As one of the earliest and most well-known collectors in the NFT space, Pranksy has long advocated for creativity, collaboration, and accessibility in the Web3 realm.
Today, he has founded House of Pranksy, aiming to turn this philosophy into a home, providing a space for artists, collectors, and enthusiasts who miss the friendly atmosphere of the early NFT days to connect.
The project revolves around storytelling, education, and communication, blending online and offline experiences, aimed at reigniting the fun, curiosity, and experimental spirit that originally defined NFTs.
In this conversation, Pranksy discussed how House of Pranksy is committed to creating a non-speculative environment based on creativity rather than speculation, prioritizing the community.
He shared the inspiration behind the project design, the importance of storytelling in reshaping the NFT narrative, and expressed his vision for rebuilding a space that can once again foster sincere communication and collaboration.
OpenSea: Let's start with the basics, what inspired you to create the House of Pranksy? What gaps did you see in the NFT space that you wanted to fill with this membership model?
Pranksy: The inspiration for House of Pranksy comes from the spirit of friendship in the early days of NFTs. Since then, as the entire NFT gradually evolved into a financial market, we have lost many positive interactions, collaborations, and the interesting projects that arose from them. I want to change this.
One of the best things about the Web3 space is the private communities built among friends. I hope the House of Pranksy Discord server can also function like a large private Discord server, allowing people to truly communicate with one another.
House of Pranksy is a closed community, with articles aimed at popularizing knowledge and delving into the history of digital art, cryptocurrency, and gaming. Members will have the opportunity to listen to me (Pransky) and other important figures in the fields of digital art, cryptocurrency, and gaming.
If they are interested in physical trading cards, we will hold online breaking events. I have always loved collecting, whether digital or physical, just like the NBA TopShot I purchased early on. So I am very much looking forward to these activities, linking our exclusive trading card channel Pranksy Breaks with House of Pranksy.
We will offer opportunities for exclusive offline gatherings or events held in North America, Europe, and the UK. We will invite artists or projects to collaborate with us to launch limited products exclusive to House of Pranksy members. We also hope to release some merchandise. One of the things I am most excited about is that members will have the opportunity to receive personalized avatars designed by our art director.
The current community lacks original offline activities and an online platform for people to get to know each other. I hope to fill this gap and create something that can help the NFT community develop positively. The offline events we previously held, such as the Pranksy Street Art Bus Tour at NFTLondon, allowed us to meet some amazing people, and we hope to expand this model.
OpenSea: The project is described as non-speculative and non-toxic. What do these ideals mean to you in practice? How do you plan to maintain this environment?
Pranksy: The toxicity in the NFT space is often related to speculation. By eliminating one, we can reduce the other. A lot of NFT speculation is not based on recognizing value but on unreliable insider information and promises that project teams cannot fulfill. The House of Pranksy membership NFTs are soul-bound, meaning they are non-transferable, so membership prices are not affected by speculation, and we do not rely on any secondary royalty income.
Clearly, the total trading volume of NFTs continued to decline in 2022, with trading platforms competing for buyers' attention, leading to a sharp drop in secondary royalty income for artists and projects to nearly zero. Because few projects enforce royalties at the smart contract level, trading platforms can decide to cut these royalties themselves, and they have canceled this mechanism.
The change in revenue sources led to projects being unable to pay team salaries and being forced to shut down. Project teams no longer had the motivation to focus on original works, needing to seek revenue from other channels. The dilution of many works from the same team saturated the market, causing buyers to lose interest in the constant flow of new products, which also led to a decline in artists' and musicians' perceptions of the overall value of this technology.
We decided not to rely on or expect any additional royalties from House of Pranksy, which means our team must continue to regularly publish content. House of Pranksy members are divided into two levels: the regular membership level is a lifetime membership that requires only a one-time purchase, while the highest level, the 'Close Friends' membership, requires payment for one year. This means we are responsible for keeping House of Pranksy engaging and appealing.
OpenSea: The design of the website and Discord is like a real town, with rooms such as schools, oracles, and houses. Can you elaborate on what each space represents and how members will interact with them?
Pranksy: Yes, absolutely, it's great to see our art director expand an idea into a complete world that evokes memories of the millennium.
In the hierarchy, 'home' is at the top, serving as the foundation for all other organizations. It is the common home for everyone on Discord, and within it is a dedicated private space for 'Close Friends' level members only.
This school is a place for members to understand the history, technology, and potential of this space.
The 'Prophet' column gathers insights from me, Pranksy, and other key figures in the industry. We hope to interview some exciting projects and individuals who are still genuinely exploring the NFT space.
One of our main goals is to create a community that enjoys interaction, so we hope that our space in the NFT realm reflects this. The name of the 'Regular' level is inspired by regulars in a pub – a great British tradition. In modern society, it is rare to find clear distinctions between fact and opinion, but we believe it is crucial to differentiate between the two.
OpenSea: House of Pranksy evokes nostalgia for the early NFT era. What changes do you think have occurred in NFT culture since then? What elements do you hope to recreate?
Pranksy: In the early days, the community was tight-knit and relatively small, with punk spirit running through its veins. Members saw the opportunity to reclaim financial dominance through decentralized finance and promote their own artworks (including visual arts, digital arts, animation, and music) without relying on agents and galleries. They held a genuine interest in the technology and its potential, actively experimenting and generally eager to collaborate, as they wanted to explore together, not just for marketing purposes.
It is well known that the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020 led to a surge in the use of technology products, and the NFT space subsequently grew significantly. By 2021, its scale had expanded considerably compared to earlier. In March 2021, the Beeple auction took place, and the popularity of the NBA Top Shot game soared, with NBA players also beginning to pay attention to NFTs.
