NFT communities are known for being dedicated, engaged and passionate – and one community embodies those traits above all others: DeGods.
Since minting on Solana in 2021, thanks to its transparent leadership, culture-focused direction and community-first mantra, it’s quickly become one of the most widely-known and well-liked NFT collections amongst blockchain enthusiasts – but how did it get to where it is today?
Here’s our complete 2024 guide to DeGods.
What is DeGods?
DeGods is a collection of 10,000 unique avatar NFTs, originally minted on Solana in October 2021. Each DeGod has a mix of traits; from backgrounds and hairstyles to clothing, eyewear and other accessories.
The collection rapidly gained popularity thanks to its unique utility. Holders were able to mine the $DUST token, with future initiatives including access to NFT tracking app DYOR, exclusive merch and more.
DeGods is a product of DeLabs, a company with three main figures; Frank DeGods (Rohun Vora), Kevin DeGods (Kevin Henrikson), and Finn DeGods – who announced his departure in August 2023. DeLabs also created the y00ts NFT collection in November 2022, and continues to manage both collections to this day.
As of today, DeGods exist on all three leading NFT blockchains: Solana, Ethereum and Bitcoin, and holders continue to benefit from an expanding list of features and utility, including conversions into DeadGods NFTs (using $DUST), access to DeDAO, and – most recently – interactions with the $DEGOD token.
The history of DeGods
DeGods were minted on October 8, 2021, priced at 3 SOL. A combination of demand and technical issues saw all 10,000 NFTs sell out in 7 seconds.
To mitigate an anticipated decline of floor prices, DeGods instituted the “Paper Hands Bitch Tax”, a 33.3% tax on anyone who listed their DeGods below the floor price. Any funds collected from this tax were used to buy and burn DeGods NFTs, reducing the overall supply.
By the time the Paper Hands Bitch Tax was halted on January 1, 2022, the total supply had been reduced to 9,465 – but that was just the start of the innovative moves made by the collection.
In January 2022, DeGods introduced the $DUST token – and with it, the DeadGods. Holders could stake their DeGods to earn $DUST, which could then be used to upgrade their DeGods into DeadGods at the cost of 1,000 $DUST. This revitalized interest, and addressed aesthetic issues with DeGods.
April 2022 saw DeDAO decide to purchase Big3 Basketball team Killer 3’s for $625,000 USD, giving DeGods its first mainstream exposure, and giving holders options to benefit from the IP and licensing rights of the team – as well as opportunities to purchase ownership stakes in the form of NFTs.
December 2022 saw DeGods announce plans to move from Solana to Ethereum, completed in March 2023 – but not before the previously burned 535 DeGods made their return as Bitcoin Ordinals in February 2023.
The chain-hopping wouldn’t stop there, as in May 2024, DeGods made the shock move to migrate both DeGods and y00ts (which had spent the last year on Polygon) back to Solana, with a bridge now supporting the existence of DeGods on Solana, Bitcoin and Ethereum.
September 2024 saw DeGods release the $DEGOD token – but as with all things DeGods, they took a unique approach. Holders are able to:
Swap a DeGod NFT for 550,000 $DEGOD tokensBurn a y00ts NFT for 120,000 $DEGOD tokens (regardless of rarity), orBurn 1 $DUST token for 36 $DEGOD tokens
Reactions were mixed, with many worried about the impact of tying DeGods directly to a token could have on floor prices. In the short-term, DeGods have declined from 2.00 ETH on September 16 to 0.94 ETH at the time of writing – but the long-term effects are yet to be known.
What’s ahead for DeGods?
DeGods always stride forward confidently – indeed the team have stated that “DeGod” stands for “do everything great or die” – and with that mantra at the heart of what they do, we’re sure they’ll continue to make waves.
Although the debut of $DEGOD has been a mixed bag, we’re sure the DeGods team has deeper utility in mind for the token – though when that will be revealed is anyone’s guess.
They’ve been unafraid to push boundaries, challenge conventions or follow the path well-trodden – and it’s that level of confidence that’s won them so many supporters so far.
Dust Labs, a blockchain technology side-project to DeGods, has began to develop software solutions for other NFT projects – off the back of their chain-hopping expertise – and this could lead to further innovations for DeGods in future.
The DeDAO will play a major part in what DeGods will become. The passion from its members is felt everywhere you turn – from X to Discord and more – ensuring that the interests of the DeGods team and their holders are always aligned.
With DeGods, expect the unexpected.
