Author: flowie, ChainCatcher
As the crypto community wails in despair, many "legacy" projects born in the last two cycles are announcing new token launches one after another.
Last night, OpenSea announced the launch of the $SEA token, followed by Doodles, which also officially announced the launch of the $DOOD token on Solana. This comes after the likes of Pudgy Penguins and Azuki, as two more NFT leaders join the token issuance frenzy.
Not only in the NFT space, but privacy projects that were also popular in the last cycle and have nearly disappeared in 2024 seem to be seeking survival through token issuance. Last night, Aztec Network, an Ethereum privacy layer backed by investment giants like a16z and Paradigm, established a foundation, possibly in preparation for an upcoming TGE.
Is the "Late" Token Issuance Worth It for the Community?
Pudgy Penguins, which issued tokens when no one was paying attention, saw its NFT floor price rise from 11 ETH to 35 ETH due to high yield expectations from community players, with its token PENGU reaching a peak FDV of over $6 billion at launch.
Following the example set by Pudgy Penguins, many blue-chip NFTs have collectively announced token launches. However, compared to Pudgy Penguins, other NFTs that followed suit seem to have not garnered as much attention, with their NFT and token popularity far below that of Pudgy Penguins.
In mid-January, another blue-chip NFT, Azuki, announced the launch of the ANIME token. While there was some recovery in the Azuki ecosystem's NFTs, the price increases were generally modest, far from the gains seen with Pudgy Penguins. The Azuki series NFTs saw a daily increase of 17.42%, while other related series NFTs did not show significant rises.
In December last year, after Doodles NFT founder Burnt Toast hinted at a token launch in a tweet, the floor price of Doodles surged to over 8 ETH in a short time before falling back to 6.7 ETH, marking a nearly 60% increase within 24 hours. Following the official announcement of the token launch this morning, as of the time of writing, the Doodles NFT floor price remains at 4.449 ETH.
The once-leading NFT platform OpenSea received mixed reactions from the community after revealing its token issuance news.
During the NFT boom in 2021, OpenSea raised funds aggressively, reaching a valuation of $13 billion. While the community actively traded in anticipation of airdrops, OpenSea insisted on pursuing an IPO route, facing backlash from the community. Now that the NFT market has cooled, OpenSea, without achieving an IPO, is following Pudgy Penguins in issuing tokens.
In response, crypto KOL @BroLenoAus criticized, "This is OpenSea's last harvest before it turns into a zombie, essentially a dying struggle," stating that after receiving the OpenSea airdrop, he would firmly choose to short it.
Earlier, OpenSea launched a new platform, OpenSea 2.0 (OS2), in preparation for the TGE, but the limited access during the private testing phase to only Gemesis NFT holders, while other users had to join a waiting list, sparked dissatisfaction among community members, who felt it favored early users and ignored the existing user base.
However, @ElvisPoldark believes there is a positive side, suggesting that the new features of OpenSea 2.0, leveraging the token issuance hype, might provide a new experience and compete with rivals like Blur. For instance, OpenSea 2.0 offers a one-stop service for NFTs and tokens, allowing users to purchase NFTs and tokens across multiple blockchains without manual bridging.
Currently, more details about the airdrops and TGE for Doodles and OpenSea have yet to be finalized, and whether they can gain user support remains uncertain.
From NFTs to Privacy Projects, "Token Issuance" Has Become a Lifeline for Old Projects
In light of past examples like Pudgy Penguins and Trump tokens, compared to recreating narratives, "token issuance" may become a lifeline for old projects.
However, these former leaders backed by VC giants are facing significant bottlenecks and trust crises in their own businesses.
OpenSea, once the largest NFT trading platform, peaked at a monthly trading volume of $5 billion in early 2021. However, according to Dune Analytics, its NFT trading volume last month was about $190 million, less than 4% of its peak.
Facing challenges from competitors like Blur and Magic Eden, OpenSea's market share has dropped from 90% in 2022 to around 30%. OpenSea is also facing regulatory compliance challenges.
Meanwhile, the floor price of Doodles has fallen from a high of 25 ETH to 4.449 ETH. During the previous bear market, Doodles attempted to save itself by selling IP and related products, but the results have been minimal.
As a star project in Ethereum privacy, Aztec Network raised over $100 million in four rounds of financing, with top investment teams like a16z, Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, and HashKey Capital participating.
However, after raising $100 million, Aztec Network suddenly announced a business transformation in March 2023, shutting down its DeFi privacy bridge project Aztec Connect and focusing on two new main products: a general-purpose development language Noir that supports zero-knowledge proofs and a new privacy blockchain.
The transformation and the delayed airdrop led to community disappointment towards Aztec, and since then, the project has not made significant progress or impact.
Currently, in a market lacking liquidity and innovative models, where attention is no longer easily captured by old narratives and VC tokens, old narratives and projects that have lost some trust are facing significant challenges in trying to reverse their fortunes through token issuance.
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