For the culture. The Opepen Phenomenon.

Let's face it, navigating the wild ride of the NFT market can be tough. And just when you think you've got it all figured out, along comes a curveball that brings us back to what matters most – the community.

The Opepen Threadition. Thanks to artist Jack Butcher's sweet gesture towards the well-known NFT commentator, ThreadGuy, a single act of goodwill turned into a full-blown cultural happening that fired up the entire community.

How Opepen Threadition All Began

Earlier this week, Jack Butcher brought us the Opepen project. It wasn't long before it became the hottest topic on the block. One of the biggest fans was Bored Elon (B.E.), who just so happened to be the top collector of Opepen NFTs. In a bold move, B.E. tried to swap a valuable Opepen for ThreadGuy's much-loved Mutant Ape profile picture (PFP). ThreadGuy didn't go for it, but it got people talking and looking forward to what might come next.

The Turning Point

As the chatter grew, Jack Butcher decided to do something special. He created a custom Opepen image just for ThreadGuy. This unexpected act of kindness won ThreadGuy over, and he swapped his PFP for the Opepen image. It was a key moment that deepened the connections within our NFT community.

Riding the Opepen Wave

The Opepen wave was massive and instant. Creators and collectors alike were inspired to make their own versions of Opepen. Jack Butcher even kicked off the Opepen Threadition—an open edition collection that captured hearts and minds. The Opepen story went viral, with over 32,000 mints and about $60,000 in sales.

Even major NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible got in on the action, changing their Twitter PFPs to Opepen avatars. The phrase “For the culture” became the trend on community.

The Bigger Picture

After artist Jack Butcher's kind gesture, the Opepen project got a major boost. The collection got picked up by over 4,100 NFT fans, including big names in crypto. The word spread, and Opepen got a ton of love.

Here's the cool part: Jack Butcher only asks for a 0.5% fee on resales of his pieces.

Despite taking only a modest creator's fee of 0.5% on all secondary sales of his pieces, the royalties quickly add up. As per CryptoSlam, the Opepen Edition collection has racked up nearly $44 million worth of sales to date. It's also the second most-traded collection over the past 24 hours in terms of trading volume, with some $853,000 worth of sales during that period.

Wrapping Up Opepen

The Opepen Threadition? Yeah, it got the NFT world buzzing.

But there's more to the story than just cash and coins. We've seen how creativity, camaraderie, and pure excitement can bring everyone together, lighting up the essence of Web3. As we move forward in the ever-evolving NFT landscape, it's these epic moments of enthusiasm that remind us what NFTs are really about.

BONUS

Fascinated and want to create your own? Check out this guide on Twitter:

• @notthreadguy sparked internet buzz among NFT enthusiasts and artists, including Beeple, when he changed his profile picture from his iconic Mutant to an Opepen.

• The 5 artworks by @qubibien, including "MIMIZU" which translates to earthworm in Japanese, that were physically exhibited at the NFT Show Europe (#NFTSE), have now been minted as 1/1 editions on @objktcom, each accompanied by a physical artwork printed on fine art Lithographic paper.

• On July 16, 2023, Digital Animals (@Di_animals) announced a 24-hour release of an iOS demo where users can participate in a mini-quest to discover and activate art objects to obtain a Dragon and collect 20 rare crystals, with each Digital Animals NFT holder being eligible to collect one crystal.

• "Bubble," a dynamic NFT collection by artist Santiago that explores the speculative dynamics of the Web3 space and reflects on the fragility and perceived ephemerality of art value, released on July 19, 2023.

• Artist Crixtover Edwin, in partnership with Audio Galleries and TIMEPieces, is set to release a collection called "Arewa and Adaeze" on OpenSea on July 20 at 1:30 p.m. ET, featuring two hand-painted digital portraits of women of color celebrating their natural beauty and identity.

• Normalizing Web3 in Web2 on TikTok?

• Opepen, For the Culture

• A Case of Incompetence or Something More?

• Neymar with Pink Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) merch

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