Mad News #28 📰 Backpack Is Hiring Wizards
Backpack is looking to hire developers, looking back at the eight months since Mad Lads minted, an exclusive interview with Spottie Wifi and an ode to the LADS OF THE WEEK.
Welcome back to the Mad News! 🗞️
Mad Lads eight month post-mint check in
Rogue Sharks completes collection upgrade to xNFT
Spottie Wifi tells us what he loves about Solana
Hundreds attend Mad Meetup during Taipei Blockchain Week
mtndao v5 hacker house gearing up for month long event
Solana’s Artist In Residence installation at Art Basel
GameJam competition is fierce as builders chase $30k USDC prize
…and much more!
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Backpack is hiring wizards 🧙
Backpack is hiring Rust developers, security researchers and infrastructure engineers to expand functions in the Wallet and Exchange.
Send Armani Ferrante a DM on Twitter with your experience.
Mad Lads Snapshot: Eight Months In 📸
It has been nearly eight months since the Mad Lads minted, let’s get up to speed on how the collection has performed by the numbers.
Holders: 4,503 unique wallets
Total Volume (Mad Lads): 2.38M SOL
Total Volume (Mad Merch): 1.9K SOL
Highest Sale: 3675 SOL (Skull trait)
Highest Floor Price: 227 SOL
Mad Validator stake: 690,942 SOL
Mad Lads holders have had an interesting few months as well.
first recipients of novel security function for assets in Backpack
guaranteed 1000 $PYTH allocation in Backpack Exchange airdrop event
Rogue Sharks new xNFT experience goes live 🦈
Rogue Sharks started their xNFT journey in May, 2023 with an optional art update for holders in an event they dubbed “The Rebirth”.
Every Rogue Shark xNFT has a game embedded in it and the challenge is simple:
Win and you Shark ascends.
Lose and your Shark is burned.
The Rogue Sharks collection launched on October 8th 2021. 5,000 NFTs were minted for 3-4 SOL using one of the first Fair Launch lotteries on Solana.
SOL was trading for around 1SOL/$158 USD at the time.
Catching up with Spottie Wifi 👑
Spottie Wifi stands out in the crypto world with his iconic CryptoPunks album and deep overlap into the trad music industry.
He came on the Mad Lads radar after sweeping four “Crown” trait NFTs from the collection and changing his long-held PFP to support the Lads.
I'm relatively new to Solana myself and still learning, so don't want to draw any conclusions too early but I can definitely say I don't miss the gas fees on ETH!
-Spottie Wifi
We sat down to talk about music, Solana and the Lads.
How long were you creating music before you discovered crypto?
Spottie: I was making music and playing shows consistently between 2006-2012.
I released several projects and opened for some big artists like Nas, Snoop, T.I., and others, but took a long break from music beginning in 2013 and didn’t get back into it until 2021 when I became inspired to write a song about my CryptoPunk.
Spottie: That song turned into an album and when I sold that album as a NFT collection, things just kind of accelerated from there.
Was your entry to crypto a slow burn or did you dive in head first?
Spottie: I dove head first into crypto in December 2021, and I bought the blowoff top of a crazy bull run.
I invested way more than I was prepared to lose, and then everything crashed like 80% right after I bought. It was a brutal entry but I stuck with it, held those bags and kept buying over the bear market whenever I could.
That's how I was able to purchase my CryptoPunk in early 2021, because I held and bought in the bear.
Are trad music labels starting to embrace crypto and NFTs?
Spottie: Some labels are doing interesting experiments, as are companies like Spotify and Live Nation.
Some labels have created virtual artists using Web3 IP like Bored Ape Yacht Club, for example.
Spottie: Spotify has tested token-gated playlists, and LiveNation has tested early access to tickets for token holders.
So yeah, I definitely think the precedent is there and that's bullish.
Where are the best places for our readers to find crypto native musicians?
Spottie: I built a metaverse music venue in Decentraland, and host a free weekly party called Tap in Tuesday every Tuesday night 8-10pm EST.
Spottie: Each week my DJ (DJ Trax) and I highlight a different Web3 artist.
We've had some incredible artists pull up, including Soulja Boy, Allan Kingdom, Stockz and many more!
Were you familiar with the Mad Lads before the recent price run? what caught your eye the most about the project?
Spottie: I've been familiar with Mad Lads for a while now, but I didn't really know much about Backpack.
Once I learned that Backpack is the parent company and it's a wallet and an exchange, that made me take a much closer look at the community and everything else around Mad Lads.
How is Solana NFT world different from Ethereum?
Spottie: I'm relatively new to Solana myself and still learning, so don't want to draw any conclusions too early but I can definitely say I don't miss the gas fees on ETH!
I can also say the Solana community has always welcomed me, and I have a lot of SOL friends that have helped educate me and steer me in the right direction.
What do you think Ethereum whales to see more of before they fully embrace Solana NFTs?
Spottie: I think for the most part, they've already seen enough and are ready to explore and find something in the Solana ecosystem that resonates with them.
One area where I plan to push and accelerate adoption on Solana is web3 music, beginning very soon.
Mad Lads crowns go hard, what other traits do you have your eyes on?
Spottie: I had to go with the crowns because my latest album is The King's Alpha featuring Snoop Dogg, Bun B, Jim Jones and more.
Spottie: To answer the question, I can't compare any other traits to the crown.
It just wouldn't be fair.
To put it in perspective, there are 93 skulls but only 69 crowns.
Crowns on top!
Metame amps up performance in latest xNFT update ⚡
Metame is an NFT project that took over social timelines earlier this year.
Their xNFT allows you to browse through the collection as well as investigate their status using the blockchain.
