Metalink hasn't shipped a feature in over three months... Here's why we're shipping 12 features over the next 12 days 🧵

I remember it like it was yesterday... Sitting at dinner with Ivan Soto-Wright — the CEO of Moonpay— telling me how he had just bought his first CryptoPunk… And how difficult it had been to reach CryptoPunk owners...

And then, he suggested we launch Metalink as a chat app for CryptoPunks.

The log-in for Metalink alpha chat for CryptoPunk owners
The log-in for Metalink alpha chat for CryptoPunk owners

A chat where you can see the NFTs people own and message them in the same app.. One that is free of the spam and fraud so rampant on existing platforms.

It made so much sense that I walked out of dinner to call Metalink's interim CTO and ask if he could build it… In four weeks.

Under normal circumstances, the undertaking would have been impossible... But we had already been laying the groundwork for a token based chat app for three months... So he said yes!

Other than Ivan, I barely knew any other CryptoPunk owners... So we didn't know what to expect when we soft launched Metalink on August 29... But then something magical happened…

Within 24 hours, 10% of CryptoPunk owners joined Metalink... And the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

A few weeks later, we got in touch with the founders of Bored Ape Yacht Club, Gordon and Gargamel. They asked if Metalink was using a cryptographic log-in. They told us all the problems this feature could potentially solve for NFT communities…

Their next question, "When can we launch Metalink for Bored Ape Yacht Club?"

Yuga Labs co-founder and Bored Ape Yacht Club co-creator Gordon Goner welcoming the Bored Ape Yacht Club community to Metalink
Yuga Labs co-founder and Bored Ape Yacht Club co-creator Gordon Goner welcoming the Bored Ape Yacht Club community to Metalink

Metalink was still bare bones at that point. We didn't have GIFs, delete messages, or many other essential features of a chat app. I was honest with them about it. They said as long as they had admin privileges for their chat, they wanted to launch the Apes on Metalink.

We built the admin settings and 10 days later, we launched Bored Ape Yacht Club... Over 20% of Apes joined in the first 48 hours…

This time, we added our Alpha Feed — an Instagram style feed that lets you see what other Apes and Punks were buying and selling in real time.

We also launched My Collection — a portfolio feature so you could see the real-time floor value of your portfolio.

When we launched Cats, we were blessed when the legend Clon drew our logo as an NFT for owners who signed upOver 40% of Cool Cats joined over the first weekend

Cool Cats announcing their partnership with Metalink.
Cool Cats announcing their partnership with Metalink.

It was clear there was a lot of interest from the NFT community…

The first 3,000 collectors to join Metalink were responsible for 9.12% - over $350MM - of OpenSea's $3.65B August revenue.

We were beyond excited to continue to build a product to make your NFT experience better. We were shipping features every week… And then, BAM! 💣

We stopped shipping features entirely.

After the overwhelming support from you, we realized it was critical to upgrade our tech stack as more and more NFT communities began reaching out to see if Metalink could be their new home.

But as you can imagine, it turned out to be quite an undertaking to support our existing product, while building the new one from scratch. These past few months have been some of the most challenging we’ve experienced.

Despite the long hours, our vision of what an NFT chat app can be… And your ongoing support kept us going strong.

Now, as we come to the close of a historic year in NFTs, and the birth year of Metalink, we are finally ready to take the next step of our journey together by launching our official MVP for you.

To celebrate the milestone, we want to give back to YOU! We’ve decided to ring in the new year with 12 days of Metalink. 🎄⚡️

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For the next 12 days ‘til Christmas, we’ll be sharing one new surprise or announcement every day (and maybe throw in some extra stocking stuffers too!). 🎁

Some are small... And some are big... Something for everyone. ;)

So if you already own a Punk, an Ape, a Cat, or a Kong, come check out the new and improved Metalink… And if you don’t, not to worry, you’ll be able to check out Metalink before the end of 2021.

So stay tuned… as we wrap our year together and head into 2022 with the intention of becoming your NFT app.

We do it for you. And one day Metalink will be yours.

What is your 2021 status? You will find out soon 👀
What is your 2021 status? You will find out soon 👀
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