Kanpai Panda: The Sports Degen's PFP

Good Friday everyone! Our research coverage of NFTs extends across all blockchains. But it's becoming clear to us that there is a gap to be filled for Solana NFTs. There’s so much going on there but people don’t see it!

So for the next 3 weeks, we’re going to cover Solana NFT projects in our weekly deep dives. If there’s a collection you want us to cover, let us know and reply to this email.

Today we cover:

• DeGods leads a mild recovery in NFTs

• Kanpai Pandas is the sports degen PFP. Why?

• Nate Chastain (former OpenSea employee) gets sentence to 3 months prison for insider trading

Market Update: DeGods Lead Mild Recovery

There has been a modest recovery in the prices of major NFT collections, with DeGods leading the charge (+22% today, at 4.3 ETH). Sellers seem to be getting exhausted, although liquidity is still very thin on most collections which means prices can swing both ways quite quickly.

Notable Collections:

• Bored Ape Yacht Club (24 ETH, -14% from last week)

• Mutant Ape Yacht Club (5 ETH, -10%)

• Pudgy Penguins (3.9 ETH, +1%)

• Azuki (3.9 ETH, -15%)

• CryptoPunks (47 ETH, no change)

Kanpai Pandas: The Sports Degen PFP

We like to look at NFT projects that have been outperforming in a bear market where everything is dropping 60 - 80%.

It’s usually a signal that the team is doing something right. And there are lessons to be learned

One of them is Milady, which we covered last week.

Another is Kanpai Pandas, a collection that has not only weathered the storm but thrived. While others like BAYCs, Azuki, DeGods have been swept away, Kanpai Pandas has remained steady. It’s also up 3X from its mint price in 2022.

Let's dive into this panda-monium, shall we?

What’s interesting about Kanpai Pandas is its multichain nature: a 10K NFT collection that spans across eight different blockchains including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, AVAX, Fantom, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Solana. This allows it to tap on users and liquidity across multiple different chains.

Solana was its final chain/mint and now all of its supply has been minted. In fact, it was the most expensive mint in Solana’s NFT history (82 SOL / $1,600) and yet it still minted out 1k NFTs. Today, it’s floor price has fallen below mint, at 68 SOL.

So what does a Kanpai Panda actually do?

To sum it up, its a private membership club for degens who enjoy sports. Holders of Kanpai Pandas gain exclusive access to parties, meet-and-greets with pro athletes, concerts, networking events, and more. The focus is on IRL experiences: its Pandamonium flagship will be held 1 - 2x/year and free for holders.

The project has even secured a 15-year lease for an executive box suite at Allegiant Stadium (home of the Las Vegas Raiders) to host events. Kanpai Pandas has also ventured into the world of combat streetwear and signed professional fighters as brand ambassadors

But the Pandas don't stop there. Kanpai Pandas introduced a point-based rewards system called Panda Points. Every Panda NFT holder earns points daily and can be used to customize pandas, enter raffles for real prizes ($19k worth) play games, buy merchandise, and access real-world experiences.

They’re also kicking off a Fantasy Football challenge too, for the upcoming NFL season:

Here’s a list of important Panda holders:

The Bottom Line: A Panda with a Plan

Kanpai Pandas knows its audience: the sports-loving degenerates living in the West. It's like a tailor-made suit for this crowd, with events and products built to cater to this audience. With the fantasy sports market booming from $27 billion to an expected $49 billion in 5 years, these Pandas are playing the long game.

Two Ways to Think About It:

If you fit in the target audience, it's the perfect Profile Picture (PFP) for you, a symbol of your passion for sports and luxury.

If you don't fit in the target audience, but think that Kanpai Panda's brand awareness will grow among its target audience, keep an eye on this one. It might just be the next big thing in the NFT world.

FYI this is not a sponsored post. Till date, we have not done any paid partnerships and this is purely based our research findings.

Top Tweets

So you don’t need to doom scroll Twitter. We do it for you.

🐥 Nate Chastain gets 3 month of jail time. Feels too punitive considering to all the worse ruggers in the space tbh.

🐥 NFTs need to find a new path forward

🐥 Frank turns into a philosopher

🐥 Tribe3 winds down its v1 Beta and shifts focus to its v2, moving away from the vAMM model with liquidity drawbacks.

🐥 Imaginary Ones teases Early Birds

🐥 Bloxies is the latest NFT project to launch a fungible token, now listed on a few exchanges

🐥 Neo Tokyo citizens get early access to seed investment deals

🐥 SuperRare’s $RARE gets staking and a new set of token functions

🐥 Yuga Labs CEO wants to “Build culture on the blockchain”

🐥 Sam Spratt’s Monument game 1/1 arwork sells for $700,000

🐥 Article: A great read on on-chain generative art

New Projects & Upcoming Mints

🍿 Star Heroes, a “multiplayer third-person space shooter designed for esports” is minting on Base.

🍿 EigenWorlds by Eigenlayer, an ETH restaking protocol. Free mint until 30 August. Different tiers depending on your wallet activity.

That's it for today folks. If you want more, follow us on Twitter (@the_metadata). If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can subscribe with just one-click:

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for educational purposes only. None of this is financial or investment advice. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell any assets. Minting and buying NFTs is risky. Please do your own research.