Welcome back to the Mad News! 🗞️
Backpack expands collection locking to Solana blue chips
Wormhole announcement sets community abuzz
“A bunch of weirdos on the internet, if you ask me”
Mad Lad sale sets new record for highest price
Onboarding Ethereum maxis with Fock It mentality
Mad Lads artwork used in the real world
…and much more!
Subscribe now and be the first to receive newsletters, exclusive interviews and other other behind the scenes looks.
Check out our alternate language channels in Vietnamese, Chinese, Turkish, Spanish and Hindi.
The Monkey Interview: Philosophy of WAO
Settle in for an immersive look at the insights learned during Monkey’s odyssey from corporate America to Meme Lord of Solana to becoming a curator of Mad Lads and Backpack culture. I think part of my desire to join FTX, to join Backpack, was this desire to be in the room where it happens.
Backpack keeps Solana NFT collections under lock and key
Collection locking went live for the Mad Lads in early October. The simple mechanism automatically rejects transaction requests when an NFT is locked.
On Solana anytime you want to mutate a piece of data, you have to label it as `writeable`.
Given a transaction signature request, we simply look through all the `writeable` accounts, see if any of them belong to locally locked NFT collections, and if they do. Reject.
It's that simple.
Backpack extended this security feature to three more collections this week.
Claynosaurz was the first with Tensorians later the same day.
Solana Monkey Business was up next. SMB was one of the first NFT collections that upgraded their collection to an xNFT.
Holders can read their monthly newsletter, Banana Split, inside of the Backpack wallet.
Speculation runs rampant after Mad Wormhole announcement
Wormhole teasers featuring Backpack and Mad Lads set the community on fire as holders assume another airdrop is on the horizon.
Wormhole China posted a bespoke version of the teaser with augmented language.
Fock it. 准备好你的 Backpack。
Wormhole is one of a small (but growing) group of crypto brands that has a substantial foothold in Asia.
Withdrawal fees are now active on Backpack Exchange
Withdrawals of SOL, USDC and PYTH had no fees during the initial launch of the Backpack Exchange.
You can learn more about trading on Backpack Exchange in the Help Center.
Mad Lads are in the spotlight and Armani has the receipts
As the Mad Lads gain a spotlight outside of the Solana ecosystem there is an influx of new users. Armani took to the streets with a thread that reminds us: there is no utility.
There is so much more.
It turns out, with NFTs, the art is less about the lines and the colors--although an incredible amount of skill and effort went into the Lads--and it's much more about what those lines and colors represent. The people.
People from every conceivable part of the world. Playing games together, writing code together, testing products together, and shit posting on the internet together.
A bunch of weirdos on the internet, if you ask me.
“A bunch of weirdos on the internet, if you ask me.”
Lads love a trend and they hopped on the “This is me. This is also me.” train with unbridled enthusiasm.
Dozens of holders strutted their stuff and revealed the person behind the PFP.
It looks like Amy Street may have been the first and it snowballed from there.
Tristan and Monkey joined in on the fun from Tokyo!
Skulls light NFT marketplaces on fire three weeks in a row
A new all time high record has been set with the sale Mad Lads #3732 for the paltry sum of 1,371 SOL (around $89,900 USD).
This Skulls sale along with numerous others this week have propelled the Mad Lads into a “Top 10” NFT collection.
Onboarding of Ethereum maxis has commenced
Ethereum maxis make up many of the newest Solana NFT holders.
This trend initially started after the Mad Lads mint week produced more volume than the next nine collections combined.
Collectively the Ethereum whales featured here have racked up more than 274,800 views for the Mad Lads.
Newcomers to the Mad Lads world are consistently surprised by the engagement that comes from the fanbase. This trend will continue as Mad Lads break the barriers of what NFT projects are thought to be.
Community ran Lads Raid group is key piece behind the engagement machine
The Lads Raid started as a group of holders that wanted to welcome newcomers by “raiding” their posts on social media.
First post, let’s get it lads! Welcome this new member. WAO!
Since launching they have formed a raid group chat (with 60+ members) for sourcing content and have interacted with hundreds of Mad Lads-centric posts since launch.
LAD OF THE WEEK: Dexrow
It’s likely that the Lads Raid movement (and many other core Mad Lads community memories) would not exist without our LOTW, Dexrow.
