If you have ever wondered if there is a person in the NFT world with practical universal knowledge, then we have the answer for you. Today we will talk about Jimmy McNelis, also known in his circles as j1mmy.eth. This is one of the most prominent NFT collectors of our time, who “sees the root” in matters related to digital tokens. And the reputation of Jimmy is beyond doubt.
So, let’s try to figure out what is the reason for the popularity and authority of j1mmy.eth, and how it can help beginners and professional digital wealth collectors.
Who is j1mmy.eth?
Jimmy McNelis (j1mmy.eth) is a famous figure in the NFT world. He is the author of the Avastars project on the Ethereum blockchain (founded in 2020). This initiative was carried out by him with the help of his own brand building platform NFT 42 under the auspices of the eminent billionaire Mark Cuban. Jimmy McNelis is currently the CEO of Nameless, which specializes in selling a cloud-based private environment that allows teams of enthusiasts to build their own Web3 testnets. Moreover, he is also a co-founder of the GODA (Gallery of Digital Assets) project.
J1mmy.eth is also an avid collector. He owns collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks and Meebits. Jimmy pulled off some absolutely amazing deals. So, he sold his BAYC #7090 for 800 ETH (more than 1.3 million USD).
ORDER UP » @Boredapeyc Member @j1mmyeth Sold This Gold Fur Service Ape Sold For 800 Eth Or $1.3 million USD
See what J1mmy told the Gazette after the sale and take a look at J1mmy’s BAYC collection: https://t.co/SoxTYs8nc8
— The Bored Ape Gazette🍌 (@BoredApeGazette) February 7, 2023
The influencer is active on Twitter, participates in discussions on various podcasts and YouTube channels that discuss issues related to the NFT space. Due to his active social position, his account deservedly enters the Top of the best Twitter accounts. Being an “old-timer” in the community, Jimmy attracts the audience with his experience and, at the same time, openness.
j1mmy.eth Official Links
- Twitter @j1mmyeth – over 157k followers,
- Instagram @j1mmy.eth – over 6k subscribers,
- LinkedIn @jimmcnelis,
- OpenSea account.
Path of j1mmy.eth to the NFT world
We don’t know exactly who the influencer was before entering the big digital world. It is known from open sources that before his resounding success, he founded the consulting IT company Dito, and was also fond of collecting NFTs. This hobby helped Jimmy, by his own admission, form ideas and beliefs. In this regard, we would like to note an interesting fact: in social networks, an influencer receives more feedback regarding projects in which he participates as a collector, and not as a founder.
j1mmy.eth was very impressed when he met Tom Sachs when the latter partnered with Nike to create the Mars Yard Shoe.
First Look: Tom Sachs x Nike Mars Yard 2.5 pic.twitter.com/nEeaRs9ora
— SAINT (@saint) November 14, 2020
When Jimmy got to know the Rocket Factory project from Tom Sachs, he really realized the limitless possibilities of modern digital technologies. Rocket Factory @tsrocketfactory used blockchain in a way that was not typical of typical startups. Rockets in the form of NFTs were assembled from three components, and this was done using a smart contract. This phenomenon is called “compositeness”, and the influencer believes that this is still an understudied area. But watching such technologies gives him great joy and inspiration.
j1mmy.eth in the NFT world
The real spark that ignited Jimmy McNelis was the CryptoKitties NFT collection. Even earlier, j1mmy.eth was delighted with the idea of mining: the idea that machines can work for a person and bring him a stable income surprised him. Getting more and more immersed in the topic, j1mmy.eth realized that you can take 2 tokens and create a new token, the value of which will be higher than any of those that were used to create it. The CryptoKitties project helped him become more familiar with the technologies, mechanisms, capabilities and limitations of the blockchain. Since then, j1mmy.eth has been trying to be as active as possible in the life of CryptoKitties.
today has been exciting! 🥳 96 eth @CryptoKitties founder prompted me to buy a handful of high value but underpriced kitties and now capping off the evening with this digital+print from @A_Giant_Swan via @eleonorabrizi https://t.co/0YojYIhnVy #degen #nft pic.twitter.com/TRnGqTOmjJ
— j1mmy.eth 🍌 (@j1mmyeth) October 5, 2020
In 2020, Jimmy launched the Avastars project. Avastars is an avatars collection of 25,200 unique digital artworks based on 12 genes. These are generative characters for the metaverse, which also grant licenses to their owners for their commercial use. Each digital artwork is created using 12 layers of artwork.
