Some reflections after my 4th Apefest. I am of the belief that humans are social creatures and what we desire most is a sense of belonging. If we find our people and surround ourselves with those we love doing the things we enjoy most then happiness is sure to follow.

Tried to hear what the @argonauts9999 Sirens are singing. 89 Sirens. 8 lines of Homer in the original Greek. Every note and length comes from the on-chain renderer. I only chose the scale and the voice. Sound on 🔊 Art by @lphaCentauriKid

every coral argonaut has its own mix of fishes that can appear in the frame. some appear after a few seconds, some only come after 20+ minutes! each coral has their own mix and sequence of fishes. they are all evenly distributed, except the rare lanternfish. it can only visit void coral argonauts the depth in this collection is mind-blowing i have never seen anything like that, not even close to it and i am not sure it can be topped a.c.k. is a genius

I think it's quite comical watching people get on here and comment negatively about the ever-evolving @argonauts9999 collection. Here's the thing. This isn't 2021 anymore, when everyone was promised "utility" and a "roadmap" that, years later, turned out to be nothing more than empty promises designed to suck liquidity out of the space. Believe it or not, some people here actually enjoy collecting art. When you collect an Argo, you're collecting a piece of @lphaCentauriKid's passion, creativity, and vision. You're supporting an artist and buying into a future that hasn't even been fully realized yet. Not everything needs a roadmap. Not everything needs utility. Sometimes the art itself is enough. And quite frankly, nobody needs a lecture about why an artist shouldn't have creative control over their own work. If you don't like the direction of the collection, the solution is incredibly simple. Don't buy it. To serve the muse.

Unstoppable coordination. The third leg of crypto is almost here. Bitcoin Ethereum 6529 6529 chain is about to launch its testnet this week. The ambition is to be the third most decentralized chain next year, with the end goal of being #1. But why so decentralized and for what purpose? Coordination itself. Bitcoin gave us a store of value, Ethereum gave us code, but society still runs on centralization. “What’s the use case of crypto?” is an annoying question we hear far too often. Right now coordination happens on X, Google, Meta, Slack, Discord, etc Coordination powers the world. As a society, we communicate, make tough decisions, allocate resources and move money. Large corporations become more powerful than ever in a digital world and authoritarian governments sit above them. 6529 breaks the barrier. Self-sovereignty powers everything. Own your identity, communicate securely with post quantum encryption, make decisions together and participate in a global economy all without a central authority. 6529 also has very interesting symbiotic properties with Ethereum and other chains and has the potential to scale DeFi. More specifics to come later this year in the white paper. If 6529 wins then anyone with an internet connection has economic opportunities, increasing global freedoms. Also public goods funding is baked into the protocol itself. As 6529 scales public goods funding increases as well. Just a fascinating project. Very exciting times ahead. Highly recommend creating a free profile at 6529 dot io and exploring the ecosystem.

Flexibility is one of the most important aspects of digital/blockchain creation. As an OG I assume you remember @AsyncArt where we specifically tried to push the boundaries of structure, presentation and expectations. You had incredible artists like @osinachiart with “Choose the man you will become” experimenting with states of art and what we learnt from those works was the communal representation of thought and expression. All collectors changing traits in unison to declare a point of view. We are a space of technology and experimentation, not just a place to sell socks that fit the same way right off the shelves. If you’re going to collect from any project, be it an artist or some community pfp - know who ur putting yourself behind, and what could happen. If ur doing so with @lphaCentauriKid then you should know right out of the shoot that you’re in for a journey of presentation. Just speaking as an OG myself.

Collectors spend time finding the piece that feels uniquely theirs. @jbondwagon points out that the Argo floor has been falling and asks when the next art upgrade is coming. Then @lphaCentauriKid makes every @argonauts9999 look the same, and people start sweeping. What interests me is how a moment like this becomes part of a collection’s identity. The artist makes a gesture, collectors respond, and a shared memory forms around the work. Over time, those experiences give us more reasons to care about the pieces we own. That’s part of why I collect Argonauts. Individual works I want to keep, an artist whose next move interests me, and a history I get to watch unfold. A collection can give you an image you want to own, and a story you want to remain part of. I’m starting to see both in Argo.💀

iykyk

Is it finally time for the 6529? Good lord I’m so fucking stoked…

Ok how are people deducing now which Argos are which with traits? Before the bot at least showed them but I see even that has now been updated to the new art 😂 I want to go shopping!

