We believe in seizing the memes of production but also in creating them. Metaversal Badges mark memeable moments, celebrate unique talents, and are your key to the Metaversal metaverse. The more Badges you collect, the greater the opportunities you could unlock.

RUNNER update 🏃🏽‍♀️

On Wednesday, we sent you an email to alert you to the Omega RUNNER Character Collection drop happening on Thursday. On Thursday, shortly after the mint opened, gas prices skyrocketed, and we took the difficult decision to pause the mint.

We’ll be re-opening the mint in the coming days, and if you’re on the allowlists or a First Edition holder, nothing changes. We’re committed to bringing you a Web3 project unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, and we want to ensure the best possible experience for our community.

DYOR 🔬

Amphibian antics 🥸

Is the NFT market bored? Is $1 million worth of $PEPE worth anything on paper (or a screen) if there’s no liquidity and cashing out could tank the market? Will the fabled frog unseat $DOGE? If so, will Musk try to reassert Doge dominance? Will Gary Gensler deem PepeCoin a security (probably not)? Has everyone taken leave of their common sense?

These were just some of the questions facing the NFT and crypto communities this week as the latest meme coin, PepeCoin, came out of nowhere, exploded in popularity, and stormed into the top 10 of the altcoin rankings by market capitalization.

We covered the tumultuous history of Pepe in a pair of Deep Dives back in January, where we unpacked why this particular meme continues to endure. It’s hard to overstate the influence of Pepe, not only in crypto culture but in memetic culture more broadly.

Combine that enormous culture cache with shitcoin degeneracy, and you’ve got the recipe for the kind of economic activity that would make a rationalist despair.

The About Page breaks down the tokenomics and also explains the bold ambitions of PepeCoin’s founders:

One has to admire the chutzpah. As the founders’ note, the token “has no association with [the artist] Matt Furie or his creation Pepe the Frog.” Instead, it’s “simply paying homage to a meme we all love and recognize.”

That much is hard to dispute. But will PepeCoin prove to be “the most memeable memecoin in existence?” And will it prove the “dogs have had their day, it’s time for Pepe to take reign?” Clumsy verbiage aside, that remains to be seen.

Unsurprisingly, as quickly as PepeCoin ascended, it’s corrected, shaving 50% off its all-time high of yesterday… and five other Pepe-themed coins have sprung up in that time. That said, it does have a market cap of nearly $83 million. What can we say? The frog has frenzied and fanatical fans… with high risk tolerance and deep pockets.

Should you be buying PepeCoin? Well, our rule of thumb is, if you’re reading about a meme coin in a newsletter, that ship has likely sailed. But then, we wouldn’t deign to give degens financial advice in a section called “DYOR,” because that — like putting one’s net worth in a frog-faced shitcoin — would be ludicrous.

To the moon 🌙

• Nike airdropped NFT posters to some of its .SWOOSH community that unlock first dibs on its first set of (non-RTFKT) digital sneakers — dubbed Our Force 1 (OF1) — set to drop next month.

• Adidas, meanwhile, outlined its plans for its own Web3 tie-in, ALTS.

• Frank DeGods, meanwhile, chose sides in the battle between Nike and Adidas. Could there be a DeGods x Nike collab in the works? Given the Nike ice sculpture at the DeGods NFT.NYC event and the community’s propensity for using footwear for unusual purposes, the odds look good:

• Starbucks dropped a collection of 4,579 NFTs paying homage to it’s first Seattle outlet. Holders of two or more of its Journey Stamps from its NFT-powered loyalty program got early access to the $100 digital collectibles.

• Sotheby’s is auctioning a selection of beleaguered (and bankrupt) fund Three Arrows Capital’s NFTs, starting May 19. The selection includes a rare CryptoPunk, Chromie Squiggle, an Autoglyph, and Dmitri Cherniak’s aptly-titled piece, “The Golden Goose”:

• The Smurfs are making their Web3 debut via — you guessed it — an NFT collection, as is Tintin.

• NFT minting service Zora released 2,500 NFTs of a digital magazine, “Zora Zine Print Issue 001,” which are redeemable for a physical copy of the same. Sure, why not?

Looks Rare 🖼

We’ve previously mentioned that we’re proudly sponsoring the Lumen Prize for 2023 and introducing a new prize recognizing excellence in generative art. If you’re an artist who uses technology in any way, shape, or form, we encourage you to enter. And if you’re a female artist working in the generative space, ArtxCode is generously covering the entry fee for up to 100 entrants.

Submissions for all categories close on May 26, a mere 35 days away, so don’t dawdle! Applications are open here.

Goats Only 🐐

Whether you’re a Pepe purist or a Doge devotee, you should be watching or listening to Goats and the Metaverse.

In each episode, collectibles OG and entrepreneur Stan “The Goat” Meytin and Metaversal co-founder and CEO Yossi Hasson talk about digital and IRL collectibles, NFTs, and the week’s news worth knowing.

This week, they unpack their new reward mechanism, #GoatBadges. Check out the latest episode right here:

Aside from providing invaluable insights into digital art and collectibles, Stan and Yossi have assembled a collection of NFTs dubbed “The Goat Vault.” When the show hits 5,000 subscribers on YouTube, one of those lucky subscribers who holds a #GoatBadge will win the contents of the vault, which at last count is valued at more than 5.8 ETH (~$12,000).

Prefer listening? Check out Goats and the Metaverse on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thread of the Week 🧵

Connect for more 🔌

You can find Metaversal on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.

Metaversal’s content director, Craig Wilson, compiled this week’s edition.

Patrick Lawler designed this week’s Badge commemorating PepeCoin.

Until next time, see you in the metaverse… or the Pepe trading pits.

We believe in seizing the memes of production but also in creating them. Metaversal Badges mark memeable moments, celebrate unique talents, and are your key to the Metaversal metaverse. The more Badges you collect, the greater the opportunities you could unlock.