A bear market is defined by a period of negative returns where the asset’s price records a decline of 20% or more from its recent highs. And currently, the crypto market is going through one of those bear markets.
Defining the bear market are price actions like Bitcoin dipping to less than half its all-time high (ATH). Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency Ether (ETH) too dipped below $1,800, down by more than 60% from its ATH. Further, the Terra ecosystem collapsed causing investors losses worth over $40 billion.
Following the same trend is the market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). There has been a drastic drop in the sales volume of NFTs from August 2021’s record-high sales volume of $4.5 billion. Data from NFT Price Floor also reveals that the floor price of NFT collections has eroded by almost 50%.
Despite this backdrop, degen investors can capitalize on this opportunity to buy NFT collections at a low cost to reap profits once the markets recover. If you are a Degen investor, read on. We showcase the 3 best Degen plays for you in the current bear market.
Degen Investors: Making The Best Of Crypto
The term degen comes from the term ‘Degenerate gambler’. Degen investors are a sect of crypto investors who tend to stake large amounts without knowledge and technical analysis of the project. In this inherently risky space, degen traders risk their money for ironic imagery and flashy themes.
Degen plays are predominantly found in the field of NFTs or altcoins where investors dive head-on into the project without confirming if the asset is a good investment choice or not. Rather, they go by the project’s meme-ability, cute logos, and shiny PFPs.
These degens then try to sweep up the floor price by creating a buzz around the project. And at times, they end up raising their value and reaping profits. Earlier this year, a student from Indonesia named Ghozali Ghozalu minted his first NFT artwork on OpenSea. His NFT collection consisted of a picture of himself (almost) every day for the past four years.
This collection got picked up by local degens such as an Indonesian streetwear entrepreneur and degen investor who bought 9 NFTs from this collection and later spent time hyping it up and making memes about it. The project ended up fetching USD 1 million in sales. Such is the degen play.
3 Best Degen Plays of the Past 2 Weeks
Here is a quick look at some of the latest Degen plays on recently launched NFT projects. Before you read any further, keep in mind that degen plays are highly risky and most of them end up failing miserably.
1) AI Nightbirds
Al Nightbirds is an NFT collection consisting of 10,000 AI-generated owls. The team behind AI Nightbirds consists of AI artists BorSergOS and Blockchain developer Inserhio. The team views the project as the genesis of the large-scale development of generative AI-powered art in the NFT space. According to OpenSea, the total volume is 5,300. The NFT volume of AI Nightbirds traded in the last 7 days was 4,994 ETH.
The current floor price of the project is 0.209 ETH. The NFT collection is owned by 4.6K investors. The project has rolled out its first free mint of 2500 NFTs where one can mint up to 3 AI Nightbirds per transaction. For the remaining 7500 NFTs, one can mint up to 10 AI Nightbirds per transaction.
It started as a derivative under the name AI Moonbirds, but quickly changed its name to move away from the Moonbirds collection completely. Degens fell in love with the art of this collection, which create a wave of “AI” related collections the following days. You might have seen one of them, as it included Apes, Azuki, Punks, and more.
2) Goblintown WTF – Free Mint to 9 ETH
Goblintown is a popular collection of 10,000 goblin NFTs. The NFT collection made the news when it obtained $2.26 million in sales last week. In the preceding 24 hours, its floor price shot up, briefly topping 9 ETH.
Not bad for a free mint, right?
The collection’s trading volume was almost double that of Bored Ape Yacht Club. The project also received a boost from a Sunday Bud Light tweet in its “goblin-native language”. Goblintown’s popularity is attributed to its “no copyright reserved” policy, otherwise known as CC0 which simply means that the goblins are available in the public domain and anyone can build upon them and repurpose them as they like.
Their unique style of marketing includes making Goblin sounds in group spaces and having a unique but awkward style of tweeting.
This unique performance of free to 9 ETH within 2 weeks was fueled by their marketing tactics and rumors of being a secret project by Yugalabs, the company behind the Bored Apes. If the rumors are true or false, we’ll find out sooner or later.
The success of Goblins caused hundreds of Goblin spin-offs, which are often free mints. You might have seen Elfs, Baby Goblins, Orcs, Hobos, and other creatures that are trending on Icy or Opensea.
Degens gotta Degen.
3) Okay Duck Yacht Club
This project is a collection of 5,555 NFT ducks, modeled in a similar fashion as BAYC. At present, there are 2.8k owners and the total volume is 718 ETH. The project is yet to take off but it is slowly creeping up on its floor price which is currently at 0.028 ETH. The NFTs in this collection have sold 11,199 times.
After the success of Okay Bears, there was a surge in “Okay” and “Not Okay” type projects.
Real Degens Spin to Win Crypto Punks & Bored Apes
In the last few days, several people have won a Bored Ape (BAYC) worth over $100,00 by playing spin games by RollBit. This NFT casino, allows users to pay an amount, spin a wheel, and if the gambler wins the NFT they buy it straight from Opensea for them.
Here you can see that Rollbit bought 5 Bored Apes in a matter of a few hours:
Now we all know, that we can lose money when we gamble. But if you’re not sitting on a 100k, this might be your chance for a Crypto Punk or Bored Ape.
You can create an account here, and if you want you can try a spin for $2 on a Punk by clicking the image below.
Conclusion: Degens! Play Unscathed
The Degen Plays mentioned above are just a glimpse of the multitude of plays that are being made in the NFT space. There is no rock-solid assurance of the longevity of most projects.
However, the current trend does seem to suggest that the Degen culture is here to stay for a while.
So, degens, continue doing what you do best – and that is, to have fun but only with what you can afford to lose unscathed!
Final words of caution, these degen plays often turn out to be rug pulls. The gamblers who buy these NFTs, they go in for quick profits and sell before the music stops. In a bear market, even larger projects can struggle. The free mints and degen plays are a dangerous game to play.
So keep that in mind, and good luck if you’re going into degen mode.
