MetaVault #1: Roadmapping
This is MetaVault, a weekly newsletter that tries to make sense of the Pixel Vault universe: PUNKS Comic, MetaHero, United Planets, DAOs within DAOs within DAOs.
TL;DR — Wen… Everything?
Here’s the quick and dirty roadmap based on GFunk’s recent podcast appearances and the weekly Twitter Spaces Town Hall:
Planet DAO Token Sale. Active! Ends October 31st.
Burn for Moon DAO Token. Active! Ends October 31st.
MetaHero Identity Snapshot & Free Planet DAO Token + MintPass 2 Claim. First week of November.
Planet DAO Giveaways to Holders of Pixel Vault NFTs. First week of November.
Planet DAO Token Snapshot for Free MintPass #2. First half of November.
MetaHero Core Giveaway. First half of November.
PUNKS Comic #1 Physical. First half of November.
Staking: PUNKS Comic #1 and MetaHero Identities. First half of November.
MintPass #2 Claim. First half of November.
PUNKS Comic #2. End of November.
Merchandise Tie-in with PUNKS Comic #2. End of November.
MH Sidekick minting via MintPass #2. Q1 2022.
Planet DAO Token Sale. 31,798 planets remaining for sale. Pluto and Mars sold out quickly. The Jupiter bonus is still in play for the next 7,994 planets until the deadline of October 31st. Not sure if there will be a final buying push this week to get to the Jupiter bonus cap without an additional announcement. The NFT market is kinda brutal right now and even 0.5 ETH for two killer Sidekicks feels expensive. For some reason, the only thing that doesn’t feel expensive is Doodles!
The PV team never expected to sell out of all planets, but it was interesting to hear GFunk say that he expected Mercury to sell out first. The economics of being the first playable planet (and therefore the first to provide true returns to Mercury DAO holders) apparently didn’t outweigh the 5 ETH price tag. I’m hoping to get lucky and win one in the giveaways coming soon.
Something worth mentioning here too is that the PV team has hinted at a mint bonus being developed by Odious (Creative Director & Artist). So in addition to the Jupiter bonus, there could be something unique coming to minters.
One bit of game theory I’m noodling: I bought an Earth DAO token on release day for 3 ETH. I think it’ll end up being prime real estate in the next couple of years (maybe this is where all of the PUNKS live? I mean Earth is where PUNKS Comic #1 takes place). And the fact that only Core Set holders have a chance to win one in the giveaway means it’ll be populated heavily with long-term hodlrs. But here’s the thing, as a Core Set holder my chances to win an Earth DAO token in the giveaway is ~66% last I looked. Not a certainty, but a good possibility. While my chances to win a Pluto are much lower and absolute zero to win a moon (the moon is not part of the giveaway). Wouldn’t those funds be better used to acquire a planet that I’m less likely to get for free? If I was a risk-taker, I’d say yes. Any Pluto or Moon holders willing to do a trade?
Burn for Moon DAO Token. 247 moons remain. Feels like everyone who could burn for the moon did. There may be a late push to buy comics off of secondary for relative lows (~5 ETH), but I wouldn’t expect to see it happen in droves. However, GFunk tossed out some interesting valuations in the Town Hall:
Each current moon token is worth 14 - 17 ETH based on proportional ownership of the platform. Even if all of the tokens are collected, the valuation would be 12 - 14 ETH.
With the Moon burn nearly over, the numbers I’m seeing on those with full Planet Sets sits at 71. The PV team has hinted at value in the future, but nothing has been announced yet. Something to keep an eye on.
I’m one of the 400+ who hold only one comic and just couldn’t burn my OG minted comic. Even those with several comics were waffling. Looked like Zeneca was having a minor panic attack on Twitter trying to decide! Ha.
We can’t jump to the next roadmap item without discussing The Lost Lunar 17 (sorry, terrible name). 17 people jumped the gun and tried to burn their comic directly from the contract before the website mechanics were ready. It got botched and they “punted their comics into the abyss” without getting the Moon DAO Token in return. $500k in value went POOF! Ouch. PV set aside 17 tokens and will let the community decide. As GFunk said in the Town Hall:
It’s a blessing in disguise as we are setting forth on how our community will be governed and operate.
There are solid arguments on both sides. The definitive good that has come from this is PV is building a voting tool that should be ready in early November. GFunk said they plan to build functionality that allows each side to present their case (maybe he’s putting his law degree to use!). Voting is a critical component to how the DAOs will function. One of the main reasons I’m bullish on PV in the long-term is they build their own tools when available tools don’t hit the mark. Their dev team (led by heyotetsuo and Chuba) is top notch. I can see a time in the not too distant future when traditional media companies might knock on PV’s door asking them to license their Mint Pass, smart contract, and generative character technology.
MetaHero Identity Snapshot and Free Planet DAO Token + MintPass 2 Claim. Expect this to be initiated after the October 31 deadline to mint planets. The PV team normally likes to give a 24-hour heads-up, so it’s likely we’ll see an announcement prior to snapshot.
Planet DAO Giveaways to Holders of Pixel Vault NFTs. This is expected soon after the MH Identity snapshot. Just a reminder, there will be over 40,000 planets given away with eligibility for those who hold an OG Pixel Vault NFT (comic, PFVD, MP#1, or MetaHero). That’s crazy! The numbers predict about 1.7 planets airdropped to anyone holding 1 OG PV NFT.
