The non-fungible token (NFT) market is booming, and it is expected to reach about $147 billion by 2026. Factors fueling NFT growth include celebrities’ NFT adoption, growing demand for digital artworks, the metaverse, and play-to-earn games.
Interestingly, as NFTs attract mainstream users, blockchain developers are launching new NFT projects to create more earning opportunities for avid collectors. However, most of the projects existing in the market only engage NFT enthusiasts while neglecting decentralized finance (DeFi) users.
Although non-fungible tokens are still enjoying hype these days, DeFi arguably remains the most prevalent application of smart contracts. Given the significance of DeFi in the crypto industry, it makes sense for NFT projects to integrate DeFi and vice versa. This is what the Degen Dogs Club is trying to do.
What are Degen Dogs
Degen Dogs is an NFT project pushing the frontiers and merging decentralized finance with non-fungible tokens. It claims to be the first NFT project to stream DeFi tokens to users.
The platform adopts a metaverse storyline to offer NFT collectors and dog lovers a dog-themed NFT collection that will provide holders with several utilities.
The Degen Dogs is set on a metaverse planet dubbed Degen. The planet became uninhabitable after its inhabitants exhausted all its natural resources. Climate change is also not helping as the planet can barely support life due to floods, rising temperatures, and poor air quality.
Almost all species have become extinct except for 1,001 surviving Dogs, and they cannot continue to live on the surface. The only way for them to survive is to go down to an underground base known as the Canine Laboratory Underground Base (or the CLUB). But the Dogs can only get to the CLUB via an elevator that can take only one Dog at a time.
Degen Dogs NFT Collection
The 1,001 surviving Dogs make up the Degen Dogs NFT collection, each having a unique combination of characters. The pixelated artworks are inspired by the design of the CryptoPunks NFTs.
The degenerative Degen Dogs combine 12 dog body types paired with various accessories, including hats, glasses, earrings, etc. The traits possessed by the Dogs are algorithmically selected, with extremely rare NFTs having unique characteristics.
The NFTs are sold via auction, with just one Dog being auctioned at a time. Each Dog’s traits are only revealed at the beginning of the auctions. Bids for the Dogs are sent to the Polygon Network in Polygon-based Wrapped Ether (WETH). Once the auction ends, the Degen Dog is sent to the winning bidder, and the next auction begins.
The rarest NFT in the collection is Degen Dogs #1, which features a unique “Ukraine Dog” body trait. It is the only Degen Dog NFT to possess this trait, and the project developers plan to donated 100% of the proceeds from the auction of this NFT to the Unchain Ukraine charity project.
Degen Dogs DeFi Integration
The project invests the proceeds from NFT auctions in DeFi as part of its efforts to boost the utility of its ecosystem and increase the earning opportunity of NFT holders. The WETH is deposited in the “Best Yield” vault on the DeFi protocol, Idle Finance.
Idle tokens representing the vault shares are subsequently issued to Degen Dogs holders. 50% of the tokens are streamed to past Dog owners, 40% goes to the Degen Dogs Treasury that the DAO controls, and the remaining 10% is donated to a charitable DAO.
This initiative is geared toward creating a robust community that combines the worlds of DeFi and NFTs in a new, unique way. At the same time, it increases the utility of the NFTs.
Degen Dogs DAO
The Degen Dogs DAO, known in this case as the Dog Action Organization, is made up of the NFT holders. The more Dogs a user has, the higher their voting rights.
Members of the DAO propose development plans for the ecosystem, vote on them, and decide what best to do to push the goals of the Degen Dogs project while protecting the interest of holders.
The Degen Dogs Treasury is a set of contracts that hold the tokens of the DAO and executes the transactions approved by the DAO once the decision is made.
The Degen Dogs DAO and Treasury are inspired by Nouns, an Ethereum-based decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
What Are Dog Biscuits (BSCT)?
All bidders for the Degen Dogs NFT are issued Dog Biscuits (BSCT), irrespective of whether their bids were successful. BSCT is an ERC-20 token issued on a ratio of 1000:1 based on the bid submitted.
The tokens help Dogs to grow stronger and prepare them for the challenges they will face. It also creates a new community of holders apart from Degen Dog holders, further boosting the ecosystem.
In sum, Degen Dogs is a metaverse project that combines NFT and DeFi to create more utility for holders. The team behind Degen Dogs drew inspiration from two popular Ethereum-based NFT projects – CryptoPunksa and Nouns.