The Concept

NFTs have long been described by critics as “worthless JPEGs”, or digital images that have no inherent value. Now, for the first time, an NFT collection has a permanent price for redemption — a built-in floor price of one dollar for each non-fungible token.

Dollar Store Kids is a collection of NFTs each bundled with (which can be redeemed for) one US Dollar Coin, a dollar-backed stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain. The release of the collection challenged the popular notion of ‘NFTs as digital art of questionable value’ and instead, demonstrated the value that can be embedded within the art itself.

We are familiar with traditional NFT collections: Dollar Store Kids instead introduces the concept of financial NFT collections. Dollar Store Kids presents a one-of-a-kind collectible that portrays the early journey of financial NFTs within a space that so deeply treasures innovation.

The Launch

On September 1st, 2022, 5:26pm EST, 3333 users minted a Dollar Store Kid for 0.001 ETH (at a “Dollar Mint”) and joined the community behind the first dollar-backed NFT. The project sold out in 26 minutes. Each Ethereum address was only allowed to mint one Dollar Store Kid. There was no whitelist.

At any time, the holder of a Dollar Store Kid can sell it, keep it or redeem it for the dollar embedded in the NFT. The redemption results in the holder relinquishing ownership, permanently “burning” the art, and receiving one USDC (a dollar) in return. Whenever a Dollar Store Kid is redeemed and burned for the dollar, the NFT collection’s total supply drops by one.

This makes Dollar Store Kids a deflationary collection, in which the total amount of NFTs in circulation permanently decreases whenever an NFT is burned for its underlying value. Alongside the circulating supply, comes the increase (or correspondingly, decrease) in rarity percentage for certain traits. If there are only 3 Kids with Rubik’s cubes in circulation, the redemption of a Rubik’s cube Dollar Store Kid would permanently increase the rarity of non-redeemed Rubik’s cube holding Kids.

Dollar Store Kids was created using Capsule and has been completely open-sourced. Dollar Store Kids is also one of the only NFT collections audited by Quantstamp. A further breakdown of the code is available for review within the Capsule docs.

The Story

The Dollar Store manifested as a space of pure exploration and absolute joy; the Kids spent hours bantering as they roamed vast aisles teeming with every type of merchandise imaginable, grabbing items off shelves as they saw fit.

At any time, the Kids could redeem their items at the front counter, receiving one USDC in return (one Dollar) while exiting the Dollar Store in the process.

Within the first week, we saw 32 Kids leave the Dollar Store on their own accord. From a total circulating supply of 3333 Kids, we saw almost 1% of the circulating supply disappear. This was before the collection even revealed its unique traits and art — and before the Dollar Store Kids website unveiled a redeem button!

Five days after launch, Web3 company Bloq officially announced its affiliated company, Capsule, was behind the infrastructure and creation of the Dollar Store Kids collection.

Six days after launch, the Dollar Store Kids Twitter posted a 6 Day Recap, showcasing the trajectory of the collection.

Shortly after, misfortune struck.

With no warning from OpenSea, the Dollar Store Kids were delisted.

A confused team and community gathered. The Kids had yet to even be revealed. The D$K team needed to move quickly.

Within 45 minutes, a decentralized pool was created on Sudoswap with a lowered royalty percentage, 3%.

There was still no communication from OpenSea.

Meanwhile, the Dollar Store was thrown into chaos — the store had disappeared with all of the Kids still inside.

As the store tumbled between the interplanetary forces within Web3, its inner makeup began to change. The dark and twisted aisles extended further into the unknown, forming a maze of mystery, intrigue, and peril.

Plucked from reality, the store finally landed. Slightly sideways.

The Kids clamored to the windows — emptiness stared back at them. Then the infighting began.

Recognizing their situation, the Kids began to squabble over the most basic of items. Soon after, a monthly competition formed around a massive mound of toys, tools and other merchandise. They called it, “The Heap”.

From the debris emerged a new social hierarchy. The winner, the “King”, holds dominion over all Dollar Store resources obtained by the collective — at least until a new battle over The Heap begins.

Each Kid still has the ability to redeem their items for 1 USDC and leave the Dollar Store. But, what lies outside the Dollar Store? What lies within the Dollar Store? Does the Dollar Store even exist? Where is my mommy?

No one knows.

Dollar Store Receipts/Kards

What would be the fate of those Kids who opted to leave the Dollar Store and wander around — burning their NFT and receiving a singular USDC in return?

In less than three months from launch, the Dollar Store Kids collection of 3333 dropped to under 3000 in circulation. This meant, of course, that over 333, or 10% of the entire collection, was redeemed for its underlying USDC value.

Kids who have burned their NFT received a Dollar Store Receipt, which as of September 13th, 2023, have been announced to transform into Dollar Store Kards (KARD$).

What is the utility of D$Ks? D$Kards?

Join us to find out.

OpenSea Turnaround

On September 15th, 2023 - over a year after the mysterious delisting on OpenSea - the Kids were sighted back on the platform.

While the collection is still barred from trading on OpenSea (all trading for D$Ks is on Blur NFT Exchange), the comeback serves to show the persistence of the team in accomplishing the inevitable: presenting financial NFTs as the future of the asset in Web3.

Closing

Dollar Store Kids is the first dollar-backed, composable NFT collection within all of crypto. Each D$K signifies innovation — they represent an open-source project audited by Quantstamp, powered by its strong community. The backing of an NFT collection with a USDC floor presents unique economics for future NFT projects, and for crypto as a whole.

At any time, you can buy, sell, or redeem your Dollar Store Kid.

Which will you choose?

Will you hold, or redeem for 1 USDC and potential benefits?

Welcome to the ever-expanding, ever-shrinking Dollar Store.

The Presence

Unlike every NFT collection, Dollar Store Kids has been audited by Quantstamp. View the audit here.

As with all Capsule released collections, we have open sourced our code here.

Important Dollar Store Kids links:

For business inquiries, email Capsule at business@capsulenft.com.