Newsletter #236: NFT boom on Farcaster

This week’s featured collector is Smartboe

Smartboe is sharing beautiful futuristic and naturalistic images. Take a look at their collection at lazy.com/smartboe


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Last week we asked: What trend from the 2025 Art Basel x UBS report will shape the future of collecting most? The majority of respondents (40%) chose the rise of Gen Z digital collectors, signaling a clear belief that the next generation’s approach to technology, identity, and ownership will drive the art market’s evolution. The remaining votes were evenly split among women leading art spending, digital art going mainstream, and values-driven collecting — all trends pointing toward a more diverse, inclusive, and purpose-led market.

For NFT and digital art communities, these results reinforce a powerful insight: the future of collecting won’t just be digital — it will be generational, values-based, and shaped by voices that were once at the margins of the traditional art world.


A meme, a mini app, and 36,000 mints later — Farcaster just had its first real NFT moment

Sometimes, all it takes to wake up a blockchain is a good meme.

Over the past week, Farcaster — the decentralized social network built for crypto-native communities — saw an explosion of activity thanks to an unexpected catalyst: The Warplets, a playful NFT mini app that turned profile pictures into onchain collectibles. What began as a lighthearted meme has quickly turned into one of the biggest viral moments Farcaster has seen yet.

The name “Warplet” started as an inside joke — a nickname for Farcaster’s in-app wallet, left over from the Warpcast era. Earlier this year, Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero posted a sketch of a friendly alien mascot he’d created for the wallet. The character, shared alongside an announcement about free signups, went viral across both Farcaster and X.

That moment of nostalgia caught the attention of Angel Say, co-founder of the Resolve VR app and creator of several Farcaster mini apps, including Livecaster and Harmonybot. Say saw an opportunity to merge meme culture, identity, and onchain participation — and from that spark, The Warplets NFT collection was born.

The drop works like this: using Harmonybot, Say’s mini app takes your Farcaster ID (FID) and your profile picture, then blends them with the Warplet mascot into a unique NFT.

The mint isn’t just about art; it’s tied into Farcaster’s token economy. A portion of every mint fee goes toward buying and burning community tokens — originally CHAOS, later redirected to WARP. The mint also includes built-in sharing features, allowing users to post their new Warplet directly to their Farcaster feed.

This simple, social-first mechanic — mint, share, and flex — fueled the frenzy. Within days, over 26,000 Warplets had been minted, and secondary trading took off immediately on OpenSea.

The ripple effects were massive. On October 27, Farcaster hit a new all-time high in daily active users. More than 20,000 people bought Farcaster Pro subscriptions in 24 hours — generating roughly $400,000 in new revenue — just to become eligible to mint.

Meanwhile, The Warplets collection saw over 36,000 sales and more than 566 ETH in trading volume within its first days. For a social protocol still defining its NFT strategy, this was a breakthrough moment — proof that the network’s mini app ecosystem could deliver real cultural and economic traction.

Why It Matters

The Warplet moment feels like a time warp back to 2021’s NFT mania — but with smarter infrastructure and deeper community roots. Unlike the speculative rushes of the past, this boom was built on organic participation: a meme, a mini app, and a sense of shared play.

It also hints at what’s next for onchain culture. As Farcaster continues to blur the lines between social media, identity, and ownership, moments like this suggest how easily participation itself can become collectible.

For NFT collectors, the takeaway is clear: the next wave of digital culture might not be about expensive 1-of-1s or high-end auctions — it’s about social objects that live, breathe, and evolve inside the platforms we already use.

The Future of the Warplets

As of now, The Warplets mint remains open, though technical hiccups have temporarily paused and reopened access for Pro subscribers. Developer Angel Say has hinted that new features — like rerolls or mini-games — could extend the project into new directions.

Whether or not The Warplets becomes a lasting collection or simply a cultural flashpoint, it’s already proven one thing: the Farcaster community can generate viral, value-creating energy out of thin air — or, in this case, out of one small, wide-eyed alien.

Learn more at Bankless and Warplet.


What’s the biggest takeaway from the Warplet NFT boom on Farcaster?


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