How do you offer a token that offers both value and access? This is the question GaryVee has tried to answer with what has become one of the most successful NFT projects out there – VeeFriends.
VeeFriends is an NFT (Non-Fungible Token) project pioneered by serial entrepreneur and VaynerX Chairman, Gary Vaynerchuk, generally known as “GaryVee”.
As a marketing expert and CEO of VaynerMedia, GaryVee enjoys large followings on different social media platforms. He uses these channels to motivate and guide upcoming entrepreneurs through the challenges of finding an idea, starting a business, and running a successful business.
With his social media community serving as the backbone behind the NFT project, GaryVee aims to “lay out a blueprint” for NFT projects by influencers with large audiences.
In this article, we’d be discussing everything there is to know about the VeeFriends NFT. We’ll also examine how you can get a hold of one of these if you want to.
What is VeeFriends NFT?
VeeFriends is a 10,255-token NFT project. It contains 268 unique characters hand-drawn by Gary. Each character bears a self-building quality, like “Accountable”, “Motivated”, and “Ambitious”; with each being a quality Gary would love his followers to attain.
But these tokens are more than mere art hosted on the blockchain. Owning one of these NFTs makes you a member of the VeeFriends community – a community of friends of GaryVee.
Cheerful Chipmunk was purchased for 13.8000 $ETH ($43,114.37 USD) by https://t.co/0ZP1APzf4A from https://t.co/rjfUQxFQyR
— VeeFriends Bot (@veefriendsbot) February 9, 2022
Group: Admission
Conference: Core
Editions: 1 of 20 (#19)
Category: Mammalhttps://t.co/BgUNo0FcU0 pic.twitter.com/p4dXArk0H0
The tokens also grant you access to “VeeCon” (Vee Conference), a yearly multi-day event with a focus on entrepreneurship, marketing, creativity, and all-around fun.
The conference promises to bring together the best minds in the entrepreneurial world and the web3 space, alongside performances by numerous upcoming artists. The first of these events is set to hold on May 19-22, 2022 at the US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN.
Each token is also unique. Each character is part of a unique ecosystem, with specific benefits to be enjoyed by its owners.
For instance, owners of the “Gift Goats” character can expect a surprise gift once a year. “Hangout Hawks” owners will enjoy access to a virtual hangout with GaryVee 5 times a year for 3 years. And, “Facetime Fly” owners will get a one-on-one meeting with GaryVee each year.
In total, there are 10,255 tokens. Of these, there are 555 “gift goats”, 300 access tokens, and 9400 admission tokens. Each token is an ERC-721 standard token that receives its utility through its metadata.
How to Buy a VeeFriends NFT
The VeeFriends project was originally launched on May 11, 2021. It was immediately available for purchase on VeeFriends.com. Upon release, each token could be gotten through a “Dutch Auction” on the site.
Since the original mint, however, the token can only be purchased on secondary markets like OpenSea.io. According to OpenSea, this NFT collection now has a floor price of 13 ETH (or $34,148 at the time of writing).
To confirm you’re buying the original VeeFriends NFT, look out for the verified checkmark beside the collection name. Go through the collection and find the one you desire to buy.
For your purchase, click the “Buy Now” button on the NFT’s description page. Then, sign in with your Ethereum wallet (if you’ve not already done so), such as MetaMask. Of course, you also want to make sure you’ve got enough ETH to cover the purchase and gas fees.
Note that you won’t be able to pay for a VeeFriends NFT using your PayPal or Credit Card. All payments have to be made using crypto.
The VeeFriends Team
The VeeFriends NFT project is powered by Gary Vaynerchuk in collaboration with Nameless – an NFT minting platform by nft42.
GaryVee is an entrepreneur and social media influencer with a combined following of about 13 million on Twitter and Instagram. He prides himself in recognizing era-defining tech trends early on and making the most of them by investing into them.
nft42 is a VC-backed company founded in 2019, with a focus on helping brands build and manage both metaverse and NFT products, without needing to have any technical knowledge of the blockchain. Other notable projects they’ve worked on include NFTBoxes and Joyworld.
Also important to the project was the already existing VeeFriends discord community, which currently boasts over 100,000 members. The community also boasts musician and producer, Richie Souf, amongst its members – who created the music used for the NFT project’s promotion.
