Following weeks of build-up and excitement, Lonely Pop has finally revealed their artwork after a week of sales. While there was a lot of hype and excitement building up around the project, success wasn’t guaranteed given the current market conditions which had an impact on plans for the mint which were created well before crypto markets started to plunge in May.

However, by listening to the community and readjusting their course, the team could prevent the project from being dead on arrival. 

What is Lonely Pop

The Lonely Pop project is a collaboration between 0xStudio and Noinah (A.K.A. Bush Robbins).

Bush Robbins

Bush Robbins is an artist based in Thailand with a large variety of collections hosted on the Ethereum blockchain. Before Lonely Pop, much of his work was hosted on Foundation. Some of his work has also been listed on Opensea. 

NFT collections by Noinah:

• NFT Postcard

• A girl and the yellow raincoat

• Short Hair Girl

• NOINAH 

0xStudio

0xStudio is the web3 team behind the Lonely Pop collection. The team is competent and full of experienced members who are well-versed in web3 technology. With their assistance, Lonely Pop has been able to take on a larger project scope than previous collections created by Bush Robbins. 

0xStudio NFT Projects:

• 3Landers

• 0xOG Pass

• Uncertainty Principles 

What was wrong with the Lonely Pop Mint

Upon the project's announcement, opinions of the project were relatively high. The cartoonish artwork was well-received by many.

However, as crypto markets began to crash in May 2022, NFTs across the Ethereum and Solana networks started to lose value quickly. Hyped projects such as PxN and Vivid saw their floor prices tank as traders became more critical of the tokens they were willing to hold through harsh market conditions. 

At the same time, a new wave of degeneracy swept Ethereum when Goblintown.wtf began its free mint. The demand for NFTs quickly changed and the desire for high-priced mints quickly dropped. 

This became an issue for Lonely Pop when they announced that their mint would be a Dutch auction starting at 1.5 Ether.

Changes based on community opinion

To many in the community, a Dutch auction starting at 1.5 Eth came off as tone-deaf at a time when 1 Eth was dropping below $2,000. The team behind the project began to look like rug pullers and the momentum driving the project was suddenly at risk of collapsing. 

However, the team was firm and decided to continue with the mint at 1.5 Eth despite the various complaints around the project. To no one’s surprise, when minting began activity was low. So low in fact, that the team was forced to pause the mint and reevaluate their situation.

Realizing their mistakes, the team looked towards their community for opinions to determine what would be the best plan going forward in order to mint out the project. 

While many argued that a free mint was the best idea, the team still had to earn a profit to pay their staff. Thus, they decided that .15 Eth would be the best option and also reimbursed token holders that had initially minted the Lonely Pop tokens at 1.5 Eth. 

Positive results after art reveal

After adjusting their mint price, the team then scheduled a new date for the public sale and thanked the community for their support.

The collection was able to fully mint out during the public sale. Even more impressive was the fact that the tokens were holding a stable floor price. Unlike most projects during such a down market, the Lonely Pop floor was growing and showing signs of life. 

Upon reveal, the project hit a new high of .35 Eth which was more than double the public mint price. The project was a success. 

Web3 is built on community

People loved the art; but more importantly, the team listened to their community. Instead of ignoring their concerns, 0xStudios took the time to understand why traders were hesitant to mint such an expensive project at a time when Ether was constantly dropping in price. This resulted in a newfound confidence in Lonely Pop which took off after the art reveal. 

As time continues, we can remain optimistic about Lonely Pop and what the team at 0xStudio plans to do with the collection. It will be exciting.