Grails’ lucky dip of famous NFT artists, new hope for PFP holders: NFT Collector
Grails by PROOF Season IV
Collecting art is historically not just about the art itself but who the artist is and the story behind the piece. The emergence of NFTs as a way to attribute provenance to digital objects has seen an explosion of interest in the past few years, even if that’s currently seeing something of a lull.
The work of artists like Alotta Money, Josie Bellini, Trevor Jones, Coldie, Snowfro, Beeple, and collections such as Fidenzas and Ringers, show that digital art is here to stay, even as many pockets of the NFT space are reportedly down 95% from all-time highs.
But with the artists playing such an important role in the market, it’s been intriguing to see Grails by PROOF flip this paradigm on its head by abstracting away who the artist is. A gamification mechanic reveals between 20–25 pieces of art to 1,000 whitelisted collectors prior to a minting window — but the catch is no one knows who the artists are behind each respective piece.
This creates a special dynamic that introduces a different type of speculation about who the artist could be behind each work. Some collectors mint a piece they like purely based on their assessment of the art itself, while others take a punt on their ability to guess who the artist might be behind.
Grails was the brainchild of PROOF co-founder Kevin Rose, with the inaugural season launched in February 2022 and the first-ever reveal on March 6, 2022. Eli Scheinman, head of art at PROOF, explains the concept aims:
“To engage collectors in a way that abstracted away some of the financialization of collecting NFTs that was, and still is, in many ways so rampant. By taking away an artist’s name, it really demanded or challenged all of the collectors to really go deep and spend a lot of time with each of these artworks.”
The three seasons so far have attracted some of the biggest names in NFT land, including Snowfro, Larva Labs, Tyler Hobbs, Claire Silver, Dmitri Cherniak, Deafbeef, Emily Xie, Justin Aversano, Alpha Centauri Kid, Josie Bellini and Matt Kane. Plus, names that are lesser known for their art but have celebrity status and are involved with the NFT space, like Gary Vaynerchuk, Alexis Ohanian and Tim Ferriss.
Curtain coming up on Season IV
Season IV (4) of Grails is set for reveal on Aug. 11, with Scheinman continuing to experiment with the mechanics and double down on the storytelling and production value of the reveal.
“We try to maintain that sense of it being special and unique, so that means we’re constantly trying to iterate and improve the experience in new ways,” Scheinman says, explaining that season three had introduced the notion of a series, enabling a single artist to contribute multiple unique pieces as part of a collection.
“In season four, we’re taking that a step further in that three of the five series that are in this exhibition are true long-form generative projects using the Art Blocks engine. Those outputs, when minted, are really generated live in that moment. Whereas in the past, these were pre-curated outputs, meaning an artist would provide us with the files ahead of time, and then we would distribute those on mint.”
“I think storytelling is fundamental to connecting through a piece of artwork, and the way that we do Grails, for example, is really this fun way of playing with that notion in that you go from zero context to 100% context.”
Watch previous Grails reveals: Season 1 / Season 2 / Season 3
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What’s hot in NFT art markets
Notable sales came from Autoglyphs, Alpha Centauri Kid and Drifter Shoots.
We also saw Chinese contemporary artist Yue Minjun release his first NFT collection titled ‘Kingdom of the Laughing Man. The 999 pieces minted for between 0.35–0.39 ETH and now sit at a 0.55 ETH floor on OpenSea.
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Luca Netz claps back at idea PFP holders are doomed
Deep into an NFT bear market where volumes have tested new 12-month lows, the question that persistently gets asked by PFP collections holders is, “How does this drive value back to holders?”
Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, clapped back at a tweet suggesting PFP holders have no stake in the enterprise and outlined why he believes PFP holders are not doomed if they pick the right project. Netz explained that “building a globally recognized brand is the best path to accruing value for the NFT holder.”
Brands that are striving to build household IP, such as Pudgy Penguins, VeeFriends and Doodles, all are diversifying their brand offerings, including real-world offerings, ensuring their IP has many more touch points outside of the NFT ecosystem.
From VeeFriends physical collector cards and multiple collaborations, including their recent announcement with Reebok for physical sneakers, to Doodles last week announcing its partnership with Crocs, to Pudgy Penguins showing up at Comic Con in San Diego in July.
Having holders to appease can be both a gift and a curse, but some founders are navigating this terrain better than others; Netz is one of those. The serial entrepreneur, who has done over $500 million in consumer packaged goods sales, took over the Pudgy project after issues with the original founding team and has arguably threaded the needle better than others.
It still remains to be seen how Netz’s masterplan plays out, but this well-thought-out thread articulates a future that many NFT collectors could get behind, validated by the 1,000+ bookmarks the thread already has.
Amazon Prime dips its toe into the Web3 gaming waters with Mojo Melee
In a small preview of what is to come, Amazon Prime has partnered with Mojo Melee to give away NFTs for its Prime subscribers.
The auto battler game is built on Polygon and played via web browsers and Android devices. The offer for Prime subscribers is set to expire in just under three weeks.
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The list of the top holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin has been finalized ahead of background checks to apply for a dinner and “VIP tour” with the president on May 22.
In a May 12 X post, the TRUMP memecoin project said it would stop considering additional purchases for a dinner with the president, adding that the top tokenholders had been notified to apply for background checks if they wanted to attend.
According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth roughly $174 million at the time of publication.
It’s unclear who, if any, of the wallet holders will choose to apply for and attend the dinner with Trump, or the “exclusive reception” expected to be in the White House for the top 25 holders, on May 22. A May 7 Bloomberg report suggested that the majority of tokenholders were based outside of the United States, leading to potential security concerns and conflicts of interest.
