DeGods Have Ascended: Solana NFT Project Soars Ahead of Buzzy y00ts Launch

As buzz builds around this week’s launch of the y00ts NFT project on Solana—which has attracted celebrities and crypto influencers alike—prices for the team’s current NFT collection, DeGods, surged to new heights over the weekend. And over the last day, DeGods has topped all NFT projects in terms of trading volume.

DeGods topped a floor price—that is, the cheapest listed NFT on a marketplace—of 500 SOL for the first time on Sunday. As of this writing, the floor at leading marketplace Magic Eden sits at 587 SOL, or nearly $18,650. That makes it the most valuable Solana-based NFT profile picture (PFP) project with at least 10,000 items, handily topping Solana Monkey Business at 192 SOL (about $6,100) at the low end.

In terms of the wider NFT market, DeGods’ entry-level price point ranks fourth highest among PFP projects with at least 10,000 items. DeGods follows the Ethereum-based Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and Moonbirds collections in that order, per data from NFT Price Floor. DeGods sits just above Mutant Ape Yacht Club on that list.

A flurry of DeGods secondary market sales helped push the floor price upwards this weekend, and the project topped all other projects on the market—including on Ethereum. Analytics platform CryptoSlam reports $1.3 million worth of sales across 70 transactions over the past 24 hours, beating the Bored Ape Yacht Club with nearly $1.1 million over nine transactions.

DeGods launched in October 2021 as the Solana NFT market was heating up, and the 10,000-NFT project picked up significant momentum this spring amid the launches of DeadGods—an initiative that let DeGods holders upgrade to newer artwork—and the DUST utility token, which DeGods/DeadGods owners earn as a reward for staking their NFTs.

The project gained additional notoriety in April when it purchased the controlling interest of a team in the BIG3, a 3v3 basketball league co-founded by rapper and actor Ice Cube. BIG3 also sold NFT-based team stakes to rapper Snoop Dogg and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, among others, and Ice Cube himself purchased one of the DeGods NFTs.

An NFT is a blockchain token that can serve as a proof of ownership to an item, including goods like PFPs, digital artwork, and collectibles. Solana is the second-most-active blockchain platform for NFTs behind Ethereum, and DeGods has recently led the charge as the platform attracts more collectors and increased visibility.

DeGods momentum has picked up considerably lately as the project’s creator—who goes simply by Frank—plans to launch a new NFT collection called y00ts on Friday.

Y00ts is a Solana-based profile picture project that will launch with 15,000 NFTs, and it has curated its allowlist—that is, a list of people cleared to mint an NFT at launch—by requiring people to apply for a "scholarship" and then publicly posting about those that have been accepted via the y00tlist Twitter account.

Along with an array of NFT influencers and community members, the list has grown to include celebrities like soccer legend Wayne Rooney, entertainer Howie Mandel, rapper Lil Baby, YouTube star iJustine, and former NBA star Allen Iverson, along with athletes, professional esports players, and other notable folks from various industries.

Y00ts aims to differentiate itself from traditional PFP projects by implementing new forms of customization, along with ways for creators to make money. According to its whitepaper, y00ts plans to launch a storefront where holders can purchase and equip visual traits for their NFTs from various artists, with the artists taking a cut of royalties in the process.

Frank is well known in the Solana space as an outspoken creator, and his ambitions with y00ts may go beyond rethinking visual traits and artist compensation.

A trademark filing (discovered by Twitter user GuitarCookies) suggests a wide array of potential y00ts cases, from NFTs and gaming to other entertainment initiatives, online services, and beyond. It was filed by Mark Jansen of law firm Fenwick & West, which counts Bored Ape Yacht Club maker Yuga Labs among its notable clients.

As momentum builds around y00ts, DeGods is reaching new heights and even challenging Ethereum NFT heavyweights on pricing. We’ll see whether the y00ts launch lives up to the hype, however, and whether DeGods likewise continues to build on this latest rise.

Editor's note: this article has been updated to correct the NFT mint date.