The "Flex" NFT Trend Returns with Opepen Edition

The latest NFT collection taking Twitter by storm is the Opepen Edition, a derivative of the Checks NFTs that were a hit earlier in 2023.

The "Flex" NFT Trend Returns with Opepen Edition

On the morning of July 18th, many Twitter users woke up surprised to see OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace, change its avatar and even its account name to “OpepenSea.”

This action was part of the latest trend within the NFT community, where people flaunt their ownership of NFTs from the Opepen Edition collection, often with the tagline “For the Culture.”

Opepen Edition, launched in January 2023, is a derivative of Checks, a collection of “blue tick” NFTs that gained popularity earlier this year. Both NFTs were created by Jack Butcher, an artist who emphasizes the community-building potential of NFTs over mere speculation.

Most of Butcher’s collections are created using an Open Edition sale method, allowing buyers a certain period to mint as many NFTs as they want, rather than a fixed total supply like many past NFT collections.

Opepen Edition features angular block designs that come together to form an image of Pepe the Frog—a meme symbol in the crypto world and on the internet—and the inspiration for the memecoin Pepe (PEPE).

The resurgence of Opepen Edition began when Bored Elon, an NFT enthusiast and fan of Jack Butcher's work, suggested that a well-known KOL, ThreadGuy, swap his long-time avatar, an NFT from the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, for an original Opepen.

ThreadGuy declined the offer, as the Mutant Ape NFT had been his long-time companion and was closely tied to his identity.

Seeing this, Jack Butcher decided to create a special Opepen NFT in the style of ThreadGuy’s Mutant Ape and gifted it to him. Appreciative of this gesture, ThreadGuy changed his Twitter avatar to the Opepen during a Twitter Space session with over 3,600 listeners.

To further please ThreadGuy’s followers and prevent impersonation, Jack Butcher created a derivative collection called Opepen Threadition, styled after ThreadGuy’s Mutant Ape NFT, with a mint price of just 0.001 ETH (2 USD). Butcher announced that all mint proceeds would go to ThreadGuy. At the time of writing, Opepen Threadition had nearly 38,000 mints, generating 38 ETH (72,200 USD).

This series of interactions between Bored Ape, ThreadGuy, and Jack Butcher is seen as exemplary of what the NFT community should strive for—a harmonious relationship between NFT buyers, KOLs, and creative artists—rather than scams or "cash grabs" as recently seen with Azuki and the large NFT dumps by whales aiming to earn Blur airdrop points.

Following OpenSea's lead, many prominent crypto accounts on Twitter posted images featuring Opepen Edition NFTs to support this new trend and take the opportunity to "flex."

The floor prices for Opepen Edition NFTs have also surged, even reaching new all-time highs.

Price Movement of Opepen Edition NFTs as of 3:00 PM on July 18, 2023.