How Weedbits is Bringing 420 Culture to the Metaverse

Do you know what ‘420’ is or how it came into existence?

420, 4:20, or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is cannabis culture slang for marijuana and hashish consumption, especially smoking around the time 4:20 p.m., and also refers to cannabis oriented celebrations that take place annually on April 20. (Reference from Wiki)

A ritual started by a group of high school students, and soon 420 became code word for smoking marijuana: In 1971, five high school students in San Rafael, California, used the term "4:20" in connection with a plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop, based on a treasure map made by the grower. Calling themselves the Waldos, because their typical hang-out spot "was a wall outside the school", the five students—Steve, Dave, Jeffrey, Larry, and Mark—designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 pm as their meeting time.

The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase "4:20 Louis". After several failed attempts to find the crop, the group eventually shortened the phrase to "4:20". Steven Hager of High Times popularized the story of the Waldos, which ultimately evolved into a code-word that now tokers across the globe use to refer to consuming cannabis.

April 20 is now cherished by pot smokers around the world as a reason to toke up with friends and rallies / massive crowd gatherings occur each year on 4.20.

Now the 420 can live in the metaverse without restriction.

A team of developers and artists are developing a Weedbits Club (WBC), a ‘420’ members-only digital environment in a metaverse where like-minded people can gather and socialize. In a world that has spent 1.5 years in isolation, digital communities have taken off. For instance, The Marque, a private members’ social networking club, charges between $2,500 - $3,000 annually per member to provide exclusive access to its social Meetup.

To gain access to WBC, users need to own a Weedbits NFT. Currently, a limited number of Weedbits NFTs are available on the ’Binance NFT market’ for around ~$550 - $5000. The public mint on ETH network will go-live this month. In addition to members-only clubhouse access, owners are also rewarded with special perks each month. These perks are in the form of digital 420-themed gears that grant users benefits. For e.g. if an individual collects 7 rare Dragon Bong gears, they can exchange them for a rare Weedbit NFT.

Weedbits NFTs are innately valuable due to their constrained supply of 10,420, but what adds value to these collectibles is the utility. The collectors get members-only clubhouse access that features Gallery/ Bar/Stage/Arena in the metaverse and an opportunity for thousands of like-minded people to privately socialize. Also, those who own at least 2 Weedbits, can participate at a future date to mint the second generation of Weedbits NFTs.

Interested? Need to know more about NFT and Weedbits Club:

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded this year. Although they’ve been around since 2014, NFTs are gaining notoriety now. The ecosystem has witnessed hype from the burning of the Banksy painting and Beeple’s ‘Everydays: The first 5000 days’ art pocketing $69 million in the now-famous Christie’s auction.

Why such a high craze for NFTs, after all, they are just PFPs?: While a collectible has no intrinsic value from a financial perspective, it may have some intrinsic value given the buyer’s personal feeling about the item or the art’s subject.

NFTs particular subject attracts an owner base because they associate a personality with that character that reminds them of themselves or how they want to be. Therefore, for any NFT project to be successful, it's important how they establish a compelling brand story or how they distinguish the subject of their NFT.

Weed as a subject for the NFT hopes to attract 420 like-minded people. The owners of Weedbits exclusive 10k NFTs will spend their days chilling in the Weedbits Club metaverse - socializing with like-minded ‘420’, playing in an arena (members-only battle game), and enjoying monthly perks in the form of digital 420-themed gear.

The collection has 10,420 algorithmically generated portraits of weeds using smart contracts with ultra-rare types - Alien OG and 24K Gold popping up a handful of times. Similar to trading cards where subject rarity increases value, the same way the value of a particular NFT varies depending on rare traits. The rarity of limited launch Weedbits can be checked from Rarity Snipper.

Just like in the real world, no two assets can exhibit similar characteristics or value, similarly, each Weedbits tokenized asset (NFT) on the blockchain has unique characteristics.

Since these digital assets are distinguishable from each other, they are not interchangeable and so are referred to as non-fungible tokens. Just like real assets that have a certificate of ownership, NFT tokens maintain ownership records and proof of authenticity on the blockchain that cannot be tampered with.