TL;DR: With a new update or NFT collection being released almost every day, it’s clear the crypto ecosystem is constantly evolving. Nakamigos 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 Nakamigos.
In this article, we’re gonna dive into the Nakamigos lore, answer all the Nakamigos related questions and even more. Prepare yourself for a fantasy story and a journey to the future of Nakamigos!
What is Nakamigos?
Nakamigos is an NFT collection of 20,000 pixelated characters that live on the Ethereum blockchain.
The somewhat mysterious Nakamigos are very similar to the CryptoPunks. Both collections have a 24x24 dimension.
The founder of Bitcoin is Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamigos are crypto investors – in essence, they are friends of Nakamoto, aka Nakamigos … badum tsss 🥁
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, Nakamigos 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:
Nakamigos have their own set of traits that make up their uniqueness. These are cape, chain, facial hair, glasses, hair, hat/helmet, headband, headphones, mask, mouth, ninja outfit, shirt/jacket, smoke, tie, type, and vest/armor.
Some traits are rarer than others, which makes a specific NFT stand out from the rest. For example, the rarest Nakamigos are ghosts, followed by balloons.
The Nakamigos NFT collection has been autogenerated. This means that out of the potential combinations, only 20,000 Nakamigos will ever exist!
In an interesting turn of events, Nakamigos introduced an exclusive offer. Holders had the chance to acquire CLOAKS for free. Initially, the mint price was 0.05 ETH, but the community pressured for a free mint instead.
CLOAKS are a secondary collection made out of 20,000 NFTs with separate traits.
There exist three categories of humanoid characters: Warriors, Knights, and Archers, each with distinct levels of rarity. There are additional sub-human characters, such as Sorceresses and Wizards.
Furthermore, every humanoid character belongs to one of seven clans: Water, Sky, Earth, Steel, Crystal, Fire, and Darkness.
The "Main Characters" possess the capability to assume unique forms, including Undead Reaper, Possessed, or Android (Good or Evil). Meanwhile, Archers may manifest in a Wild form, and Wolves can appear as Grey Wolf, Forest Wolf, Mountain Wolf, or Arctic Wolf.
The collection also encompasses six variations of "non-human characters," or "Rares" - Arctic Wolf, Komodo Dragon, Yin-Yang, Cheetah, Bat, and Black Panther.
What is the utility of Nakamigos?
Nakamigos make for an awesome avatar pic, and that’s it!
The project hasn’t announced any utility for the NFT holders. On top of that, there is no official Discord.
As it stands, Nakamigos represent a speculation tool in the hands of experienced NFT flippers.
Who created Nakamigos?
Nakamigos was created in March 2023 by HiFo Labs, a collective that boasts extensive experience in the realm of NFTs and digital art.
The actual members of HiFo Labs have chosen to remain anonymous, shrouding the project in an air of mystery. Although there are murmurs suggesting the participation of Sartoshi, who is also behind the Mfers NFT collection, the true identities of the creators remain veiled. This aura of secrecy intensifies the inquisitiveness and fascination encircling the Nakamigos NFT collection.
Another entity involved in the creation of Nakamigos is WestCoastNFT. They were in charge of ensuring provable randomness during the mint event.
WestCoastNFT is a well-known blue-chip NFT development partner. Their services span from smart contract development to fully integrated Web3 drop sites. Notably, WestCoastNFT has collaborated with Doodles.
The public mint went live on March 23 in a Dutch auction that started at 1 ETH and went down to 0.01 ETH.
Despite looking obscure, Nakamigos gained prominence thanks to the involvement of Sartoshi in the project. Sartoshi's abrupt departure from offers in June 2022 and return in February 2023 to unveil Nakamigos have fueled speculation about his role in this new venture.
More hints connect Sartoshi to Nakamigos. For instance, people who minted “End of Sartoshi” tokens from January 27, 2023, were entitled to a free mint on the mint day.
One of the most expensive Nakamigos is Nakamigos #7762, which wears a hoodie and an orange helmet – sold for 1.690 ETH. A few days after the mint, ghost Nakamigos #3648 sold for a whopping 16 ETH.
The Nakamigos team has adopted a traditional Web3 strategy to market the project, gifting 24 honorary Nakamigos NFTs to well-known individuals and influencers within the NFT community. Notable recipients include Richerd Chan from Manifold, Erick Calderon, CEO of Art Blocks, Seedphrase, and prominent collector and thought leader Cozomo de’ Medici.
In just over a week, the project has set a new record with 52,000 sales, surpassing the Bored Ape Yacht Club's all-time trades.
Who is developing Nakamigos now?
The prospects for Nakamigos remain uncertain, mirroring the enigmatic nature of HiFo Labs itself. With minimal communication through social platforms, other than its official Twitter handle and no Discord channel, Nakamigos has maintained limited interaction with its community. As a result, it continues to exist as a mysterious project. However, for collectors seeking an aesthetically pleasing NFT from a collection that appears to aim for a similar essence to CryptoPunks, Nakamigos might present an appealing investment opportunity.
How does Nakamigos make money?
Now, let’s get to the juicy part – how does Nakamigos 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 Nakamigos team has authorized the use of the IP of any individual-owned Nakamigos.
The licensing agreement allows holders to trademark their NFTs provided they are actively "used in commerce" rather than solely on an intent-to-use basis. While not a direct Creative Commons (CC0) license, this level of intellectual property usage authorization holds significant power. Granting commercialization rights has allowed owners of top-tier NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club to leverage their digital assets, leading to ventures ranging from restaurants to wine companies.
Another way of generating revenue is via royalties. Nakamigos creators earn 5% in royalties from every secondary sale of the NFTs.
Where can I buy Nakamigos?
You can buy Nakamigos on OpenSea.
