“#LetsFlow” is one of many NFT slogans you’ll find on Twitter if you follow the top Solana NFT influencers. But what sets it apart from the rest is the project’s vital mission behind the saying. To flow is to move along in a steady stream, to be in harmony with the tides, and to trust where it leads. As such, Coral Tribe inspires flowing with nature, being one with it, and nurturing it instead of simply exploiting it for resources.
The Coral Tribe is partnering with brands and organizations that are leading the path to a sustainable future. For starters, it has pledged to plant 3,000 corals across three continents, which will aid in restoring ocean ecosystems. And above all, half of the collection’s revenue will be invested in projects that intend to help preserve nature and wildlife while also yielding returns, which are to be distributed to its NFT holders.
Note that holding a Coral NFT is the primary way to gain exposure to the project and fully access its vibrant community.
What is Coral Tribe?
Coral Tribe (CT) is a creative hub powered by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that leverages art and technology to fulfill its mission of saving the natural world while rewarding holders with shared revenue on its investments, as well as other exclusive perks. CT aims to provide economic, educational, and recreational benefits to holders whilst driving wildlife conservation.
At the heart of the Coral Tribe, lie two essential components:
- The Impact Fund, which is aimed to invest in projects that protect and preserve nature, and the
- Coral NFT collection, which has enabled the creation of a vibrant, mission-driven community that will initially fund said investments.
The hub will utilize state-of-the-art web3 technologies, including blockchain, NFTs, smart contracts, breeding mechanisms, and many more. Coral Tribe runs on Solana, which is one of the most energy-efficient blockchains to date.
What is the Impact Fund?
The Impact Fund (IF) is a community-led treasury seeded with 50% of mint revenue and 50% of secondary sales that will be used to invest in projects that leverage art or technology to conserve nature through environmental or social impact.
With the help of sustainability advisors, the Tribe DAO will curate various environmental projects to be displayed on a dashboard, allowing holders to visualize the collective impact of CT investments, analyze and vote on projects to be funded by the IF, and monitor ROI reports.
Investments will focus on three areas: practical, cultural, and scientific. Furthermore, the rewards will also vary depending on the investment. There will be economic, educational, and recreational rewards exclusively available to Coral holders through the $AQUA token.
Examples:
- A renewable energy business falls under the area of ‘practical’, hence, it will likely generate economic holder rewards in the form of shared revenue.
- Another example is a marine conservation center, which falls closely to ‘scientific’, hence, the rewards will probably be either recreational or educational, such as free memberships to go diving or free marine biology seminars or courses, etc.
Coral Tribe NFTs
Coral Tribe features a first-generation collection that consists of 6,565 NFTs designed to empower holders as instruments toward a more ecocentric world and be rewarded for their support and contribution.
A Coral NFT represents your involvement in the Solarpunk movement, as well as your membership in the Coral Tribe DAO and CT community. By holding a Coral, you get to enjoy the following perks:
- Impact Fund rewards — All Coral holders can earn a share of the profits or other rewards generated from fund investments.
- $AQUA rewards — Staking your Coral will earn you $AQUA tokens (see AQUA section).
- Community access — You will have access to the CT community’s exclusive social groups and channels. This will allow you to network with other holders and create meaningful relationships, partnerships, etc. The more widespread and influential the Coral Tribe gets, the more high-profile individuals it can attract, which in turn, will likely bring more value to the community. Note that most BAYC newcomers buy their way in not because they want access to the founders, but because they want to connect with other members of the community. But then again, this all depends on the quality of the community.
- Governance privileges — Holders have the power to steer the direction of CT, including which projects the Impact Fund should invest in, by proposing their ideas to the Coral Tribe DAO or voting on other others’ proposals. Furthermore, elite holders who heavily contribute and stake their NFTs for long periods can be elected as DAO members and earn even more rewards.
$AQUA Token
$AQUA is a utility token designed to bring value across the entire Coral Tribe ecosystem through royalties generated from the Impact Fund, and access to other exclusive perks. You can earn $AQUA by staking your Coral NFTs.
Here are the $AQUA utilities:
- Impact Fund rewards — Use $AQUA to sign up to reward schemes generated from Impact Fund investments. Note that these rewards, which can be linked to a CT NFT of your choice, have a limited amount. This means that purchasing these rewards and tying them to your NFT will not only create various yield-generating mechanisms for said NFT, but also make it rarer to the ‘added attributes’.
- Access to the Tribe Demigods auction — The Tribe Demigods auction will host the auction of five 1:1 art pieces brought to life by the same artist who made the CT collection using $AQUA as the exclusive bidding token.
- Gen 2 collection — $AQUA will soon be used to access Coral Tribe’s Gen 2 collection. All we know (so far) about this future collection is that it requires $AQUA and a symbiotic algae called “Zooth”, which will soon be airdropped to all NFT holders.