The VeeFriends Roadmap
Massive call just now for @veefriends project .. can’t wait to share in the fall … the work of building these characters over the next 40 years will be my great pleasure … I’m so hyped !!!
— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) July 15, 2021
Gary touts the VeeFriends NFT project as a 40-year project which he plans to oversee for the rest of his life. This means continued utility for the foreseeable future. However, exactly how this will play out will only be unveiled over time.
What’s clear right now is that the project will continue to provide access to Gary via the VeeCon, Virtual Conferences, and one-on-one annual meetings for the next three years (2022, 2023, and 2024) – depending on the token you own.
In August 2021, Gary announced a Pre-Launch Program (PLP) for NFT holders. This program enables new projects reach the VeeFriends NFT holders and Gary’s social media followers.
To enjoy this access, new projects will be required to donate 555 of their project tokens to VeeFriends. These tokens will then be randomly distributed to existing NFT holders. In turn, the project owners gain access to the vibrant VeeFriends community which should help improve the project’s value.
The VeeFriends team has also announced a VeeFriends Series 2 phase which is expected to launch in April 2022. According to Gary, this series will see the addition of 15 new characters to the collection.
The next evolution of VeeFriends, coming this April.
— VeeFriends (@veefriends) March 9, 2022
Series 2 Intuitive Iguana in Competing Pose at Dangerous Desert
More info: https://t.co/wuMOf4aiJy pic.twitter.com/50qKPOO4Tx
Series 2 is designed to offer new entrants into the VeeFriends community a more affordable route in. The project is expected to cost under $1,000 for buyers. Holders of ‘Book Games’ token will enjoy early access to the project.
VeeFriends Series 2 is the next evolution of VeeFriends, and is priced at under $1000 USD in ETH. While VeeFriends Series 2 will not have VeeCon access, it will be a great way to join the VeeFriends ecosystem at a lower cost. https://t.co/gIgV5c7LDM
— VeeFriends (@veefriends) March 8, 2022
That said, there’s no announcement pertaining to what comes next after Series 2, or what the utility of the token will look like beyond 2024.
What makes VeeFriends Different?
The VeeFriends collection isn’t a collection of the most visually-appealing artworks (phase 1 anyways). In fact, each “artwork” looks like a basic doodle rather than a sophisticated expression of creativity or more polished work that you see from other NFT collections. This is hardly surprising as each piece was hand-drawn by Gary who’s simply not an artist.
In place of a visual appeal, each VeeFriends offers profound meaning which holders may relate with. Think, names like “Honest Honey Bee”, “Profound Possum”, or “Witty Weasel”.
VeeFriends also sets itself apart with its utility. Unlike most NFT projects which speak vaguely about utility, VeeFriends offer tangible real-life perks to valuable opportunities like an exclusive conference, virtual meeting with Gary, special gifts, etc.
Thanks to its utility and symbolic meaning, VeeFriends sets itself apart from the majority of NFT projects on the market.
VeeFriends Project Reception
The VeeFriends project was generally well-received, particularly within Gary’s social media community. The community viewed it as an opportunity to show their support for Gary, while yearning to benefit from the access the project grants them.
There were the usual rumblings about the value of NFTs and the price of the tokens. However, the collection’s acceptance and prices have been driven by its inherent utility.
At the time of writing, there are over 5,200 VeeFriends token holders. The project has also enjoyed a cumulative trading volume of 41,500 ETH ($108 million+ at today’s prices). Of these, the highest-selling token was the “Empathy Elephant” token which sold for an eye-watering 130 ETH in January 2022.
Website | Twitter | Discord | OpenSea
VeeFriends FAQs
How many VeeFriends are there?
There are 268 unique VeeFriends characters and a total of 10,255 individual tokens. Each character type varies in rarity, with some of them being unique, and others having up to 20 similar tokens.
Can you still buy VeeFriends?
Yes, VeeFriends can still be bought via OpenSea or Rarible. Be sure to look out for the verified check mark, though, so you do not buy from a fake collection.
What are VeeFriends selling for?
The current floor price of the VeeFriend NFTs is 13 ETH. However, while a few VeeFriends have sold for over 100 ETH, others have sold well below the 10 ETH mark. The final price of each token will depend on its rarity as well as its inherent utility.
Is VeeFriends an ETH project?
Yes, the VeeFriends tokens are ERC-721 standard tokens, and can only be bought using ETH and WETH.
