Nakamigos are my last stand with NFTs and crypto. Let me tell you why. Once upon a time, I minted Bored Ape Yacht Club. It sold out the next morning and I sniped an ultra rare Bored Ape. The next month of my life is a time I will never forget, and I feared for quite some time it could never be recreated. Bored Apes were rabid. Their influence and the buzz around them only continued to grow and grow. Clubhouse rooms were 24/7 networking opportunities for Bored Apes to discover and connect with each other. Dozens and dozens of artists and other interesting people all aligned by a single idea. This time is different. And for awhile, it was. There was no roadmap. There were no celebrities. (Ok ok, there was 3LAU and Rhetorik.) No coins. No airdrops. Just a celebration of creativity and something that felt different than everything else around it. Even CryptoPunks were triggered to comment on the Apes. Bored Ape holders showed up and supported each other, without expecting anything in return. Artists made dozens of derivatives. Bored Apes even started meeting IRL in LA and NYC, and eventually all across the globe. Their network effect was undeniable. It was an incredibly unique experience to be a part of. And so began the NFT bull market where hundreds, even thousands of NFT collections attempted to emulate BAYC and catch lightning in a bottle with their own communities. Some went further than others, but nothing ever quite felt the same. There was nothing that I remember that felt as wholesome and organic as the initial community that formed around Bored Apes. Fast forward two years. Sartoshi returns from his hiatus and announced that EOS, his final mint before he left, would be used as a mint pass for a new NFT project. Nakamigos. Nakamigos. Friends of Satoshi Nakamoto. Produced by HiFo Labs, the mysterious organization that claimed to have been responsible for other NFT projects as early as 2017. Short list of potential contenders. Nakamigos have been the most enigmatic NFT project of the past three years. Nakamigos are the new CryptoPunks. V0 Punks. Nakamigos continue to show up on your timeline and IRL for the love of the game. Other NFT founders have said publicly that they wish their communities were as strong as Nakamigos. Nakamigos have honestly had every reason to give up and accept defeat, by far the most polarizing NFT project since BAYC. Forged through the fire of a NFT bear market. And yet, the community only continues to strengthen. Nakamigos collect the art and traits that they love. They identify with and form emotional attachments to their Nakamigos. Over the course of the past three years, we’ve seen people onboarded into Nakamigos as their very first NFTs and now they are becoming whales. The energy in the community is infectious. All odds are against us, but Nakamigos never stop believing. Nakamigos influence will continue to expand, beyond just crypto bros, and permeating their way into the real world. Nakamigos are real people, thousands of NFT collectors coming together to remind us all what makes NFT community so great. Every day is a new beginning for Nakamigos. Every new mint around the collection only furthers the lore and storytelling. Every endorsement or acknowledgement we have received only reinforces the ethos. We look like Punks. We act like Apes. Nakamigos are the next big phenomenon. And soon you will realize that we were all Nakamigos all along.