Reflections and Plans

2022 has been an interesting year for me and a great learning curve. I developed most of my Opensea collections, used Polgyon to get that free minting, and converted a lot of my old cartoons from this blog into NFTs.

I also gave away quite a few of my cartoons, and have since been listing many for sale. But this project has more been just a new avenue for me to express my cartoons. I still see some problems with the whole art/collectibles NFT concept – in my mind there seems to be more speculation than what could be considered real value. People who trade baseball cards may trade them in the belief their value goes up, but many also trade them because they like collecting them, they like having them in glass cabinets, they’re fans of baseball etc… Or take stamps, for example – there are people who like to have those rare stamps in their collection, regardless of the price falling or rising. I still feel that the majority of people are just buying to flip. I’m skeptical there’s a group of people who just want jpeg cartoons of different animal cartoons like apes with funny expressions for their own value, and won’t worry whether the price goes up or down in the future. I can understand anime characters from a popular series or a game though.

Anyways, I’ll continue drawing cartoons and minting them as jpegs for my own amusement, and I intend to continue with Crypto characters on Opensea with Polygon. I’ve decided to discard the NFTs I minted on Cardano and Elrond. It’s just too complicated, and minting with Polygon has been free. As always, each collection will be limited to 12 cartoons, with only one unique copy.

The Tantrum is Finished

I’ve just listed the latest cartoon NFT called ‘Taper Tantrum‘, in reference to the US Fed tapering from it’s QE program. Actually, it’s doing QT and raising interest rates so the tantrum should be even more violent… we’ll see what the results of the markets will be over the next 12 months or so.

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x2953399124f0cbb46d2cbacd8a89cf0599974963/13022570383329254522907099241678810879682348424840166239584586842124842958849/

Almost Finished…

I’m just doing the finishing touches on my latest cartoon, soon to be minted to an NFT! It’s called ‘Taper Tantrum’, as mentioned in the previous post.

I’ve been slowing down minting, as earlier in the year I had minted the past catalogue cartoons from over the years. The problem with doing so many in such as short time, and making copies of 20 to 30, is that it’s kind of ‘inflationary’. So, as I continue on, I’m only minting ‘onsies’ – one copy only, and at a slow pace. More information can be found on my roadmap.

Besides, crypto is in a bear market, and it seems many NFTs are deflating in price. I’m more focused on the long term, and will continue marketing and building the brand rather than worrying too much about floor prices. I want to see how NFTs change in value, from pure speculation, to see the way they can be held, traded and presented, because I think that will make a huge difference. As retail interest grows the utility may become more apparent, not so much for investing, but for how NFTs become part of daily life.

Progress on the next Onesie

Taper Tantrum in progress

I hope to finish the next cartoon soon: Taper Tantrum! A reference to markets and the economy, and particularly the relationship they’ve had in America to the Federal Reserve. I believe the last ‘taper tantrum’ was in 2018, when the Fed started to taper off its balance sheet and slow down QE (quantitative easing, which is ‘eco-speak’ for printing loads of cash!). Now, if you know about all this economics stuff, we’re in a world of QT – quantitative tightening, (which is basically the opposite, getting a great big vacuum cleaning and sucking out loads of cash from the economic system!)

They say the US economy has never experienced the rise of interest rates so fast before either, and that means something might ‘break’. In fact, I think something did almost break in the UK, where their central bank had to step in and promise to buy ‘gilt’ bonds or whatever they are.

But I waffle. I hope to finish my taper tantrum pic very soon!

Update September 2022 – Isengard Woes

It looks like I won’t be continuing with Isengard for my ‘Crypto Character’s’ collection for the time being due to the fact that I simply can’t log in. I’m using a Maiar wallet to mint and list the cartoon NFTs, but due to a technical glitch the Maiar wallet hasn’t been able to log in for a couple of months, it just hangs there. So, I may have to wait a while, and if the problems isn’t fixed perhaps I’ll set up again on OpenSea and sell new cartoons there (but not the old ones), or try another chain. Will see.

