Purr-fectly Unique: The NatCats Phenomenon

Not too long ago, PFP collections found themselves in a slump. Sentiment hit rock bottom as faith waned in teams and founders who failed to deliver on promises to their project holders. CryptoPunks, the first PFP collection, maintains its value solely on provenance. However, the PFP space veered off course, with questions of “but what’s the utility?” overshadowing the art for collections that followed afterwards.

A recent PFP collection, NatCats, has emerged to not only return to the roots of what made PFPs so great, but simultaneously bring revolution to the way in which they are created.

What Is a NatCat?

Unlike traditional NFTs, NatCats derive their uniqueness from non-human determined allocations of traits and supply, unlocking a new dimension in NFT creation. The groundbreaking concept uses the blockchain to determine not only the collection size, but also the traits of each cat. This is an innovative departure from the conventional method, where developers predefine characteristics.

NatCats employs a multi-pattern DMT framework, using the $dmt-natcats deployment as the foundation for token supply and trait generation. The “blk” field, equivalent to block height in DMT4, acts as a unique key for selecting artwork traits. For example, a NatCats DMT mint for a specific block may return TRUE for the trait “earring” and FALSE for “bow,” based on the contents of “blk.”

As the supply of NATs can fluctuate over time, the rarity of a given trait is subject to change. This shift introduces an element of unpredictability, which some say has fostered a sense of excitement akin to the early days of Ordinals.

On that very note, currently, purchasing a NatCat presents technical challenges reminiscent of those early days. While MScribe has just gone live with trading for the collection, and OrdinalsWallet are rumored to be working on it too, trading has primarily occured via OTC trades in Discord servers. Although OTC trading is generally viewed as risky, potential buyers can mitigate risks by verifying listings on Magic Eden and cross-referencing with geniidata using the NatCat’s inscription number.

An Undeniable Charm

The unique method of crafting a NatCat is just one distinctive element of these creations. The artwork itself is bold, sporting a distinct and unmistakable style that has been resonating with art enjoyers, possessing a certain je nais ce quoi.

While I can’t quite pinpoint what makes NatCats stand out so nicely for me, there’s an irrefutable allure. It may be the CryptoPunk-style blocky formation of the PFP characters, the vibrant and varied color palette that grabs attention, or the simplistic yet perfectly formed shapes that define each cat. Likely all three, plus more. There’s an undeniable charm to the NatCats, and the origin story of how each one came to be truly adds the icing on the cake.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, NatCats represent a revolutionary leap in the world of not only NFTs, but also Bitcoin, driven by the integration of Digital Matter Theory and historical BTC data. Even with many marketplaces still yet to host the collection, the highest OTC trade has been made for $66,000. Are we about to see a lot more of the NatCats on our timelines?