Welcome to the ‘Rare Club Nifty Newsletter’, a curated snapshot of what matters most. We provide informative and easily digestible content about the NFT space, with one publication a week. Subscribe for free at the bottom of the article.
Includes NFT news, info on trending narratives, educational info, tips, projects to watch, occasional deep dives and more.
HEADLINER - ‘ENS and SuperRare stir up a hot debate in the NFT space’
CT (Crypto Twitter) was ablaze with heated debate over the past week. The conversation revolved around the core beliefs and past comments of some notable people within the industry. These were @BrantlyMillegan (formerly of ENS Domains) and @ashnichrist (formerly of SuperRare).
In short, they both lost their jobs due to comments they posted years ago on social media. In these posts they used language deemed insensitive and made comments viewed as derogatory. These included racial slurs and expressions of intolerance towards certain groups within society.
This topic is broad, sensitive and of extreme importance. We’ll explore it further in the section ‘Talking Points’ featured below. For now, if you’d like to read more on these stories please click on the links provided below.
BUZZFEED - Curated news. Click to read
MAYBE SOMETHING - Upcoming drops or projects that interest us
Dead Ringers prints are available in US, Canada, and UK for self-serve
Interesting Film project ‘Calladita’ using NFTs to fund production
FUD is usually Bullish. Keep across V1 Cryptopunks marketplace
These guys are claiming first fully on-chain 3D rendering engine
TALKING POINT - ‘Cancel Culture, deplatforming and more’
Following on from the headline story, let’s delve a little deeper into what was being discussed on Twitter over the past week. It’s a topic that evokes huge emotion, and the chasms of the internet only serve to exacerbate an already difficult situation.
After their comments were unearthed, both Brantly and Ashni were swiftly removed from their job roles. People flooded in to join the conversation. There were five main positions taken up by the public. These were as follows:
People who were offended by the comments and thought the resulting termination of employment was deserved.
People who were offended by the comments, but thought the resulting termination of employment was inappropriate.
People who believed Brantly and Ashni are entitled to their opinions and the termination of employment was inappropriate.
People who believed Brantly and Ashni are entitled to their opinions, but that termination of employment was an appropriate response due their social status.
People who were in opposition of Twitter (temporarily) suspending Brantly’s account.
Ashni was accused of posting racial slurs. Some defended her by citing that the comments were simply song lyrics, which many people would have posted at that time. Further digging unearthed other, less easily-defendable comments about ethnic minorities. She has apologised for all comments and accepted they were inappropriate. She has said the comments are not a representation of her core beliefs.
Brantly Millegan’s situation is somewhat different. His comments on homosexuality, transgenderism and abortion from 2016 do form part of his core beliefs. He has made no apologies and says ‘i adhere to the worlds largest religion and apparently that's not allowed in web3?’. His argument is freedom of speech.
There is an awful lot to unpack here. Too much to cover in this article alone. But one element that you may want to mull over is the idea of deplatforming and cancel culture as it relates to web3 ideals.
In an environment (CT) where people champion decentralization, freedom of expression, inclusivity and a lack of censorship, it could be considered somewhat contradictory to want to censor an individual due to their core beliefs. Of course Twitter is not a web3 platform, and many participants in the conversation may not be web3 cohorts, but you can assume a large proportion are.
Below is a breakdown of the main talking points on Twitter in relation to this story:
The specific language used in their comments
The message their comments conveyed
The context in which they were said
Freedom of speech and expression of opinion
Cancel culture and censorship
The actions taken by their employers
I mention these points in an attempt to highlight to readers what the controversial topics were, and to encourage you to form your own opinions on how you feel about them.
Sometimes it’s easier to be offended than trying to understand why a person holds the beliefs they do. Listening and cultivating meaningful dialogue is clearly a more productive way to try and resolve differences of opinion. People may still disagree with one another, but at least there’s been an additional layer of understanding achieved. Over time, challenging people’s beliefs in a healthy manner can alter opinions.
