The May 2021 release of Meebits is the spiritual heir to the still-iconic CryptoPunks collection. And if CryptoPunks is the ideal 2D avatar for Web2 social media sites, Meebits aims to be its Web3 equivalent by giving the popular CryptoPunks look a 3D makeover. Although perhaps most known for beginning the PFP NFT craze with the CryptoPunks collection in 2017, Larva Labs has also developed Autoglyphs, a group of on-chain generative NFT artwork. The future of this NFT type may be represented by a collection of 20,000 PFP NFTs stored on the Ethereum blockchain.

What is a Meebit?

As the third major project of Larva Labs, Meebits intended to dramatically incorporate everything the company had learned from its previous two projects, including its experience creating the 2D art generator that spawned the initial CryptoPunks collection. Therefore, much work was devoted to verifying that the 3D method used to construct each of the 20,000 Meebits was error-free. With so many Meebits included in the first release, it was only natural that a large amount of this work was committed to ensuring that each Meebit was visually appealing and distinctive within the collection.

Consequently, Meebits NFTs may be categorized into seven kinds. That includes, in ascending order of rarity, Humans, Pigs, Elephants, Robots, Skeletons, Visitors, and the exceedingly rare Dissected kind, of which only five have been coined, and none can be purchased at this time. Recent estimates place the average selling price of these rare NFTs at about 700 ETH, which is more than $900 thousand.

Sounds great. But how can I get Meebits?

Meebits’ revolutionary entrance into the NFT market was aided by the degree to which Larva Labs pushed the Meebits community to swap and trade with one another. Focusing on offering a smooth user experience on its official marketplace was crucial to this achievement.

On Meebits’ official NFT marketplace, consumers may take advantage of a zero-fee system that “allows simple buy, bid, and ask transactions” as well as more profound, more complex transactions, such as” ‘like-kind exchanges involving up to 100 Meebits,” according to the site’s official description. A market section is operated off-chain to save gas costs and network use. However, this does not mean you will never face fees while using the market. Existing instances include when consumers must pay the average Ethereum gas charge to stop ongoing transactions.

This convenience is also included in the marketplace user interface, which gives interested customers a wealth of information at a glance. With all of these benefits accessible to customers investigating Meebits’s integrated marketplace, it’s hard to see why they would go elsewhere. Meebits are also accessible on a larger NFT marketplace for anyone looking for them there. Like other extensive collections, NFTs are readily available on several of the largest NFT marketplaces, including OpenSea and the Crypto.com NFT marketplace. Meebits is a full-body 3D update of the legendary CryptoPunks style. 3D in this context alludes to a voxel art style akin to that of the OG Punks, other Larva Labs characters, and the virtual residents of Minecraft. What is the turnabout?

That is all in service of Meebits’ most audacious goal, which is to replicate CryptoPunks’ social media success in the metaverse. That entails providing users access to high-quality 3D avatars for virtual, augmented reality, and elsewhere.

To make this a reality, It provided consumers with a crucial tool for using their Meebits to their fullest potential in 3D spaces: a T-pose OBJ file. Users may now import their beloved Meebits into the vast majority of 3D modeling and animation apps, enabling them to explore to their heart’s content.

Why Meebits is crucial

Even though Yuga Labs acquired the rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits in March 2022, we should remember that Larva Labs initially created both brands. This sentiment is shared by Sergio Silva, co-founder of MeebitsDAO and an early investor.

In an interview, Silva said: “Even though Yuga Labs “owns” Meebits today, Larva Labs was the original creator.

Larva Labs has always been a pioneer of innovation. Indeed, Larva Labs’s Meebits NFT series is designed with the future in mind. For instance, the publication of Meebits preceded the release of Horizon Worlds for several months, as well as Facebook’s widely publicized rebranding as Meta, which exposed the general public to the metaverse concept. Considering that it took two years for the market to put a high value on Larva’s first two collections (Punks and Autoglyphs), I assume it will be another year or two before Meebits achieve recognition.

Meebits are the OG interoperable avatars of the metaverse. We’re giving them new life with the rollout of MB1, an experiential hub for @MeebitsNFTs next chapter. Read more about it on our official blog: https://t.co/j5KjV7b2LJ

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) November 3, 2022

Meebits is well positioned to capitalize on the forward-thinking enthusiasm, given the promise of Web3 compatibility as the metaverse continues to attract people. There are now several open Web3 metaverse experiences that might represent your virtual self.

Silva said, “I think them to be as close as perfect as a product can be.” “They are the first fully-rigged 3D characters for use in any Metaverse, and they have their no-fee marketplace based on smart contracts,” he stated, adding, “I feel they simply need time.” However, this additional time might stretch beyond completing Meebits’ community infrastructure building.

What does Meebits’ future entail?

In the fall of 2022, we first saw the results of this lengthy construction procedure for Meebits. Beginning on August 15, all Meebit NFTs received commercial rights, further outlining what the community may and may not do with its intellectual property in the metaverse and the real world. This presentation also revealed that compatibility with The Sandbox Game had been established, allowing Meebit users to play the game using their Meebits.

Then, in October, the company launched a new activation to provide insight into the project’s future and let holders get free 1/1 copies of their own NFTs. Yuga said in his statement that Meebits innovation would proceed in stages, with these prints representing the “MB1” phase.

Also read: The CryptoPunks’ Evolution

“MB1 signifies the beginning of this narrative, the first chapter. In a press release, Danny Greene, the brand lead for Meebits, said, “As the Meebits go on new adventures, this website will expand to enable access to each new experience.” Each new experience, activity, or opportunity will have its landing page, and there will be nine releases of MB1.

Considering Yuga’s promise of innovation in the future, the wisest course of action may be to see how Web3 evolves over the next several months and years. As integrated accessibility and preparedness for the metaverse become more desirable characteristics for other NFT efforts, PFP collections and subsequent ones will continue to evolve.