TL;DR: With a new update or NFT collection being released almost every day, it’s clear the crypto ecosystem is constantly evolving. CyberKongz is one of the NFT collections paving the road to the digital universe — but it’s just the beginning. Knowing what brought it here and why it was created will lead you to make better decisions when investing or simply interacting with CyberKongz.
In this article, we’re gonna dive into the CyberKongz lore, answer all the CyberKongz related questions and even more. Prepare yourself for a fantasy story and a journey to the future of CyberKongz!
What is CyberKongz?
CyberKongz is an NFT collection of 1,000 avatar gorillas that live on the Ethereum network.
Jumping on the pixel avatars bandwagon, CyberKongz is the product of its era. The collection is comprised of 34x34 gorillas in various shapes and styles. Despite their small size, CyberKongz has well-defined expressions and depth. Notably, the rarer ones have an animated background to set them apart from the rest.
If 2D art is minimalistic, the team behind CyberKongz also released a collection of 15,000 3D gorillas, named CyberKongz VX. It’s a qualitative jump in the artwork detail, whilst keeping the pixel blocks as part of the esthetics.
Owning an NFT is different than screenshotting a JPEG - just like holding an original Rembrandt is more valuable than owning a replica. As their name suggests, NFTs are non-fungible by design. This is different from digital tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Fungible assets can be exchanged for another asset of the same type, much like BTC, ETH, or even fiat. NFTs, on the other hand, are unique assets where their ownership details are documented on the blockchain, ensuring digital scarcity and unique attributes for each asset.
But how exactly is digital scarcity being enforced?
The concept of NFTs first emerged in 2012 with the creation of Colored Coins, which could be used to represent real-world assets on the blockchain. However, Colored Coins only worked in a permitted environment, making it more similar to a database than anything else.
As the crypto industry became more popular, people have continued to experiment with the idea of a digitally scarce asset. This led to the creation of ERC-721 and ERC-1155.
The ERC-721 standard is like a set of rules for making NFTs. These actions help in making special tokens with their unique information, making them different from one another.
Behind the scenes, ERC-721 smart contracts keep a list of who owns which token, making it safe to pass tokens from one person to another. The contract also keeps count of how many tokens there are altogether and how many each person has.
As previously mentioned, CyberKongz NFTs are secured by the Ethereum blockchain. Ownership and transaction history are publicly visible on the Ethereum blockchain along with other important info such as the NFT's metadata.
Understanding how to access an NFT's metadata is essential for holders to grasp the specifics of what they're buying.
Metadata usually includes visual attributes like color, type, wearables, and so on. On the blockchain, it looks something like this:
CyberKongz have their own set of traits that make up their uniqueness. These are genesis traits, legendary traits, and birthdays.
Genesis traits include 50+ attributes in the form of accessories, fangs, moles, fur color, and so on. Part of what makes CyberKongz unique is the accessories selection – some CyberKongz come with a banana hat, ciggie, e-ciggie, or stitched mouth. CyberKongz can be well-assorted, with a gold chain and sunglasses, or outright outrageous with a stitched mouth and a cigarette.
Some traits are rarer than others, which makes a specific NFT stand out from the rest. For example, there are only 4 CyberKongz wearing a Viking helmet.
And then, there’s the legendary CyberKongz. These gorillaz don’t wear shiny accessories like the common ones – they represent different themes altogether. You have a ghost gorilla, a pilot, or a knight gorilla. What’s more, their background is animated!
The CyberKongz NFT collection has been autogenerated. This means that out of the potential combinations, only 1,000 CyberKongz will ever exist!
What is the utility of CyberKongz?
CyberKongz makes for an awesome avatar pic, but it’s also your ticket to the fascinating CyberKongz ecosystem.
Starting with CyberKongz VX collection, the project seeks to integrate gorillas into metaverse worlds like The Sandbox. This means you can walk your CyberKongz in The Sandbox and flex your status in the NFT community.
To make things more interesting, the team has developed a breeding system that revolves around the CyberKongz genesis collection.
