Originally published 09/20/22 in DYOR with UNLOC by Maurice Chalfin
In 2020 & 2021 NFTs took center stage in the global crypto conversation. With primary utilities being “to use on Twitter as a profile picture”, it was widely understood that PFP NFTs did not have utility outside of chat channels opened in private discord servers. Enter 2022 & the Year of the Utility NFT. NFTs with associated utilities have been a growing trend on Solana this year; projects are innovating & tout utilities ranging from trading bots, staking-game mechanisms, raffle tools, browser extension tools, data analytics platforms, informational resources, community management tools, metaverse access, adjustable spaces or real-estate in a metaverse, discord bots, tax & accounting software, the list goes on ad infinitum.
All of these utilities are gated by NFT ownership, & more often than not, just the verification of ownership via a simple on-chain wallet check enables access to a tool, platform, or simply the collection’s associated community. While most of these utility projects have art, it’s not the core focus, & it can obviously show in the quality of the work. Then there are a select few projects which elevate their art on the same level as their utility — affording utilitarians, collectors, & even traders interest in the same collection.
I can remember ruminating & contemplating utility-based NFTs during the fall of 2021, thinking that that was the next step towards broad NFT adoption; adding utility, dynamism, & opportunities baked within. In our 3rd installment of DYOR with UNLOC, we’re digging into Bot Head — a collection of 2,420, amalgamating high-level art, branding, & storytelling with a suite of tools intended for participants in the Solana NFT ecosystem, from power users, new entrants, projects & everyone in between. While we are primarily focusing on the utility of the Bot Heads themselves, the project, its founders, & the art are multifaceted, multi-disciplinary, & worthy of their own article.
The Bot Heads were created by the team behind Pot Heads with the integral addition of Nate Gio on the art, branding, & storytelling. Bot Head is a self-proclaimed all-in-one software suite for (Solana) NFT creators & investors. Intended to reduce the friction in the day-to-day life of a person living &/or working in the Solana NFT space, Bot Heads offer an array suitable for many of the user types in our ecosystem. Gaining access to the Bot Head tools is outlined here:
Whitelist (WL) Management Tools
If you have been minting NFTs on Solana for any time, going through the WL process, & even “grinding” for WL spots, then you know how cumbersome the process of attaining them can be; completing social tasks without knowing if they counted your efforts, submitting links in various discord channels, requesting mods to check & give roles, manually verifying tasks, “posting proof”, submitting to different discord bots, the list goes on. Bot Head really simplifies this.
The Bot Head custom system integrates directly into Discord, popping up a weblink (with super clean UI) to complete the process. At present, the Bot Head team has released features focused on the project level — but on the individual level, owning a Bot Head does currently grants access to the Bot Head WL’ing process when obtaining WL spots from the Bot Head server itself or from projects using their tools. This is what the process looks like from the user perspective:
When in the Bot Head server, there is a #giveaway channel where WL spots are on offer from projects using the Bot Head tools for their launches. There is a super organized bot-generate announcement with all the links needed to not only submit for the WL spot but also find info on the project.
When you click on the “Claim a Slot” button — you are taken to the below screen where the steps to obtain your WL spot are outlined. Everything is automated — no need to “post proof” anymore. This shows the flow!
Pre-sale tracking is in the pipeline, so you can organize all your WL spots in one place, track what you are eligible for, & gain instant access to WL spots from Bot Head bots running in the minting project’s discord server. There will also be mint reminders & setting burner wallets. On the project level, the WL management is built out, intended to automate the entire whitelist management process for new NFT mints or projects just launching. “Automatic DAO Verification” is one of the core features, alleviating a major pain point for projects newly launching. The days of the #DAO-PROOF channel are gone, no more need for screenshots or individually assigned roles. The Bot Head software allows collab managers to clearly define which DAOs get how many WL spots & they can manage it easily.
There is an optional “Wallet Collection” feature to collect wallets from users before they get their WL roles. They have plans to integrate airdropping the WL tokens for the projects as well. For projects already established who provide WL opportunities to their communities, Bot Head’s specific WL tools act as a B2B tool targeted at alpha hunters, & Alpha DAOs, who are having to triage dozens, if not hundreds of WL submissions quickly. Using the Bot Head tools, these alpha hunters can create raffles, create FCFS giveaways, auto-post messages when new allocations are created as well as auto-notify winners when they win a raffle. Bot Head replaces a mash-up of Google forms, giveaway bots, zapier integrations, Google sheets, & web-hooks into a single tool. Here is a recording of Coulbourne lead Dev @ Bot Head describing the Collab Manager Tools (WL Management Tools+) in a Twitter Spaces.
Click the link above to access the full Twitter AMA!
Bot Head will send a notification when a WL opportunity arises, members can join the project’s discord & Bot Head will auto-assign their “verified holder” role. Also live updating of available slots for a WL, to avoid joining different servers only to find out the allocations have been used.
Instead of going too deep into the weeds here, the Bot Head team has done an awesome job of providing instructions & tutorials for the Presale Tool (New Projects) & Collab Tool (Existing Projects) here.
Instant Discord Holder Verification
Their Discord Holder Verification system is lightning fast & can authenticate as many wallets as they wish. No more emoji reactions to receive your roles in a server, if a Bot Head user authenticated with a Bot Head anywhere, their roles will be instantly updated in all Bot Head servers.
Sales & Listing Bots
Most project post mint have their sales & listing bot channels in Discord, Bot Head provides these bots with real-time data about when these NFTs change holders. The data relayed from sales & listings directly updates in the internal Bot Head system with holder data, eliminating delays in info-relay post-transactions.
The Art by Nate Gio
The Bot Head 3D artwork (PFPs included) by Nate Giordano stands out amongst a sea of pixel images & weed-smoking anthropomorphic apes (not to say we don’t love pixels & weed). Nate is a lifelong artist & a staple in the Solana 1/1 art scene. Inspired by robotics, flora & fauna, as well as internet & meme culture, the collection of 2,420 Bot Heads are each quite individually unique, regardless of still being generative.
The Bot Head team keeps delivering on their roadmap, working to improve the lives of NFT degens, traders, investors, project owners, & startups alike. PapaMooMoo the team’s lead Papa, is always on socials & in the discord communicating & supporting the community. We look forward to seeing what they have in store on the horizon! We plan to update this article or add an addendum as they continue to release features!
About Unloc
Unloc is working to become Solana’s premier financial products & consumer services platform for NFT owners, starting with fully customizable NFT-collateralized loan platform, built on and backed by Solana. With Unloc, borrowers can set their own loan amount, accessing the best loan-to-value ratio (LTV) for their rare NFTs. With multiple sub-offers, personalized LTV ratios, and the ability to choose to accept USDC or SOL, Unloc offers the ultimate NFT borrowing and lending experience. Multiple sub-offers optimize the loan for both borrowers & lenders according to their risk profiles.
UNLOC LINKS 🔗
Website: https://www.unloc.xyz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UnlocNFT
Discord: https://discord.gg/UnlocNFT
Instagram: https://instragram.com/UnlocNFT
Bot Head Links🔗
Website: https://bothead.io
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bot_Head_NFT
Discord: https://discord.gg/WMBgNWwTZx