- Buying CT sustainable merch
- Purchasing IRL experiences — Picture this: a CT-organized nature retreat on a beach in the Bahamas, with live music, scuba diving trips, permaculture workshops, surfing competitions. The possibilities are endless.
Note that $AQUA is a cryptocurrency, and will be tradable on decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
Coral Tribe DAO
The Coral Tribe DAO is an on-chain governing council powered by holders of Corals created to settle matters pertaining to the project, its mission, and all investments in the Impact Fund. It is expected to work alongside the founding team, and perhaps become the ultimate autonomous governing body of the Coral Tribe ecosystem.
Sustainable Merch
The CT sustainable merch collection is not your typical run-of-the-mill merch drop, considering it will be designed by none other than the founder himself, Mowgli, who has worked with the likes of Calvin Klein and Versace. Made with high-quality fabric derived from recycled plastics and cotton, the sustainable merch collection includes hoodies, jackets, shirts, and other essentials inspired by street and Solarpunk styles, featuring scannable QR codes and augmented reality (AR) functions designed to bring a dimension of CT mythology into the experience of wearing.
Furthermore, a few items will contain secret codes that grant access to free nature retreats, NFT airdrops, and other surprises.
What is SolarPunk?
Solarpunk is an art movement and literary genre that imagines a future where humanity overcomes its environmental problems and lives in harmony with nature powered by green energy sources. Solarpunk art depicts technology used as a means of nurturing the planet as opposed to exploiting it, envisioning lush green megacities with rooftop gardens, floating village communities, and other magnificent creations fueled by the merging of nature and tech.
As stated in its Medium article, Coral Tribe fully embraces the SolarPunk movement, seeing the value of technology and nature. We can expect that the many if not most of the future artworks of CT will continue to possess Solarpunk aesthetics.
“Solarpunk recognizes science fiction as not just entertainment but as a form of activism” – Solarpunk Manifesto.
Solar Punkademy
Solar Punkademy is a platform that offers resources that revolve around self-sufficiency and financial sovereignty, art workshops, and hackathons that promote tech solutions to environmental issues, led by the CT team and other Solarpunk art experts.
Who are the Founders of Coral Tribe?
The entire Coral Tribe team is fully doxxed and is led by Creative Director Christian Chegne, also known as Mowgli, who has worked with several artists, designers, and brands, including Calvin Klein and Versace. Mowgli somewhat gives off this yogic calm vibe; you can check out his website to learn more about him.
Other co-founding members include:
- Project Manager Jimmy Lane Gozalo aka Kaiporah, an avid diver, surfer, and tree climber who was a tech consultant for AgDevCo and has previously worked as a project manager for various startups,
- Community Manager Adolfo Casabal aka Numa, a business-savvy entrepreneur who was the former president of Leeds Entrepreneur Group, and
- Sean Honeyman aka NFT_Honey, a content creator and avid wanderer.
The Lead Artist of CT is none other than João Queiroz (Q1ROZ), a Brazillian artist whose artworks have helped inspire the creation of the collection. Q1ROZ‘s works, especially his Amazofuturismo series, are truly amazing and deserve a look.
Other team members include Marketing Strategies Laia Fernandez, PR Lead Sara Todić, advisors, etc.
Aqua Nexus Metaverse
The Aqua Nexus metaverse is envisioned to be an interactive art space that will be developed by the Coral DAO. Not much is set in stone considering metaverse activation won’t likely happen until next year. However, the team has already created one 3D render of a Coral.
My Takeaway
I’m glad that the team is filled with people with strong backgrounds in marketing and branding, as the NFT space thrives on these aspects. Mowgli appears to know what he’s doing as the Creative Director, which can be seen in the way the project has properly branded itself. And of course, the fact that Q1ROZ, the artist of the collection, is also part of the core team means that Coral Tribe will likely maintain the same level of quality in future art drops.
However, I slightly feel like the team lacks a native NFT degen, someone who has worked with tons of projects and knows the ins and outs of the space, having made mistakes in the past and having learned from it. The NFT space works very differently from other industries, and the projects with great utility don’t always come out on top, but a real NFT degen’s instincts can help a project position itself to maximize trends, which is important to stay relevant in this fast-changing space.
As far as the collection goes, I find it easy to fall in love with the concept of Solarpunk through the works made by artists of the genre, which is a testament to the power of art in inspiring change and compelling people to act. And I feel a lot of people will feel the same after googling Solarpunk art. Try it.
The world is also moving towards renewable energy and sustainable solutions, and experts estimate that in 30 years the world could be fully powered by green energy. When CT collaborates with the top organizations that champion ecocentrism and sustainability and launch joint ventures, the results could be massive.
Lastly, it is important to note that while Coral Tribe has successfully created a vibrant community, it is still very early, as with most NFT projects in general, and has yet to truly prove itself. I personally am bullish about the project, but I can’t say I’m fully sold yet.
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