Al Goanna: An NFT Collection of Algorand-Loving Reptiles

Al Goanna is a series of Algorand-based NFTs showing just what’s possible when building something that resonates with users. Al Goanna is a collection of reptile tokens launched on Algorand that seeks to aid the planet by fighting carbon emissions. As part of the line’s social awareness component, creators are looking to plant as many trees as possible.

The project lead behind Al Goanna — a man, simply known as Benji — got involved with crypto in 2017. Benji describes himself as being self-employed, primarily as a photographer and web designer, over the last 15 years. Most recently, he has run a marketing agency that does graphic design work for small businesses throughout East Australia.

Getting a Start in the Crypto Race

Benji’s entry to crypto was a self-proclaimed rough one. He began trading digital assets right before bitcoin’s first bull run in 2017. He made money but later lost most of it through shaky initial coin offerings (ICOs), leveraged trading, and similar excursions. While he may have lost the majority of his investment, Benji saw it as a learning experience and it piqued his long term interest in the blockchain space.

“I wasn’t active over the next year or two, but I stayed pretty aware of what was going on,” he says.

In mid-2020, he learned about Algorand and felt it was “something special.” Intrigued by the elegance of the company’s blockchain solution and overall approach, he began investing in Algorand before seeking ways to become more active. This led to his entrance into the NFT movement and his new Al Goanna tokens.

NFTs Combine Creativity with Simple, Inexpensive Technology

Benji felt the NFT space was perfect for him, given his skillset. It also allowed him to get involved with Algorand without needing to explore blockchain on a deeper level. NFTs, he says, are cheap and easy to create. He feels this gives the space a strong feeling of organic growth. It provides anyone with a chance to establish their own collectibles, mint them, and then “see what happens.”

The NFT space was one that he felt matched up with his creative abilities. He noticed how big collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club were becoming. Thinking this was something he could do, Benji began thinking up a new line of collectibles that could compete with the biggest NFTs on Ethereum, Solana, and similar blockchains. His goal was to launch them on Algorand.

Jumping in Headfirst

Al Goanna didn’t come about right away. Benji worked with several artists and established a few different NFT characters before settling on Al Goanna — a smiling monitor lizard in a wide array of looks and outfits. The looks depend on the respective tokens.

Instead of starting simple and releasing tokens one at a time, Benji wanted to “hit the ground running.” So he approached the NFT space in a way that hadn’t been seen before by creating a full website that indexed the collection and laid out the plans for the project up front for investors to explore.

The Ease of Creating Al Goanna

Highlighting the ease of creating NFTs and Al Goanna, Benji says a “no-code approach” was taken when launching the collection. Initially, the idea was to generate the NFTs by a script designed to combine the tokens’ different traits.

What Benji ended up doing was manually combining the traits and outputting the NFTs himself. This is different from the release of other NFTs. Benji employs a Photoshop-like document that has 100+ layers in it. This allows him to go in manually and toggle the different layers on and off to create different designs.

Benji and his team initially agreed on a launch of 489 NFTs. Benji thus spent several days manually creating and exporting all the tokens to build out the entire collection. He then separated them into groups and decided on launching 50 during the first drop. This occurred on September 11, 2021.

Following the event’s success, Benji revisited the collection to see which new traits could make the series more unique. By limiting repetition, the collection could become stronger and appeal to more collectors. New items in the Al Goanna collection have been dropping every Sunday since that first September event. And currently, all 489 Al Goanna NFTs have been minted.

An Environmental Benefit

But launching the collection through Algorand presented a new objective. Algorand is known for being a carbon-negative blockchain. When Benji began his journey in the NFT space, he noticed lots of bad press directed at bitcoin and the rough impact it allegedly had on the environment.

This press then began seeping into the NFT world. Benji decided he could live up to Algorand’s principles and offset any carbon emissions his tokens emitted by planting a tree for every established collectible. This gave investors a chance to build their NFT library while simultaneously improving the planet.

