Cool Cats is an NFT collection of 10,000 algorithmically generated blue-furred cats on the Ethereum blockchain.
In 2012, non-fungible token (NFT) was born as a concept known as ‘Colored Coins’ that sadly never materialized due to technological limitations. Fast forward to 2014, Kevin McCoy finally brought the first NFT to the world called ‘Quantum.’
Since then, NFTs have gone through continuous evolutions, including their introduction into the Ethereum network, integrating gaming and metaverse features, and bringing holders exclusive experiences. But this dizzying progress is not yet done as NFTs continue to evolve as something more, and several great projects are proving that these digital assets are here to stay ー and dominate.
Table of Contents
Background
Cool Cats is one of today’s most energetic communities in the NFT space, headed by Tom Williamson, a blockchain and smart contract expert; Rob Mehwe, a web developer; Colin Egan, an illustrator; and Evan Luza, a creative director. The dynamic team aims to redefine what an ‘innovation’ is and make a dent in the NFT industry through its furry and adorable collection.
What are Cool Cats?
Cool Cats is an NFT collection of 10,000 algorithmically generated blue-furred cats on the Ethereum blockchain. This collection positions itself as a family-friendly and community-centered project that intends to bring positivity to its entire ecosystem.
The project lives up to its name with the “coolness” of its well-drawn traits like their faces, bodies, glasses, hats, clothes, and more. But the felines’ cool factor isn’t created equal as some labels including “wild,” “classy,” or “exotic,” are regarded as higher than the others. This ranking system is similar to what CryptoPunks and CryptoSkulls are using in categorizing their NFT characters.
Egan’s Highschool Drawings
One of the coolest facts about Cool Cats is that all the cute kitties in the collection came from Egan’s high school drawings. According to him, he drew cartoon characters his whole life, but his passion for cat illustrations started during high school and was eventually known for his fascination with kitty doodles. He refined these drawings with details such as measured heights of lines, ears, and whiskers, and he later called this improved family of cats “Blue Cat,” which became the direct inspiration of the Cool Cats.
Why Cool Cats Became Popular?
While Bored Ape Yacht Club sparked the profile picture (PFP) NFT craze, Cool Cats triggered the industry’s big wave of digital avatar frenzy. Even though its launching wasn’t a flop and was well-received by NFT collectors, its real popularity and success blasted days after its minting, thanks mainly to celebrity endorsements.
One of the first stars that jumped into this trend was boxing legend Mike Tyson, who turned his Cool Cats NFT into his Twitter profile picture. Other personalities have followed in purchasing their own NFT cats, including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, DJ Steve Aoki, and actress Reese Witherspoon.
What are Cool Pets?
Cool Pets is Cool Cat’s companion collection, leveraging the project’s popularity to expand its characters and collectors base further. The collection, composed of 19,999 equally adorable creatures, has allocated half its supply to the public sale and the other 50% for Cool Cats owners.
What’s interesting with Cool Pets characters is that they start as an egg, and the food and other items given to them by their holders would determine their look and elements. Furthermore, the characters will also evolve into either Fire, Water, Air, or Grass element, depending on how their owners would take care of them. CoolPets’ world also offers quests including ‘Go Greet the Frogs,’ ‘Save the Forest,’ ‘Get to Know the Townsfolk,’ and ‘Sniff the Danger, ‘ which would allow holders to earn $MILK tokens.
MILK Token
MILK Token is Cool Cats’ “social token” which allows holders to purchase items including chests for battle, housing, and pet, while also serving as currency for the quests. The community celebrated the introduction of the MILK token by posting videos showing themselves drinking milk from small amounts up to an entire gallon, showing the Cool Cats people’s fun and outgoing side.
Utilities
Cooltopia
Cooltopia is the official name of Cool Cats’ ecosystem, composed of its Twitter and Discord communities, Cool Shop, marketplace, and other virtual places where holders can hang out and gain additional privileges. Holders also gain an exclusive role in Cool Cats’ Discord channel that would help them become an active part of the community and engage with fellow NFT owners. Cooltopia also offers immersive games, tokens, engaging community events, collaborations, and other activities that can bring fun to the holders and expand their digital assets.
Non-Exclusive License
The team offers all holders the privilege to do anything they want with their Cool Cats NFTs, giving them the freedom to express their creativity on these assets. But holders should also know that the team possesses the right to use any cats in the collection for marketing, merchandising, and other purposes.
Time Magazine Partnership
In recognition of Cool Cats’ significant potential, publication giant Time Magazine has partnered with the collection for an exclusive ‘Time-themed’ cats. The collection has 400 images of Cool Cats reading their Time Magazines in different and sometimes crazy places. One interesting fact here is that the Cool Cats team Williamson, Mehwe, Egan, and Luza were also the ones who created the exclusive collection, each contributing 100 pieces of NFTs.
But these NFTs weren’t directly sold to interested collectors; instead, Time has organized a competition where participants are required to create a creative meme for the collaboration. Eight winners won the competition, and the holders who participated in the event received the remaining 392 NFTs through a raffle.
Sian Morson as Community Vice President
Sian Morson is one of the most respected figures in the tech and literary industry and is also known for her advocacies for diversity. As an overview of her career, Morsonis a founder of three tech companies, creator of the award-winning Cast Beauty app, and author of two best-selling books titled ‘Design for iOS Development’ and ‘iOS with Sketch.’
With her exemplary image, achievements, and expertise, the Cool Cats team recognized her as the best choice for the community’s vice president post. Morson intends to use her deep community-building experiences to enhance Cooltopia further, keep the members’ passion alive and highlight their significance in this exclusive world.
Stolen Cool Cats and Mutant Apes Yacht Club (MAYC)
An original (OG) owner of eight Cool Cats and two MAYC NFTs became the latest victim of a phishing scam that stole all his ten valuable collections. According to him, his NFTs disappeared when he clicked a legitimate-looking link to the Goblintown NFT collection, currently one of the hottest projects in the space. Whether he actually clicked the link or connected his wallet remains unclear, including the device he used for the transaction.
In light of this latest incident, experts advise NFT collectors to become more vigilant against sophisticated scams by checking each link’s characters one by one to ensure its authenticity. They also advise holders to store NFTs inside a cold wallet, such as Ledger, to create additional protection against cyber risks.
Conclusion
Cool Cats has already established a strong foundation through its active community, celebrity endorsements, utilities, and companion collection. But given the continuous march of NFT projects willing to give meatier perks, it shouldn’t remain confident and must continue refining its current offerings to strengthen its community further.
