Even in an ecosystem filled with amazing NFT collections, the Claws project stands out.
With a presale possibly coming in May, the eye-catching, soon-to-be collection of 3D dinosaur images is getting ICON watchers excited. Even ICON sage digitaldave.eth called it “robably the biggest launch we’ve seen on ICON since GangstaBet.”
That said, Claws wants you to know they’re more than just a money grab. On their Medium, they write:
“Who is down for another 10k NFT drop? Quick cash grab, buyers make or break. If that’s what you’re looking for, sorry, this is probably not the right project for you.”
We contacted Feijo from the Claws team to learn more about this hot upcoming project and what sets it apart from other NFT collections.
A top-tier NFT collection that leverages BTP
The Claws team consists of three ICON community members with an interest in NFTs and interoperability. They’ve been following the ecosystem very closely for many years and are very aware of the upcoming innovations that cross-chain interoperability will bring.
“Claws is our first official project on ICON. I have already collaborated on some projects with Staky.io,” says Feijo. “I have decided to create my own entity with friends and thanks to Staky backing, we have been able to have enough resources to get Claws started.”
He adds, “The concept of Claws is to create a top-tier NFT collection that will make the most of the interoperability features of BTP in order to grow our community beyond the limits of the ICON community.”
Like MAYC. But interchain.
The economic model of Claws was inspired by the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)/Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) projects, but with the added twist of interoperability.
If you’re unfamiliar with the BAYC/MAYC story, we reiterate:
“ studio Yuga Labs created the initial MAYC collection of NFTs, which were a mega hit. Yuga Labs followed up this hit by airdropping “serum” to owners of the Bored Apes. Users could use this serum to create “Mutant Apes,” a new, visually distinct NFT. The Mutant Apes have become blue-chip NFTs in their own right, and gave people a way to enter the BAYC ecosystem at somewhat-less-than-BAYC prices.”
What Claws aims to do is create “mutation” interactions.
“The idea is simple: the Claws DAO will be able to vote for new integrations on a BTP-integrated ecosystem,” says Feijo. “Once the ecosystem is selected, the team will work on deploying the mutator contract on the target chain and to start to conclude partnerships with projects from it.”
He explains that for each Claw “bridged” for the first time from ICON to “this newly integrated ecosystem,” the user will receive the possibility to mint a new NFT exclusive to the new ecosystem, “just like interchain MAYC.” He says this will be very beneficial for secondary sale “since the supply will have to move a lot for each mutation event.”
“But our goal is to bring value and revenues to the collection, we’re monitoring closely the development of BTP and will always rely on the community to define the future of the Claws DAO,” he says.
Not just a profile picture
Claw also aims to innovate “in the classic ‘PFP’ NFT model,” referring to the profile pictures that seemingly dominate the NFT space.
Feijo explains that when NFTs were first launched, hype and speculation enabled projects to achieve sell-outs, even though their NFTs had little use.
Now things are different.
“It’s about combining the quality and the visuals of NFTs, but giving them a utility and perspective of revenues,” he says. “The Claws DAO as well as our interoperability plan will make it possible to go beyond the classic ‘profile picture’ model.”
At least nobody’s done dinosaurs before
Claw’s dinosaur-themed collection is designed by Paris-based 3D/VFX/interactive design studio TURBODIESEL, whose clients have included Dr. Martens, Victor & Rolf, Technicolor, Google, Ubisoft and other major brands. The studio has apparently taken charge of both the 2D and 3D design.
Still, what’s up with the dinosaurs?
“To be completely transparent, we hesitated for a long time between dinos and apes at the beginning of the project,” says Feijo. “Since we intended from the beginning to add an inter-chain dimension with the BTP, we preferred to go for something more authentic that has not been seen before. With TURBODIESEL, we did several different tests over many weeks before getting this version of the dino.”
According to Feijo, Claw’s NFTs will feature 112 unique features with references to ICON and cryptocurrencies in general.
Those features come in eight categories— Background, Head, Eyes, Skin, Tooth, Clothings, Accessory, Face expression — that will have different levels of rarities. The team is working with Rarity Hunter, the “ICX network’s premier NFT rarity tool,” to provide a rarity framework.
Community owned. Community governed.
As mentioned earlier, Claw will function as a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO. Powering this DAO will be $CLAW, the ecosystem’s governance token. Feijo explains that $CLAW holders will completely own and govern the DAO.
“$CLAW by default is the DAO governance token that enables holders to vote on various proposals,” he says. “This is ultimately how the community takes part to shape the project and the team will be building toward community preferred goals.”
The $CLAW token will have other uses, too. For example, the aforementioned interchain mutations will require users to spend $CLAW tokens.
“We also expect $CLAW to be used as the ‘gas’ fee for BTP enabled cross-chain NFT transfers and the token is expected to be deflationary from these burning mechanisms,” says Feijo. “The team will continue to explore ways to increase the utility for $CLAW.”
Claws expects their presale to start in early May. Feijo says they will release their website in the next few days, and announce the exact date of the mint about 10 days prior to the event to allow ICON community members to unstake their ICX.