After the breeding process, holders earn an Incubator. An Incubator is an NFT that represents a Baby Kong and a VX. Incubators can be left unopened (unrevealed Baby) or unclaimed (unclaimed VX) indefinitely and traded like any other Kong.
The breeding game has been paused, which means Baby Kongz can be purchased from NFT marketplaces like OpenSea.
In addition to the breeding mechanism, CyberKongz has developed a gamified economic system, powered by their native token, called $BANANA.
Owners of the CyberKongz genesis collection earn 10 $BANANA per day. These tokens are being paid whenever the NFT holder changes the name, or bio, breeds their gorilla, or incubates the Baby Kongz.
3,650,000 $BANANA will be generated per year until March 18th, 2031.
By changing the lore of the NFT, holders can personalize their gorilla based on its traits and create an emotional life story around their NFT.
The team behind CyberKongz goes a step further in creating an engaging experience for its community. That step is called Play & Kollect!
Play & Kollect is a gamified NFT minitng experience where NFT holders band 1 to 5 CyberKongz VX to go on adventure runs. As of 2023, there is not much gameplay involved in the adventure runs – it is rather a passive activity that results in random loots.
The goal of the adventure runs is to gather Kongium and exchange it for exciting rewards, such as the seasonal $BANANA prize pool, exclusive NFTs, and more, as you navigate the jungle.
Play & Kollect operates in seasons, each lasting 10 days and offering adventurers new prizes to discover.
Adventure runs can be initiated in two ways: Free adventure runs powered by Fuel Rods, and $BANANA Adventure runs.
Every locked CyberKong VX in a crew receives a daily Fuel Rod, enabling the initiation of an adventure run. Fuel Rods serve as a free energy resource. Thanks to our innovative Lock Registry, CyberKongz VX doesn't require traditional staking or leaving your wallet to be assigned to a crew for the Jungle Adventure, allowing them to accumulate energy.
The loot collected in an adventure run can be enhanced using Charmz to:
- Increase Kongium.
- Boost EXP
- Trigger exclusive special events
As the CyberKongz brand expands, NFT holders will be able to continually earn rewards. Whether you are hodling for a season or longer, the CyberKongz ecosystem continues to explore new ways of keeping holders engaged.
Who created CyberKongz?
CyberKongz was created by a team of 10 Web3 enthusiasts and launched in March 2021. Myoo is one of the co-founders who had the biggest impact on the project artwork.
Before venturing into the world of CyberKongz, Myoo spent approximately 10 years as a tattoo artist. He made the decision to close his tattoo shop amidst the COVID pandemic and, after a hiatus of 1.5 years, turned his focus to creating art for CyberKongz.
"When I made Kongz at the time, the NFT space looked completely different than it is now. I saw that there was a little gap in something else that could be done, and I started making animal pictures just for fun, and then it kicked off within a few days,” said Myoo during an interview.
Similar to his co-founding team members—Lxxy, Seb, Sventar, Coco_Bear, Clumsier, Owl, Metal, Wallace, and Inverted—Myoo maintains anonymity and does not have a social media presence. The founders are extremely active within Discord and very approachable. They are hanging out with the community often and helping in many different ways. They feel the community and like to chat with other Kongz in their free time.
The journey of CyberKongz began in March, created by the artist and mad scientist Myoo. He assembled 989 Genesis CyberKongz and 10 Legendary CyberKongz before the surge in popularity of profile pictures, drawing inspiration from CryptoPunks.
Timing had a major impact on the collection’s success. There wasn't a lot out at that point, therefore people were more interested in engaging with the nascent CyberKongz community.
CyberKongz Genesis mint price was 0.01 ETH (for the 989 regular ones). The Legendary Genesis Cyberkongz price was way higher - 20 ETH each. At their peak, CyberKongs were trading for 100+ ETH.
Who is developing CyberKongz now?
CyberKongz is being maintained by the same co-founders with the help of the CyberKongz community.
The core team is in charge of implementing upgrades that are voted by the NFT holders. For instance, the core team has designed the tokenomics for $BANANA and it also created the CyberKongz VX and Babies collections.
The community takes an important role in coming up with ideas to promote the CyberKongz collection. Contributors are encouraged to submit their ideas to the team and receive funding to execute their plans.
