The DeGods team revealed sneak peeks and a "ⓨpaper" for their upcoming project, y00ts on Saturday morning. The ⓨpaper explains that "ⓨ" is y00ts' concept for a new type of copyright standard governed by an NFT collection, allowing the community to quickly track, approve, and reject IP licensing deals.
The ⓨ standard also aims to help artists and community members monetize contributions to the project and y00ts plans to debut the concept with a "y00ts st0re". The store will allow artists to submit custom y00ts traits for the first six months after launch. Once a custom trait is approved, the artist will receive the ⓨ (an allusion to the copyright ©) for that trait. By owning the ⓨ for the trait, the artist will be able to set the price and supply for the trait as well as collect 5% royalties of the trait's sales. After six months, new traits will only be added to the store via collaborations with big apparel and lifestyle brands.
The ability for anyone to create and sell custom traits has a successful precedent in the virtual economy that the game Second Life enabled in the early 2000s. Players in Second Life could make and sell virtual clothing and objects using the in-game currency, Linden Dollars, which could be converted to USD. Some Second Life creators were so successful creating the virtual goods that it became their full-time job. If the y00ts st0re enables artists to make significant income by contributing to an existing project rather than having to launch their own, the ⓨ model could create new opportunities for artists.
The ⓨpaper also explains ways for trait-based sub-DAOs to generate revenue by owning the ⓨ for their sub-community's trait. This ownership would allow the sub-DAO to collect a percentage of royalties on each y00t sale that contains their specific trait. The sub-DAO could also generate revenue from selling the trait directly on the y00ts st0re.
Following the reveal, y00ts creator Frank held a Twitter space answering questions and clarifying the ⓨpaper. "At the end of the day, the goal for us is to make a clean collection that is a canvas for people to build more things on top of," said Frank after being asked where the team's inspiration for the ⓨpaper came from.
Reactions to the y00ts art sneak peeks were mixed on Twitter. However, critics may not have taken into account that the community will be able to create customized traits via the y00ts store, making the initial NFTs a starting point rather than a final product.
The y00ts team is the same team behind DeGods, which is currently sitting at a 302 Sol floor price on Magic Eden, making it Solana's most expensive collection by floor price. Owning a DeadGod grants you a whitelist spot to mint y00ts. However, if you don't own a DeadGod, the team has opened applications for the "y00ts scolarships program" for people who want a chance to be a part of the y00ts community.