Cool Cats: In late 2021, the NFT market saw a massive boom, with several projects surging in popularity.
Many of the NFTs were quickly used as profile pictures on social media.
Among the most popular NFTs were Cool Cats, reaching unprecedented heights.
However, the prices dropped sharply last year, and collectors’ gripes started mounting.
Recently, the Cool Cats founders announced a new path to move the project forward with revitalized branding.
They also hinted at future expansion beyond Ethereum, suggesting customizable, full-body avatars.
“With our new strategic direction and rebrand, we want to convey to the community and the broader Web3 space that Cool Cats is here to stay,” said CEO Stephen Teglas.
“We’re not just building for the next year, or the next five years – we’re planning for the long term.”
What’s coming?
Cool Cats and Cool Pets NFT holders are set for a freebie as they will soon receive a free Fracture NFT via airdrop.
Project co-founder and Head of Content Robert Mehew described the free NFT as dynamic tokens enabling a new storytelling experience through digital collectibles.
The Fracture NFTs will evolve throughout missions (or Journeys) holders complete within the “World of Cooltopia” narrative.
They eventually reveal potential rewards.
However, the upcoming Explorers NFTs represent a broader expansion of the Cool Cats project later in 2023.
It includes customizable full-body avatars that users can put up across multiple blockchain networks.
The NFTs can also be used in various supported apps and platforms.
Functionality
Although the project has yet to release the full extent of the Explorers functionality, it follows the same vein as the Ethereum NFT project Doodles did with Doodles 2.
The project bridges to a different blockchain (Flow) and turns old profile pictures into fully customizable avatars that can change the NFT’s virtual apparel.
Additionally, a Cool Cats representative said the Explorers NFTs would work across multiple layer-1 blockchains and layer-2 scaling networks.
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The blockchains include some that aren’t compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine or EVM.
The platforms will be released throughout the year.
Cool Cats previously used the Ethereum sidechain network Polygon to drop special edition NFTs and launch a mobile game.
“Our goal is to remove as much fraction as possible,” a representative said, addressing the movement of avatars across various blockchains.
The Cool Cats also plans to work alongside community members and develop assets that can be utilized with the Explorers project.
Rebranding
The recent announcement coincided with the Cool Cats project rebranding in social media and marketing materials.
The rebranding is related to a new narrative content focusing on the project’s main character, Blue Cat.
“Our new logo features a forward-facing cat, a nod to our focus on building for the future,” said Colin “Clon” Egan, the co-founder and Creative Director of Cool Cats.
Progress
In late 2021, Cool Cats prices joined the broad NFT market surge, pushing the floor price to almost 14 ETH (around $48,000) in October.
Last year, the project signed with Creative Artists Agency, a major Hollywood agency, in an effort to explore media and licensing deals.
However, Cool Cats prices crashed due to a number of factors, including:
- Leadership departures
- Mixed reception to Cooltopia
- Complaints of the founders not doing enough to support the project
Before the announcement, the NFTs floor price was a meager 2 ETH, according to NFT Price Floor data.
The price was worth less than $3,200 due to the depressed Ethereum price.
According to CryptoSlam, Cool Cats generated over $377 million worth of secondary market trading volume.
Meanwhile, the Cool Pets spinoff contributed over $105 million.
In 2021, the project collaborated with Time Magazine to produce limited-edition NFTs.
They recently announced a marketing deal with Ledger, the hardware wallet maker.
“We ultimately believe that scaling Cool Cats’ brand awareness and onboarding more members into the brand is one of the most effective ways for us to deliver on the expectations of our community,” said Stephen Teglas.
Image source: Daily Coin