Many US lawmakers and figures in the crypto industry criticized the president for launching the memecoin just days before taking office on Jan. 20. In the wake of his dinner announcement on April 23, the calls for congressional oversight and allegations of corruption have intensified, with one senator calling for Trump’s impeachment and other representatives refusing to consider crypto-related legislation until their concerns were addressed.
Related: FT report suggests advance knowledge of Melania Trump memecoin launch
Companies also apparently seeking influence over Trump’s policies have invested in the memecoin. In April, Freight Technologies said it would invest $20 million in the token, suggesting that it could affect the president’s trade war between the US and Mexico, where the firm conducts some of its business. As of May 12, the company had not announced whether it qualified to send a representative to the dinner.
Not Trump’s first appeal to crypto users
During his 2024 campaign, Trump hosted a dinner with supporters who purchased his “mugshot” non-fungible tokens, which featured a picture of the then-presidential candidate at his surrender to authorities on charges he attempted to overturn the 2020 election.
Many of the “mugshot” attendees publicly shared their identities on social media ahead of and during the event, but at the time of publication, no one appeared to be claiming they would apply for the memecoin dinner. Wallets with the usernames “Sun” and “elon” have led to speculation that Tron founder Justin Sun and Tesla CEO Elon Musk — both Trump supporters who have financial interests tied to Trump’s presidency — could be among the attendees.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced partnerships between the city and financial firms as part of his crypto plans.
In a May 12 press conference at Gracie Mansion, the the city’s official mayoral residence, Adams said June Ou, founder of financial services company Figure, and Richie Hecker, CEO of private equity firm Traction and Scale, would be assisting the city in its crypto efforts. He spoke of Ou and Hecker acting as advisers for New York City’s next steps in “economic development and opportunities to serve the public using digital assets.”
“We are focused on the long-term values of these technologies for our city and its people, not chasing memes or trends,” said Adams, adding:
“If you’re in the crypto, blockchain, Web3 or the fintech space, New York City is open for business.”
Adams made digital assets a large part of his policy platform after assuming office in January 2022, when he announced plans to accept his first three paychecks in Bitcoin (BTC). In a 2023 financial disclosure, the mayor reported holding between $5,000 and $54,999.99 worth of Bitcoin, but suggested it was worth more in a December 2024 press conference.
Trump DOJ dismissed the corruption case against Adams
Adams had been facing corruption charges over alleged illegal donations from the Turkish government, but Justice Department officials appointed by US President Donald Trump stepped in and directed local authorities to intervene. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened, in April, and Adams traveled to the White House on May 9 to reportedly thank Trump for his “words of support” during his 2024 campaign.
Related: 8 major crypto firms announce US expansion this year
It’s unclear whether Adams’ May 12 announcement was related to his meeting with the president, who has also pushed significant policies related to digital assets since taking office. Cointelegraph reached out to the mayor’s office for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Adams announced in April that the city would be hosting its own crypto summit on May 20.
Magazine: Crypto City: Guide to New York
Politics
Minister does not rule out ‘supermax’ jails for most dangerous offenders following alleged Rudakubana attack on prison officer
“Supermax” jails could be built to house the most dangerous offenders following a spate of alleged attacks on staff, the prisons minister has said.
James Timpson told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that “we shouldn’t rule anything out” when asked if the most dangerous criminals should be placed in top security prisons.
It comes after Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water from a kettle at an officer at HMP Belmarsh on Thursday. Police are now investigating.
Politics latest: PM has undergone a ‘miraculous conversion’, say Tories
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Is the UK prison system broken?
Before that, three prison officers were also allegedly attacked by 28-year-old Hashem Abedi – the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi – with hot cooking oil and “improvised knives”, potentially made from a baking tray.
Speaking from HMP Preston for a special programme of the Politics Hub, Mr Timpson told Sophy Ridge: “We inherited a complete mess in the prison system.
“Violence is up, assaults on staff is up. But for me, we shouldn’t rule anything out.”
He added: “What we need to do is to speak to our staff. They’re the experts at dealing with these offenders day in, day out. “
Mr Timpson – who was the chief executive of Timpson Group before he was appointed prisons minister last year – said the violence in prisons was “too high”.
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Are we sending too many people to prison?
He continued: “The number of people when you have prisons are so full, and the people in there are not going to education or into purposeful activity.
“You get more violence and that is totally unacceptable. Our staff turn up to work to help turn people.
“They want to turn people’s lives around. They didn’t turn up to work to get assaulted. It’s totally unacceptable.”
Read more:
Should some women offenders be spared jail?
Prison officer ‘will be killed if government does not get a grip’
Reflecting on the crisis facing the UK prison system ahead of the government’s sentencing review, Mr Timpson said a major problem was the high rate of reoffending, saying “80% of offending is reoffending”.
He said people were leaving places like HMP Preston “addicted to drugs, nowhere to live, mental health problems – and that’s why they keep coming back”.
Asked whether every prison had a drugs issue, he replied: “100%.”
“If we want to keep the public safe, we need to do a lot more of the work in here and in the community. But also we need to build more prisons.”
Put to him that making more use of community sentences – thought to be one of the recommendations in the government’s sentencing review – might be considered a “cushy option” compared to a custodial sentence, Mr Timpson said: “There are some people in this prison tonight who would prefer to be in prison than do a community sentence – but that’s not everybody.
“Community sentences need to be tough punishments outside of prison, not just to help them address their offending behaviour, but also the victims need to see punishments being done too and for me, technology has a big part to play in the future.”
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