The Cryptomasks

Building the project

I founded The Cryptomasks with NFT artist 8th Project.

I led the strategy, launches, partnerships and community development, while handling much of the operational execution myself. Artists and developers built the creative and technical components, with substantial support from engaged community members.

The project's Discord opened on January 22, 2022.

Early growth came quickly. But attracting people was different from building a community willing to participate over time.

Distribution through participation

For our first NFT launch, we decided not to allocate whitelist spots simply to the fastest people to register.

Members had to earn their places through activity and contributions. The 300 whitelist spots weren't fully allocated until April 21, nearly three months after opening Discord.

We also used an existing distribution network. Of the 555 Cryptomasks, 150 were allocated as gifts to active members of The Cryptomath community and the communities of our first 40 project experts. Another 40 were reserved for those experts.

This helped involve people who already had relationships and credibility within the French-speaking crypto ecosystem.

All 555 Cryptomasks were minted in May 2022, including the free allocations.

By April 2023, the collection had crossed 100 ETH in secondary trading volume on OpenSea, according to our published project milestones.

Launching a second collection

A year later, we launched Zodiacmasks, a second collection of 555 NFTs featuring artwork by 8th Project.

Existing Cryptomasks holders received priority access before the public mint.

All 555 Zodiacmasks were minted by June 1, 2023. The recap of our appearance on NFT Morning mentioned approximately 100 newcomers joining the community through that launch.

The holder-first approach allowed us to build on an existing audience while bringing new people into the project.

But getting a second collection minted didn't mean we had solved the harder question of long-term demand.

Building beyond the mint

The project involved considerably more than launching NFT collections.

We developed partnerships, holder rewards, physical artwork, gaming integrations and initiatives proposed by community members.

Eligible holders could claim physical versions of their Cryptomasks. We also supported charity auctions organized by artists in the community.

In October 2023, we launched Cryptomasks Custom, allowing holders to mint customized versions of their NFTs. By November 3, 465 Custom NFTs had been minted, according to our project milestones.

None of this was the work of one person.

8th Project created the NFT artwork, Kirk designed the logo, and contributors including RpGmAx, Saddat and Nekr worked on websites and technical initiatives.

My role was to lead the overall strategy, coordinate initiatives, develop partnerships and keep the project moving forward.

What I got wrong

We tried to build too many things at once.

The roadmap became increasingly ambitious, while the resources available to execute it remained limited. Our original metaverse ambitions, for example, were never delivered as planned.

Looking back, I would have reduced the scope much earlier.

I also underestimated how different attracting an audience was from keeping people genuinely involved. An engaged community can generate plenty of ideas, but a small team cannot execute all of them.

We kept adding initiatives when we should have been more selective about what deserved our time and resources.

As the NFT market declined, those decisions became harder to manage.

Today, I would establish much clearer priorities, allocate resources more carefully and commit to fewer deliverables.

What I took from the experience

The Cryptomasks was my own entrepreneurial project, not a consulting engagement.

I was directly involved in the strategy, execution, partnerships and daily challenges of building and operating a Web3 project.

I experienced product launches, community-driven distribution, coordinating contributors and adapting to changing market conditions firsthand.

I also made decisions I would handle differently today.

That operational experience now informs how I approach market entry, distribution and partnerships for Web3 companies targeting France and French-speaking markets.

Project records and coverage

• The Cryptomasks Project Milestones, 2023
• Early coverage by a project expert, Au Coin du Bloc, 2022
• NFT Morning, Zodiacmasks discussion, June 2023
• The Cryptomasks on OpenSea