Original Author: YBB Capital Researcher Zeke
I. The Demise of Non-Fungible Tokens
The final cry of Non-Fungible Tokens ended with Pudgy Penguins' token issuance, and Doodles' recent token launch on Solana barely created a ripple. Yuga Labs' subtraction continues, this time even involving their most soul-defining IP, Cryptopunks. Those BitCoin Non-Fungible Tokens from the last wave of revival have nearly reached zero, and these once-crazy narratives have indeed fallen into obscurity, with no one paying attention anymore.
The vision of 10k PFP was once beautiful - a perfectly-sized community helping a bottom-up IP project reach the world, completely different from traditional IP projects that first invest massive funds in content support. For instance, Marvel Universe, Star Wars, and various animation characters under Disney often require years of cultivation and countless resources to deeply embed these IPs in people's hearts and ultimately become a gold mine.
Non-Fungible Tokens are entirely different, with an extremely low entry barrier, and the speed of creating an IP and asset-izing it is remarkably fast. Creators only need to pay some gas to list their artwork on Opensea for sale, without galleries, toy companies, film companies, or any professional team - a new IP and artist are born this way.
We witnessed three to four years ago how some bottom-up IPs became popular in top entertainment circles of Europe, America, Japan, and Korea. A grassroots artist could achieve a commoner's counterattack through Non-Fungible Tokens. For me, as a Z generation who grew up watching anime, being able to participate in IP investment and incubation through crypto that was previously inaccessible to ordinary people was a dream-like experience.
However, after BAYC's "crazy nested dolls" and Azuki's disastrous sub-series Elemental release, the blurry status of Non-Fungible Tokens gradually became clear. It's not like a stock or investment, but more like an expensive luxury item with membership benefits. Project teams still hope we'll continuously purchase sub-series to support their ongoing roadmap for building IP value core. The seeds of contradiction were planted here - project teams know content creation is expensive, but without content, the IP will die. Sub-series released every few months continuously drain OG series holders, tormenting every community member. Waiting for content feedback might take many years, or perhaps never come. The cracks began to widen, and those beautiful fantasies started to shatter with floor price drops, leaving only various conflicts.
II. The Ace of IP Realm - MCN-PoP MART
If Non-Fungible Tokens are seen as Z generation's luxury trendy toys, their rise and fall become clearer. In the fast-food era, lack of content isn't necessarily bad, as appearance can quickly attract buyers. For instance, Azuki's art style fits Asian aesthetics, and under consensus, this grassroots Non-Fungible Token series could become the third blue-chip after BAYC. In the real world, famous trendy toys like Bearbrick, B.Duck, and Molly similarly lack content support but became popular through unique appearances.
However, trends are fleeting, and IPs without a content value core can become outdated anytime. Limited by crypto culture and Non-Fungible Tokens' extremely low success rate, project teams often continuously develop derivatives around an IP. But the reality is that before the core can take shape, the trend has already passed.
Of course, PFP projects also have a type with sufficient content support - Japanese Non-Fungible Tokens. In the past, I've seen four or five projects holding famous anime IPs hoping to make a big splash in the Non-Fungible Token market. However, they seemingly didn't consider that the IP's fan base is almost completely incompatible with this circle. Secondly, Japanese anime merchandise is already overwhelming - why would fans spend hundreds of times more for a small image? Most importantly, this small image can only remain an image, with zero imagination for future empowerment. Even purchasing a Gundam Non-Fungible Token only grants entry to the Gundam metaverse "SIDE-G". Profits from models, games, and animations naturally have nothing to do with you, and the community won't be an IP incubator, even considered an outlier in the entire Gundam fan group. In this aspect, GameFi's pain points are quite similar.
At this point, PFP projects became a pseudo-proposition, with only Pudgy Penguins' pragmatic spark continuing to strive. So, do these small images have another way out? I believe PoP MART might offer a different answer.
