Hashmasks: Be part of digital art history by naming your NFT

With 70 artists and over 16,300 NFTs, this is a collection of Hashmasks with a hierarchy of values. Each NFT owner has the right to contribute to the completion of the work by naming their mask, thereby giving it rarity and value. Thus, the creators provide a unique opportunity to not just buy digital art, but also to participate in its creation.

Hashmasks Official Links

• Official website https://www.thehashmasks.com
• Medium https://thehashmasks.medium.com – over 460 subscribers,
• Discord @hashmasks – over 5k members
• Twitter @TheHashmasks (account suspended at the time of writing)

What are Hashmasks?

Hashmasks is a collection of 16,384 NFTs created by 70 artists from around the world. The collection is located on the Ethereum blockchain and has the ERC-721 token standard.

Hashmasks are attractive because of images of figures with different masks, backgrounds, and eyes. It can even be assumed that these are drawings of ancient peoples from all over the world. It’s not just a collectible, it’s art. And art is not systematic, it is mysterious. You can find these mysteries in both explicit and hidden rarity.

But this project became famous thanks to one unique feature. Owners can change the name of their NFT using the NCT (Name Change Token). It is passively accumulated by each hashmask owner during long-term ownership. To change the name, you need 1,830 NCTs, which will accumulate over 6 months of ownership. So, each holder participates in the final creation of digital art.

In addition, one of the features of the distribution was the secrecy behind the minted NFTs. That is, users were able to see the image only 14 days after the completion of minting. Initially, the minting price was 0.1 ETH, and according to the volume of minted NFTs, the price changed up to 100 ETH. The number of NFTs per wallet was unlimited.

Hashmasks in numbers

• A collection of 16,384 tokens was released on January 28, 2021.
• The cost of minting was quite non-standard. During the minting, the price increased from 0.1 ETH to 100 ETH.
• In the first four days after release, secondary sales exceeded $16 million.
• The project is ranked 41st among the best collections in terms of sales of all time on the largest NFT marketplace OpenSea.
• The total volume of secondary sales exceeded 43k ETH (over $73 million at the current exchange rate).
• Floor price is 0.3 ETH (about $500).
• Average sales are in the range from 0.25 ETH to 1 ETH.
• The most expensive NFT called sex was sold on February 3, 2021 for 420 ETH ($635k at the time of sale).
• Total 5,297 unique holders (32%).
• Only about 2% of the collection (377 pieces out of 16,384) are for sale, among them the range of offers is from 0.3 ETH to 8 ETH. This shows that almost all holders see the project as a great investment prospect and are not in a hurry to part with their assets at a lower price.

Data (including exchange rates) are given at the time of publication of the article (February 16, 2023)

Hashmasks types and attributes

The project is based on a hierarchy of rarity, which is divided into explicit and implicit traits. Explicit rarity is a set of explicit features with varying degrees of rarity.

There can be different Characters:

• Male (8645),
• Female (5464),
• Robot (1475),
• Puppet (590),
• Golden robot (165),
• Mystical (11).

And among the implicit characteristics you will find various ones, including:

• Background (8 types),
• Eye color (8 types),
• Glyph (5 types),
• Item (7 types),
• Mask (16 types),
• Mask subtype (81 types),
• Set (14 types),
• Skin color (10 types).

But the most important unique characteristic is given by the owner himself by giving his token a unique name. According to the idea of the creators, this is how the invisible line that separates the creator and artwork user is erased.

Who created Hashmasks?

The creators of the Hashmasks collection are anonymous and do not disclose their identities. However, it is known that the collection was created at Suum Cuique Labs located in Zug, Switzerland. The project team was inspired by the collection of the American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

How were Hashmasks created?

Creating Hashmasks was a complex process. With a clear vision for the future collection, the creators looked for unique artists everywhere. But most of the initial work was of poor quality or did not fit the format of the project. Through trial and error, the team found 70 creative artists who managed to create such a unique project.

Artists were carefully selected. Nearly 20 NFT Hashmasks were completely hand-drawn by artists. The rest of the work was compiled from various portraits painted by 70 artists. The names of the artists are also unknown.

Historically speaking, our view on art has not evolved much since the ancient ages, where emperors would commission artists to create pompous portraits of themselves. The artist creates the art and the consumer consumes it. Leonardo Da Vinci created the Mona Lisa. Edvard Munch created the Scream. And Andy Warhol created the Marilyn Diptych. The consumer can observe the piece in an exhibition or buy it. The roles are clearly defined and separated. The collection was created with an eye to the art of ancient times, as the creators say in their manifesto

Hashmasks Idea

The idea of Hashmasks is a set of unique features of the project:

• Combining the creator and the user of NFT. The project unites the creator and the user of an NFT into one, and each makes his / her own edits to the NFT. Creators run the NFT distribution, and users can modify it, thereby increasing or decreasing the rarity. Users can also change the token’s name using the NCT token.
• Changing the name of a token by the owner. Users can change the most important thing about the rarity of an NFT, that is, the name. Sometimes it makes up the value of an NFT in other collections, but not in Hashmasks. After accumulating the necessary number of NCT tokens, the user can change the rarity of an NFT by giving it a name in a minute.
• CC0 license that gives the owner all rights to use the image, including for commercial purposes.
• Explicit and implicit rarity. Unlike other collectibles, there is a second level of scarcity, superimposed over explicit traits through implicit traits and the name market.
• Name Change Token (NCT). In 6 months, each owner accumulates 1,830 NCTs. That is how many it takes to change a name. Thus, you can change your NFT name 2 times in a year. At the same time, each name change results in the burning of NCTs. On January 26, 2031, the last NCT token will be issued, and from then on, the number will only decrease until the last token is burned. Then the artwork of Hashmasks will finally be complete.

