Despite early setbacks and social media drama, DeGods became the signature Solana NFT collection. Data from CryptoSlam! shows DeGods NFTs grew from a monthly trading volume of $375,000 in December 2021 to more than $25 million in April 2022. As the DeGods community migrates to Ethereum’s ecosystem, there’s no question these NFTs have achieved blue-chip status.

So, how did DeGods NFTs manage to reach such dizzying heights? Keep reading to learn what DeGods NFTs are, how they work, and where to buy DeGods.

DeGods is a profile pic (PFP) NFT collection featuring animated images of male avatars. Each of these generative art pics features a different combination of eccentric and mythological traits, including angel wings, Medusa hair, and a radioactive T-shirt. The original DeGods collection launched on the Solana blockchain, but the DeGods community began migrating to Ethereum in April 2023.

Rohun Vora (also known as “Frank” on Twitter) is the lead developer behind the DeGods collection. The entrepreneur Kevin Henrikson is also a key member of the DeGods team. To this day, the LA-based company De Labs is responsible for the ongoing development of the DeGods ecosystem.

Following the tradition of collections like CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), there are 10,000 NFTs in the DeGods collection. Each DeGod has between 4 to 7 attributes from eight trait categories. There are also 11 possible backgrounds, with “Heaven” being the rarest. The fewer traits a DeGod has, the rarer it is.

According to most NFT rarity ranking tools like Rarity Sniper, DeGod #2885 is the rarest in the collection thanks to its four total traits and its ultra-rare “Medusa hair.”

A few of the most highly desirable traits in DeGods NFTs include the following:

On October 8th, 2021, DeGods launched on the Solana blockchain for 3 SOL per NFT. At the time, Solana was trading for about $155, so each DeGod was worth roughly $465. However, due to a technical error, trading bots bought every DeGods NFT within a few seconds. Many fans of DeGods on social media turned on the project and labeled it a “rugpull.” Understandably, the floor price for DeGods NFTs didn’t perform well in the ensuing months.

To curb selling pressure, the DeGods team used its “Paperhand Bitch Tax” to discourage selling. Anyone who sold their DeGod NFT below the mint price had to pay an extra fee of 33.33% to the DeGods Treasury. DeGods’ developers used these royalties to purchase NFTs at the floor price and burn them.

In total, DeGods burned 535 of these original Solana NFTs. However, you can now find “resurrected” forms of these 535 DeGods as Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs.

Although the Paperhand Bitch Tax introduced extra scarcity to the DeGods project, it failed to stem the selling pressure. It wasn’t until Frank and Kevin Henrikson created new features like $DUST and DeadGods that the demand for DeGods picked up in a major way.

After removing the Paperhand Bitch Tax, DeGods announced a new utility token called $DUST. Launched on the Solana blockchain, $DUST is a fungible cryptocurrency DeGod holders earn through an official NFT staking portal.

Initially, DeGod holders who stake their NFTs received 10 $DUST per day, but this token issuance drops by half at pre-scheduled intervals. To ensure $DUST retains its value over time, DeGods set a cap of 33.3 million tokens, and the only way to create new $DUST is via NFT staking.

Besides selling $DUST on Solana-based decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Raydium, holders could use their $DUST within the DeGods ecosystem for other digital collectibles, raffles, or to transform their DeGod into a “DeadGod.”

Released in April of 2022, DeadGods NFTs are new artistic renditions of the original 10K DeGods NFTs. However, unlike previous re-imagined NFT collections like the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), the DeadGods aren’t a separate NFT collection.

De Labs decided to add the metadata for each DeadGod to its corresponding DeGod NFT to avoid diluting the collection. Anyone who “transcends” their original DeGod can access a corresponding DeadGod with the same rarity score. To add utility to their $DUST token, DeGods holders need to pay $DUST to get a StarDust NFT and create their DeadGod.

In 2022, DeGods also introduced a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) known as the “DeDAO” to make decisions on DeGods’ future. Like other DAOs in the crypto world, the DeDAO lets De Labs developers and NFT holders have a say in the direction of the DeGods project. There are three levels to the DeDAO—DAO Leads, Alpha Team, and Divine Council — each with different responsibilities in the Web3 community.

One of the DeDAO’s most publicized decisions was buying ownership rights for Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball team “Killer 3s” in 2022.

Fun fact: Ice Cube is a member of the DeGods community with the DeGod #3177.

In late 2022, De Labs dropped a new animated NFT collection called “y00ts.” Based on the mythical yeti monster, y00ts are a 15K generative PFP NFT collection with a wide range of traits and rarity rankings.

Like DeGods and DeadGods, anyone holding a y00t NFT can “stake” it to earn passive rewards. However, instead of earning $DUST, y00ts stakers get “y00tpoints” they can use for rewards within the “y00topia” ecosystem.

Currently, y00ts NFTs are one of the most actively traded on markets like Magic Eden with a current floor price of roughly 184 SOL (or about $4,000 at the time of writing).

Magic Eden is the top NFT market for DeGods and y00ts NFTs. Although Magic Eden isn’t only on the Solana blockchain, it’s best known for supporting numerous high-profile Solana collections. Plus, Magic Eden recently released its thriving Bitcoin Ordinals NFT market with the “resurrected” DeGods NFTs. So, anyone interested in buying an original DeGod or y00ts NFT should download a compatible crypto wallet and link it to the Magic Eden market.

Just keep in mind it’s getting easier to find DeGods and y00ts on other secondary NFT markets like OpenSea and Blur. Also, be aware that many DeGods and y00ts holders are migrating their NFTs to Ethereum’s layer-2 Polygon blockchain. Always double-check which chain the NFT you’re interested in is on before linking your wallet and making an offer.

To help expand its brand identity, De Labs announced in late 2022 they would create a crypto bridge to send DeGods, DeadGods, and y00ts NFTs to Ethereum’s layer-2 blockchain Polygon.

Despite their insane growth on Solana, the DeGods team felt Ethereum’s thriving NFT market would offer greater opportunities for the NFT project. According to initial reports, many in the DeGods and y00ts communities agree with De Labs. Roughly 77 percent of y00ts holders converted to Polygon’s blockchain within 24 hours.

If the past is any indication, there’s no sign that De Labs intends to slow down post-migration. Anyone interested in the latest news on DeGods, DeadGods, and y00ts should follow De Labs’ official socials pages for the latest details.