Proposals are being voted on-chain. Votes weight is based on the number of $BANANA tokens one holds.
Besides the general NFT community, there is the Council of Kongz. Comprised of anonymous individuals actively engaged in the CyberKongz NFT platform, each member possesses avatars that vividly depict their unique rarities and appearances. The council is composed of ten anonymous members, identified by the aliases Myoo, Lxxy, Seb, Sventar, Coco_Bear, Clumsier, Owl, Metal, Wallace, and Inverted.
Investors are also an important component of any NFT ecosystem. Although they don’t get involved directly in the governance of the project, they do exert an influence over the brand’s expansion into the mainstream. As of 2023, CyberKongz hasn’t pursued any strategic fundraising.
How does CyberKongz make money?
Now, let’s get to the juicy part – how does CyberKongz make money?💰 (No, flipping and rug pulling are not the correct answers)
The answer to this question is strongly related to intellectual property.
Think of popular trademarks such as Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man, or Coca-Cola. Every time you see movies, books merch, or posters with them, know that the owners of the IP get a share of the profits. The same thing goes for NFT holders, in theory.
When it comes to NFTs, it’s quite challenging to fit them into the traditional framework of copyright law. To give more context, owning an NFT doesn’t mean holders have automatic control over the creative work. This creative control needs to be granted by the creator.
As such, NFT holders should pay attention to what IP rights, if any, come with owning the NFT.
The founders of CyberKongz have authorized the use of the IP of any individual's owned CyberKongz. This means NFT holders have full commercial rights to the art in their owned wallets. Their terms & conditions are mentioned in which way the IP can be used.
Another way of generating revenue is via royalties. The creators of CyberKongz earn 5% from every secondary sale. This drives the funding for the project and helps create new utility for the collection.
The mission of CyberKongz is to become a full-fledged metaverse brand, with gamified experiences and economic incentives. To achieve their goal, CyberKongz has partnered with some of the biggest names in the Web3 industry.
In 2021, three months after the genesis mint, CyberKongz partnered with The Sandbox to integrate CyberKongz VX collection with the wider Sandbox metaverse.
The second evolution of CyberKongz VX has been the BANANA SHOP aka the vending machine for custom CyberKongz VX equipment and wearables. BANANA SHOP introduced an additional way for players to engage with the CyberKongz ecosystem.
Equippable items encompassing weapons, shields, mobility tools, and future implementations by The Sandbox will be available. These items will be introduced through limited drops at various intervals and can be acquired in the BANANA SHOP, featured within a dedicated CyberKongz VX Equipment NFT collection.
While the BANANA SHOP accepts ETH as a form of payment, specific equipment will exclusively be obtainable through the Banana token! Owners of a 2D CyberKong, whether it's a Baby or a Genesis, will gain access to exclusive drops and enjoy privileges related to the number of items available for purchase.
Towards the end of 2021, CyberKongs invaded the Solarbots Metaverse, an interactive Play-and-Earn experience. Via this partnership, CyberKongz holders can participate in the Solarbots ecosystem and pay for items with $BANANA.
In June 2023, CyberKongz announced they are moving its Play & Kollect NFT game from Polygon to Ronin, the network created by Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis.
The Kongz team has launched Genkai, a new anime-inspired NFT collection on both Ronin and the Ethereum mainnet. This expansion aims to tap into the Southeast Asian and Japanese markets, representing the project's growth. CyberKongz also plans to collaborate with Ronin to develop a game featuring Genkai.
The Genkai collection consists of 20,000 NFTs, with 16,000 on Ethereum and 4,000 on Ronin. Ethereum NFT holders can choose to migrate to Ronin in the future. The Ethereum public mint for Genkai NFTs, priced at 0.25 ETH (approximately $460), began on July 27. In collaboration with Sky Mavis, Mystic Axie NFT holders from Axie Infinity will receive a free Genkai NFT.
Future plans for Kongz include an animated series and comic books, although specifics are not disclosed to maintain interest and account for potential changes in the Web3 space.
Where can I buy CyberKongz?
You can buy CyberKongz on OpenSea.