Deep Dive on the History of Mad Lads
INTRO
Way back in 2023 Solana NFT ecosystem was facing few challenges. DeGods and y00ts decided to leave solana for ethereum and polygon, respectively, at that time top marketplace MagicEden just couldn't find common language with collectors and creators at the same time and after the collapse of FTX many of the chain's most loyal supporters(manlets) have been left wondering what's next for Solana.
In hindsight it seems so simple that it takes a single NFT project to serve as a catalyst for marking a market shift moment for a ecosystem. We've seen it before with collections such as Bored Apes and Azuki and it seemed that something similar was badly needed for Solana, and (to me at least) that catalyst was the launch of Mad Lads NFT collection.
WHAT IS MADLADS?
At first look Mad Lads are your regular 10k PFP collection that was set to launch on April 20, 2023 at 6,9 SOL mint price. As far as traits go, the collection features a variety of human and humanoid PFPs that come with unique clothing, weapons, accessories and even including rare attributes that depict celestial, robotic(android?) and undead characters.
So why was Mad Lads mint so special? Well.. Mad Lads were created by the Solana framework development company called Backpack (ex. Coral), which is led by Armani Ferrante and Tristan Yver. When team decided on mint date they already had one product in beta: Backpack wallet. Wallet exclusivity seemed counterintuitive for new collection to make a mark on the market, but in hindsight, it was a great way for Backpack to show what was possible with their wallet.
If anyone reading still isn't familiar with Backpack, it is a wallet that was built (at that time) around executable NFTs simply called – xNFTs. xNFTs were hailed as the next generation of NFTs that are non-fungible tokens embedded with executable programming scripts, so to put simply, it means that xNFTs are basically platforms for web3 applications.
On their website they explained xNFTs like this: “Backpack manages your private keys and connects to apps. But unlike anything else, it’s asset and protocol agnostic. Everything in the wallet is an xNFT….Most wallets only show your tokens. Some don’t even show your precious JPEGs. Backpack, however, is a home for everything. It’s an open, programmable system built for Web3.”
So, instead of needing to connect the wallet to a website to utilize NFT(or any other token), xNFTs are able to directly access token-gated content through the Backpack wallet without needing to log into a website or in any way to be dependent on third-party software as a middleman.
As mint was done through Backpack and by utilizing xNFTs it was iconic with the way Mad Lads team handled the mint. Initial mint was supposed to be on April 20, but it was overwhelmed with bots, forcing a 24 hour delay. Day after team relaunched in a way that no-one expected. Mad Lads team made updates to the minting app/xNFT for the april 21st re-launch. They created two unique minting portals that were designed to separate human users from bots. „Human“ users were pointed to actual minting page, while those that were identified as bots were sent to a „honeypot“. Long story short, this fake contract accumulated around 250.000,00$ worth of sol and after the mint team returned all honeypot funds to those affected.
Mint was sold out within minutes of it's launch making it first big milestone of the project.
MAD LADS COMMUNITY AND SECONDARY SALES
Despite the technical issues Mad Lads generated staggering 5.801.640,00$ on their first day of the mint and they set out a great example of social media awareness by replying(or trying to at least) to every possible tweet and engagement by staying extremely active during the first few days after the mint.
In less than a week after the mint Mad Lads managed to surpass 15 million dollars in volume, breaking all records and staking the claim of the #1 spot that it holds to this day.
After posting never seen results collections floor price fluctuated between 40 and 70 SOL during May of 2023 and in early June surpassed psihological barrier that is 100 sol.
In meantime team collaborated with Solana mobile team and provided holders with option to engrave their Lads onto their Sagas and launched first edition of Mad Lads merch that was made available for those that held the NFT during the May 1st snapshot.
Team also initiated Mad News that heavily encourages and supports user generated content and it even features Lad of the week.
During summer of 2023 floor fluctuated around 50 SOL and even dropped below but it quickly came back up after the Breakpoint where Backpack exchange(CEX) was announced and speculations about Mad Lads benefits propelled floor back above 100 SOL and even over 200 sol in December of 2023 and January of 2024. Mad Lads floor price have been fluctuating between 150 and 200 SOL and it sits currently at 154 SOL before fees and/or royalties. I should also probably mention that all time high USD value of floor exceeded 30.000$ at one point to further distance Mad Lads from other collections.
Not including NFTs listed for sale Mad Lads have great holder distribution with 4942 owners(wallets?) having 1 Mad Lad. See below for distribution of ownership.
Being the top community in Solana ecosystem Mad Lads managed to partner up with top projects such as Tensor, Wormhole and Pyth. Every one of those projects is looking to innovate with Backpack team and those projects decided to award holders with their token on launch.
Backpack exchange launch was around the same time Pyth team launched their token so for staking as little as 5 sol on the exchange every holder was eligible for 1.000 $PYTH and if joined their discord on time and managed to get a Mad Lads role Pyth team added 3.000 more tokens for holders.
Most recent partnership is one with Wormhole team for launch of their $W token. For every holder that joined their discord and did some easy zealy quests made them eligible for airdrop of 16.000 tokens – 3.200 on launch and rest is going to be vested for 1 year. On the announcement of partnership Wormholes X account was briefly banned from platform since Mad Lads raid seem like a bot attack on X post.
All these airdrops and partnerships wouldn’t be able without the army that are Mad Lads holders. Every holder is welcomed in family-like fashion and is included in the community from the start. Shoutout to Lads Avenue and Attis who is raid leader for every twitter/X post regarding Lads.
Another aspect of Mad Lads community is Mad Lads roster that features five individuals from world of extreme sports:
Tyler Larronde - Big wave surfer and mad man,
Nicholas Kapule - Foiler born and raised in Honolulu,
Dane Greer - Professional mountain biker,
Kai Paula - Surfer from the island of Maui,
Lyon Farrell - Professional snowboarder and all-around killer board athlete
Mad Lads roster produces content beyond web3 and aimes to draw new followers into the ecosystem and in that way serving as missionaries, rallying like-minded(mad) individuals everywhere they go. Or as roster is described on their website: “In an era saturated with content creators, The Roster stands out as a beacon of audacity and originality. Staying true to the Mad Lads philosophy, they fearlessly venture into uncharted territories, delivering content that is bound to captivate audiences beyond Web3.”
Mad Lads community is bonded by the “Fock it” mindset which serves as a straightforward philosophy that encourages life without overthinking, life of just doing it. Whatever happens just - Fock it!
FUTURE OUTLOOK FOR MAD LADS
It’s safe to say that future is bright for Mad Lads and its holders as they continue to captivate Solana community and even beyond. Combination of dedicated team that serves as anchor for passionate community that are Mad Lads it seems like that success story of Mad Lads is writing itself. Not many collections are able to shift to ever changing trends, constantly secure new partnerships while maintaining its position as a leader in the Solana NFT ecosystem. As we’re close to first Mad Lads anniversary it seems that holders are in good hands with Armani and Tristan at the helm, bringing them constant utility and maintaining community engaged and excited about what’s coming next.
To come back to the start of this article, Mad Lads are continuing as a catalyst for Solana ecosystem as a example of innovation, creativity and with having community in first place. As I’ve said: future is bright for Mad Lads holders and we still don’t have benefits for holders using exchange. Who knows what’s next?
FOCK IT. LADS ON TOP!
Great one 🔥