[Translation continues in the same manner for the rest of the text]III. Pudgy Penguins
I participated in a Pudgy Penguins event in Hong Kong last year, and this Non-Fungible Token project has always been so passionate about its community.
The success of Pudgy Penguins lies in being practical, practical, and practical again. Non-Fungible Tokens themselves don't have significant technical differences, and no matter how clever the Mint process is designed, it's ultimately just a JPG. The challenge with Non-Fungible Tokens is IP implementation, which is hundreds of times more difficult than creating a 10K PFP. Yuga Labs wants to create a metaverse, Azuki wants to create anime. OK, these are cool, but these projects with starting costs in the hundreds of millions are just looking to extract money from community members.
This extremely compressed world is too impetuous, with everyone wanting to succeed quickly. Holders want to make big money, and project teams want to reach the top in one step. Few blue-chip projects are willing to humble themselves, and the more impatient they are, the harder they fall. The original Pudgy Penguins team was once such an impetuous grassroots team, and after being damaged in public opinion, they sold the penguins at a low price.
It was then that the penguins met their true owner, Luca Netz, a worker with years of physical marketing experience who brought the penguins back to their proper height. Luca Netz is truly building a brand, operating a company for Non-Fungible Token holders. From marketing to plush toys to future games, every step of the penguins is solid, with the company able to profit and holders able to profit. There's nothing special about this; it's just doing what it should do. Therefore, it proves that bottom-up IP can exist in Web3, it's just that too many project teams are unwilling to lower their stance.
So, I really dislike the word "falsification", as if some things should never exist. Electric cars were once stupid, and Siri on my phone was also stupid. But this doesn't prevent green-plated cars from now filling entire cities, and AI is even more so.
Many so-called falsified tracks will still be tried by Web3 in the future, it's just lacking a matching project team.
IV. Path
The path to success is simple, and the path to success is also difficult. The next stop for PFP will ultimately need to break out of some inherent crypto logical frameworks, and becoming the next Web3 Disney requires extensive accumulation. I have discussed in my previous articles whether the scarcity of Non-Fungible Tokens has been counterproductive in the process of reaching the masses. If defined as a trendy consumer good, perhaps the limitation of 10K is too great. If defined as a unique Web3 asset and fundraising method, the IP ultimately needs to be converted into physical consumer goods to fulfill the promise to the community, rather than a bunch of strange sub-series.
Based on the unique culture of crypto and the attributes of Non-Fungible Tokens, it's helpless to hold onto an IP and gnaw on it until old age. How to do more with these PFPs? How to expand a project into an IP factory? This may require us to accept some new concepts and introduce more technology and gameplay.
V. Is Issuing a Token the Final Stop?
I still don't understand the significance of Non-Fungible Token token issuance. This situation seems more like exploitation of lower-level participants by upper-level ones, and a dilution of original Non-Fungible Token value. I can only understand it as the project seeking an easy liquidity exit method.
From APE to DOOD, they all seem like variants of air tokens. Their empowerment often involves staking for some on-chain transaction dividends, purchasing props in the metaverse, governance rights, and so on. In an ideal scenario, it's a perfect cycle of holder → staker → developer. But in reality, it's more like air, caught in a death spiral of Non-Fungible Token price decline, play-to-earn income decline, and token price decline.
For original Non-Fungible Token holders, while the Token divides some dividends and rights, they mostly receive a large airdrop during TGE, so no one complains. But in the long term, as mentioned in the fourth paragraph, this is a dilution, and distributions like Azuki's Anime are even more of a blatant grab.
Short-term heat is important, but the project's longevity is more important. Don't let token issuance become the final stop.
Conclusion
In this fast-paced, dopamine era, we've witnessed the rise of many Web2 emerging IPs. Non-Fungible Tokens should grow well in this era, with many irreplaceable characteristics. Four years ago, I viewed it as a cyber Maotai, but reality is more like a cyber tulip. Few are willing to manage the ruins, but I believe that beneath the ruins, the next Labubu must be hidden.
