All You Need to Know: The Checks NFT Collection

On Feb 27, 2023

Whenever the NFT landscape experiences a sharp market downtrend, a savior project will often emerge that re-awakens and revitalizes the niche. NFT aficionados have experienced the debut and aftermath of reputable projects like the BAYC, Cool Cats, CryptoPunks, Meebits, Doodles, and Moonbirds, and how they reshaped the entire landscape at their respective debuts. As the wheels of time rolled over into 2023, another fantastic project took its place among these blockchain heavyweights, the Checks NFT Collection.

What is Checks Collection?

The Checks Collection, also dubbed “Checks- VV Edition,” is another grand NFT project created in 2023 by renowned artist, Jack Butcher. It is a collection of 16,031 NFTs minted within the 24 hours of January 3 and 4, 2023, on the Ethereum network. The collection emerged at a time when activities in the NFT sector had slowed due to the recent unprecedented crypto market trend. According to Jack Butcher, with 12,000 pieces minted, the collection had already recorded almost 2,000 unique collectors/owners.

Are you wondering what the fuss about the Checks collection is?

The Checks collection was inspired by the new trend of assigning verification checkmarks to Twitter users who can spare $8/month for the privilege. This will be an exciting read, so grab something to sip as you enjoy the tale of the Checks NFT Collection.

About the Twitter Checkmark

Recall that Twitter has a blue verified checkmark that symbolizes legitimate accounts of public figures and celebrities, including active and prominent users of the bluebird space since its inception. The checkmark signifies the importance and certifies the legitimacy of public figure accounts that Twitter has verified to address the spread of fake accounts and catfishing in its space. When Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he changed the status quo of the checkmark by offering it to everyone who can afford an $8 monthly service fee.

Butcher already had the idea of creating the checkmark theme before Musk’s acquisition; however, the change made it a perfect time to hatch and create the Checks collection.

About the Checks Collection

According to the Checks official website, ‘Checks is an infinite canvas for expression designed to challenge the concept of ownership and authorship in the internet age.’ The Check collection (or VV Edition) is an open edition collection of 16,031 NFTs which currently has 4,298 collectors, with an average collector owning 3.5 Checks. As of this time, the collection has recorded 18,128.5711 ETH ($30 million) in trading volume, with a circulating supply of 16,029, out of which 10,500 were listed on OpenSea at a floor price of 1 ETH.

Each Check NFT features 80 checks in an 8×10 portrait grid. Within 24 hours of launch, 16,027 NFTs were sold out at $8/NFT, imitating the recent Twitter charges for checkmarks. According to OpenSea, the project was created and listed by Visualize Value, a consulting agency founded by Butcher. From the available analytics on OpenSea,

1,982 owners (61%) have 1 NFT each
812 owners (25%) have 2-3 NFTs each
349 owners (11%) have 4-10 NFTs each
91 owners (3%) have 11-25 NFTs each
22 owners (0.7%) have 26-50 NFTs each
24 owners (0.7%) have over 51 NFTs each

The above data implies that this project is remarkable, considering it launched a month ago (January). Interestingly, all Checks have 2 traits; their name (Checks) and number. Each Check bears a number that signifies its number/level on the mint sequence, doubling its unique ranking level from 1-16,031. Though 16,031 Checks were minted, only 16,030 exist, because Check 10845 was burned.

Even though the NFT might appear as a black & white portrait of checkmarks on OpenSea or other marketplaces, its true multicolored composition is visible on different media platforms. Furthermore, to make the Checks ecosystem engaging and fun, Butcher introduced a burn mechanism tagged ‘a semi-perfect number.’

What is the Semi-Perfect Number?

Recall that there are 80 multicolored checks in each Checks NFT and that 80 is regarded as a semi-perfect number due to how some of its factors sum up to 80 (excluding 80). The summed factors are 40, 20, 10, 5, 4, and 1; when you add these numbers together, they equal 80. The concept of this semi-perfect number has a dual purpose;

It is used to burn existing Checks NFT to generate an on-chain original edition of Checks NFT that has the number of each factor of the semi-perfect number. This means you can burn the original Checks to create a Checks NFT of 40, 20, 10, 5, 4, or 1 multicolored or black check (for the 1 factor).
It is also used to establish a quest to uncover 1/1 black Checks.

How does the Burning Mechanism Works?

The burning mechanism involves and begins with burning 2 original Check NFTs to get a smaller edition original. For instance

Burning 2 original 80 Check NFTs results in a 40 Check NFT
Burning two 40 Checks results in a 20 Check
Burning two 20 Checks results in a 10 Check
Burning two 10 Checks results in a 5 Check
Burning two 5 Checks results in a 4 Check
Burning two 4 Checks results in the coveted black 1/1 Check

Collectors can stop burning at any stage, however, the process is irreversible. The burning aims at creating rare on-chain NFTs because each referenced-factor edition is limited. The burning quest will define the rarity of the original 80 Checks collection; the more they are burned, the rarer the unburned NFTs become.

Furthermore, burning NFTs will generally reduce the number of tokens in circulation; this concept of burning two to get lesser but rarer Checks will also make the on-chain editions of the 80-factors rarer due to their limited numbers. This means the 1/1 Checks will be the rarest, followed by the 4-factor, 5-factor, 10-factor, 20-factor, and 40-factor editions. However, if more Checks of a particular factor are burned, it’ll make the unburned NFTs of that factor rarer as the number of tokens in circulation is reducing.

What an ideal and exciting project!

Top 10 Most Expensive Checks

Since the inception and public trading of the Checks NFTs, the collection has recorded a whooping sum of money change hands for an item that initially cost $8. Below are the top 10 most expensive Checks.

Checks 2: It was sold at 52 ETH ($84.8k) on February 6, 2023.
Check 27: It was sold at 17 ETH ($27.8k) on February 5, 2023.
Checks 5: It was sold at 18 ETH ($27.2k) on February 12, 2023.
Checks 6: It was sold at 13.5 ETH ($23k) on February 2, 2023.
Checks 1: It was sold at 11.111 wETH ($18.1k) on January 20, 2023.
Checks 21: It was sold at 11 ETH ($16.6k) on February 3, 2023.
Checks 88: It was sold at 8.8 ETH ($14.5k) on February 3, 2023.
Checks 42: It was sold at 8.4 ETH ($13.7k) on February 5, 2023.
Checks 91: It was sold at 8.10ETH ($13.2k) on February 6, 2023.
Checks 41: It was sold at 7.690 ETH ($12.5k) on February 6, 2023.

Where to Buy Checks NFTs Since Minting has Ended?

The Checks NFTs can be bought on secondary marketplaces like

OpenSea
Binance NFT
Gem
Zerion
X2Y2
LooksRare
Nifty Gateway

Conclusion

The Checks collection reflects an extraordinary NFT inspired by a blend of interaction, quest, meme, and fun with its concept of creation and how holders will engage the NFTs in their custody. It has recorded a massive adoption and trade volume for an NFT initially sold for $8, rising to thousands of dollars in weeks and months after launch. The creator of this masterpiece (Jack Butcher) already promised to think more about how to improve the project and look forward to a long game rather than a short-term one.

Want more? Connect with NFT Plazas

Join the Weekly Newsletter
Join our Discord
Follow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram

*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.