Taiyo Robotics (TYR) is a non-fungible token (NFT) collection of 2,121 pixelated robots on the Solana blockchain.
The project kickstarted last November 21, 2021, but a community member named @SolportTom later purchased it on Christmas Eve of the same year to save the entire community from an eventual rugpull.
From there, the new developers overhauled it to become a business-oriented venture built to support its community, especially the OG holders.
Today, it has evolved as a pure software development company, managed by its current core team and more than a dozen full-time developers. Moreover, it now consists of three collections: The Gen-1 Taiyo, Gen-2 Taiyo Infants, Solsteads, and the upcoming TaiyoPilots.
Each project now serves a specific web3 role, with the Gen 1 and 2 collections handling the platform’s tech products and the Solsteads assigned for gaming and metaverse ventures. The Pilots’ role, meanwhile, will soon be announced to the public. It will be a complementary project, instead of a Gen-3 venture, for the two collections.
Furthermore, SolportTom announced that Pilots might be the last collection of TYR. In his tweet, he mentioned that they wouldn’t be spreading themselves too thin and instead focus on strengthening their three collections and all related services.
Who is SolportTom?
SolportTom currently heads the growing Taiyo Robotics ecosystem, but he was already an active member of the OG community before his acquisition. He was even involved in executing a part of its roadmap and helping set up its marketplace.
He is also one of the founders of Solport, a digital assets marketplace and launchpad built for Solana-based projects. Moreover, he also has 10+ years of experience running adult-related products, a background he disclosed from the beginning. This explains why his team would eventually enter into this controversial industry and roll out a web3-based adult service as an additional revenue stream for the TYR platform.
What is Graphite Token?
Graphite serves as the new token of the Taiyo Robotics ecosystem and will replace its old $SCRAP currency. Soon, all TYR-related services will require users to use Graphite tokens as the primary mode of payment.
The developers also aim to integrate Graphite payments into its NFT launchpad, rentals for the launchpad, and graphics tooling. There are also plans to apply it to Solana’s various web3 activities, including trading, minting, and utility executions.
They also intend to use the token’s protocol to create a multichain ‘no code’ creator tool that can support Solana, Ethereum, Binance, Sui, and possibly more blockchains in the future.
The token hasn’t launched yet but is already in the works. Graphite’s initial DEX offering (IDO) is set to occur either at the end of 2022 or early 2023.
How to Earn Graphite Tokens?
You can soon earn Graphite tokens by staking your Taiyo NFTs, but your earnings will depend on two major factors: the milestone system and the number of staking participants.
The milestone mechanism rewards you based on how long you’ve staked your mecha NFTs. In other words, the longer you stake your Taiyo, the bigger rewards you can get. But rewards will also be affected by the number of participants, as more stakers mean fewer rewards.
TYR’s Three Other Collections
Besides the Gen-1 Taiyo Robotics collection, the TYR ecosystem owns three other collections:
Taiyo Infants
Taiyo Infants, also known as Gen-2 Taiyos, are a collection of 1500 pixel-style robot collection that gives holders access to all channels on Discord, the ability to stake for Graphite (on release), future airdrops, and access to hot alpha.
Taiyo Infants can be bred in incubators, which was one of the first deliverables on the roadmap by the new team when they took over the project. These NFTs offer a cheaper entry point into the Taiyo ecosystem while still providing access to all of its benefits, albeit at a smaller degree.
Taiyo Pilots
Taiyo Pilots is Taiyo Robotics’ complementary project which consists of 12,500 non-fungible characters, built to be a lore-driven ecosystem and support TYR’s Gen-1 and Gen-2 collections.
It will have interesting utilities, including staking for Graphite, access to the TYR incubator, intellectual property (IP) ownership, collab-based rewards, IRL events, and more.
The team is yet to announce the new collection’s official mint date and time. You can check Pilot’s latest announcements on its Twitter and Discord accounts.
4 Ways To Get a Whitelist
Here are four things you can do to get a chance or secure a whitelist spot for the upcoming Taiyo Pilot mint.
Apply for the Pilotlist
The application for Pilots’ whitelist, called Pilotlist, is currently open and looking for 1,000 deserving participants to join its promising community of holders. It has partnered with Dustlabs, an NFT software service owned by the DeGods group (DeLabs), to handle the tech side of its whitelist management.
Note that this is the same tool used in the Y00tslist scholarship program.
Create a Meme
You can also create a meme for the Pilots project and get a chance to win a whitelist spot. Creativity, originality, and a sense of humor can increase your chances of being selected by the TYR team.
Note: Make sure you have signed up on the Pilotlist to be an eligible winner in case you are selected.
Buy a Raffle Ticket
The team will soon open a raffle draw before the minting day that would allow you to purchase a ticket for $295 SCRAP. Once picked, you’ll have a guaranteed spot on the Pilotlist, and if not, the team will reimburse your $SCRAP token.
Purchase a Taiyo Oil
But if you’re willing to spend more to secure a Pilots airdrop, you can purchase a digital barrel of Taiyo Oil on Magic Eden. The number of NFTs you can get depends on how many liters of oil you intend to purchase.
Here’s a simple matrix of the NFT distribution:
| Liters | How Many Pilots You Will Receive |
| 5 liters | One |
| 10 liters | Two |
| 20 liters | Four |
Solstead NFT
Solstead is a collection divided into two groups of digital assets: The first one is the 2,500 Surreal Estate houses, while the second group is the 13,600 Citizens NFTs. It was also purchased by SolportTom, along with the OG Taiyo Robotics, to realign its operations and bring more value to the holders.
The vision for Solstead is to be an e-commerce-centric metaverse instead of a virtual world with hyper-realistic graphics powered by virtual reality (VR) headsets. Moreover, the TYR team could integrate the ecosystem’s three collections to form a bigger world and a true metaverse powered by the Graphite token.
Additional Revenue Streams
Recently, the developers announced that they intend to launch new services that can add revenue streams for the TYR holders.
First is a still-unnamed software-as-a-service (SaaS) that can enhance the platform’s launchpads and other web3 solutions. The second one is BetFomo, a web3 casino that offers various games, including poker, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, virtual slot machines, and more.
But the third one drew controversies and mixed reactions from the community as this service may evolve as a web3 equivalent of OnlyFans, a well-known adult subscription service.
The team explained that their top priority is to look for evergreen services independent of market conditions. In this way, they can ensure the long-term sustainability of TYR’s entire web3 venture. While BetFomo and the upcoming web3 adult service could add revenue for the ecosystem, the team won’t include them under Taiyo’s brand.