They just released an update that boosted performance of the dApp.
Note: xNFTs must be launched via xNFT Library.
LADS OF THE WEEK deserve all the flowers 💐
The Mad Lads community has evolved into an attention generating machine in no small part due to the group of people who make up the LADS OF THE WEEK.
This week we take a moment to remember that when it comes to community the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.
Newcomers to the Mad Lads and Backpack ecosystem routinely comment on how welcoming and warm the community is.
Odds are that at least one of our previous LOTW’s was there with kind words and a helpful introduction to the Mad Lads family.
Make sure to follow the Lads!
Mad Meetup during Taipei Blockchain Week draws hundreds of attendees 📺
Hundreds of interested developers gathered to watch a virtual keynote speech delivered by Backpack’s founder Armani Ferrante.
The Taipei Blockchain Week planners partnered with the Solana Foundation and numerous Solana builders to form the dev focused programming.
Mad Lads and Backpack events in Asia are developing quicker than any other region.
I think I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese (I really think so!) 🎵
Crypto growth in Japan is particularly strong in part due to the country’s friendly attitude towards blockchain builders and more importantly because their legal framework helps protect Japanese consumers.
UNITED NEKO ALLIANCE is a Japanese crypto community that hosts native language Spaces.
This week they are hosting a special Backpack and Mad Lads themed episode.
We have also seen an influx of native Japanese Mad Lads fans that are experiencing Solana for the first time.
DeFi Land shows love to Mad Lads holders 🦙
Defi Land airdropped 50 Golden Tickets to Mad Lads holders. The tickets were entered into a raffle for three prizes:
Grand Prize: Mad Lad #5351
Second Place: Three Mythic Alpaca NFTs
Third Place: Four Baby Almighty Alpaca NFTs
And a gift for our Mad folks. All Mad Lads holders have been airdropped 50 Golden tickets! Go and check it out right now.
Our legacy with the Mad Lads community began when we distributed 250 xNFT Backpack invite codes through our Play & Earn mechanics.
mtndao v5 hacker house planned for February ⛰️
Registrations for the mtndao v5 hacker house are now open.
📅 Feb. 1 to 29
📍 Salt Lake City, UT
all backgrounds and skillsets are welcome at mtndao, only the ones that show the most excitement and commitment will be accepted to join the v5 cohort
this will be the most high value event of the year whether you are brand new to solana or a veteran
Solana Speedrun 2 racks up 300 registrations in just a few days 🎮
GameJam is a competition where developers will create and launch a NEW blockchain game in just 120 hours.
It is themed based and challengers have no hints about what the main theme will be before the event begins.
The competition ends on December 17th and competition for the $30k USDC is stiff.
The GameJam theme for Solana Speedrun 2 is: 💀 Death is Temporary 💙
That’s a wrap! Art Basel Miami exceeded expectations for Solana 🎨
Solana’s “Artists In Residence” installation at Art Basel was a smash hit with trad and digital artists alike.
Want a hot take?
The best display of digital art last week was at Art Basel’s Solana booth.
No wires in sight. All the works were intentionally placed within the screens and framed beautifully. Works were easy to mint. Got to speak with the artists.
Thousands of non-crypto natives were introduced to the blockchain with a unique minting experience.
This past week at Art Basel Miami Beach has been a whirlwind! The show closed out today with the final results from the three Artists in Residence at the Solana exhibition🖼️
Solana has sponsored dozens of IRL art installations this year on a mission to blur the lines between traditional art and the growing digital sector.
A new kind of Sunday Stream emerges 🎙️
G2 Esports is launching a series weekly Twitch stream that focuses on Solana-built blockchain games.
You can watch the streams here.
Solana is at a crossroads 🛣️
Most of us are aware of Solana Breakpoint which is the biggest annual gathering of Solana developers and builders.
Solana Crossroads is a lesser-known conference that takes place in Istanbul, Tukey.
This is the second year and more than 3000 people are expected to attend.
Solana boasts a broad stablecoin roster 🪙
The SOL/USD pairing is one of the most familiar stablecoins on the Solana network but it doesn’t stop there.
Some of the newest pairings include:
Other established stablecoins on Solana are:
Learn more about stablecoin pairings here.
LISTENING CORNER!
Validated
In this episode, Austin [Federa] chats with Matt Luongo (Thesis) about the role of decentralized custodial solutions for Bitcoin such as Threshold's tBTC.
Beyond the technical details of how tBTC works and what its holders can do, the conversation often digresses into Bitcoiner views of the world in the context of a crypto industry now dominated by smart contracts.
Subscribe to the Solana YouTube channel here.
Lightspeed
Solana just had one of the craziest weeks in its history. Jito's airdrop has created a wealth (and attention) effect that has captured all of crypto. What a week.
In this episode, we cover Jito's token launch, Solana's airdrop season, finding value in the bull market, the integrated chain advantage, the nuances of client diversity and more!
Andre Cronje joins us to discuss his drive to build crypt applications with real use cases. Andre has one of the most incredible stories in crypto and is the founder of multiple blue chip projects (Yearn, Keeper Network, Fantom) and a prolific entrepreneur.
In this episode, we discuss the ICO era, the launch of Yearn Finance, Andre's f*ck ups (self-proclaimed), why Andre has dedicated his focus to Fantom, Fantom's unique innovations, why airdrops suck, crypto regulation and more!
Subscribe to the Lightspeed YouTube channel here.
Logan Jastremski Podcast
Logan sits down with Avery Ching, CTO of Aptos Labs, to talk about the journey of scaling the Aptos blockchain.
Subscribe to the Logan Jastremski Podcast here.