You could say that all the ideas of Hashmasks are inherent, so they are so decentralized that community itself determines the value and rarity of NFTs.

Why are Hashmasks so popular?

The popularity of Hashmasks was influenced by several factors:

• Random distribution during minting, that is, the user could not know which mask he would get and under what name. The owners were able to see the name and image of the NFT only 14 days after the minting.
• The ability to change the name and overlay the image on top of the mask using NCT tokens. Everyone wants to leave their mark on the history of the NFT space as the owner of Hashmasks. This feature makes the image more than just digital paintings, it is more than a work of art.
• The collection was created with the huge efforts of the developers and 70 artists. The scale of the project was already impressive at the stage of creation, thereby increasing community loyalty at the very start.

Hashmasks Roadmap

The project does not have a roadmap. It is completely decentralized and put in the hands of the Hashmasks community.

We envision a formation of clusters and attributes amongst Hashmasks that bring out a whole other dimension to the piece, fully detached from the capabilities and intentions of the original artists. We imagine the Simpsons, Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Alice in Wonderland, the three Musketeers and many more collections to form within the realm of 16 384 different unique pieces. The final outcome of the art piece – engraved permanently in the history of art on the Ethereum blockchain – in many decades is only bound by the creativity of the creating community. Hashmasks manifesto

Hashmasks Ecosystem

Hashmasks’ ecosystem project is the Name Change Token (NCT). It is the underlying asset for NFT changing.

Besides, the tokens have an addition. Namely, each owner can create an image over Hashmasks, thereby hiding some features of the NFT.

And here is what we can say about the Name Change Token (NCT):

• By convention, the name can be changed to alphanumeric characters.
• The limit in name characters is 25 units.
• There are 3,660 NCTs accumulated per year, each user received 1,830 NCTs when the NFT is minted.
• After changing the name, the NCT token is burned.
• Smart contracts require the new name to be unique, thus creating a level of scarcity within the work.
• On January 26, 2031, the last NCT token will be issued, and from then on the supply of tokens will decrease until the last token is burned. This implies that the artwork will be complete.

How much do Hashmasks cost?

At the time of launch in January 2021, minting was carried out at an increasing cost from 0.1 ETH to 100 ETH, depending on the serial number of the token.

There was an immediate market hype, for in the first four days after the release, secondary sales exceeded $16 million.

And how are things now? To visualize the price dynamics, we made a slice of the average price for 1 NFT:

• in April 2021 – 1.8 ETH
• in August 2021 – 1.7 ETH
• in January 2022 – 1.2 ETH,
• in May 2022 – 0.6 ETH,
• in September 2022 – 0.5 ETH,
• in December 2022 – 0.4 ETH.

Now (February 16, 2023) the minimum price is 0.3 ETH. On average, the latest sales are in the range of 0.25-1 ETH. And the total volume of secondary sales amounted to more than 43k ETH (about $73 million).

Most Expensive Hashmasks Sales

The most expensive sales are led by the following NFTs from the Hashmasks collection (they already have unique names given to them by the owners):

1. sex was sold on February 3, 2021 for 420 ETH ($635k at the time of sale),
2. God of War  was sold on February 4, 2021 for 300 ETH ($479k at the time of sale),
3. Masuku Bijin was sold on February 16, 2021 for 150 ETH ($267k at the time of sale),
4. #6346 was sold on February 26, 2021 for 150 ETH ($217k at the time of sale).

Where to buy Hashmasks?

Currently, Karafuru can only be purchased on the secondary market on such marketplaces as OpenSea, LooksRare, X2Y2.

How to buy Hashmasks?

1. Remember that initially you need to connect your crypto wallet with self-storage to the marketplace of your choice.
2. Next, find the official collection using the search bar on the marketplace.
3. Analyze and choose the NFT you want to buy; click on it and then on the “Buy” button.
4. Or you can bet on the token you like. Make sure you leave enough ETH for gas or transaction fees. If the seller approves your bid, the deal goes through.

Should you invest in Hashmasks?

There are several reasons to be positive about the collection:

• The total trading volume on OpenSea is over 43,000 ETH and the floor price is around 0.3 ETH, which is a relatively low entry threshold.
• Changing the rarity of NFTs by renaming NFTs while passively accumulating 1,830 NCTs. So, you can increase the value and rarity of the NFT.
• Hashmasks NFT is a work of art by 70 artists, and the owner can make changes to this art, thus erasing the line between artists and users.
• The name change will be available before the last token is burned, which is no earlier than 2031
• The uniqueness of the project idea, which has no analogues in the NFT space.

Do not forget that by customizing your NFT, you can change its rarity and value in the opposite direction from the expected result. Therefore, this should be taken more seriously, as well as investing in NFTs. You have to do the analysis and make decisions on your own, without succumbing to FOMO.

Opinion of NFTMetria

The Hashmasks NFT collection is a unique integration of traditional art into contemporary art, which is emphasized by dozens of different features and combinations of masks. Thus, the authors of the project have created more than 16 thousand paintings, in each of which there are 2 types of rarity, that is, explicit and implicit one.

The future of Hashmasks looks optimistic due to stable sales and floor price, as well as increasing number of holders. In addition, the auxiliary token NCT performs the function of involving users in the project, allowing them to leave their mark on the collection.