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  • April 6, 2023
  • Article
  • a16zcrypto.com

A New NFT Launch Strategy: The Wave Mint

By: Scott Duke Kominers and 1337 Skulls Sers
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

In an NFT project, the mint—the process by which tokens are initially allocated—largely determines who your community is and how they and the broader market view the project going forward. In this piece, we review a new minting strategy recently introduced by 1337 Skulls—something we call a “wave mint,” in which members of different NFT communities are invited to mint in a series of waves, starting with closely overlapping communities and gradually expanding outwards. The wave mint leverages people’s on-chain data and reputation to select for holders who are well matched to a project’s culture and goals—while at the same time driving attention and energy to the project. It also avoids common problems with “free” mints, like gas wars and bots.

Keywords

NFTs; Mechanism Design; Sales Management; Sales Model; Crypto Economy; Non-fungible Tokens; Networks; Product Launch; Auctions; Market Design

Citation

Kominers, Scott Duke, and 1337 Skulls Sers. "A New NFT Launch Strategy: The Wave Mint." a16zcrypto.com (April 6, 2023).
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About The Author

Scott Duke Kominers

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Collusion in Brokered Markets By: John William Hatfield, Scott Duke Kominers and Richard Lowery
  • Harvard Students Should Ignore Calls to Boycott Israel Trek By: Jesse M. Fried, Paul A. Gompers, Scott Kominers and Mark C. Poznansky
  • O2X: Optimizing to the X By: Scott Duke Kominers, Thomas Jennings and Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon
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