NFTs = TREES

The initial idea was to plant a tree for every NFT created. Though Benji, who had very high hopes for this project, paid for the planting of all the 489 trees before a single NFT was sold. Fast forward to Q1 of 2022, 120,000 trees and counting have been planted through the Gilbert the Goanna tree planting fund. Here’s the breakdown as of early May 2022:

• Trees planted via Carbon Neutral: 43,840
• Trees planted via One Tree Planted: 4072
• Trees planted via Trees for the Future: 80,000
• Total funded to date: 127,912

This is made possible through collaborations and donations. Collaborators include Algogard which pledged 1% of its fees, earned during the April-June quarter, to be donated directly to the Fund. “For the Fund, this is a huge step. Traditionally, all our fundraising support has come largely from within the Algorand NFT space. The support of GARD changes this paradigm and we are incredibly grateful for their support.” says Benji.

The Fund will also be leveraging the new opportunities in GARD and the Algorand ecosystem in general to increase yields and have a greater impact on the environment. Other organizations involved include, Carbon Neutral, One Tree Planted, and Trees.org.

The fund intends to raise more money through a dedicated NFT series that will provide 20,000AUS to an emerging artist to develop a series of 1000 unique NFTs. 70% of NFTs from the series will go to a public sale with 100% proceeds from the sale going to the tree fund. The remaining 30% will be set aside to incentivize high value donations.

A Community With Shared Values

Al Goanna is a great illustration of the effect of building a robust community for any project, especially NFTs. Benji reveals some of the best practices of building a community that worked really well with Al Goanna. He states,” Early on it was about doing giveaways, competitions, rewards for our community to incentivize them to continue participating. But I was conscious that I didn’t want the project to rely only on external rewards but rather wanted to establish the intrinsic value of holding Al Goanna.”

If done right, you get a community that is tied closely together by shared values. The Al Goanna community has a strong common belief in Algorand’s technology and wants it to succeed. This has been essential in shifting how the community grows and evolves. Al Goanna’s community has done different things (including non-NFT related activities) under the Goanna DAO.

In early 2022 after discussions within the community, a small group came together to purchase a Mutant Ape (named Andy) from Yuga Labs, with the aim of bridging the NFT from Ethereum to Algorand. This community-led initiative provided the perfect backstory for phase 2 of Al Goanna NFTs: Mutants vs Zombies.

Andy’s Story

Goanna scientists headed by Silvio were in the lab creating a wormhole that allows teleportation into other blockchain ecosystems.

Somewhere far away, on the other side of the Metaverse is Andy the Mutant who can’t get home because the gas fees are so high, so he drinks his sorrows away in the bar. Suddenly, something unusual happens. The wormhole Goanna’s scientists were working on is opened outside the bar and the mutant ape is drawn into it and falls through only to find himself in the beautiful Goanna forest.

The Goannas rush in to help Andy, but some are bitten and infected with the zombie virus. Andy runs off spilling mutant juice that poisons their food source in the forest. Any Goanna who ate this radioactive food source developed strange and unusual mutations. Before long the entire community was divided into two factions: Zombies and Mutants. A bloody war began that would tear this once peaceful colony of tree-loving lizards apart.

The next generation of Goanna NFTs are tied to the efforts of the Goanna DAO in bridging the Ethereum and Algorand blockchains. The idea is to take a previously purchased Mutant Ape NFT and bridge it from Ethereum to Algorand. The story of Andy the Mutant Ape will continue to evolve.

What Do Investors Get?

Last year, individuals who owned Al Goanna NFTs were able to stake their tokens and earn more. Collectors could lock up their Goannas for an eight-week period and collect eggs as a reward, which serve as their own NFTs that can be sold or traded. The eggs carry a value that is redeemable in the next exciting phase of the project, Goanna 2.0: Mutants vs Zombies. The release of this project may occur during the first half of 2022.

For each Goanna staked they received a ticket into the Goanna Super no-loss-lottery. The draw took place in February. The prizes included a Burn Token, an NFT that could be redeemed for a customized Goanna or sold. Other prizes included merch and 6 Goanna NFTs.

Al Goanna shows what’s possible when building NFTs on Algorand. Discover more NFT projects, marketplaces, and tools on the Algorand Ecosystem Directory.