By The BBNFT Boogers
Minted Out
That’s right, the Bear and Bull NFT Phase 2 collection consisting of 3,333 NFTs at 0.025 ETH officially minted out on January 12th, 2024, according to schedule, without panic, delays, or pivots, and without the need for any crazy plans to force a mint out. Everything was laid out from the beginning, and everything went according to plan. An impressive feat in the current NFT climate, and with Cryptoequip’s commitment to not utilize any form of hype or FOMO tactics. Even more impressive when one considers that this future blue chip is still relatively unknown to the broader Web 3 community.
The Mint
It is worth dwelling for a minute on a couple of key points surrounding the mint, as it really speaks volumes about what this Bear and Bull community is all about. Firstly, let’s consider the ETH back guarantee, which is truly unique in the world of NFTs and is beginning to be adopted by other projects. Here is a quote from an announcement on the matter, but in short, all minters were afforded a risk-free mint: “Our utility announcement is at the beginning of February. If, after being in the community this month, spending time with all of us, seeing the utility of Phase Two, learning about all that we are doing with the other collections, and if you are still not happy with the way the future looks, you are welcome to open a ticket for a full refund of your mint price at this time, up to 90 days from when the mint began.”
Secondly, let’s focus briefly on the mint incentive structure, which was conducted in true Bear and Bull style where nobody is left behind. Mint incentives were announced from the start and would apply to all minters, regardless of when they minted. The first tranche of incentives would be released at 2,222 mints, applying to all who bought up until that point. The final tranche of incentives would be released upon reveal with double that amount if the project is minted out, again applying to all that was bought regardless of stage. Compare that to other mint experiences where you buy in early to support the project and then watch from the sidelines the next day, tapped out of funds, while a mint incentive for a desirable NFT is raffled to only the next 50 mints. So many times…
The Reveal
The mint was scheduled for two weeks, from December 29th through January 12th, and the progress was solid and steady, with hundreds of mints occurring daily and consistently. Every day we were able to welcome in more new members to the community, whilst the OGs (who know the real value of their BBNFT assets) continued to stack as many as they could. Everything came to a head on reveal day, and as expected, FOMO kicked in with a frenzy of mints, resulting in a sellout within a matter of hours. The hype was organic, and the excitement was palpable. OG’s and new members alike were pumped and chomping at the bit to see what their Phase 2 Bear-Bulls looked like, especially after seeing all the incredible sneak peeks! And they did not have long to wait. It must have been incredibly satisfying for APESBORED, the artist behind the collection, to see just how well his 3D hand-drawn Bear-Bulls were received by the community after all the hard work he had put into them. To put things in perspective, the fur forming the base of each Bear-Bull consists of over 500,000 individual hairs, and perfecting the look for that element alone took over 120 hours. The level of detail put into this collection is off the chain! He must have also had a great time pulling together the 8 1/1s in the collection, with tributes to Deadpool, Raiden, and Optimus Prime featuring among the eight. Readers are encouraged to track down these 1/1s and see them
firsthand; they are absolute FIRE!
Degen Mode Activated
Following the reveal, it was off to the races. The trading channel in Discord blew up with more activity than the dominant general chat channel. Trait hunters were out in force, trying to trade for their favorite traits. Sweepers were equally active for the same reason, scouring the floors and scooping up bargains. At the time of writing, a mere 11 days after the reveal, the collection has already done 28 ETH in volume, with 703 sales and holding a floor of 0.0389. Already, some key themes are emerging.
The most coveted trait, by a country mile, is the CE CAPTAIN’S HAT. A recent poll also showed that fur was the favorite trait group in the collection, and with 31 different types of fur to choose from, buyers are definitely spoiled for choice. Other sought-after traits include RIFLES, THE CAPTAIN AMERICA SHIELD, GAS MASKS, AND CLEAN NAKED 2-3 TRAITS. However, this is likely to evolve over time, and it is common to see people showing off different traits that are growing on them the more they look at their Bear-Bulls. Gold scarves, anyone?
Cryptoequip continues to stay true to form, keeping everybody on their toes and recently posting a mysterious tweet questioning the meaning behind the mythical ‘GOLDEN BEAR STATUES’ and backing that up a few days later with an announcement that each of the 294 Golden Bear Statue NFTs would be dropped 20M SHEESH ($SHS) tokens.
Phase Two Utility
So, what is next for Phase 2 holders? As mentioned, Cryptoequip likes to
surprise the community. If you’re new to BBNFT, don’t worry; you’ll soon learn that surprises are a good thing, just like whenever Cryptoequip is bored! Here is what we know so far as at the time of writing:
[1] 13 billion SHEESH ($SHS) has been secured for Phase 2 holders. As mentioned, Golden Bear Statue holders will receive 6 billion of these tokens; a further 4 billion will be reserved for the upcoming Faction Crusades, leaving another 3 billion to be distributed in some way.
[2] Faction Crusades are coming to BBNFT, with community-led faction nominations recently closing and now pending a vote to finalize the faction details and structure. BBNFT OGs all remember the original Faction Wars that went down last May – 4 weeks of non-stop $10-20 rumbles culminating in Connect 4 showdowns each week for 0.1ETH apiece for each faction winner. At the end of the 4 weeks the final winner walked away with 1 ETH and some NFTs. Needless to say, they are all chomping at the bit for the upcoming Faction Crusades! Adding to the excitement, Cryptoequip has declared that he’ll be partaking in the action this time around, leading to degen speculation and a stampede on the CE Captain’s hats. However, nothing has been officially announced regarding those hats, and just when you zig left, it’s almost a certainty that CE will zag right!
[3] A post was made recently regarding an upcoming announcement on Phase 2 utility that will drop on February 2nd. At this stage, we know the Phase 2 collection will stack BOURISH, and while we don’t yet know what that will equate to, punters can look to the Alpha Pass Bears and Phase Blue Bulls for an idea of what may possibly be in store for Phase 2. The AP’s currently stack 40 Alpha Points every 10-12 weeks, convertible 1:1 to USDC, and the PB’s stack Bullets tied to wBTC, equating to approximately $90 USDC per year. Further detail on the Alpha Pass and Phase Blue utilities can be found in this previous Boogers article, The Evolution of Crafting a Diamond Hand Community
[4] IRL Collectibles. A post was recently made showing a mini Bear-Bull figurine made in the same factory as Disney and including interchangeable parts built into the design. Collectors will have the ability to swap out the hats, accessories in hand, and even the horns on their figurines. Apparently Apesbored’s talents extend beyond 3D art, and he has direct experience with 3D modeling and making IRL items. This is incredibly exciting news, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds following this revelation. The possibilities are endless!
TO CONCLUDE
With Phase 2 only just minted out, there is still plenty to come, and this project is just getting warmed up. However, one of the best things to come out of this Phase 2 collection was the opportunity to welcome new holders to our community. Already, we have seen a good number of new members embrace the project wholeheartedly, injecting a lot of positive energy and already feeling like a part of the furniture. Some have gone in as hard as, if not harder than, some of the OG whales in the community. Many have adopted the ethos and spirit of the BBNFT community and are already giving back in the form of rumble prize sponsorships or via tips to other community members, which is fantastic to see. Welcome again to the family, and the team cannot wait for you all to experience all the wonderful twists, turns, and surprises Cryptoequip and DAO One have in store. Strap in for the ride and bring on the crusades; the Green Horns are ready!