TL;DR
Early PFP project Gutter Cat Gang launched successfully in 2021 and went on to expand in multiple ways, including releasing more PFPs, working on art collaborations, and launching apparel. There have also been some major partnerships, such as that with Puma. The collection was hit hard by bearish conditions, but a new owner, known only as Noah, has taken over, and the atmosphere around the project has improved, with floor prices immediately increasing.
PFPs have taken a hammering this year, and that includes OG project Gutter Cat Gang, which saw floor prices plummet from around 8.5 ETH in April 2022, to below 0.3 ETH at the beginning of this month. However, prices are suddenly up again–breaking above 1 ETH–since good news about the takeover of the project. So are the Gutter Cats now due a comeback, and what’s in store for the future?
Gutter Cat Gang Origins
Gutter Cat Gang is a collection of 3,000 PFPs depicting cartoon alley cats, all looking slightly sideways and with various costumes and accessories. If you think that all sounds very 2021, then you’d be right, as they minted in June 2021, right around when PFPs were primed to explode in popularity and price.
On mint day, all 3,000 items sold out in less than five minutes at a cost of 0.07 ETH each, and from there Gutter Cat Gang rode the wave of Web3 and NFT hype, executing plans and partnerships along the way.
How the Gutter Cat Gang Expanded
The project was extremely busy in the couple of years after it launched, branching off in multiple directions, and some notable developments have included:
- Launch of the Gutter Rats secondary collection, free for PFP holders in July 2021.
- Gutter Mint Pass launch in September 2021, enabling mints of companion collections Gutter Pigeons and Gutter Dogs (which both launched later in 2021.)
- Gutter Art launch in September 2021, to collaborate with Web3 artists in minting new work, resulting in many collaborations.
- Gutter Comic launched in February 2022.
- DNA-1 Gutter Juice launch in March 2022, allowing PFP holders to create new digital collectibles.
- DNA-2 Gutter Juice launch in September 2022, allowing for the upgrade of DNA-1 collectibles.
- The Gutter Shop opening, through Shopify, in March 2023.
A lot of high quality apparel has also been released along the way, including tie-ins with NBA athletes and a major, ongoing partnership with Puma, and there have been several IRL meet-ups and events.
On the whole, the project has been consistently busy, forging partnerships and positioning itself as a brand, with a particular emphasis on sports and streetwear connections.
The Gutter Cat Gang Takeover
Although Gutter Cat Gang has established valuable partnerships and released physical products in collaboration with some big names, all while simultaneously expanding its NFTs through multiple side collections, this didn’t mean that its core PFP prices could remain elevated, and–in line with the NFT market as a whole–prices and trading volumes have dropped heavily from all-time highs.
However, the project received a major boost this month on news that the entire enterprise was to be bought out by a new owner.
After a short period of speculation, it was announced on October 9th that a member of the Gutter Cat Gang community known only as Noah had taken full control, although he stated in a subsequent Discord announcement that “the full transition will take at least a few weeks to a month.”
Since making the acquisition, Noah has placed huge emphasis on restoring enthusiasm within the community, and on reconnecting with the rest of the NFT space, participating in a stream of public discussions, and generally sweeping in an air of optimism and focused activity.
At the end of September, prior to finalizing the deal, Noah had actually already outlined the practicalities of setting Gutter Cat Gang in the right direction, detailing his intention to inject $500,000 of his own capital, and posting a lengthy thread that makes mention of establishing a creator economy and working on physical collectibles.
Noah also acknowledges the realities of the crypto market cycles, mentions current VC reluctance to risk capital, brings up the need for patience while expanding beyond the NFT space, and he describes his own background as an executive at a highly profitable SaaS startup, although it should be kept in mind that such details can’t be verified as Noah has still not made his identity publicly known.
After the new owner signaled his intent to take over, Gutter Cat floor prices nudged up from around 0.3 ETH to around 0.45 ETH, and then after the deal was sealed, the floor price surged to almost 1.2 ETH, while it now stands, at the time of writing, at 1 ETH, with an air of positivity around the project.
Comparable Projects
An immediate comparison is Bored Ape Yacht Club, which set the tone for PFP collections through its style, companion drops, and expansion into new sectors. Gutter Cat Gang is really in the second tier of PFP collections though, putting it alongside projects like Doodles, Cool Cats, and Azuki, which have also suffered declines in price and attention as the NFT bear market has unfolded.
However, the project that Gutter Cat holders may now be hoping to emulate is Pudgy Penguins. Like Gutter Cat Gang, Pudgy Penguins was taken over by a new and ambitious owner, Luca Netz, and in that case, Netz then went on to reposition Pudgy Penguins as a successful NFT-integrated toy company, boosting the price of the original Pudgy Penguins PFPs in the process.
Notably, just a few days ago, Netz tweeted his support for Gutter Cat Gang, and announced that he too was now a member of the community, while letting it be known that he would be talking with Noah. Whether the new era at Gutter Cat Gang can bring innovations similar to those seen at Pudgy Penguins, remains to be seen, but for the time being at least, it looks like there is momentum for a revival.
