Moon or Bust - Can y00ts Deliver on its hype?
Y00ts has been on the lips of every Crypto Twitter degen, noob, and influencer for the past weeks, and it’s pretty easy to understand why. The Solana project, minting on September 4th, is set to change the face of NFT intellectual property rights through its unique IP model outlined in its ⓨPaper.
But another aspect that drew attention was its Scholarship idea. This is its allow list competition, where people submit applications to gain early mint access. While many people jumped on the offer, some on Twitter didn’t buy the idea.
Nonetheless, Y00ts is positioning itself as a revolutionary project and already has big names like Lil Baby, Cobie, BitBoyJay, Howie Mandel, DeeZe, and Wayne Rooney in its scholarship. Can they truly deliver on the IP model and change NFT ownership for the better?
Table of Contents
#2 - Hype and Twitter Suspension
#3 - Best Marketing Campaign? Some Don’t Agree
#4 - Can Y00ts Deliver On Its IP Model? Our Thoughts
WTF is Y00ts?
Y00ts is a Solana-based NFT collection created by Frank, the founder of DeGods and Dust Labs. The collection started as Duppies; a collection meant to expand the DeGods ecosystem. However, a hack of the Duppies Twitter account caused the founders to change plans and rebrand the collection to Y00ts. The transition from Duppies to y00ts happened on July 30, 2022.
Y00ts features 15,000 NFTs that will be minted using the DeGods native ecosystem token $DUST. Those who made it to the Y00tslist through the scholarship program can mint one for 375$DUST (approximately $761).
What’s appealing about the y00ts collection is its plan to introduce a “common-sense version of copyright & ownership for NFTs” through the ⓨ symbol. Simply put, “ⓨ” functions like a copyright, except the NFT collection serves as the "ruling body" rather than a single entity responsible for protecting the project's IP.
So, instead of having a CC0 license or holder-specific IP rights, y acts as a "registry" that keeps tabs on who is authorized to use the NFT's IP and who isn't. This is a new IP model, and Y00ts will be the testing ground for its implementation.
Check out the ⓨPaper to understand how it works.
Hype and Twitter Suspension
Amidst all the hype and FOMO created by the scholarship program, the y00ts and DeGods accounts got suspended on Twitter. This created further buzz around the project as no explanation was given for the abrupt suspension by the Twitter team.
“All of our team’s Twitter accounts were just suspended. Not sure if mine will be too. Just be patient. We are contacting @Twitter right now. This could be an attack. Do not click any links.” - @FrankDeGods
The NFT community at large rallied together and tweeted their support for lifting the ban and fixing the problem.
Remarkably, both accounts were unbanned a few hours later, saving the impending y00ts NFT drop and bringing great joy to the Solana community. If it hadn't been handled promptly, it was possible that the impending y00ts NFT drop would have to be postponed.
Best Marketing Campaign? Some Don’t Agree
The marketing for the y00ts NFT collection was incredible. Anyone who wanted to mint a y00t had to get on the y00t list, which functions much like an allow list. Successful candidates were publicly recognized and tagged on the y00tlist Twitter account.
It's no surprise that many influential people applied to join the y00t list, given all the buzz around the project.
Those accepted shared the news on Twitter, providing a flood of organic promotion for the upcoming launch. Even though the account was temporarily suspended from Twitter, the subsequent return story generated far more interest in the project.
However, some people in the NFT community weren’t in favor of the scholarship idea. Leonidas.ETH, an NFT archeologist and historical NFT enthusiast mentioned that the process encouraged people to “beg for a spot,” calling it “dehumanizing and cringey.”
Can Y00ts Deliver On Its IP Model? Our Thoughts
Although y00ts is exploding because of the scholarship program used to allot allow list spots, we feel it's more than just bringing together web3's best brains.
Despite the originality of the scholarship concept, NotAnotherNFT is convinced that the I.P model could significantly impact the web3 space if it is understood and widely used.
We believe that NFT communities should be "open" to anyone who wants to join. But we don't think y00ts' scholarship system creates a fair playing field for newcomers, especially when some are still getting their bearings.
There's also the problem of large accounts stealing the spotlight from smaller, more deserving accounts by drawing attention to themselves.
The y00ts mint will undoubtedly be a game-changer in the field of intellectual property, and we continue to await its arrival eagerly. Who knows, maybe the y00ts mint will be the biggest seller during the NFT bear market.
Wen Mint?
The y00ts mint date has been subject to change for some time. However, the team has slated its official mint date for Sunday, 4th September 2022, by 2 pm UST. Here are the full details of the mint and allocation.
Engage with the NotAnotherNFT Community
Questions, comments, or feedback on the above guide?! head over to our community page and get into contact!