Doodles, currently the most successful NFT project of all time, released their community token, $DOOD, on May 9 through an airdrop. Shortly after the launch, the token’s value saw a drastic nosedive. After all, $DOOD did over $100 million in initial capitalizations. On the opening day of launch, it fell almost 40% and leveled off at about $60m. At the same time, the value of Doodles NFTs crashed on secondary, dropping from 3.5 ETH to under 1.5 ETH—a drop of 60%.

The team's intention to integrate $DOOD into Base, an Ethereum L2 blockchain, has not yet mitigated the token's decline. The launch fast became an exciting market story. Today, conversations within the NFT community are abuzz regarding the factors that drive token value and what it means for other NFT projects that are connected.

Pre-Launch Surge and Initial Airdrop

In the leadup to the $DOOD airdrop, Doodles NFTs experienced a huge increase in sales. In fact, during the 24 hour period immediately before the launch, sales were up 97% to $1.1 million. Doodle NFTs’ total weekly volume reached $2.6 million, up 368% from the previous week.

Doodles airdropped 10 billion $DOOD tokens on the Solana blockchain, distributing 68% of the tokens to the community. This boardroom decision shocked most shareholders. The first and primary holder base for Doodles NFTs is on the Ethereum blockchain.

Market Reaction and Contributing Factors

Immediately after its launch, the market capitalization of $DOOD tanked by 40%. This sharp decrease was consistent with the overall market decline in Doodles NFTs, which experienced a 60% drop in value. There were numerous factors that led to this decline. These include the ambiguous token use, the choice of distributing on Solana’s chain, and future selling pressure by recipients of airdrops.

"If you bought a Doodles only to speculate on $DOOD, you are probably disappointed." - DjaniWhaleSkul

Doodles' Vision and Future Plans

In a grim sign of the initial market response to $DOOD, the project just went belly up. Yet, by nature, it struggles to align its tokenomics with the interests of its NFT holders. The team's plans to integrate $DOOD into the Base network may offer future utility and potentially stabilize the token's value.

"The creative revolution is here… we are building a movement that will transcend ages." - Doodles

However, the initial market response to $DOOD suggests that the project faces challenges in aligning its tokenomics with the interests of its NFT holders. The team's plans to integrate $DOOD into the Base network may offer future utility and potentially stabilize the token's value.