Stunning Opepen NFT collection sets crypto Twitter ablaze
The Opepen NFT series, the brainchild of conceptual digital artist Jack Butcher, has recently taken center stage in the crypto world, fueling engagement and driving prices sky-high. The Pepe meme-themed NFTs, based on the Ethereum blockchain, debuted in January, but it’s this past week that they’ve truly gone viral.
Opepen goes viral
Over a whirlwind 48 hours, the floor price for Opepen Edition NFTs—a gauge of the minimum asking price—vaulted to an all-time high of 0.85 ETH, approximately $1,625, based on data from NFT Price Floor. As of now, the floor price hovers over 0.75 ETH, or around $1,440.
The collection, which was minted free of charge earlier this year, comprises an impressive 16,000 NFTs. But why the sudden upswing in demand and value?
A friendly feud
A friendly rivalry between two crypto influencers on Crypto Twitter, Bored Elon and Michael “ThreadGuy” Jerome, gave birth to the trend that has now reshaped the narrative of Opepen.
Bored Elon, a vocal admirer of Butcher’s work and the top holder of Opepen NFTs, proposed a trade with ThreadGuy: one of the earliest minted Opepen NFTs for ThreadGuy’s treasured Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT. Although the deal fell through, the discourse sparked considerable interest, setting the stage for Opepen’s ascendance.
Fanfare and generosity
In response to the exchange, Butcher created a custom Opepen for ThreadGuy, tailored to match his Mutant Ape’s color scheme. The move led ThreadGuy to switch his Twitter profile picture to the new image, fuelling the trend further.
Taking it a step further, Butcher released an open edition mint of the custom ThreadGuy Opepen, dubbed the Opepen Threadition, with the proceeds purportedly donated to ThreadGuy as a mark of generosity. Over 42,000 of these NFTs have been minted on Zora’s new Ethereum scaling network to date.
The ripple effect
Butcher’s generous gesture sent waves through the Crypto Twitter community, igniting a sense of camaraderie. Digital artist Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann and major NFT marketplaces OpenSea and Rarible joined the trend, changing their Twitter profile pictures to customized Opepens.
The phrase “For the culture” has become the trend’s mantra, signifying the ideal nature of the crypto community that prioritizes collective sentiment over profit maximization.
Notably, Butcher’s altruism in the Opepen saga has led to a surge in value for the primary Opepen project, benefiting its over 4,100 unique NFT holders. The collection has gained significant traction, embraced by prominent figures and companies in the crypto space.
Despite a modest creator’s fee of 0.5% on all secondary sales, Butcher’s royalties are accumulating rapidly. To date, the Opepen Edition collection has clocked nearly $44 million worth of sales and ranks as the second most-traded collection over the past 24 hours in terms of trading volume, with approximately $853,000 worth of sales.
