How Three Rebellious Entrepreneurs Created An NFT Project That Earned Over $23 Million In 24-Hours While Injecting 'Genuinity' Into The Community

With voluminous amounts of NFT projects now in existence, the number of NFT buyers remains relatively small, with just over 265,000 active wallets trading NFTs on the ethereum blockchain.

Indeed, the visual arts community has come a long way since the very first NFT project which launched on the Ethereum blockchain in 2015.

As of October, the sales volumes of NFT rose to just over $10 billion in the third quarter of 2021, a more than eightfold increase since the previous quarter, according to market tracker DappRadar. The third quarter figure was up from $1.3 billion in Q2 and $1.2 billion in Q1.

OpenSea, the industry’s biggest NFT marketplace, illustrated sales volumes of $3.4 billion in August 2021, with strong, continued growth in September when the global stock markets fell.

That’s exactly what Danny Maeegaard, better known throughout the NFT community as @Seedphrase, The Shady Shark, and Aleks Kay, the three co-founders of Party DeGenerates, did with their latest NFT project.

The team working on the drop also includes DarkDante (a former Electronic Arts, Inc. executive), Dan Jazzia, Farokh Sarmad, Rembrandt Flores, and Nicole Behnam.

Party Degenerates is a collection of 10,000 NFTs representing the rebellious spirit of those who choose to celebrate life, with over 100 notable collectors including Gary Vaynerchuk, Michael Lazerow, and 3LAU who all bought into the project.

As of last week, it became the highest-selling generative art avatar project drop to date, bringing in over $23.5 million in 24-hours as of October 19 with then-market prices of Ethereum. Having created this successful and efficient solution for their own NFT ecosystem, Party Degenerates is the “first-to-knowledge” avatar projects to “mint blind” without revealing any designs or art.

Visual arts and electronic music have now helped an endless amount of people throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which gives life to Party Degenerates in its effort to weed out the garbage in the NFT community and instead, inject voice, community, and utility into the ever-evolving digital art space.

1. Weigh Utility Against Dollars Raised

Currently, the industry doesn’t seem to offer a project out there which aims to genuinely bring together the music and visual arts communities under one roof, until now. For this reason, it’s important for any potential NFT buyer to weigh the project’s utility against the amount of dollars raised, regardless of how high the (apparent) revenue of the project seems to yield.

“Chatting with Danny and Aleks, we realized that because there is no such project out there that addresses this gap, there is equally a gap which involves supporting the less-privileged artists during this New Renaissance driven by blockchain and digital artists that are in a privileged position,” said The Shady Shark, who for the past 8 years of living in Ibiza, also co-founded Maison d’Lux, a coveted by-invitation, globally recognized lifestyle & entertainment club.

According to the co-founder, there was an opportunity to combine the unique experience for Ibiza-specific members as well as those within the electronic music scene to create Party Degenerates.

“I wanted to work on something that combines all of the best aspects of the space into one project, and this came out of frustration in seeing countless projects raising millions of dollars with no real long-term roadmap or utility,” added co-founder @Seedphrase. “I believe that we’ve got one of the strongest teams to see this project become a future blue-chip. We’ve got the talent, utility, and roadmap to ensure that we’re constantly delivering for our community.”

2. Embrace Curiosity and Toss Out ‘Hysteria’

The biggest issue the NFT community currently faces is the immense amount of digital curiosity, with voluminous numbers of projects that fail to adopt and address those questions that provide a level of comfort, security, and creativity to its investors.

It’s very easy for creators to create a mass hysteria around an exciting idea, but it is something else entirely when the community is genuinely interested in having questions surrounding utility and value answered.            

“When I’m speaking to collectors, interviewing artists, or talking to my team, I use my curiosity to make sure talking points are clarified and to ensure creatives are comfortable in expressing themselves fully,” said Party Degenerates Community Advisor, Nicole Behnam.

Behnam, the founder of Beyond Media, is known widely throughout the NFT community as the “ultimate connector” and liaison in Web3.0, making a powerful name early on as a Clubhouse host in its early days of inception. 

“My entire brand and everything I touch revolves around curiosity,” Behnam emphasizes. “I am curious when I interview and I’m not afraid to ask questions and make a point to connect people regularly. Audience is cool, but a community where people feel connection and a sense of belonging is more powerful.”

At the end of the day, cryptocurrencies, including NFTs, have gone from curiosity to an overly crowded concert that only seeks to draw in anyone wanting to take a bite.

3. Converting Colleagues Into Advisors

One of the biggest challenges is the number of projects that have come into existence, which tends to be daunting for individuals deciding which projects they want to support.

“I encourage anyone interested in supporting any NFT project to follow your heart and gut,” said Flores, Brand Advisor to the Party Degenerates project.

Flores, the founder of the entertainment marketing/communications firm, Entertainment Fusion Group, along with Behnam, also became a household name on Clubhouse in its early days of inception, reducing the amount of time on the audiophile app, but still making time to host a room for the Party Degenerates community.

 “If you believe in a specific project because you love the art, the roadmap, use cases, and/or team, then follow their journey and join their mission. In the end, a strong team who cares about the entire community of collectors—and even fans of the art—will ensure that the project is ultimately a success.”