Backpack and Mad Lads history goes hand in hand.
More than just an NFT collection, Mad Lads have become a cultural movement within the Solana ecosystem.
What are the Mad Lads?
Mad Lads is a 10,000 piece NFT collection created by Backpack, the artwork consists of 9,000 Lads and 1,000 Lassies. The NFTs were minted (launched) on the Solana blockchain on April, 2023 with 8,000+ individuals participating in the launch event, there are currently 3,000+ holders.
It was one of the most hyped and popular launches in Solana history, taking place over two days it resulted in one of the most memorable times in recent history.
- Coindesk | Heavy Demand for Madlads NFT Breaks Internet, Delays Mint
- Decrypt | ‘Honeypot Bitch’: How Mad Lads Tricked Bots Into Spending $250K on Fake NFTs
- NFT Plazas | Mad Lads Pulls a Fast One as Bots Distracted by $250k Fake Mint
- Mad News | Mad Mint: How The Mad Lads Broke The Internet
Mad Lads have became known as the most popular NFT collection on Solana from both a commercial and cultural aspect. The collection has posted more than $200M in secondary markets and numerous $100K+ individual NFT sales.
Holders of Mad Lads have been identified as the premier market for introducing new brands. They have amassed token drops, product discounts and boosted trading yields at an unheard of level.
- Pyth (3,000 $PYTH with extra 1,000 $PYTH if holder KYC'd on Backpack Exchange)
- Pyth (1/1 Pythia Mad Lads NFT)
- Wormhole (678,823,000 $W allocation)
- Dymension (706 $DYM per Lad)
- Pike (500K $PIU allocation)
- SharkyFi (169 $SHARX per Lad)
- Yaku Corp (1,000,000 $YAKU allocation)
- Zeta Markets (800,000 $ZEX allocation)
- Tensor (1/1 Tensorian via raffle on Backpack Exchange)
- Parcl (1,000,000 $PARCL allocation)
- Pulsr (951,000 $PULSR)
These are just a few of the rewards, see a complete list here.
What is the connection between Backpack and Mad Lads?
The Mad Lads NFT collection was created by backpack. It is the cultural arm of the platform. Holders act as evangelists for the brand have their finger on the pulse of new developments.
Mad Lads holders are the early adopters of Backpack technology and provide an intimate direct user feedback loop on new features.
The Mad Lads community is one of the most vocal and active groups of people found in web3. Their presence is a force of nature and they are found in every crypto comment section with war cries of 'Fock it', 'WAO' and 'Lads on top'.
What inspired the Mad Lads artwork?
When Backpack first decided to create an NFT collection they spent months designing a collection which was eventually shuttered. Starting from scratch, they decided to adopt a 'humanoid' design and place a special focus on developing the highest quality artwork the space had seen in years.
Science. History. Pop culture.
These were the design pillars which influenced the design process. At this point, the name 'Mad Lads' name and the fock it mentality began to emerge as the artwork began to take shape.
The female component, Mad Lassies, broke out as the most popular aspects of the collection and is widely hailed as one of the best representations of women in the space. They command a significant price hike compared to their 9,000 counterparts and are a major element in the success of the collection.
In addition to the core collection, honorary NFTs have been designed for high profile lassies including Iggy Azalea, Hailey Welch and Meltem Demirors
Yann Penno is the artist that brought Mad Lads to life. The award winning artist has 10+ years in the digital art world and staked his claim in the web3 world as the lead designer of Aurory.
I'm a comic and animation artist by trade.
Because of this, when I first started working with Tristan and Armani on what would become the Mad Lads, I tested multiple characters and dynamic poses because I wanted to avoid the stiff postures that are a typical characteristic of NFT collections.
Yann Peno
What does Mad Lads mean for NFT culture?
Compelling community culture has been the bedrock of Mad Lads and Backpack since day zero. At the heart of it all is the WAO movement, the result of two years of relentless community building. Mad Lads are a statement of unity and embodiment of WAO culture.
WAO. We are one.
WAO is a rallying cry which instantly identifies the bearer as a member of the Mad Lads community. It represents a large, diverse faction of like-minded individuals who share a passion for art, technology and a permissionless world.
Mad Lads was launched in the depths of crypto winter when the future of Solana (and many others) was up in the air. In many ways this formed unbreakable bonds between people who were experiencing the same challenges.
The Mad Lads mint presented a distinct before and after moment where everything changed for the better.
Further Information
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to our support team via support@backpack.exchange.
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