Another big week in the ecosystem: from acquisitions to the New York conference & all the announcements and showcases that happened there, as well as a continued pump into the coming week.
To kick off, Solana Monkey Business’ acquisition story continues, next although I didn’t attend I’ll share some updates I saw from NYC, & to wrap we’ll discuss Okay Bear’s recent announcements and end out with the weekly quote!
As always, be sure to show some love if you’ve been enjoying The Review to stay connected in the Web3 space. It’s hours of work every week to put these in front of you all & it’d mean the world for a like or some feedback in the replies!
For the Review:
Hades Froze Over
NFT NYC: The I-Didn’t-Go Recap
Okay Bears
🙈MonkeDAO: New SMB Haven
So, when HGE bought out the collection, we didn’t see the last of that - and what a fiasco the brand takeover ended up backfiring in the ABC King’s face.
https://twitter.com/MonkeDAO/status/1646629180551864324?s=20
So how did we get here? Let’s recap the previous acquision from February to now:
SMB buy-out by HGE for HadesDAO. SMB now acts as subsidiary of Hades umbrella
MonkeDAO & community members don’t like takeover by force. Floor price & social sentiment reflect this
Hades VS. Monkes ensues, referencing the proposal system through HadesDAO & one begins getting worked on
From here, we heard more rumors than actual details, such as previous interest in buying SMB by Yuga Labs or other rumblings about the MonkeDAO expansion collection
HGE started voicing frustrations of SMB backlash
Community seems to hold one of two opinions: his acquisition of the brand seen as careless for the core community’s wishes OR he holds a vision for Solana & governance structures that is unprecedented on the chain.
HGE reaches out via DM to Solana Big Brain to discuss on call
Continue on SBB’s thread for more on their conversation & what resulted:
https://twitter.com/SOLBigBrain/status/1645830522323468304?s=
In my mind, the resolution to this whole hot potato game with the brand was crazy how quickly things moved once HGE saw he couldn’t catch a break with any of his implementations.
To me, all it came down to was the community of Monkes that didn’t want his vision.
🏙️What happened @ NFT NYC?
I wouldn’t know - I wasn’t there! But in all honesty, there were many parts of the conference that hit the Twitterverse as highlights. I had my favorites from watching the feed:
Pizza runs were a fun aspect of the location for this conference. Sp00n1cus and others journeyed to acquire the best slices around the city
Networking was the name of the game, many meet ups & crossovers you wouldn’t expect!
Collaborating in person is a huge bonding point for teams, partners & friends
AlexIsBuilding & Amy Street put together some great recaps on value & tidbits from the event, definitely check them out below!
https://twitter.com/AlexIsBuilding/status/1647271464519839745
https://twitter.com/Iamamystreet/status/1647727274782003200?s=20
🐻Okay, Bear-ish?
During NFT NYC, Okay Bears made a multitude of announcements & even teased a bigger partnership leading up to their event with a red version of the logo. But even with a list of items, many weren’t happy with the announcements.
One such item was the “Fortnite Announcement” - This was presented at the event as a partnership with the brand but ended up being a customized world built by a player, not an actual recognition by the company. Kind of a cool way to include the community though?
Another related to the red branding - Ended up teasing a collaborative partnership with RED, the charity for the Global Fund, helping support many programs to save lives. Alongside companies and organizations like the Okay Bears, they’re working to save lives.
Although charity is good, many considered the move to not be “bullish”, or not positively pressuring the collection’s floor price.
The announcements covered more applicable utilities for the average holder: streaks & badges as well as 10:1 coin burn for a IRL gold coin among others.
I held OKB at one point but not now & honestly I disagree with many naysayers on Twitter. I see the RED collaboration to open more doors, conversations & connections to HUGE industry names; another tool in the belt alongside the IMG deal.
This is groundwork for a Web2-Web3 brand, and it feels like they are tapping into the resources they’ve found at IMG.
This is just a ticking time bomb of value.
I don’t have much of a closing paragraph for today other than the weekly quote! I appreciate you for getting this far.
Try to give this one a think or two:
“Truth is, great things take time. So, either you wait or you settle for less.” — Unknown
Best,
Caleb🧣