The Current Meta
The cryptocurrency space in mid-November 2017 stands at a fascinating crossroads. While Bitcoin dominates headlines with its wild price swings and the aftermath of the SegWit2x cancellation, a quiet revolution is brewing in the world of blockchain-based digital collectibles. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are beginning to capture the imagination of developers and collectors alike, laying the groundwork for what could become a multi-billion dollar ecosystem.
Ethereum, trading at approximately $307, has become the platform of choice for a new wave of decentralized applications that go beyond simple value transfer. Among the most intriguing developments is the rise of tokenized digital assets — unique, indivisible tokens that represent ownership of distinct digital items. This emerging meta is shifting the conversation from “crypto as currency” to “crypto as culture.”
Volume and Floor Dynamics
The digital collectibles market remains in its earliest stages in November 2017, but the building blocks are already visible. Projects like Curio Cards, CryptoPunks (launched by Larva Labs in June 2017), and Spells of Genesis have demonstrated that there is genuine demand for blockchain-verified ownership of digital art and game items.
CryptoPunks, one of the first NFT projects on Ethereum, has distributed 10,000 unique pixel-art characters for free. While their current trading volume remains modest, collectors are beginning to recognize the scarcity value of these 24×24 pixel portraits. Early adopters who claimed punks for nothing are already seeing bids in the secondary market, foreshadowing the price discovery mechanisms that will later define the NFT space.
On the Counterparty platform, projects like Rare Pepe trading cards have built a vibrant community around meme culture and blockchain art. These cards, traded on a decentralized exchange, represent some of the earliest examples of digital scarcity meeting internet culture. The Rare Pepe phenomenon has even spawned physical exhibitions and a dedicated community of digital art collectors.
Community Sentiment
The Ethereum developer community is buzzing with excitement about the ERC-721 token standard, which is currently being developed and discussed in Ethereum Improvement Proposals. Unlike ERC-20 tokens, which are fungible and interchangeable, ERC-721 tokens are designed to be unique — each one different from the next. This distinction is fundamental to the concept of digital collectibles.
Developers like Dieter Shirley and the team at Axiom Zen are actively working on applications that leverage this non-fungibility. Their upcoming project, still in development, aims to combine the collectibility of digital cats with the breeding mechanics of genetics, all running on the Ethereum blockchain. The project is generating significant buzz in developer circles, with some speculating it could be the application that finally brings mainstream users to interact with smart contracts.
The broader crypto community remains divided, however. Bitcoin maximalists dismiss digital collectibles as gimmicks, while Ethereum enthusiasts see them as a compelling use case that demonstrates the unique capabilities of programmable blockchains. The tension between these camps reflects a deeper philosophical divide about what blockchain technology is ultimately for.
The Next Evolution
Looking ahead from November 2017, several trends suggest that digital collectibles are poised for significant growth. First, the infrastructure for creating and trading NFTs is maturing rapidly. The OpenSea marketplace, founded in late 2017, is positioning itself as a centralized hub for discovering and trading all types of non-fungible tokens across multiple blockchain platforms.
Second, the concept of verifiable digital scarcity is beginning to resonate with traditional art and collectibles communities. Galleries and museums are starting to take notice of blockchain art, and some forward-thinking collectors are adding digital pieces to their portfolios alongside traditional works.
Third, the gaming industry is exploring blockchain integration with renewed interest. The ability to truly own in-game items — to trade them freely, to carry them between games, to prove their authenticity — represents a paradigm shift in how players relate to virtual worlds. Projects exploring this intersection are attracting both developer talent and venture capital.
Investor Takeaway
For investors watching the crypto space in November 2017, the digital collectibles sector offers a unique proposition. While Bitcoin trades near $5,950 and Ethereum hovers around $308, the NFT market is essentially a frontier — uncharted, volatile, and full of potential. The total market capitalization of all NFT projects combined is measured in the low millions of dollars, a rounding error in the broader crypto market cap of approximately $200 billion.
However, the fundamental thesis is compelling: if digital art, gaming assets, and virtual real estate can be provably scarce and freely tradable, the addressable market could be enormous. The key risks include user experience challenges, scalability limitations of current blockchain infrastructure, and the possibility that mainstream adoption remains years away.
The smart play for those interested in this space is education and early exploration. Understanding the technology, the communities, and the creative forces driving digital collectibles today will provide an enormous advantage when — and if — this market goes mainstream. The pioneers of November 2017 are planting seeds that could reshape how humanity thinks about ownership in the digital age.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
CryptoPunks launched for free and CryptoKitties raised 12M from a16z. the market rewarded the wrong project as usual
CryptoPunks launched june 2017 and literally nobody cared. took years for people to realize what larva labs built
punks in june, kitties in november. both ignored on launch. the pattern is consistent, the most important nft projects start with zero hype
mint_watcher nailed the pattern. punks free, kitties cheap, both ignored. meanwhile people paid thousands for jpeg airdrops three years later
The shift from crypto as currency to crypto as culture started right here. NFTs were the Trojan horse that made blockchain tangible for regular people.
crypto as culture is exactly right. nfts gave blockchain a human face that btc and eth never could
curio cards, punks, kitties. the 2017 nft scene was tiny but every project was genuinely experimental, not a cash grab
CryptoPunks launched in June 2017 at zero cost and people still slept on them for months. the article mentions Larva Labs but undersells how ignored that project was initially
ETH at 307 when NFTs were born. gas was cheap enough to actually mint things. by december cryptokitties made the chain unusable and gas went to like 50 gwei minimum
crypto kitties clogged ethereum so badly in dec 2017 that it forced the scalability conversation. that congestion was the best thing to happen to the ecosystem
gas_guzzler CryptoKitties congestion directly forced EIP-1559 into the roadmap. that silly cat game did more for eth scaling than any whitepaper
Greta B. EIP-1559 came 4 years later. crypto moves so slow on infrastructure but so fast on speculation. cats broke the network and it took half a decade to fix gas
Greta B. hard agree on EIP-1559 but the real urgency came from 2020 DeFi summer gas wars. CryptoKitties started the conversation, Curve and Uniswap made it unavoidable
CryptoPunks launched at zero cost and people literally gave them away. now theyre worth millions. the NFT market has always been about patience and luck, not skill
eth at $307 when this was written. people were debating whether NFTs were a fad while gas fees from cryptokitties were literally testing the network limits. wild times
Dmitri V. the network congestion from kitties directly inspired EIP-1559 research. that game did more for eth scaling than any conference
eth at 307 when this was written. those were the days when you could actually use the chain without paying 40 dollars in gas to swap a token
CryptoPunks given away for free in June 2017. by 2022 individual punks sold for 10M+. the NFT market rewards zero attention span having degens apparently
CryptoPunks launched free in June 2017. by November CryptoKitties was clogging the chain. 5 months from zero to network-breaking volume. nobody saw it coming
eth_gas_2017_ CryptoPunks launched as a free mint and nobody cared for months. then Larva Labs got traction and suddenly everyone was an NFT historian
eth_gas_2017_ and the wild part is Curio Cards came BEFORE Punks. people were already experimenting with NFTs on Ethereum in mid 2017 and nobody paid attention