I believe the team is going to use the same Chainlink VRF process for a provably fair giveaway that they use in the MH Core giveaways — just on a vastly larger scale.
Planet DAO Token Snapshot for Free MintPass #2. After the Planet Giveaway, the final snapshot will be taken.
MetaHero Core Giveaway. The team plans to start these up again. They said expect the next round in early November. There are now only 3,950 MP#1 holders.
PUNKS Comic #1 Physical. PV plans to wait until the Moon DAO closes to initiate the shipping process, so we’re looking at early November to be able to claim our physical comics. Excitement is building on the presentation. Each comic is shipping in an extremely high-quality case. They actually switched case designs to better accommodate encasing the comic after being professionally graded. VGF was stoked about the case upgrade on the last Town Hall.
Staking: PUNKS Comic #1 and MetaHero Identities. PV will activate the staking mechanism for the comic ($PUNKS) and MH ($POW) in the first half of November. There hasn’t been a ton of talk about how this will work, but expect more details soon.
MintPass #2 Claim. Not sure how soon after the final Planet DAO Token snapshot will MP#2 claims be ready, but the mechanics are expected to be similar to MintPass #1. Go to the PUNKS Comic website, connect wallet, and click to claim the Planet DAO token and MP#2 (and pay nominal gas fees). No mention on whether there will be a claim window, but the standard two weeks feels right.
PUNKS Comic #2. PV hit some big milestones with their yet to be announced corporate partner. As GFunk said in the Town Hall, “the ball is back in our court.” They mentioned that the partnership wasn’t required to make the comic happen financially — “it was just an amazing opportunity to onboard a big corporate partner in an authentic way.” So, if we can take a step back for a minute and consider that Comic #2 combines:
Pixel Vault x PUNKS Comic
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Big, Unnamed Corporate Partner
Merchandise Tie-in
That’s insane. Demand will be sky-high for Comic #2. And it just so happens that all sub-5000 Comic #1 minters get it for free. Which means there’s only 5,000 for sale. The number of unique PV product holders is now at 8,888 (umm yes, that’s the actual number as of Sunday, October 24.) The Apes have 13,466 unique wallets. The attention from the corporate partnership will certainly drive newcomers. The supply just won’t be there.
Merchandise Tie-in with PUNKS Comic #2. On that merch tie-in, VGF hinted that it was “an opportunity to bring in a brand from traditional Web 2 where the partnership fits with the story and Pixel Vault, as a whole.” Who could that be referring to? I don’t think PV has ever explicitly said the big corporate partner is the merch provider, but I’m starting to lean in that direction. As for the tie-in, GFunk made a passing mention that PV ran the scripts by the corporate partner, which means this partner isn’t just “sponsoring” the comic or selling merch, they’re woven into the storyline in some form.
MH Sidekick minting via MintPass #2. Sidekicks won’t be coming until early next year. The sheer scale of developing characters and traits for 50,000+ Sidekicks that align to the larger universe and lore is a massive undertaking. And while the actual tiers haven’t been formalized, we’re hearing the team’s thinking in real-time: likely to be 5 tiers with the ability to level-up by combining between 1 - 20 MP#2. Look for more sketches in the coming months (and possible cameos in the Origin Story releases).
Weekly Alpha
Origin Stories. The NFT world is 24/7 and everyone is looking for new content at all times. One way PV is looking to release more regularly is through “mini comics” that aim to tell a backstory on a more minor character — hence the Origin Story title. Every 2 - 4 weeks they’ll release mini comics that gives us more detail about the various MetaHeroes and Punks. I think, ultimately, this becomes a pipeline for new artists on the team and a sandbox for new characters. It gives them a platform to build new and interesting storylines and introduce lore that fits within the larger story.
Galaxy Expansion. This cryptic tweet shows two characters with some traits not found in the current MH base. The big guy looks to be a mutant holding a DAO Longsword, which is only carried by mutants. But that helmet? The Virtunaut has talked on several Town Halls about “cosmetics” that could be purchased or earned in-game. A helmet makes sense. The “next cycle of galactic life”? Game time!
By the Numbers
PV Unique Holders: 8,888
PV Core Sets: 1,595
PUNKS Comic #1: 3,389
MP#1: 3,949
UP Sets: 71
MH Highlight
I love finding hidden traits. One of my favorites is the colorless Rime suit. MetaHeroes #1108, #1824, #5656, #5002, and #1887. Only 5 of the 154 revealed so far have this iced-out version. And only one (#1824 - Uranus) is not from Jupiter.
Beanie of the Week
Beanie epitomizes a common VC-ism: strong opinions, loosely held.
Some Disclaimers: None of this is financial advice. DYOR. And yes, I’m obviously a PV collector and long-term hodlr. Not a whale by any measure (maybe a squid?), but want to be transparent on what I’m hodling:
Punks Comic #1: 1 (Token ID 3954)
PV Founders DAO: 1 (Token ID 4521)
Mint Pass #1: 1
MetaHero Generative: 1 (Token ID 644)
Planet DAO Tokens: Earth 1, Mars 1, Jupiter 1, Saturn 1, Uranus 1, Neptune 3