Replicants are unique, handcrafted digital identities! Unleash your creativity and connect with our vibrant community of explorers! 🚀💫
1$ART + 12 traits = 1 Replicant 👩🔬🧪
See our Replicant creation manual below ⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/UwwX9XzoF6
— Avastars (@AvaStarsNFT) April 4, 2023
Jimmy McNelis explains the founding of Avastars by wanting to showcase the possibilities of on-chain art. At the time of its launch, Avastars was the only project whose images and metadata were stored on the blockchain. In addition, the generative art model, which resulted in a set of highly granular tokens, contributed to the growth of the Avastars fan base.
Collaborations of j1mmy.eth
During his public activity, the influencer managed to create several major collaborations.
GRIPNR
Jimmy McNelis’ most notorious partnership was with GRIPNR, the tech company bringing TTRPG tabletop RPGs to the blockchain. Under the terms of the agreement, the influencer had to add several tokens from his collection of Mutant Apes as villain characters to the game The Glimmering, created on the Polygon blockchain.
This Spring: we are partnering with @j1mmyeth to bring several of his Mutant Apes to The Glimmering as villains in the game with The Glimmering Mutant Ape derivative collection #PoweredbyPolygon 🦾
Prepare to be legendary! ⚔️ @PolygonGaming @0xPolygon pic.twitter.com/vkhUQxEFEn
— The Glimmering (@The_Glimmering) March 8, 2023
In fact, by launching his Mutant Apes into the world of blockchain tabletop games, Jimmy McNelis aimed to combine traditional games and Web3 technology.
I can’t wait to see how the Mutant Apes will be transformed into cunning antagonists in the world of The Glimmering. Here’s what Jimmy has to say about it
In turn, to thank Jimmy for the partnership, GRIPNR pledged to release the Glimmering Mutant Ape derivative NFT collection.
Universal Music Group
Also a big event in Jimmy McNelis’s career was the formation of his four Ape-tokens of the group Kingship @therealkingship, which was the result of a collaboration with Universal Music Group. Conceptually, Kingship is a bit like Gorillaz, a virtual band created by rock musician Damon Albarn in the late 1990s. Three of the Kingship members are tokens from the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, and the fourth is from the Mutant Ape Yacht Club. It is noteworthy that each of the representatives of the Kingship team has its own fictional legend. The collector himself works on character customization.
NFT collections and preferences of j1mmy.eth
Jimmy McNelis owns a whopping number of tokens (over 1.1k pieces), including projects:
- Autoglyphs,
- CyberBrokers,
- Hackatao,
- Otherdeeds for Otherside,
- Doodles,
- VeeFriends,
- Justin Aversano,
- Chromie Squiggle by Snowfro,
- Grifters by XCOPY,
- Clone X and many others.
And in November 2022, he purchased seven Apes tokens for 538.98 ETH through various transactions.
Jimmy McNelis highlights several projects in the NFT world in particular:
- JOY @JohnOrionYoung is one of his favorite VR artists. The collector is impressed by the energy of JOY, and JOY’s work is different from anything else that he had seen before. As the influencer himself admits, he communicates with the works of JOY on an emotional level.
- Giant Swan @A_Giant_Swan, who depicts the ups and downs of his life in his VR sculptures.
- Math @TheMathProject is a separate object of Jimmy’s admiration. It implements the principle of compositeness, which has already been discussed above. Behind the Math project is one of the members of the CryptoKitties NFT community, known under the pseudonym Alxo. The essence of the project is simple – users add numbers together to get new numbers.
Opinion of j1mmy.eth about the NFT market
Jimmy McNelis is a crypto enthusiast in every sense of the word.
I do wanna see broad adoption of NFTs. I’d like to see big companies come into this space and start to play with their existing IP, with new IP. I’d love to see . . . if we could start to build in some forms of safe identity. I’m incredibly excited to see more and more interest in NFTs throughout the world. Influencer believes in the huge potential of non-fungible tokens and their IP capabilities
But at the same time, he warns against irresponsible attitude towards NFT projects:
A lot of people are drawn to the idea that they can just do a project, mint 800 to 2,000 ETH, and make millions of dollars. But a lot of people aren’t thinking about what happens after that, and how much responsibility you have to your community in order to maintain the project and continue to deliver on your promises. Entrepreneur notes
Opinion of NFTmetria
j1mmy.eth is one of the first to notice the growing potential of NFTs. His first discovery was the CryptoKitties project, which he invested in in 2017. Gradually, his passion for digital creativity and commitment to cryptocurrencies began to merge. The Avastars project he created is a stunning monument to digital art; each of the items in this collection impresses with the correctness of forms and ingenuity. And the Kingship group is the real stars of the NFT world, who will make themselves known more than once. Therefore, we can say with confidence that Jimmy is developing Web3 and NFT in every possible way, bringing them to a qualitatively new level and opening up new horizons.