The vast majority of people believe in inclusivity and freedom of speech. But tolerance is a key factor here. If you want to partake in an inclusive platform, expect to be exposed to views that are in conflict with your own. People’s belief systems are complex. They are the product of years of life experience, and we all had very different influences in this regard. They are not undone through brute force.
I don’t condone racism, homophobia or any other (in my opinion) limiting outlooks. I do believe in freedom of speech and i’m aware people’s belief systems will differ from my own in line with their upbringings and personal circumstances.
I don’t agree with or condone any of the comments made by either Brantly or Ashni in relation to the posts that led to their dismissals. But i can certainly try to understand why or how they may have come to make them. And if given the chance i’d listen to what they have to say.
It was clearly evident people have wildly different viewpoints on how these situations should be handled. But in a world of immutability, one should certainly tread carefully or risk being forever judged by your keystrokes.
BIG MOVERS - Collections with impressive stats from the past week
Karafuru - This project is holding a very respectable level at just under 4ETH having launched only 5 days ago. This collection has yet to be revealed but managed huge volume putting it 2nd in total volume sales on the 7 day rankings.
Bored Ape Yacht Club - The biggest loser in the top 10 rankings this week. BAYC saw a 70% decline in volume sales compared to last week. The floor revisits 93ETH from recent highs of around 118ETH.
Raid Party Heroes - One of the best performers in an otherwise falling market. Up 370% on weekly sales volume. Raid Party Fighters has also performed very well, up 850% in a week. Delve deeper here.
HAPE PRIME - This collection saw the highest volume of sales over the past 7 days. They finally revealed but saw the floor price drop considerably from around 8ETH to 4ETH in a week.
PUNKS COMIC - In a sea of red, this project is seeing positive upticks on both the daily and weekly sales volume. A recent resolution of team issues has certainly driven a renewed interest in the collection.
THE WATCHLIST - Projects we believe have long-term potential. DYOR
Mutant Ape Yacht Club (same as above, extension of BAYC, well established)
V1 Cryptopunks (original Cryptopunks contract, historically significant)
Meebits (same team as CryptoPunks, mass appeal, early 3D avatars)
Cool Cats NFT (very strong community, respected collection, mass appeal)
Lost Poets (created by famous artist ‘Pak’, strong community)
Parallel Alpha (gaming, TCG, strong team, incredible backers, big ambitions)
My Curio Cards (historical significance, early ETH NFT)
Prime Ape Planet (outstanding artwork, experienced team, good roadmap)
CryptoMories (unique artwork, good community, lowish entry price)
DeadFellaz (very strong community, established)
World Of Women (celebrity endorsed, one of 1st female avatar collections)
Boss Beauties (impressive marketing and immense IRL collabs)
TIP OF THE WEEK - Beware the Instagram shillers
Just a simple warning this week. It’s become apparent that seemingly credible Instagram accounts are recklessly recommending NFT projects without proper disclosure or due diligence.
@topshotfund writes about one such account in a Twitter thread. He exposes the tactics employed by highlighting several red flags to watch out.
Hopefully this helps to educate the public on how best to avoid similar scams in the future.
Click the image below to read the full thread.
RARE.NEWS - Updates regarding the Rare.club NFT DAO fund
This coming month will be big for Rare Club. Watch this space!
Discord is set up and you’re welcome to join
New website coming WITHIN 2 WEEKS!
Next fundraise will happen THIS MONTH!
Three projects lined up for incubation: a Solana project, a launchpad and a generative art platform
Links to our socials and website coming soon,
Thanks for reading, and see you next time
Always DYOR (do your own research). Nothing in this or any other article in this series should be construed as financial or investment advice. We do our very best to provide useful information for our readers. What you do with that information is up to you.
Remember to exercise caution within the NFT space. The community is full of amazing people, but there are unscrupulous ones too. Keep your wits about you, and act responsibly. As always, good luck.