Chaoz-Sama, a Grassroots Community NFT Artist Incubator That's Just Getting Started
Intro
I have to admit when I first came across the Chaoz-Sama collection, I wasn’t terribly into the pixelated characters. They were cute, fun shout-outs to popular culture and crypto culture, sure, but did they justify their price?
The description…"500 limited NFT referring to the famous "punks"; these collections are dedicated to encourage community to contribute more in $DOT &$KSM ecosystem" was also pretty vague.
Finally, while the volume was decent for a Singular collection at around 450 KSM total, I wasn’t really interested—so I moved on.
You see, I’ve always had a low-key "issue" with Punks and Kongz and Moonsamas and all the rest of the blue-chip pixelated NFT collections. Sure, I wanted one, but only because of the privilege it offered. It wasn’t like I actually loved the art.
Despite pixel popularity, I always tended towards the more "high art" forms of NFTs (which, unfortunately, also don’t always perform as an investment…not that I would sell them anyway).
But I found Chaoz-Sama a second time because I noticed that some of my favorite artists that I even wrote about in prior articles here and here:
Dice (of Kusama Girls), Luigi (more recently recognized as Exosama’s artist), Tanka (of Tatata Beavers), Tricky (of Dead or Alive), Yumi (of Kitty Paradise) were all active members of the discord.
On top of that, some of these artists had special rooms devoted just to their collections…maybe there would be alpha, perhaps?
As I poked around, I saw several frequent collectors I’ve run into—the kind of "run in" where you kinda hate that they are faster at sniping NFTs than you. Was this how they were getting the leading edge?
Just what was this group?
Sure, it’s not uncommon to see the same names again and again in this Dotsama community, but I had to wonder, was this an underground Dotsama alpha group with a reasonable buy in at 3 KSM?
…As opposed to Bonobo Apes (Floor 30 KSM), or Moonsama (Floor 300 MOVR), or Ape (Floor 79 KSM), or Kings (Floor 84 KSM)?
3 KSM to get the low down on my favorite artists seemed reasonable. So I aped first and asked questions later (as in NFT land one does). But literally, I conducted an interview with the founder, which you can read at the bottom of this article.
Anyway, as soon as I was verified as a member, the first unlocked room that caught my eye was "NFT Launchpad"
NFT Launchpad
Launched only recently, basically the same day I joined, was this new program where the Chaoz-Sama community helps promising artists get set up and launch their collections on Singular. In exchange, the artist offers a few of their pieces at a presale price, exclusive to the Chaoz-Sama community.
To the collectors out there, it's something like getting a chance at an exclusive early raffle for whitelist. To me, I'm just passionate about onboarding talented artists into crypto. Seriously, it's like a mission statement for me.
Turns out this was how my most recently-discovered favorite artist, Dice, got started. I found out that in a matter of mere days, as a member of Chao, I would get a chance to snipe one of four of the presale pieces, and hell yes I was going to go for it.
I woke up, staring at the computer with my hands shaking (first one to punch in the number of the piece in the discord chat, on unlock, got the bid in this particular case), for about 18 minutes before I realized that I was apparently a day too early (time zones are hard, y’all).
The next day, as I practiced my coordination (still shaking), the launch happened perfectly on time, and I managed to get the first piece in Dice’s newest Kusama Girl collection:
[the Black Canary]
As long as I've been in this space, this was one of my first "whitelists". I was thrilled. The entire presale sold out literally the same second the discord chat opened, and I was so glad that I caught one because the public sale also sold out immediately (and I failed to get a second piece...yes, I'm greedy).
Whatever the case, my 3 KSM Chaoz-Sama membership had already paid for itself.
Buyback Program
Chaoz-Sama has been working on designing a buyback program that it is looking to implement in future mints (that will receive a special mark or brand). Essentially, when these Chaoz-Sama owners who have a mark are in desperate need of liquidity, the community guarantees that they will purchase the Chao back at 50% the mint price. This would be done through promises until smart contracts have been deployed on RMRK.
For a more detailed description, Vampsy--a well known collector and advisor to Chaoz-Sama, puts it this way in his twitter thread:
*"Chao-sama will be introducing a collection of prototype NFTs, starting with the launch of one basic (partial) "store of value" feature that ensures that (1) the NFT's value does not drop below 50% of the initial purchase price and (2) there is always liquidity at this value.
"Each Chao in this collection also comes with all the utilities of "Classic Chaos" - e.g., private discord channels for Chao members and partner artists, presales, launchpad, etc., and of course, the unique Chao pixelated PFP.
*"For the upcoming collection, 50% of the price will be converted to stable coins at the time of purchase. The NFT owner has the option to return the NFT to the creator at any time in the future in exchange for those stable coins.
"Therefore, the NFT owner(s) can (1) hold, (2) sell to another collector, or (3) return the NFT to the creator at any time, and as long as the NFT has not yet been returned, the creator will be entitled to claim risk-free passive income from those stable coins in perpetuity.
