Did a group of digital archaeologists just discover the first NFT ever deployed on Ethereum?
If you missed the hype, it is an ENS-like domain name registration contract called Linagee Name Registrar (LNR) that was deployed in August 2015, predating the previous record holder Etheria by months.
Twitter Spaces were hastily convened and a rush to mint the rarest domains ensued, with over a quarter of a million Linagee names registered in just three days. If we needed to be convinced, this demonstrates just how excited speculators and collectors get whenever something is deemed ‘historically significant’ in Web3.
Why are collectors so bullish about ‘historically significant’ NFTs? What makes one NFT more significant than another and who decides that? And why are so few NFTs created by women and minorities considered historic?
For More: WTF Is... An NFT
There are a bunch of ways that we can look at this idea of historical significance. Traditional historians look at the past and assign significance based on how impactful or memorable, or even just how old something is. In Web3 “the past” may only be 5 or 10 years ago but still, understanding the early days of crypto and NFTs can help us gain insight into current meta and cultural trends.
Ask someone to name historical NFTs and invariably one of the first names to drop will be the genre-defining, pixelated rebels of digital art, Crypto Punks.
Launched by Larva Labs in June of 2017, there are very few NFT collections that have had the impact and influence of Punks. As the first 10K generative avatar collection, Crypto Punks was a prototype for countless PFP projects that followed, from the Bored Ape Yacht Club to our very own BFF ‘You’ collection. Crypto Punks also inspired the ERC-721 standard that powers most NFTs today, making them arguably the most technologically and culturally impactful NFT collection so far.
This perceived importance is reflected in their value, with the highest sale for a punk in February 2022 clocking in at an eye-watering 8K ETH ($23.7M). Just last month, in the middle of a bear market, Punk #2924 sold for 3.3K ETH ($4.45M).
The only collection to remotely rival Punks for cultural impact right now is the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). Launched by Yuga Labs in April 2021 the BAYC couldn’t help but attract media attention when sales of the instantly recognizable brand began to reach dizzying heights. The ultimate flex, in October 2021 Bored Ape #8817 was sold by prestige auction house Sotheby’s for 819 ETH, the equivalent of $3.14M at the time. It made headlines around the world. Be it due to fame or infamy, the BAYC has more mainstream awareness of Web3 than any other NFT collection, transcending cult status to find its way into the cultural consciousness.
Until recently there was a surprisingly widespread misconception that Crypto Punks were the first NFTs. In reality there are many earlier examples, uncovered and rediscovered by digital archaeologists who spend countless hours scouring the earliest blockchain records for the telltale signs of NFTs.
Most experts are pretty comfortable saying that the first NFT was minted on May 3 in 2014 by artist Kevin McCoyon on the Namecoin blockchain. It was a GIF called Quantum, and it made headlines in 2021 when it was controversially redeployed on Ethereum and sold by auction house Sotheby’s for $1.47M.
Vintage NFTs are considered significant largely because of their age. Yes, they are only seven or eight years old, but never forget that we are early! Spells of Genesis was the first blockchain mobile game and allowed gamers to buy in-game NFT assets as early as 2014.
Until Linagee was rediscovered this week, Etheria was considered by most to be the earliest ETH NFT collection, launching on October 21, 2015. Pixel Map (November 2016) and art NFTs Curio Cards (May 2017) are other early examples.
Sometimes a thing just needs to be memorable or mischievous or meme-able enough to find fame. Think early meme NFT collection Rare Pepes (2016) or the lesser known Digital Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility by Mitchell F Chan (2017), an NFT collection with no artwork. Memes are equal parts silly and sophisticated, and a powerful way to build communities.
It will be interesting to see if the meta-defining Goblintown or the infamy of Kevin from “the worst NFT project ever” Pixelmon, will be enough to deem them historic over time.
Google “historical NFTs” and you will find dozens of lists of projects, detailed charts and timelines, long discussions, and thoughtful analyses. And yet, for whatever reason, women are rarely mentioned. This is likely due to a reality that has plagued women across genres well before Web3: Men tend to be the gatekeepers of "historical significance."
There is one big notable exception; the iconic, game-changing World of Women. WoW was one of the first large PFP projects to depict women in its art, and to be created by a female artist, Yam Karkai. WoW’s impact on diversity and inclusivity in Web3 is undeniable, and it is an essential inclusion on any conversation about historically significant NFTs.
It is often the only one.
A common argument defending the lack of recognition of women-led projects is that “there just weren’t many women in the space ‘back then. While it is true that there was — and still is — a huge gender imbalance in Web3, there were many women creating, building and innovating in the early days of NFTs. Let’s check out a few that are lesser known and give them their flowers.
Bitchcoin is the creation of conceptual artist Sarah Meyohas. It is so ‘ancient’ that it predates the launch of Ethereum by five months! Recognizing that blockchain tech could validate provenance of art and also allow her collectors to directly support her, Sarah launched Bitchcoin in February 2015, tokenizing, gamifying and certifying ownership of her IRL artworks on the blockchain. The collection has since been redeployed on Ethereum and is linked to art from Sarah’s seminal ‘Cloud of Petals’ exhibition from 2021.
When Fame Lady Squad minted in early July 2021, its undoxxed founders claimed it was the first all-female led NFT project. Infamously, it was soon revealed to be a group of men posing as women. 😒 A community takeover ousted the frauds and installed a badass team of women founders, solidifying FLS’s icon status and their place in the Web3 her-story books.
Hang on… wasn’t World of Women the first women-led ETH NFT project? Think again! Led by game developer, artist and super-mom Saba Saleem Warsi, FuZZieMints minted on July 15 2021, 12 whole days before WoW. It is also the first ever women-led metaverse gaming project and is still going strong, building AR and family-friendly metaverse games and gaining new fans every day.
If impact is a good measure of historical significance, there are very few projects that have had the IRL impact of Honey Badges. This DAO is disrupting traditional models of philanthropy by creating new fundraising approaches and leveraging blockchain tech to literally change lives. With the tenacious Honey Badger as its mascot, Honey Badges is led by the equally fearless and fabulous Geena Anderson and will go down in history for demonstrating that crypto and NFTs can be powerful tools for good.
Of course, there are many more projects founded and led by women that have achieved both technological and cultural firsts over the last year…
Assigning historical significance to something is a judgement, and what makes something important differs from person to person. Women, non-binary and minority artists and founders are often overlooked, both inside and outside of Web3.
The historical significance of an NFT often has a big impact on its value, and so it is critical that digital archaeologists and NFT collectors alike shift their mostly-male lens for viewing the history of NFTs. The good news is that we can change this narrative by shouting out the artists and innovators that reflect our personal experiences.
We get to decide what is important to us. We are still early, and all around us are the historically significant NFTs of the future. Let’s make sure that women, non-binary and culturally diverse artists, builders, and creators are among them.
This is not financial advice. If you don't want to spend money investing in crypto or Web3 — you don’t have to. The intent of this article is to help others educate themselves and learn.
Caitlin Harris is a Web3 writer and researcher, here to explore big ideas, admire beautiful jpegs, and to help build inclusive online spaces. Caitlin taught herself to sail in her 30s, bought an old boat and sailed away (she came back eventually). Follow her on Twitter @BlueSunNFT.
