Days back, NFT whale Cozomo de’ Medici and Snoop Dogg bought a rektguy NFT each, sending the project’s sales flying. In fact, the collection by acclaimed artist OSF is currently the second top NFT collection by 24-hour volume on OpenSea. The free-to-mint NFT collection’s floor is already climbing upwards of 0.85 ETH. All within less than two weeks of its drop!
So let’s take a closer look: What is the rektguy NFT collection? Who is behind the rektguy NFTs and why are they so popular?
What is rektguy NFT?
In a nutshell, the rektguy NFT project is a collection of images of rektguy. For now, the project hasn’t released much information. According to its website, rektguy is “art and pfps and stuff”. Well, okay…So what about the utility and roadmap? Lol. No, wait – “lol” is the project’s answer to utility and roadmap.
While there isn’t much to go on, let’s take a look into what we know so far. Firstly, the rektguy NFT collection is based on the rektguy character. A misspelling of “wrecked”, “rekt” denotes an NFT/crypto trader who is devastated by a recent price crash. To be honest, in the current market conditions, that amply describes a lot of traders.
The artwork in itself represents this—a hooded skeleton drinking to cope with the current situation. That might sound familiar to a lot of crypto/NFT traders.
Furthermore, the rektguy NFT collection had a total of 10,740 maximum possible mints. To account for the NFTs that won’t be minted, the team increased the maximum supply to 11,000.
“We communicated an allowlist schedule and gave people a week to get their marbles together before we took the snapshot, which was communicated ahead of time,” OSF tweeted. “We didn’t announce an official mint date. This also gave us time to figure things out.”
The mint went live at 5 PM EST on May 21 and lasted for six days, before closing on May 27 at 5 pm EST. The idea was to ensure that people didn’t end up worrying about FOMO or exorbitant gas fees during a limited mint period. Eventually, of the total supply, 8,814 rektguy NFTs were minted.
Who created rektguy NFT?
NFT investor and artist, Ovie Faruq, who is popularly known as OSF in the NFT space, created the rektguy NFT collection along with artist Alien Queen. OSF is a well-known figure in the NFT space and has sold several high-value NFTs.
In fact, he recently sold his 1/1 NFT “rekt city” for 25 ETH (around $48,000 by current market values). In April 2022, another one of his works fetched 82.88 ETH (about $270,000 at the time) in the secondary market.
Moreover, OSF is a former Barclays trader. “6 months ago I was bored at my day job an doodled rektguy,” he tweeted recently. “Yesterday @SnoopDogg bought the NFT. Life is wild.”
Along with his business partner and friend Mike Anderson (aka Mando), he previously launched a PFP collection called Degenz. While Degenz initially stumbled, it picked up this year. The collection of 3,943 Degenz currently has a floor of 0.59 ETH.
In the rektguy NFT collection as well, one can easily recognise OSF’s popular art style—loud neon GIFs. What’s more, many of the NFTs in the collection feature pop cult elements from the wider crypto and NFT space. While some sport a “gm” logo, others feature a ‘rekt’ guy Wojak mask. Who wouldn’t want to own a rektguy NFT in a hoodie with a Pepe frog saying gm!
How to Buy a rektguy NFT?
Now that the official mint period is over, your best chance to get a rektguy NFT is on the secondary market. For this, simply head over to either OpenSea or LooksRare, the two leading NFT marketplaces. But, remember the golden rule—always buy from verified collections on the marketplaces.
Currently, the cheapest rektguy NFT will cost you about $1,600. The rarer NFTs in the collection, will, of course, cost much higher. Some top NFTs in the collection have sold for as high as 20 ETH or about $38,000 at current prices. But, as always, before taking the leap, DYOR!
Why are rektguy NFTs so popular?
Firstly, rektguy NFT collection’s artist, OSF already has a huge fan following. On Twitter alone, he currently boasts close to 118,000 followers. Besides, he has built up a strong community around his Degenz NFT collection, complete with an NFT-gated Discord server. Around 7,000 rektguy allowlist spots were also given to the Degenz holder. In short, OSF is an established NFT artist with a focus on community building.
Next, within days of the reveal, both Cozomo de’ Medici and Snoop Dogg endorsed the project. Both have been actively championing NFT projects since last year, so their endorsements quickly shot up rektguy’s popularity and value. Snoop has even changed his Twitter PFP to a rektguy! In addition, several popular NFT influencers have also bought the NFTs.
Lastly, rektguy has adopted the CC0 licensing agreement. In simple terms, this means that there are no restrictions on commercial rights. In other words, holders can “modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission”. Needless to say, this is a big plus for the NFT holders.
All in all, the rektguy NFT collection from NFT artist OSF is off to a promising start. The project yet again proves that having a strong, established team is extremely important in getting a headstart in the crowded NFT space. Artwork that speaks to the wider NFT community and community-building are also equally important. And rektguy checks all of these boxes!