Doodles' DOOD Dive 📉
Doodles' long-awaited DOOD token finally dropped on Solana, and the market reaction was... underwhelming, to put it mildly.
After briefly touching a $100 million market cap, DOOD plummeted nearly 50% in its opening days.
Now the team is pivoting from "memecoin" to "universe token" while building an AI storytelling platform called DreamNet.
Is this just another NFT cash grab before the bull market ends, or could this blend of cute characters, AI, and decentralised storytelling actually work?
And what does this teach us about the new playbook for NFT collections trying to stay relevant in 2025?
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🎨 The Mint
The Ethereum-born "blue chip" NFT collection Doodles debuted its DOOD token last Friday (May 9), completing its transformation from 2021-era PFP project to... whatever it's trying to be now.
The token structure follows the familiar NFT playbook:
10 billion DOOD total supply
30% airdropped to Doodles NFT holders
13% going to "New Blood" community members on Solana
25% reserved for the "Ecosystem Fund"
The rest (32%) split between team, advisors, and liquidity
Holders of the original Ethereum Doodles collection and other ecosystem NFTs (like Doodles 2) had to pre-register by connecting both Ethereum and Solana wallets before the token generation event.
Major exchanges quickly lined up to support the token, with Bybit, Binance Alpha, Gate, KuCoin, and MEXC all announcing listings.
The anticipation was palpable. Doodles NFT sales surged dramatically in the 24 hours before the airdrop, with trading volume hitting approximately $1 million on May 8, then skyrocketing to $2.5 million on May 9 - roughly a 188% increase in daily volume. This marks a significant increase in weekly volume compared to the previous week.
This pre-launch hype is a familiar pattern, but Doodles is attempting to position DOOD as something more significant than just another memecoin.
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😱 The Panic
The market didn't exactly shower DOOD with confetti after its debut.
According to Doodles' head of strategy Austin Hurwitz, the token briefly touched a market cap of over $100 million at launch, then promptly tanked to around $52 million. As of Wednesday morning (May 14), it was hovering around $45 million with a price of about $0.005 per token.
Hurwitz tried to spin the dramatic drop as totally normal and expected: "We expect those tokens to rotate into the hands of people who want to hold for the long run. Would not judge the performance of the token based on launch."
Translation: "Please don't sell, guys."
To be fair, Doodles isn't the only NFT project to see its token crater after launch. Both Pudgy Penguins' PENGU and Azuki's ANIME are down 79% and 87% from their all-time highs, respectively.
Just as DOOD launched, the broader NFT market hit $126 million in weekly sales, a 27% increase from the previous week. A teeny tiny "bull market" energy.
🔄 The Pivot
As prices dropped, the Doodles team quickly reframed the narrative. DOOD is not just another Solana token.
Then?
It’s a "universe token" for something called DreamNet.
What's DreamNet? According to their marketing materials, it's an AI-powered storytelling platform with:
Agent Tokens (characters)
Place Tokens (settings)
Reference Fees (payments for using story elements)
The DOOD launch comes just months after a January leadership shakeup, with artist Scott Martin (Burnt Toast) taking over as CEO to move away from what he termed "extractive corpo" initiatives.
When asked about the price drop, Martin said: "We launched DOOD not to follow trends but because we believe in building real, long term, value for our community."
"Web3 is the infrastructure powering what we do, but we're building experiences that resonate far beyond the typical crypto crowd."
Currently, the only concrete utility mentioned is that DOOD will be usable in the Doodles shop "in a few days." The rest of the DreamNet vision? Purely theoretical.
The project is spreading itself across multiple chains, starting on Ethereum, launching its token on Solana, and planning to bridge to Base later. As Martin put it: "Doodles is chain-agnostic. We build wherever it makes the most sense."
Translation: We'll follow whatever chain has the hottest money.
💡 The Lesson
Doodles' DOOD launch offers a clear view of where we are in the NFT cycle: projects that rode the 2021-2022 wave to prominence are desperately trying to find sustainable business models beyond simply selling JPEGs.
The current NFT project playbook appears to be:
Launch a token (preferably on Solana where listing is easier)
Give a big chunk to your existing holders (to keep them happy)
Talk about AI integration (because it's 2025 and you have to)
Pivot to "storytelling" and "worldbuilding" (since gaming is hard)
Promise utility that's always just a few months away
The initial price action suggests the market is getting wise to this formula. To Doodles' credit, they do appear to be thinking more expansively than many of their peers.
The concept of tokenising narrative elements that can be composed together might genuinely have applications beyond just storytelling. Imagine game assets that earn their creators royalties when used in different games.
For gaming, this approach could eventually offer an interesting alternative to traditional IP management. Instead of a single company owning all elements of a game world, individual creators could own and monetise specific characters, settings, or concepts.
For now, DOOD joins the growing pile of NFT tokens that launched with a bang and then promptly cratered. The test will be whether they can deliver a compelling DreamNet experience that actually makes people want to use DOOD for something other than speculation.
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The Week That Was 🗓️
A judge dismissed a lawsuit from buyers of the Caitlyn Jenner (JENNER) memecoin, finding their claims of securities violations and fraud were not adequately supported.
Yuga Labs has sold the intellectual property (IP) of the CryptoPunks NFT collection to the Infinite Node Foundation (NODE).
Frank DeGods, the creator, has stepped down as CEO of the DeGods NFT project after three years at the helm.
Square Enix is expanding its blockchain game Symbiogenesis from Polygon to Soneium.
DappRadar reports a significant increase in user activity for AI DApps, suggesting they could soon rival gaming and DeFi in the Web3 ecosystem.
Nasdaq-listed GD Culture Group (GDC) intends to raise up to $300 million to establish a cryptocurrency treasury reserve. The company plans to use the funds to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin.
Arbitrum has committed $10 million to blockchain gaming projects through its newly established Arbitrum Gaming Ventures initiative.
Upcoming Launches 🔍
CyberBrokers Drifters: Launching Today on TPL. CyberBrokers' customisable 3D avatars, Drifters, launch today, Wednesday, May 14th at 3 PM EDT on TPL Drifters [Base]. Mint DNA Packs (7,777 supply) starting at 0.048 ETH to collect G.E.A.R. and BioCanvas to create your evolving metaverse identity.
Adidas & Xociety: NFT Drop for Sui Game. Apparel giant Adidas is collaborating with the Sui-based game Xociety to release 2,600 limited-edition NFT mystery boxes starting May 16th. Priced at $129 each, these boxes contain Adidas-branded virtual clothing and accessories for player avatars in the "pop shooter" game.
Upcoming Token Unlocks: May 14 - May 18. Key token unlocks include: $STRK (May 15th, $23.20M), $SEI (May 15th, $14.44M), $IMX (May 16th, $17.77M), $ARB (May 16th, $42.23M), $AVAX (May 17th, $41.59M), $APE (May 17th, $10.54M), $FTN (May 18th, $87.20M), and $MELANIA (May 18th, $10.31M). Investors should monitor these events.
Art of the Day 🖼️
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