DeLabs is an innovative company located in Los Angeles, California. With a focus on merging art, design, and Web3 technologies, this small team of friends and creators has gained recognition for their groundbreaking projects. They have developed two notable non-fungible tokens (NFT) initiatives known as DeGods and Y00ts.
DeGods comprises a captivating digital art collection featuring 10,000 distinct versions, while Y00ts is an impressive generative art project consisting of 15,000 unique NFTs. Both projects were initially built on the Solana blockchain, highlighting DeLabs' commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies in their artistic endeavours. As a result of their innovative work, DeLabs has achieved viral fame on the internet, further cementing their reputation as pioneers in the field.
DeLabs was once again in the cryptocurrency spotlight when they decided to abandon the blockchain on which their projects were built, Solana, to migrate their collections to the Polygon blockchain. After the great FTX scandal, Solana's ties to Sam Bankman-Fried were exposed often, and with Solana's poor performance as a blockchain, the team behind DeLabs made the decision to jump ship before it sank.
Let's take a look at this interesting actor in the web3 world.
How did Delabs become so famous in the Web3 world?
DeLabs, the parent project of DeGods, gained significant recognition in the Web3 world through a series of events that shaped its reputation. Despite facing controversy during its initial mint, where bots caused a rapid sell-out and accusations of being a rug pull emerged, the project's team persisted. They launched various products, including de.xyz and DePalace, to revive the project, but the floor price continued to decline.
However, a turning point occurred when DeGods introduced the DUST token and implemented the DeadGods art upgrade. Holders of DeGods were able to utilize DUST to create a DeadGod, leading to a remarkable resurgence. The DeadGods launch, known as "DeGods III," propelled the collection from a floor price of 10 SOL to an all-time high of 100 SOL, establishing DeGods as a significant player in the NFT space on the Solana blockchain.
DeGods further solidified its position by announcing the acquisition of a basketball team through its DAO, DeDAO, in April 2022. This announcement drove the floor price of the DeGods collection to reach an impressive 343 SOL. The project's value began to rival that of renowned bluechip NFT collections on Ethereum, firmly establishing DeGods as the largest project on the Solana blockchain.
To expand its reach, DeGods announced the upcoming NFT mint, y00ts, in May 2022. The minting of y00ts took place in September 2022, and the project's founder, Frank (Rohun Vora), gained widespread attention by revealing his identity through a viral video on Twitter. In December 2022, DeGods announced its migration to Ethereum, while y00ts moved to Polygon. This transition led to a resurgence in DeGods' floor price, revisiting its previous all-time highs.
Throughout its journey, DeLabs demonstrated resilience and innovation, continuously learning from past experiences and embracing new opportunities. As summarized by one of Frank's tweets, DeLabs remains committed to pushing boundaries and exploring new frontiers, embodying its ethos of trying, learning, and venturing into uncharted territories.
What are the most important DeLabs projects?
One of DeLabs' prominent projects is DeGods, a deflationary 10k PFP collection featuring gods dressed in a captivating fusion of modern streetwear and ancient deity aesthetics. The collection consists of 9,465 NFTs, with varying rarity traits, including Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare, and Mythic.
As we have stated before, the introduction of DeadGods, an upgrade for DeGods NFTs, brought renewed excitement. Collectors could acquire the "fine art" version of their NFTs by paying 1,000 DUST. These re-illustrated versions maintained the original rarity while enhancing their artistic appeal. DeadGods injected fresh vitality into the community and attracted attention from outside observers.
Additionally, DeLabs launched the y00ts project, a generative art collection of 15,000 NFTs separate from DeGods. Originally known as Duppies, the project underwent a rebranding after a hacking incident. The y00ts collection challenges conventional NFT management of intellectual property and offers a unique interpretation of ownership and copyright through the ⓨ concept.
Members are encouraged to create fan art, sub-communities, and even businesses within the y00ts ecosystem, fostering the growth and value of the collection. The y00ts avatars feature various traits, such as clothing, hair/hats, glasses, fur colour, and facial features, providing a diverse range of customization options.
Each of these projects demonstrates DeLabs' commitment to pushing boundaries, capturing unique aesthetics, and engaging the Web3 community through innovative gameplay experiences and compelling NFT collections.
DeLabs and their famous migration
Delabs, the startup responsible for the successful NFT collections DeGods and y00ts on the Solana blockchain, made a significant move by securing a $3 million grant to transition y00ts to the Ethereum sidechain Polygon. The funds received were primarily allocated towards expanding the DeLabs team and launching a crypto incubator to support the NFT ecosystem. The grant, provided as a non-equity grant by Polygon, will not involve any stake transfer to the blockchain platform.
Founder Frank, also known as Rohun Vora, expressed the importance of the grant in addressing the company's understaffing and providing extended financial support, allowing for more flexibility in monthly expenses.
As we have said, DeLabs' decision to migrate from Solana to Polygon and Ethereum follows the recent challenges faced by the collapse of FTX, where former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had been a major investor. Despite considering larger offers, DeLabs chose Polygon as the most exciting direction for y00ts as a project, highlighting the platform's association with major brands like Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Disney. Frank hinted at potential collaborations between y00ts and these renowned brands in the future.
This migration marks a strategic move by DeLabs to leverage the benefits of Polygon's sidechain infrastructure and tap into the Ethereum ecosystem, expanding the possibilities for y00ts and reinforcing DeLabs' position in the evolving NFT landscape.
The team behind DeLabs
The team behind DeLabs made a significant move by publicly revealing their identities. Kevin DeGods, the CEO of Dust Labs, and Frank DeGods, also known as Rohun Vora, disclosed their true names. This decision was prompted by an ongoing attempt by the media to uncover Frank's identity.
Frank, a former UCLA student, briefly pursued engineering at General Assembly before joining Y-Combinator as a fellow and eventually working at MainStreet. Kevin DeGods, the CEO of Dust Labs, also exposed himself as Kevin Henrikson, a renowned serial tech entrepreneur with a strong presence in both the Web2 and Web3 spaces. Henrikson has contributed to projects that earned nine-figure deals from companies like Yahoo and Outlook, and he played a key role in the creation of Instacart.
The team's decision to doxx themselves added further authenticity to their projects. Their innovative strategies for engaging the audience and providing unique incentives for investment have garnered significant recognition. Their NFT projects have experienced organic social growth, with consistent uptrends observed in their Twitter and Discord communities. DeLabs' commitment to transparency and its track record of successful ventures contribute to its ongoing success.
##What was the DeLabs NFT projects’ mint price?
DeLabs NFT projects had different mint prices for their collections. In the case of DeGods, the initial mint price was 3 SOL back in October 2021. While, for y00ts NFTs, acquiring them involved either being a DeGod holder or joining the y00tlist.
In addition, a payment of 375 DUST, the token for the DeadGod verse, was required to purchase a y00ts NFT. This amounted to a value of approximately $1300. Staking DeGods or DeadGods NFTs was the primary method for earning DUST, although it was also possible to purchase it from exchanges like Gate or Orca.
Despite encountering some technical difficulties during the minting process, the team successfully resolved the issues and launched the y00ts collection.