I wanted to begin with an update on the next issue of Frontier Fortunes.
I’m currently putting the finishing touches on this issue, which contains my analysis of one of the biggest trends affecting the cryptoconomy and many of our assets—the metaverse—as well as a comprehensive review of the performance of our portfolio.
I just need to dot a few i’s and cross a few t’s. I’ll send you an alert in the coming days once the issue is finalized.
But first, I wanted to tell you about a two-for-one opportunity in non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.
(Before reading this alert, I’d advise that you check out the two Frontier Fortunes NFT reports: How to Invest in NFTs and The Frontier Fortunes Guide to NFT Wallets.)
This opportunity concerns a project known as DG Labs. Earlier this year, DG Labs launched an NFT collection called Dope Pandas. They look like this:
Personally, I love the 1970s, pop-art style. Reminds me of some of the pop-art I’ve enjoyed while strolling the Pompidou in Paris and Tate Modern in London.
Now, on May 5, DG Labs is minting a new collection of 3D Pandas. They look like this:
Again, I love this art, so I decided to talk to the team behind this project, which we will come to in a bit.
First, some details and a strategy:
- The original collection of 777 Dope Pandas is small, and was really a test of the team’s concept and its introduction to the blockchain.
- This upcoming 3D Pandas launch is for 5,555 NFTs. These will have a variety of different functions, such as allowing you to move around in the upcoming Panda Land metaverse, and giving you a personal 3D gallery in which to display your NFT art from across different crypto networks. (The trailer for the main, 3D Art Gallery is gorgeous. Check it out here.)
- The best part: For every one of the original 777 Dope Pandas that you own, you get airdropped— given for free—one of the 5,555 3D Pandas.
Which brings me to the strategy:
- The 3D Pandas will mint for 1.5 Solana.
- Yet as I write this, the floor price for the original collection of 777 Dope Pandas is 2-ish SOL. (These are available to buy on MagicEden.io.)
- To my way of thinking, I’d rather spend slightly more than the mint cost to own two different pandas in two different styles of art. It’s basically a 2-for-1 sale.
Now, as for the project itself…
DG Labs is an NFT art studio looking to bridge real world art with the digital world in a unique way.
Imagine strolling through an art gallery in the metaverse—a 3D virtual world—and examining all the paintings on the walls, and various three-dimensional sculptures and installations spread around the gallery. Imagine examining the sculptures and installations, in particular, from all sides. And imagine buying that piece of art in the metaverse and then taking possession of it in the real world.
In short, the DG Labs team is creating what they call a “phygital” experience—a digital space called The Dope Gallery that leads to physical ownership of art that has been created by artists all over the world who wish to partner with DG Labs.
Running the project are two friends who’ve known each other for 25 years. One, Jared, is an entrepreneur and VP in a successful multi-family real estate firm. The other, G-STAKIS, is a classically trained artist who studied in Rhodes under the tutelage of Greek monks, and who is an ordained iconographer, the same title once held by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
For NFT holders, the obvious question is: What’s my benefit here?
The two collections of NFTs (original and 3D) provide access to numerous benefits.
The NFTs can be staked to earn $BUILD, a cryptocurrency in the works that will spin out of the BUILDsquad, a collection of service providers across the NFT space. DG Labs is part of the collection of service providers and early on will be the dropshipping expert for new NFT projects that launch. Later, DG Labs will be tapped as the expert at helping new projects build 3D, virtual worlds.
As part of BUILDsquad, Dope Pandas and 3D Pandas will both generate the upcoming $BUILD token for those who stake their pandas. The original Dope Pandas will earn more, though full details haven’t been released yet.
Those $BUILD tokens will be useful in the physical world for buying real-world art, merch, figurines, and custom-painted items.
NFT owners will also receive various airdrops, and the 3D Pandas will be useful inside other metaverses that collaborate with the panda team.
Both panda NFTs will also provide whitelist access to other projects that tap into the BUILDsquad’s expertise.
Late this year or early next year, those who own two Dope Pandas and at least one 3D Panda will receive a Panda Land condominium and their own 3D gallery.
The details of both are still a work-in-progress. Though this is not set in stone, the personal galleries could become income generators. You could, for instance, lease your gallery to artists or to galleries looking to hold one-off exhibitions in a metaverse.
For me, it’s hard to see how owning a couple of Dope Pandas is a bad thing, particularly at current prices. You collect a free 3D Panda for each Dope Panda you own…you pick up a condo and personal gallery if you own two Dope Pandas and a 3D Panda…you’ll be able to stake your NFTs to earn $BUILD…and you’re part of a business that itself is inside the BUILDsquad ecosystem. All positive things.
