Who would have thought 2022 would bring an entirely new meta which requires you to fill out a detailed application to get whitelisted to your favorite upcoming project? To mitigate the “grind meta” in Discords, many hyped projects have moved to awarding whitelist spots to only those deemed worthy through a detailed application process.
It all started with Frankdegods’ project, y00ts. This Solana-based NFT project is the second collection from Frank, following the popular Degods NFT, which is currently the top project regarding Solana NFTs. Many refer to Degods as the “BAYC of Solana,” so it’s no surprise people were willing to do whatever they could for a chance to mint into their ecosystem.
The y00ts team released an application that made you answer questions regarding your web3 background, a little about yourself, and your thoughts about the NFT space/project. The questions they asked aimed to help gauge who they thought would be the perfect fit for their project. After filling out the application, you had to wait for their y00tlist Twitter account to tweet out a “Welcome to y00topia” with your Twitter handle attached.
Publically announcing who was getting into y00topia created a significant amount of hype and FOMO. Every day you would see celebrities, your favorite influencers, and people you’ve never heard about get accepted while you sat there re-thinking your entire application. This made getting into y00ts a status symbol to many. Flexing your y00tlist acceptance became something others gawked at. Because of all the hype behind getting on the y00tlist, it was no surprise that the mint was nothing short of a success. Those who missed out were paying a considerable amount more than the mint price, and everyone was trying to get their hands on one.
Since then, there have already been a couple of NFT projects that have adopted the application meta to some success: Underground and Momentum. It seems like more and more projects have moved to this initiative in hopes of similar results. Here’s a list of the most hyped application-based NFT Projects you shouldn’t fade:
Valhalla
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Valhalla is an NFT project absolutely killing it pre-mint. Aiming to bridge the gap between gaming and NFTs, Valhalla has done everything possible to get the gaming community to accept that NFTs are here to stay. From collaborations with huge esports teams to developing their own streaming platform, Valhalla is slated to do big things for the NFT space.
Valhalla has an ongoing pre-sale for 500 of their NFTs for 0.25 Ethereum to help gauge the current market. Continuing to push the limits of what it takes to release a project, many people have shown their support, with a staggering 8,000 people bidding on their pre-sale. Why is this such a big deal? Those lucky enough to get picked to claim the pre-sale supply will have their NFTs locked, making them un-tradeable for at least 3 months. That just shows how many people are bullish for the future of Valhalla and willing to hold this project for the long term.
As of right now, the only way to apply is by receiving a code from someone who has already been accepted into Valhalla.
Dark Labs
Dark Labs is the second collection from Ameer Hussain. This follows his popular Dark Echelon project, which has a supply of 520 NFTs. There isn’t much public information about Dark Labs available, but Ameer has stated only the best of the best will be accepted. Even going as far as to say that Dark Echelon holders aren’t automatically accepted.
KPR
KPR will be a meta-universe that focuses on elite storytelling. The team behind this includes the core team from CloneX alpha, an alpha lead from Doodles, and the project’s founder is a product lead at a very large DAO. A well-rounded team stemming from successful NFT projects is apparent when visiting their website. Equipped with fantastic visuals, captivating lore, and complimentary music, there’s no denying this is one of the most unique websites in the NFT space.
Applications for KPR will be closing Tuesday, October 18, 2022.
Coliseum
Coliseum is a project with a very low supply of 310 NFTs. They’re priding themselves on their connections/resources in both web2 and web3. One particular utility they are offering is the chance to soul-bind with your NFT making it permanently attached to your wallet forever. Why should you soul-bind your NFT? Holders who take the initiative to deem their token untradable through soul-binding will potentially have access to everything they need to develop their own project including connections and capital. This is huge for those who have great ideas, but not necessarily the resources to pull them off!
Machina
Machina is a project years in the making. The Machina universe was created as a personal project back in 2015 by the artist, Dylan, who uses his own spin on colored realism and technopunk to create these beautiful PFPs. The founder, 0xpyeongyang has recruited the likes of 0xInuarashi (Founder of Gangster All Stars) and his dev team. Adding on to the big names behind Machina are founders Takoa (FEW), Jejouw (Karafuru), and Wiz (Kingdom NFT).
The Machina discord is full of character lore, sneak peeks, and a great community. They opened up their applications at the beginning of the month and stated only 100 people will be selected to receive their coveted “Featherlist” role.
JUUNI
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JUUNI is an NFT project full of husbandos and waifus galore! Presented by Studio REM, each character was created by the popular Korean artist, HEX. With 8+ years of experience as an illustrator and concept artist in the Korean game industry, including Wemade Entertainment, NCsoft, and Netmarble, HEX’s remarkable work is showcased through each unique character design. You currently need to be referred by someone who has already been accepted into JUUNI in order to fill out an application yourself.
ARTIES
Fine art and NFTs have always had an interesting relationship. While big collectors love fine art NFTs, more casual NFT traders tend to stay away from them due to their nature of subjective liking. Arties is a project working towards connecting renowned traditional artists and web2 brands to explore NFTs as a new medium. Their mint will be different from others as they plan to have 5 different minting batches:
Batch 1: 200 NFTs - 600 USD
Batch 2: 250 NFTs - 700 USD
Batch 3: 300 NFTs - 800 USD
Batch 4: 350 NFTs - 1000 USD
Batch 5: 400 NFTs - 1200 USD
Since Arties is trying to attract more web2-focused artists/people, minters will be able to use ETH, USDC, Bank Transfer, or Credit Card to buy their NFT.
Let me know which NFT you’re looking forward to the most, and what you think of the current application meta below! If you’ve made it this far, I want to say thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I want to reward whoever reads this first with one of my Valhalla codes: QFKELE7U
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