On their own, Tripsters are a collection of lovable, anthropomorphized frogs and mushrooms. But to the team behind the project, their innovative NFT collection represents something beyond digital art. It’s about culture, community, and creating a lasting, global brand that changes the game.
“What’s magnificent about what we’re doing, and we kinda see what happened with what Yuga Labs [the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club] is doing, is that they’re combining communities,” said Jayson Winer, co-founder of Tripsters. “And that’s what we are doing as well. What we aim to do is to add utility to projects with fantastic communities. And by doing so, we are joining our community with their community.”
Community interaction like never before
That utility is what makes Tripsters interesting. Each one comes with a gift; digital psychotropic drugs. Hence, the name “Tripsters.” You can use the drugs to “trip” an NFT from a compatible collection, creating a third, unique token. The tripped NFTs become crazy, psychedelic versions of the original.
Tripsters Senior Advisor, Oskar Kowalski, compares the tripping process to making fine art through the combination of two preexisting pieces. To him, It’s like fusing a Banksy and a Michelangelo to create a third piece inspired by the original two. But you get to keep the original Banksy and Michelangelo.
“The idea behind what Jayson has created here is to be able to integrate multiple communities together. You’re able to multiply the volume of community that can be correlated to each other,” said Kowalski. “Instead of each project going against another project, this is the only project that is bringing an aspect of camaraderie.”
“This is the only project that is bringing an aspect of camaraderie.”
The focus on camaraderie, community, and utility has caught the eye of a lot of people. Tripsters was announced in late February of 2022. Just about six weeks later, they’re already pushing 100,000 followers on Twitter. And they’re sponsors of Miami NFT Week. A three-day conference featuring huge names like Mark Cuban and the Mayor of Miami, Francis X. Suarez. Kowalski and Winer are guest speakers at the event.
To Winer, brand authenticity is essential. Though Tripsters interact with other collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, it’s not a collaboration between the two companies. Rather, it’s a collaboration with the individual Bored Ape owners themselves. “When we trip an Ape, the holder is allowing us to use their art that they own,” said Winer. “We’re not collaborating with them [Bored Ape Yacht Club].”
Owners of tripped-out NFTs join a club. “Our club is exclusive. It is unique. And, it’s really gonna drive up demand. When you drive up demand, you drive up value,” explained Winer. If you trip a Bored Ape, as the popular DJ Steve Aoki did, you’re now a member of The Tripsters Club- Ape Collection. And if you want to join that club, Tripsters is giving away four Bored Apes worth $1.4 million.
Tripsters mean authenticity
“In terms of building a global brand, that is also inducive to a global, digital community,” said Kowalski. “We’re creating a way that communities can participate together instead of against each other, we’re not ‘against’ other projects. We’re [here] to build.”
The idea for Tripsters came to Winer in a moment of self-discovery. The Tripsters co-founder lost money in the Floki Inu rug pull. And after struggling through a depression, Winer realized he was “sick of betting on other people’s horses.” Now, he’s on the verge of something the world of NFTs has never seen before.
“We want the world to know what Tripster means. What it means to us, is to be cool,” said Winer. “And what we think cool is, is to be authentic, be yourself, love yourself, own yourself. And to really break down the barriers of fear and be who you are. Because everyone’s got a Tripster in them.”
