Rektguy, an NFT project created by OSF and Mando, announced yesterday that its October snapshot of holders’ wallets addresses was done to deliver a surprise gift: equity in the company behind the project, Rekt Brands Inc. CT denizens celebrated the move, which is new and innovative in the space.
According to an X post by OSF, Rekt Brands Inc. owns and controls the Rektguy contract, logo, intellectual property, and “all the goodwill Rektguy has built.” The leaders of the company are planning to launch its first venture in 2024 — Rekt Drinks, which will sell, according to its X profile, flavored sparkling water.
The equity is not attached to the NFTs themselves, but rather the wallet addresses. Therefore, participants who wish to receive equity will not be able to buy their way in by purchasing an NFT from the collection. In addition, the art from Rektguy will remain CC0, or in the public domain with no copyright restrictions.
Rektguy originated in early 2022 with a culture built around getting “rekt,” a common term in cryptocurrency when something occurs that destroys profits and perhaps puts the trader in the loss column. Since the project’s debut in May 2022, it has had many highlights, including internal competitions, wagers about tattoos and haircuts, and more.
In similar news, The Plague announced it would do the same thing as Rektguy: give holders a percentage of the equity in the company behind the project. Could this signal a new trend, one away from the creation of coins and DAOs to a more standard equity approach? Time will tell, but there’s no doubt the NFT space is getting off to a rocking start in 2024.
Companies Reward NFT Holders
While giving NFT holders equity in a company is a new step in the space, for years companies have been rewarding NFT holders with a variety of perks and prizes: special gifts that come with owning the digital asset. Here are three stories about those types of rewards, all from the past six months.
First, last week, Starbucks announced the final deadline for the ultimate prize of its Web3 loyalty program: a trip to Costa Rica to visit the Starbucks Hacienda. The reward went to the twenty users who accrued the most loyalty points up until January 1st.
Next, four months ago, Italian fashion house Diesel released a special NFT set that gave holders access to the brand’s Milan Fashion Week show. In addition, the holders also received allowlist privileges to the upcoming Diesel NFT drops, big news for fans of the brand.
Lastly, six months ago, NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club announced a special perk for holders: a tool called “Made by Apes” that allows holders to easily verify their projects created with their Bored Ape intellectual property.
As you can see, though gifting NFT holders equity in a company is new, other projects have been rewarding their holders for some time. However, if this trend of equity giving continues, it could spell a new era in NFTs, one with some significant profits at stake.