Running 6529

Hate having to post this but unfortunately I may need to sell my ape. Trying my best not to but every one knows how life can be sometimes and had some unexpected irl things come up. I have an early pre-Opepen and Checks Jack Butcher/Nouns 1/1 piece I am looking to move first as well as a bundle of Otherdeeds (some 5 traits with rare artifacts) Hit my dms if you’re interested in working something out. Appreciate the help spreading the word, thanks fam 🙏 # s for the deeds 57432 , 24213, 13005, 80500, 2139, 75497

Imma be serious for a minute. I “logged off” about a week ago - only a fucking week but feels like a month, time distortion in here is real - tp’d all leverage and even some spot. And then. Touched grass. Litterally. Realigned mysefl, reminded why I do it and what actually it is that I’m still doing here, reflected if I even like this place anymore. Slowed down. Every aspect of my health, both physical and mental is improving every day, bar an initial “anhedonia dump” of sorts wich is a stark reminder of just how hard we fry our dopamine receptors when we go on those onchain runs for months. My friend @MINHxDYNASTY called it the “necessary brain breaking” and he’s spot on. But man, does it hurt. This place and trading in general is a brutal environment, regardless of the money you make. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Being terminally online, an absolute necessity in those stretches, comes with it’s own downfalls: you go outside and people know nothing about the pervasive doomerisms of ours. They don’t know about crypto, inflation, robots, fuck me they barely register wars and AI risks. It’s bliss to be honest. Even if for a bit you need to be Cypher and taste some of that delicious red stake and chase the gorgeous woman in the red dress, do it. It’s ok. Breathe. I’ll be more and more mindful of it all myself. I’ll log off more. I’ll do things with my hands. I’ll laugh with more people face to face. I’ll cook delicious food. I’ll tend to my garden. More than anything I’ll learn to finally say: it’s enough. I have enough. I’ve done enough. And most importantly: I am enough.

My friend just picked up his first ape, set up a brand new X account for the occasion and needs the proper welcome. @WelcomeApes can you introduce him to the best club on the internet so he can meet some apes? 🦍 @BoredApeYC

I’m tired. I feel incredibly lucky to make a living as a full time illustrator & artist, balancing commercial client work with my personal art. It’s what I’ve always wanted, even if the dream is to eventually live solely from my own art. But sometimes it gets absolutely exhausting. The highs. The lows. The constant emotional rollercoaster. One moment I feel like I’m finally close to that breakthrough we all dream about. The next, I’m questioning everything, wondering why my work isn't reaching more people or whether I'm doing something wrong. Sometimes I just want to disconnect from social media, forget about numbers, algorithms, visibility & expectations and just make art. I know a lot of artists can relate. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I still love what I do & I have so many ideas and plans for the future. I'm just going through one of those lows. I guess it's inevitable and part of the journey. Maybe saying it out loud helps.

We call it The Memes by 6529. We mint three times a week. If today’s TRASH ART doesn’t suit you, we’ll see you in two days. While there’s something for everybody, the trouble is, some of you think you’re everybody.

Enough of me bullposting Apes and their great leadership, great decisions, great community and not owning any. Just picked up a 4-pack. NFTs will win, BAYC showing it knows how to lead🦍

A lot of people are missing what Yuga did so right with Mudwater. They gave 70% of it to their most loyal fans and advocates. They instantly turned 15,000+ unique holders into evangelists. "hey normie friend, you should come buy this $3,000 NFT" - crypto, wallets, security, and the pure cost just too much to onboard the average person. "hey normie friend, let's play this card game" - Let them enjoy the product and the brand, then dive down the rabbit hole. So many other NFT projects missed the mark by leaving their NFT holders out to dry with web2 activations when they could've involved them to become the companies most valuable assets, there is no better investment than allowing your most die hard supporters to share in the upside and be part of your marketing arm. Will not be surprised to see holders lead events, tournaments, meet-ups, innovate new gachas, use cases for the cards, etc. Keep doing you @yugalabs @BoredApeYC