Flashback to when the Mad Lads minted. Subcommunities were forming and groups sprang up left and right.
Dexrow created The Lads Avenue chat on Twitter and history was made.
Lads Raid is just one of many noteworthy outputs of the Lads Avenue.
More recently the Mad Stables team formed there and it was also the birthing ground of the new weekly Spaces called “The WAO Show”.
The Lads Avenue is so popular in fact that Dexrow had to bring on additional Lads to help manage the group.
If you haven’t followed Dexrow already, make sure to now!
Previous LOTW Mad Coach rocks Mad Merch while he destroys the competition
Mad Coach brings the Fock It. mentality to the table in his billiards competition last week.
Armani Ferrante said "show the brand".
I won the pool tournament with the Fock It Hoodie.
A girl "Avril Lavigne style" asked me where to buy it.
Said buy a Lassie first.
Nepenti brings Mad Lads into real world with Fock It Food Carts
Nepenti’s “Fock It Food Carts” roam the city of Manila in the Philippines serving customers who order from an Albert’s themed menu.
The Lads don't know this but I own Mad Lad food carts that my family run through the streets of Manila to feed regular people.
It doesn't look much but as someone who lives in a third world country, it pays all the bills and helps me with all my undertakings.
Lads on top.
Nepenti reminds us that opportunities to utilize Mad Lads IP are endless.
The WAO Show airs on Fridays at 5PM UTC
The WAO Show is a structured panel that covers weekly Mad Lads and Backpack events, behind the scenes of The Roster and interviews with the maddest Lads in the community.
The “test run” episode started off a little rocky but ended up being a fun session with the community.
Jakey tells us what it means to be on The Roster
MAD PASTA LAD shared his perspective from the Operation Save Pasta days
Gold schools us on Mad Stables, the community ran stable in Photo Finish™ LIVE
Panel of hosts includes:
Follow the Mad Host account and turn your notifications on for the next episode!
Tristan catches up with Roster Lads in Hawaii
Tristan paid Tyler Larronde a visit in their homeland of Hawaii after an intensive few months building Backpack.
The duo are rocking custom Mad Lads merch that Tyler creates by hand.
Will we see these in Mad Merch Season 2?
Pyth and Wintermute invite Tristan to weigh in on current events
Tristan represented Backpack alongside Helius, Douro Labs and the Solana Foundation for a chat about the future of blockchains and how mass adoption will be achieved in the coming years.
He also joined Wintermute’s Crypto Builders Bootcamp for a panel on product market fit.
Taipei Blockchain Week
Mad Lads, Pyth and the Solana Foundation are hosting the Solana Eccosystem Taipei Greetings event next week in the Xinyi District.
亞太區最重要的區塊鏈盛會之一Taipei Block Chain Week來啦！
Solana is on a mission to become carbon neutral
Solana was able to offset 100% of the networks carbon footprint by purchasing 10.9 tons of carbon credits.
For the first time, the Foundation offset the Solana network’s carbon footprint using entirely onchain carbon credits.
The first Energy Use Report was released in November, 2021 and at the time there were 1,196 validator nodes using an estimated 11 million kWh per year (the equivalent to the average use of 1000 American households).
Helium changes the mobile game in United States with $20/month plan
Helium Mobile has launched a no-contract plan with unlimited data, talk and text for $20 a month.
Traditional carriers think they have Americans over a barrel. At Helium Mobile, we believe that cell phones are an essential service and unlimited data, text and calls are table stakes,” said Amir Haleem, CEO of Nova Labs, parent company of Helium Mobile.
We are tired of carriers that hide high subscription rates, roaming and additional data fees behind free phone upgrades that lock you into years of expensive plans. Americans deserve better.
This makes it the most competitive mobile plan in the United States.
Solana Beach meets Miami Beach for Art Basel
Art Basel is in full swing and Solana has established their presence with a group of talented hybrid trad and digital artists.
You cannot turn your head without seeing something that challenges your expectations of what digital art can be.
The full Artists in Residence team:
Victoria Rickards
LISTENING MATERIAL & PODCAST CORNER
Jupiter: The Aggregator Fueling Solana’s GDP (Lightspeed Podcast)
How Meteora Will Multiply Solana’s TVL (Lightspeed Podcast)
thank you for making our earth more safest