"In essence, this feature enables collectors to access the NFT’s utilities and potential upside while limiting the downside risk. Importantly, it increases the “worst payoff” from owning NFTs from zero to 50% of the purchase price.
"See upcoming announcement from @chaosama for the official details. The Chao R&D Lab is developing more sophisticated, dynamic mechanisms that aim to further enhance the (partial) “store of value” utility for future collections."
Now, as this is all under development, things may change, and they are considering collateralizing with KSM instead of stablecoin as well. There will also be a passive incentive to encourage holders to continue holding rather than returning their Chaoz, but details haven't been shared about this yet.
Finally, this collateralization program also may develop into lending/borrowing against your NFTs. This is still in the early discussion phases by their Research and Development team, but the very fact that it's being discussed and worked on from within an NFT collection? I love it.
Research and Development Lab
Chaoz-Sama has a research and development team, focused on providing more value to the overall Dotsama Ecosystem. It was from here that the NFT launchpad was created, and the Buyback Program was proposed.
This group is focused on constantly improving the community, and it's nice to see such devotion and active energy being put into this from an NFT community.
Conclusion
Over the last week, I've observe the community's energy. It’s friendly, supportive, and it’s more about helping and encouraging artists, sharing tips for collectors, than being a flipper’s alpha channel. Artists get to engage with their community of fans directly, and collectors get a line to top artists.
When news dropped about Luigi about his joining the Exosama team—he was dropping some insights and news and more than anything, it felt like an intimate and comfortable community.
I can’t say the chat was always popping, but the information people shared was always valuable and there is always someone around. Earlier hype-talk aside, it seems that Chaoz-Sama is just getting its feet off the floor, building its vision as something of an incubator and hub for artists and collectors.
Now that I’ve waxed poetic, here’s the interview I did with the creator of the Chao Sama Collection, Satori. I hope you enjoy it.
Interview
**1. Could you give us a brief background on you, and how you started Chao Sama? **
I'm Indonesian and working as an architect & designer for 7 years in real life. I'm new to crypto (started Jan-2021), and I am a big fan of DOT & KSM from the early days.
I started Chaoz Sama when cryptopunks were a huge trend. It led me to the idea of doing an experimental NFT based on pixelated art (at that time, I thought “Degenerate Collectors love pixel art & 'punk' related things"). And Alice and Bob were a big part of why I minted my NFTs on Singular, since they are my go-to guys for any dotsama related news.
2. You mentioned in the description that these are something akin to punks, but the style of art and the characterization seems unique to me. Could you tell us what you meant by the punks reference? Where does the name come from?
Well honestly, my Chaoz-Sama description is chaotic since I thought any pixelated PFP is considered a "punk" (my first encounter to NFTs were cryptopunks) and as for the art & characterization, I am heavily influenced by DBZ manga. I stumbled upon the Chiaotzu character and thought it was great to interpret many faces into Chiaotzu cute, yet badboi, vibes.
**3. What is your hope for the Chaoz Sama community? How have you been developing it, and what are some of the high points so far of your experience with the community? **
I hope the community grows large & most of my members are involved in building the space. My best experience is when we had 15 members getting to know each other and we played a game of tag on Chao Gang Warfare. After that event, Chao had 2-3 new active members who are constantly building the community stronger.
**4. How can people get involved in Chaoz Sama? **
Well, for a start you gotta own a Chao (if you don’t have one, it’s okay too shoot me DM), then feel free to contribute anything as I always try to be open to ideas. You can share knowledge, drop ideas how to build Chao, discuss trending things on crypto or simply hanging around cheering for artist in their corners.
**5. What are some exciting things coming to the Chaoz Sama community? **
Well I am expecting that our "collaterized NFTs" launch is doing great and will set a good example for other collections. I am also really excited to see how our NFT Launchpad will nurture creators.
6. Are there any community members you would like to highlight, for their art collections, or for their contributions to the community?
First I would highlight Vampsy on being a dearest friend from day one. He helped me with all the auction mechanisms and now he's leading the collateral NFTs system. Gojo for introducing Chao to many people. MoonBearer as my mentor. And last but not least, my besties mods Dan, Macchiato, Mike, Aris, and Soko-san.
**7. Feel free to add anything else here that you would like to add. **
Chaoz has been growing rapidly beyond my expectation. I honestly would be open to have more great minds helping the collection which is why I am building the Chao R&D Lab and am sharing a portion of my profits as a token of gratitude to handle the programs. If any of you readers are interested to contribute, we are always open.
If you want to pick up a Chaoz-Sama, you can check out their collection here: https://singular.rmrk.app/collections/7c286d92636e99d145-CHZ/?ref=D8WrK1jsFy9zpFwFZStaDTmX32pMZVdwXTm5rt9LsRKBQrz
KSM Donations can be sent to: D8WrK1jsFy9zpFwFZStaDTmX32pMZVdwXTm5rt9LsRKBQrz
KSM/DOT Enthusiast
My personal findings, thoughts, and rumor shares on Polkadot
0 comments