Missed the Turbo Toad gamble? Failed to bet on PepeCoin? Well, you don’t have to miss a sure thing: this week’s Metaversal Badge. It could take you to new spaces, lead to new connections, refresh your wardrobe, or unlock unique experiences. So hop to it:

DYOR 🔬

Memecoin season continues to soak up not only a lot of the oxygen in the web3 room, but all of the gas, too. Two weeks ago, we reported on the rise of PepeCoin — $PEPE, in case you’re wondering, continues to pump and has reached a $1.5 billion market cap — but this week, another amphibian-mascot-bearing coin has been jockeying for position: Turbo Toad Token ($TURBO).

Created by digital artist Rhett Dashwood (AKA Mankind) with the assistance of ChatGPT and an initial budget of $69 (plus 3.5 ETH Mankind managed to crowdfund), $TURBO started as a piece of performance art… but has since taken on a life of its own, and accrued a $50 million market cap in the process.

With the digital art market somewhat quiet, Mankind saw an opportunity to experiment… and decided to do it with an audience. Turbo Token was born, with ChatGPT offering potential names, Midjourney creating the mascot, and Mankind’s Twitter followers occasionally being polled to help with decision-making.

According to the artist — who posted an emotional video (below) explaining how $TURBO came to life and changed his in the process — the hardest part was creating the smart contract, but this and other technical challenges were overcome in short order with a little help from his community.

In a matter of days, $TURBO not only developed an enthusiastic fanbase on Twitter but one willing to invest in it, too. Soon, the market cap had grown to $1 million… then $5 million… $20 million, and $50 million.

Around that mark, the rampant growth started to splutter, with the token’s price tumbling from around $0.00066 to $0.00024. It looked like the next stop was zero… but then Beeple and Elon Musk entered the chat.

In the early hours of Friday morning, Musk commented on a phallic, Turbo-related artwork shared by Beeple. Suddenly $TURBO got a massive spike in interest… and an influx of fresh speculators. At the time of writing, the market cap for $TURBO is hovering around $63 million.

Will $TURBO eventually crash and burn? Probably. Most memecoins are destined for zero. But it’s nonetheless an incredible tale that highlights the power of AI, the ongoing appetite for degen-friendly experiments, the speed at which digital culture, ownership, and how we think about value are changing… and, of course, the indomitable power of a good meme… especially if there’s a frog involved.

The best part of this whole story, though, is that thanks to his experiment, Mankind is seeing unprecedented interest in — and sales of — his artwork. Because Mankind is an artist, not a meme coin creator, and all he’s ever wanted is to make and sell art. $TURBO has made that dream come true. That’s the true power of Web3.

To the moon 🌙

• In addition to the effect of memecoin madness, gas prices on the Ethereum network have skyrocketed thanks to Blend, the new peer-to-peer lending protocol for NFTs from marketplace Blur:

• Basketball superstar, LeBron James, was spotted wearing a pair of Nike’s forthcoming RTFKT x Nike, Clone X-themed, Air Force 1 sneakers.

• Former head of product at OpenSea, Nathaniel Chastain, was found guilty of insider trading and convicted of fraud and money laundering. Chastain was responsible for deciding which collections would be featured on the marketplace’s homepage and used that knowledge to make at least $50,000.

• Bright Moments Tokyo kicked off in the Japanese capital and will be open to the public from 9-12 May:

• Phantom wallet rolled out a new multichain feature that enables users to use it with Ether, Polygon, or Solana without needing to switch between wallets.

• Truth Labs, the team behind Goblintown, launched “BiG iNC,” an NFT project designed to reward the worst traders in Web3.

• Auction house Sotheby's has launched its own on-chain secondary NFT marketplace where it’ll enforce artist royalties (and take a 2.5% seller fee):

• The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled a new NFT collection from artist DEAFBEEF called “Noumenom + Chronophotograph” in partnership with Cactoid Labs.

• Online retailer and cloud computing giant Amazon is rumored to be launching an NFT marketplace later this month.

• Holders of Mad Lads NFTs (the talk of the town last week) will be able to get their PFP engraved on a Solana Saga smartphone for free.

• Royalists (or anti-monarchists, speculators, or anyone really) can mint a free NFT called “The Oath” on Nifty Gateway commemorating the coronation of King Charles III. The artwork comes courtesy of Trevor Jones.

Thread of the Week 🧵

Probably Nothing 👀

Metaversal is a proud sponsor of the Lumen Prize for 2023 and the inaugural generative art award, but we’ve decided to go even further. We will commission one of the long-listed generative artists to create a unique piece, pairing them with a mentor, and bringing their project to life with our partners at Artmatr.

The artist will have a budget of $3,000, and the work can be a continuation of the artist's current practice, the beginning of a new series, or a stand-alone piece. The selected artist will be announced in late June as part of the Lumen Prize 2023 Longlist announcement.

Lumen partner ARTXCODE is also generously sponsoring 100 entries for the generative art prize from women artists.

Entries for all Lumen Prize categories close on Friday, May 26, at 1pm EST. Follow this link to submit your entry.

Goats Only 🐐

Whether you’re stacking memecoins or government bonds, 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 dive into $PEPE and unveil the latest #GoatBadge. 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 5.18 ETH (~$9,500).

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

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 the rollercoaster ride of Turbo Toad.

Until next time, see you in the metaverse… or Elon Musk’s mentions.

Missed the Turbo Toad gamble? Failed to bet on PepeCoin? Well, you don’t have to miss a sure thing: this week’s Metaversal Badge. It could take you to new spaces, lead to new connections, refresh your wardrobe, or unlock unique experiences. So hop to it: