Mad News #82 π Lads On Top: 2024 Year In Review
Issue #82 celebrates the triumphs of 2024 while shining a spotlight on the community that gives Mad Lads its heartbeat.
Issue #82 celebrates the triumphs of 2024 while shining a spotlight on the community that gives Mad Lads its heartbeat.
Forged in the depths of a bear market, they weathered the crypto winter without complaint. In 2024, they transformed the WAO mentality into a tangible force, attracting airdrops at a mindboggling pace and putting Mad Lads at the forefront of the Solana NFT ecosystem.
Self-organized groups like Lads Avenue (RIP), Mad Moon, WAO Assembly, and LADS KITCHEN have orchestrated countless raids, acted as a welcoming committee for new holders and remain a constant source of alpha.
Fock it.
Table Of Contents π°
By the numbers π
2024 was Laddrop season πͺ
LOTWs bring a heartbeat to the blockchain β€οΈβπ₯
Badges of honor π
Mad Lads went global π
The Roster abides πΏ
Lads are VIPs on Backpack π
Nothing but the hits π
I have long spoken about how NFT collections could potentially earn awesome collective purchasing power, due not only to positive brand association, but also the huge value of getting the targeted attention of a strong and real community.
And thatβs why Iβm now glad to be Mad.
By the numbers π
Mad Lads minted into Solana royalty on April 20th, 2023 for 6.9 SOL. At the time SOL was trading at $22. Since then the floor price is 69 (giggity) with SOL trading at $193.
I'll let you do the math but this represents a return of: Fock it.
% of NFTs Listed: 2.73%
Total Secondary Volume: 3.51M SOL
Highest Sale: 3675 SOL
Highest Floor Price: 227 SOL
Mad Validator stake: 588,992 SOL
Airdrops: [TOO MANY TO COUNT]
See "Mad Mint: How The Mad Lads Broke The Internet".
2024 was Laddrop season πͺ
Mad Lads received more token drop allocations, whitelists and dApp rewards than any other collection on Solana.
Minters forked over 6.9 SOL for the promise of no utility and have largely been left disappointed.
Instead of getting rugged holders have:
received token allocations from Solanaβs biggest platforms
obtained dozens of memecoin and cNFT airdrops
secured benefits like points multipliers on DeFi tools
witnessed the value of their NFTs skyrocket
instantly been accepted into the Mad Lads VIP Program on Backpack Exchange
One team has done something no other NFT community has yet managed to do:
Make the community influential enough to attract airdrops from independent projects.
The Mad Lads.
Most recently the Lads received a $BLUE token allocation from one of @SuiNetwork's most notable builders, @bluefinnapp.
It is difficult to estimate a dollar value of the Lads airdrops but it's easy to say that it has been a driving force behind the collections success.
Just for the sheer optics, here is the (mostly complete) list of web3 builders who have bequeathed airdrops upon the Lads:
@PythNetwork (3,000 $PYTHwith extra 1,000 $PYTH if holder KYC'd on Backpack Exchange)
@PythNetwork (1/1 Pythia Mad Lads NFT)
@wormhole (678,823,000 W allocation)
@dymension (706 $DYM per Lad)
@PikeFinance (500K $PIU allocation)
@ZetaMarkets (800,000 $ZEX allocation)
@tensor_hq (1/1 Tensorian via raffle on Backpack Exchange)
@DeFi_Land (Mad Lad #5351, 7x DeFi Land NFTs)
@MatricaLabs (Blocks NFT whitelist, a Bitcoin project)
@yesyescoin (5% of $YES supply allocation)
@bluefinapp (TBD)
@infinex_app (20,000,000 allocation)
@tryscales ($SCALES allocation)
@AethirCloud ($ATH allocation)
@FOCK_coin (12,600,000 $FOCK per Lad)
@_portals_ (TBD)
@zero1_labs ($DEAI allocation)
@solarchons (NFT allocation)
@Kyupad_xyz (NFT allocation)
@TheVorld_ / ASTROKIDZ (NFT allocation)
GRAY (225 GRAY per Lad)
WAO, ARMANI SEXY LASS (~8,250,000 $WAOSY per Lad)
NOBLE (20 $NOBLE per Lad)
DRAKO (~4,500,00 $DRAKO per Lad)
@XNET_Mobile (100,000 XNET allocation)
@joinpoolpartyio ($PARTY)
@monadpad (Purple Frens WL)
@monadverse (WL)
@AllDomains_ (Points booster)
@laikaoneclipse ($LAIKA)
@MooncoinSVM (1.189M $MOON)
@SideProtocol (2500 $SIDE)
@bluefinapp (500 $BLUE)
Many have been missed on this list and it's a testament to the absolute avalanche of airdrops that the Lads have received in 2024.
LOTWs bring a heartbeat to the blockchain β€οΈβπ₯
LOTWs (Lads & Lassies Of The Week) are a special group of Lads who stand out for their constant dedication to community. An entire month's worth of Mad News could be focused solely on holders and their cultural impact.
Creators, builders, hype beasts, reply guys and believers around the world have become woven into the Madverse.
LOTWs are pillars of the community but there may be some who you're not familiar with. How many do you follow? π€
For the sake of brevity, here is a quick recap of the Lads who best represented WAO mentality in 2024.
Locar (@locaar)
Swasti (@swasti_art)
Slice (@Crypto_Slice)
Roberto Barreto (@roberto_yonda)
πΈππ π | π π (@AloeBBQ)
Ant (@theMadventurer)
38K πβ¨ (@38KdotSOL)
Kash Dhanda (@kashdhanda)
Alexana π©΅π (@alexana_deva)
Zeck.Sβl (@Zeck_Sol)
Rolex Gold (@RolexGoldTweets)
Lyon Farrell (@ryonfaller)
Guillaume ETCH | X π (@guillaumetch)
UQ Lad π (@UQ_sol)
Aslan β¨ π (@aslanw3b)
saryu.sol | X π (@unrealuncrit)
πCONSPI (@ConspiPrints)
Someone once said to me, βYour ambition will kill you.β I swear it made me more ambitious.
John Ennis (@john_ennis_btc)
IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA)
Umi (@umikathryn)
Michael Pinto (@MichaelPinto_)
Alex Aimard (@AimardAlex)
Jay : : FP (@JayLovesPotato)
T3 (@Thkl_3)
Jrej γΈγ₯γ¬γΈγ₯ (@Jrej_dev)
Wendy | Hawkfi.ag π£ (@wendeficrypto)
icefrog.sol | π (@icefrog_sol)
WhiskyTitan (@web4O)
MadCanny π Fock it Mode (@Somuchmorefun)
Leela | LO π (@LeelaL0)
nikkideyy (@nikkideyy)
IQX.solπ (@leoding0806x)
RGY.NFTπ (@renguangyao)
Chocoo.sol |π§π· (@chocoo_web3)
MAD Vincent π (@MadVincent666)
internbrah β¨ (@internbrah)
Badges of honor π
Backpack and Mad Lads have been intertwined since day zero. Mad Lads aren't just NFTs, they are xNFTs.
xNFTs are a technology #OnlyPossibleOnBackpack and have turned owning a Mad Lad into a unique experience.
Each Mad Lad has an inventory that holds Badges which represents important events or has a use.
One came from an event on Backpack Exchange with Pyth. Then another from Wormhole and finally an homage to the early mint days - the Rick Roll.
Wormhole Badge is particularly intriguing because it acts as a vesting contract for the massive airdrop which Mad Lads holders received.
Over 12,000 $W tokens have been distributed to Mad Lads with a Wormhole Badge in their xNFT inventory. Roughly 3,000 $W tokens remain locked in the vesting contract, they are released at a rate of 35.16/day.
Backpack Exchange hosted @tensor_hq's token launch and promoted the event with a pair of 1/1 "glitched" NFTs.
Participants in the collaboration received another Badge in their Mad Lads inventory.
Mad Lads went global π
Mad Lads themed events and community meetups sprang to life around the world in 2024. From Madrid to Taipei, dozens of occurrences were captured by the Mad News.
Lads Tokyo ringed in the New Year alongside @Kamino_Finance, @jito_sol, @orca_so and @UXDProtocol to celebrate the growing crypto community in Japan.
Shortly thereafter @rg_orca represented both Solana and the Mad Lads during his session as a guest speaker at a University of Tokyo panel which more than 7k people attended.
@a41_allforone & @moa_moaagency hosted the Mad Seoul Pop Up in the heart of Gangnam-gu for a mad evening alongside BUIDL Asia and ETH Seoul.
Holders and fans met to enjoy an evening of Mad NFT.NYC festivities hosted by none other than @MonkDoesnt himself.
IRL events is where you sense the true meaning of communities and networking
If u never been in one .. I suggest you to do so
Met many people I knew behind screens now I can call friends fr
Love yβall and onto the next one π
Hundreds attended the Mad Lads Seoul Takeover.
Dozens of Mad Lads maxis met up in Tokyo to celebrate the one year launch anniversary. Backpack moved its headquarters to Tokyo last year and numerous team members were in attendance.
@SuperteamTR hosted Mad Lads and Jito for an after-hours mixer during the Crossroads conference in Istanbul.
Five thousand miles away, vibes were high as the Mad Lads took over a nightclub in Manila.
Mad Meetups in Vietnam were a regular occurrence as the community has self organized events dating back as far as early July, 2023 (just months after the collection was minted).
Chinese Lads were having some fun of their own, food and drink along with a DJ filling the airwaves last week in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan.
Metaverse meetups popped up as well. Suit up and head to the hottest nightclub in the metaverse, Mad Speakeasy.
September was particularly busy with shindigs in Vietnam, Spain, Nigeria, Thailand and Singapore (Breakpoint).
There are far too many individual events to parse through in this recap. How many will there be in 2025?
The Roster abides πΏ
"The Redbull of crypto" has been tossed around when talking about Mad Lads Roster. This group of Olympians, thrill seekers and extreme athletes embody the fock it mentality.
Professional wingsuit base jumper, sky diver, big wave surfer and speed rider @JokkeSommer joined The Roster in March when he quickly got to work.
Jokkeβs Instagram feed looks like an advertisement for beta blockers as his adventures take him to the heights (and depths) of the world.
@ryonfaller and @PaulaKai808 checked in with the ice bath interview series.
Lads are VIPs on Backpack Exchange π
Backpack has continually aligned product with the Lads. First with Collection Locking protections in the Wallet and later the VIP trading tier on Exchange.
Traders on Backpack who hold Mad Lads NFTs automatically qualify for the VIP tier which cuts Maker and Taker fees in half. This is a significant amount when scaled.
Nothing but the hits π
As always these newsletters dictate concision so without further ado: headlines that grabbed eyeballs in 2024.
Collection Locking makes Lads (and all other legit Solana collection) safest NFTs on the blockchain
βMert without the hatβ is the newest honorary Mad Lad design
Welch, there it is π Hawk Tuah 1/1 gifted to Haliey Welch (lol)
Mad Lads Vietnam has 200+members and is the largest regional saturation of Lads in the world
@ArmaniFerrante anoints @ConspiPrints with Lad from the scholarship fund
Group of Lads in China traverses mountain not once but twice
Goodbye 2024, hello 2025 πΎ
It's hard to imagine the Lads topping this year's success, yet it feels destined that 2025 is when the real magic unfolds.
Fock it, Lads on top.
Written by TSBDIGITAL