There’s also the double-mint issue, where I intended to mint only 1 cartoon, but for some reason it sucked all my money and spat out two copies. Of course, it’s a green start-up of a company, there are always going to be issues. But maybe that means just relying on big, successful projects, which can push through in the bear market anyway.

Also, due to having to keep the lights on, I won’t have the same amount of time for drawing and marketing for the rest of 2022.

Risks in a Blockchain Environment

My latest ‘onesie’ cartoon NFT, where there is only one, is a form of expression for all the risks and challenges that one faces in investing in blockchain technology. Of course, there’s fantastic upside, and I continue to DCA in BTC, ETH and some other layer-one blockchains (and DOT and ATOM – I’ve been putting my research up here for free public viewing.)

The new technology is exciting, with thousands of great new projects – unfortunately only a few can really endure, and there are thousands that are scams and rug-pulls. I’ve taken hits from the implosion of Terra Luna, the bankruptcy of Celsius, I’ve lost some ETH to a scam, so I’ve definitely got my scars. But with a 5-year time horizon, I believe I’ll still reap benefits from this growing space, with more and more adoption.

Of course, the things mentioned in the cartoon aren’t all bad, they’re just puns on common terms in the blockchain world, such as ‘sharding’, ‘burning’, ‘halving’ etc… A play on all the jargon that makes up the cryptocurrency world.

Continued Challenges

Don’t worry, I’m still drawing cartoons, and due to come out with ‘Blockchain Environment’ soon. I’ve also just listed another cartoon for the week: Moptop Substance Abuse, for those who have a weakness for coffee, cigs, alcohol, chocolate-fudge ice-cream etc…

But I may bring my Crypto Characters over to Opensea, and stick with the one platform. Cartoons published on Isengard will remain there, but I don’t see Elrond as the future for NFTs, and this double-mint issue has been such a headache. Furthermore, I’m returning to my day job next month, as the bear market has thrown a spanner in the works, so I’ll prefer to stick to one platform.

Challenges in the NFT space

I’m trying two blockchains at the moment: most of them in Polygon (Eth) on Opensea, and a few cartoons using Elrond on Isengard. However, an unintended ‘double mint’ has occurred. When I tried to mint the first of my ‘Crypto Characters’, I also started a new collection under the same name. In the online form I only opted for one copy of the cartoon, but my wallet kept asking me to pay, so I did, again and again, and it drained my wallet of about $7 USD, and out of the chaos came two copies. The problem is, it doesn’t seem very easy to delete a duplicate. It looks like I’ll have to go on Discord and find some answers. I know it’s possible because I opted for the ‘can erase’ feature.

I’ll continue my crypto characters with Elrond until I finish the 12 cartoon collection. I’m still mainly using Polygon on Opensea as it is completely free, while Isengard charges the equivalent of a dollar or two in transaction fees to mint a cartoon, (not that it’s a big deal, but you can’t beat free.)

Update April 27

Still working on some ‘Crypto Characters’ while I focus on releasing 1 cartoon a week from my second standard collection. This week, the wise-yet-cynical Moptop is listed, giving his timeless sayings to the public for their edification!

Also, I have started to share some of my research about smart contract platforms, or layer-one block chains. I’m not sure which blockchain to mint some future cartoons, and I’m not sure which to invest in, but I’m excited about the technology and what it’s allowed me to do as a cartoonist.

Update April 12

The end of March was also fraught with setbacks and difficulties – my hometown, Lismore, had another flood, barely 4 weeks after the record flood at the end of February. We got 11 metres this time (the big one was 14), flooding out the business district again, but fewer houses were impacted as it didn’t reach the surrounding suburbs as much. The previous flood to these two had been five years ago, so it was pretty freaky getting a second flood so soon.

Anyways, I’m resuming factory production of cartoon NFTs slowly but surely, as I work around other commitments as well. This week I’ve just listed another advertisement: Speculative Potential. I hope it’ll be a classic in cartoon marketing one day in the future.

I intend to put a few more up on the Elrond blockchain, see how that goes. Then I’m going to start a new collection of 12 ‘crypto characters’, but I’m not sure which blockchain to use yet. I’m also doing some research into layer 1 protocols, trying to figure which ones have the best potential for the future, and that may influence which chains I mint on.