“If people want a role model, they can have Miley Cyrus” – Katy Perry
Rating: Hold
“If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed.”
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Count us among the many disappointed Thetans, who had (admittedly) unrealistic expectations about what a Katy Perry NFT drop would bring to the platform. BTFO. Was this a misstep or a more calculated sand-bagging on the part of ThetaDrop? Let’s dig in.
Back in June of 2021, it was announced that not only was Katy Perry set to release NFT’s on TDrop but that she had also acquired a stake inTheta Labs. People were excited. Global adoption was coming. So when the drop came and went, traders were surprised to be left holding the bag — down 50%-75% from mint price. Late 2021 was a bearish period in crypto markets, so this definitely played a role in the lackluster drop.
Ultimately, Katy’s 160 million Instagram followers apparently hadn’t received the message that NFT’s are the future. And in the end, should we have been that surprised? Unfortunately, calls of “we’re still so early” were obviously validated. The truth is, the general public still doesn’t understand the value proposition of finite, non-fungible assets. And that’s okay. It’s just the way it is, for now.
The NFTs themselves were simply… underwhelming. Theta Labs CEO, Mitch Liu even admitting as much — calling the first drop “vanilla.” So, then what is the plan here? How is ThetaDrop planning to leverage the star power and reach of it’s A-List partner?
As mentioned in the SPS post, it is our opinion that ThetaDrop is being patient. They acutely understand the tides of crypto sentiment and are waiting to unleash the heavy artillery when the time is right; when the crypto bull re-emerges and the mania returns. December 2021 was not that moment.
What did arrive in December was the first in a set-of-three NFT’s that when combined; will unlock an exclusive KP Nostalgia Store. It’s a quality offering — assuming KP’s die hard fans are biting. We saw the second NFT of this setThe King of Hearts dropped in March 2022 (at a 50% lower mint price) which couldn’t quite sell out it’s total 2500 supply.
The big winner from these two drops were the redeemable NFT’s, The Golden Lion andThe Golden Die stage props, which sold for $601,000 and $130,000, respectively. This drew some attention. But these are just simply digital versions of a Sotheby’s auction.
On the low-end of $25, the open editions of Ignite the Light sold over 6,000 editions whereas the March drop Cherry Blossom Breeze was met with more skepticism, selling a mere 680 editions. TDrop traders bit hard on the first one, but weren’t going to be fooled again. With far less editions, Cherry Blossom Breeze is the only KP NFT that is currently trading in the green, above mint price.
It’s too early to tell what the long-term outlook is on these NFT’s. They’ve been in a steady downtrend since the drops and the average user of ThetaDrop currently just isn’t a die-hard fan of KP. Were her legions of fans to wake-up one day with a newfound understanding of NFT’s — there could be a mad dash into her collection. But this is a next level adoption of blockchain. Maybe Theta Labs will finally pull out it’s heavy artillery. Perhaps an airdrop will occur where owning a certain KP NFT will enter you into a drawing to win tickets of backstage passes to one of her shows in Vegas… It’s all speculation. But the possibilities are real.
Our question is not if — but when Theta Labs will flip the switch. And if so, then maybe these assets are a deep value. Shoot, we might’ve just convinced ourselves to pick up a few.