16 Jun 2024/7 min/BatSoupYum of 6529 CAPITAL
MLow x BatSoupYum of 6529 CAPITAL
BatSoupYum of 6529 Capital delivers hot takes on underappreciated AI art, points economies sucking oxygen out of the market, and why high-value 1/1s still belong on Ethereum L1.
A hot takes clip from MLow's conversation with BatSoupYum of 6529 Capital. Asked directly for hot takes, and joking that this is the part of the podcast where he gets in trouble, he offers two. First, AI art remains underappreciated and will stay that way for a long time, with traditional non-AI artists increasingly folding AI into their work; he would welcome, hypothetically, a Coldie Decentral Eyes series with AI elements. Second, Blast and Blur did not kill NFTs, people are overreacting, but the points ecosystem has sucked all the oxygen out of the room. He stays deliberately neutral on the model itself while observing that farming for points distorts incentives across art, PFPs, and meme coins, with an unlock at the end of the month that should make June revealing once the points have a price.
The second half is the most technically substantive custody argument in the show's archive. Asked about minting high-value art on L2s, he gives three reasons he is not there yet: most L2s are still centralized despite decentralization roadmaps; there is no reliable bridge to move art from L2 back to L1; and neither Solana nor Ordinals has a battle-tested multisig equivalent to a Gnosis Safe, leaving hardware wallets as the ceiling, safe but still not great. A collector spending half a million dollars does not care about 25 dollars of gas, so the constraints are structural, not cost. He owns Solana and Ordinal NFTs himself, including a Ryan Koopmans ordinal he calls fabulous, and expects an XCOPY or Matt Kane ordinal eventually.
MLow pushes back as a peer rather than a prompt reader: he agrees on high-value 1/1s but argues gaming assets and consumer onboarding belong on L2s, disclosing his own bias toward Optimism and Base after winning Optimism's AI competition. BatSoupYum largely agrees: cheap editions, high-velocity assets, and gaming items are fabulous on L2, while super valuable 1/1s stay on ETH L1.
What this episode teaches
- Custody decides the chain
Blue-chip art stays on Ethereum L1 because Gnosis Safe style multisig custody is battle-tested there and nowhere else. On Solana or Ordinals a hardware wallet is the ceiling, which is safe but a single point of failure for six-figure work.
- Gas is a red herring at the top
A collector spending half a million dollars does not care about 25 dollars in gas. The real constraints on where valuable art lives are decentralization, bridgeability, and custody.
- A one-way bridge is an unpriced risk
BatSoupYum will not buy potentially valuable art on an L2 because bridges to move it back to L1 do not meaningfully exist. Buying there makes a permanent chain bet on behalf of a work you expect to outlive the chain's governance.
- Most L2s are still centralized
Many L2s have roadmaps to decentralize but have not done it, and he thinks most people do not realize how centralized they remain. That alone disqualifies them for high-value work today.
- Separate the mechanism from its effect
On points economies he refuses to judge the model, but names the effect: an attention economy where one ecosystem sucks the oxygen from art, PFPs, and meme coins alike by incentivizing behavior for points.
- Match the asset to the layer
The framework both agree on: super valuable 1/1s on ETH L1; editions, high-velocity assets, gaming items, and consumer onboarding on L2s, where a 1 of 1,000 drop is a fabulous idea and new users will not pay 100 dollars in gas.
- AI will fold into traditional practice
His prediction is convergence, not a separate genre: non-AI artists will incorporate AI into their existing work, and no one should be afraid to. It is already starting to happen.
- Hold positions with an open hand
He owns Solana and Ordinal NFTs while arguing against high-value art living there, and repeatedly frames himself as very open-minded to being there eventually. Strong view, loosely held, stated with its expiry conditions.
The conversation, topic by topic
Hot take one: AI art is underappreciated
BatSoupYum says AI art's underappreciation will persist for a very long time, and predicts traditional artists will incorporate AI into their work. He floats a hypothetical: if Coldie added AI elements to a future Decentral Eyes series, awesome.
Hot take two: Blast, Blur, and the attention economy
He rejects the claim that Blast and Blur killed NFTs, calling it an overreaction to a decline that was probably coming anyway. But the points ecosystem is the elephant in the room, distorting incentives across art, PFPs, and meme coins, with a reckoning coming at the end of the month when the points get real prices. June, he says, will be super interesting.
Why he will not put high-value art on L2s
Three reasons, stated for himself and probably the 6529 group: most L2s are still highly centralized despite roadmaps; art cannot be easily bridged from L2 back to L1, and to his knowledge those bridges do not exist; and custody, since neither Solana nor Ordinals has a proven multisig like a Gnosis Safe, where most people store their most valuable pieces.
Blue chips will come to other chains anyway
He expects an XCOPY or Matt Kane ordinal at some point, notes Ryan Koopmans already did ordinals, and owns a Koopmans ordinal he calls fabulous. His objection is about today's infrastructure, not the chains' legitimacy.
MLow's case for L2s
MLow agrees on high-value work but argues gaming assets make a lot of sense on L2s, and discloses his bias toward Optimism and Base after winning the Optimism AI competition. He sees L2s as the onramp for regular consumers who will not pay 100 or 1,000 dollars in gas for an edition.
The shared framework
BatSoupYum closes the loop: anything not high value belongs on an L2, a 1 of 1,000 edition drop there is cheap, gets art into new hands, and reaches a user base that may not exist on L1. Paying 25 dollars to transact in a 1 of 10,000 edition is not practical. Only the super valuable 1/1s demand ETH L1.
In their words
“This is the part of the podcast where I get in trouble, huh?”
BatSoupYum“I still think AI art is underappreciated. I think that is going to be a theme that persists for a very long time.”
BatSoupYum“We live in an attention economy right now and that ecosystem has sucked all the oxygen out of the room.”
BatSoupYum“I don't think a collector cares about paying twenty five dollars in gas if they're spending half a million dollars on an NFT.”
BatSoupYum“Most L2s are still centralized. I don't think a lot of people realize this.”
BatSoupYum“I am very open minded to being there eventually, but definitely not there yet.”
BatSoupYumCite this conversation
BatSoupYum of 6529 CAPITAL in conversation with MLow, "MLow x BatSoupYum of 6529 CAPITAL," The MLow Show, 16 Jun 2024. https://show.mlow.xyz/e/2024-06-16-mlow-x-batsoupyum-of-6529-capital.html. Quoted from a machine transcript.
Quotations come from machine transcripts. Check wording against the audio before republishing.