good Investment?

Regarding utility, VeeFriends are one of the most valuable NFTs on the market. With each NFT, you’re guaranteed at least one benefit, from FaceTime calls with Gary himself to tickets to sports games. 

Series 1 of VeeFriends has continued to increase in value since its release, making them a good investment for all investors, even if they’re not interested in cashing in on their reward. Series 2 hasn’t seen the dramatic rise in value that the first collection had; nonetheless, the project has maintained its value and sold out, suggesting its value could increase in the future. 

However, VeeFriends aren’t necessarily for everyone. If having a chat with GaryVee isn’t your thing, other collections, such as CryptoPunks, offer great investments without the same utility. 

Over the next few years, NFTs with unused benefits will likely continue to rise in value as their number continues to decrease. Therefore holding an NFT with a redeemable reward may be a good investment.