As NBA players got involved in related projects, musicians also began to understand NFTs. Eventually, other celebrities joined in. It is worth mentioning that even at the dawn of NFTs, a few celebrities were quietly aware of them, at which point avatar projects (PFP) began to dominate. However, this led to a significant decrease in original works, as many new projects simply 'copied and pasted' templates.
During this period, a large number of new faces entered, most of whom were chasing money and internet fame. The bad atmosphere in the circle intensified and became almost commonplace. Those truly dedicated to innovation or trying something new were drowned out by a plethora of homogenized projects. The public's overall impression of NFTs also gradually worsened. The value of NFTs no longer depended on the project itself or the uniqueness of specific NFTs, but rather on their bottom prices.
A combination of factors, including the focus on bottom prices and the end of COVID-19 lockdowns, led to a decline in market interest. People left the community in droves, and while many original community members remained, they had to struggle to rebuild from the ruins. Meanwhile, their seasoned opinions were drowned out by token traders and bots.
Some people entered the market during prosperous times, only to leave disappointed, often being the ones who spread negative sentiments.
We hope to create a space that allows the community to rekindle its passion for collaborative exploration. The 'House of Pranksy' should become a corner of the NFT space where both new and old NFT enthusiasts can join and engage in sincere NFT conversations. It is a safe space where unique, talented, and neurodiverse members can communicate pleasantly with their peers.
OpenSea: You place a great emphasis on community and storytelling. Why is storytelling so important in this project? How does it connect to your larger vision for NFTs?
Pranksy: In a time when the NFT space is flooded with noise and negativity, the power of storytelling can truly resonate. Initially, the story of NFTs was powerful and low-key, belonging to those pioneers who dared to experiment with this technology. However, it was taken and manipulated from the NFT community by scammers, speculators, some celebrities, and the media. We hope to reclaim the right to tell the story of NFTs based on the original punk spirit of the NFT space.
I think it is necessary to point out that some celebrities and brands have proposed very interesting projects and ideas that genuinely add value to this field and its history.
At Pranksy, storytelling is an important part of all our work. For example, we collaborated with Asprey Studio to host an art exhibition called 'NFT REvolution: I am Pranksy' in Mayfair. We created a narrative that ran throughout the exhibition and designed unique storylines for each gallery, leading visitors on a wonderful journey.
My wife and partner Magpie noticed that other NFT exhibitions lacked curation, with a lack of coherence between works and insufficient information about the works and artists. I believe we have successfully changed this. Every member of my team contributed significantly to the success of the exhibition, and it was an unforgettable experience where we truly witnessed the results of teamwork.
OpenSea: You mentioned that membership is represented by marbles, which is an interesting way to collect. How did you come up with this concept? What content can different membership levels unlock?
Pranksy: We want something that can exist physically because the NFT space and digital items feel novel and free. We usually prioritize items with historical significance, and marbles align perfectly with the idea of collecting items that people started doing before the internet was invented (not to mention Web3). Additionally, showcasing their marbles is a fun idea for members, and we hope to further expand on this concept.
The 'Regular' membership level is a lifetime membership that allows you to access Discord, core articles, and specific opportunities to register for events.
The 'Close Friends' membership level is limited and valid until the end of the next calendar year. Members at this level are guaranteed registration for offline gatherings and events, as well as access to all content released that year. Additionally, members at this level can register early for limited releases and collaborative projects.
After the end of the calendar year, unless the 'Close Friends' member chooses to renew, they will automatically be downgraded to 'Regular' member status, enjoying lifetime Discord access and all the benefits of regular membership.
OpenSea: House of Pranksy is collaborating with several projects that embody traditional NFT values. How do you choose your partners? What do these values mean to you today?
Pranksy: We are looking for projects that are genuinely invested in this field for the right reasons. If they are only driven by money, numbers, and sales, then they are not suitable for us. We want to collaborate with those who have exciting ideas and can challenge the monotonous copy-and-paste model that has plagued this field.
We believe that diversity should be the norm rather than the exception in the NFT space and beyond, so we are very willing to collaborate with projects that share the same philosophy.
I believe the traditional values of the NFT community lie in: breaking free from centralized hierarchical decision-making, direct communication between creators and buyers, encouraging exploration and experimentation, challenging conventions, free access to information (open source), and a closely-knit, interest-driven community.
We are delighted to collaborate with Good Vibes Club and Claynosaurz, as they uphold these original values, working with art platforms rather than financial ones, and placing more emphasis on community rather than bottom prices.
I believe it is difficult to find these values today, not just in the NFT space but across the entire open internet. As the internet becomes flooded with more and more content and algorithms designed to provoke users, closed communities have become a way to filter out noise. However, I see the irony in this, as it is actually a more centralized way of building community.
OpenSea: You once said that the focus of this project is not on what heights to reach, but on fun and the connections between people. How do you hope this community will evolve in the future, both online and offline? What does success mean for House of Pranksy? Is it the number of fans, the longevity of the community, or simply the desire to reclaim the original joy and creativity?
Pranksy: This is definitely about reclaiming that joy and creativity. I hope the values of the House of Pranksy community can reflect the spirit of the original NFT community. While we need to continue to pay our excellent team's salaries, this is not a project aimed at pursuing huge profits. Instead, we aim to create something genuinely meaningful in this space that benefits the community.
I hope members can build sincere connections that deepen over time. It would be wonderful if everyone could work together and House of Pranksy became the place where they meet.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or trading advice. Mentioning specific projects, products, services, or tokens does not constitute endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation by OpenSea. OpenSea does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. Readers should verify any statements in this article before taking any action and are responsible for conducting due diligence before making any decisions.
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