24 hours in Telegram with the wildest NFT cult

Even if you are only casually involved with Crypto Twitter or the NFT community, DeGods bullposting has become a fixture on the timeline. The level of passion surrounding the project mirrors the intensity often seen in fandoms like BTS or Taylor Swift, albeit within the microcosm of crypto. Some holders and team members call it a cult.

Not so long ago the project was faced constant criticism be for decrease in the floor price and what some NFT holders saw as a lack of vision for the future. Now DeGods have done that re-entered the timeline and collective consciousness in a much more positive way.

The most important catalyst? The team’s decision to build a bridge to Telegram.

While bridging typically refers to transferring assets between different blockchains – something long-time DeGods holders know well – in this context it means moving a significant portion of the community’s activity to the Telegram platform. The idea was to connect with their audience in a space where attention and interaction naturally thrive.

Rohun “Frank DeGods” Vora, the founder of DeGods and a prominent figure in crypto, described it as a spontaneous decision driven by the desire to try something new and fun. In an effort not to dilute the community, they closed the Discord server when they moved to Telegram.

This shift produced surprising results: a clear increase in numbers sale And floor price in collections (including y00ts, now called “Fuzzy DeGods” on marketplaces), and the enthusiasm that even extended to Twitter, showing that community energy can be reignited in a new environment.

Frank told me DeclutterWhile they initially didn’t expect this move to cause such a revival, they just wanted to create more opportunities to do interesting things as a community.

“Fewer and fewer people are using Discord and more people are using Telegram because they trade Solana shitcoins,” Frank explained. “So it’s where everyone already is and what they’ve been used to all day.”

“And it fits in perfectly,” he added. “The same eyeballs that were on OpenSea in 2021 have now moved to DexScreener and Photon and Bonkbot in 2024.”

In the trenches

Apart from the price, the atmosphere has been revived and the general sentiment around DeGods is no longer what it was during last year’s “Season 3” rebrand and content decline.

To get a sense of the “rejuvenated atmosphere” and really understand what the “DeGod mode” is about, I immersed myself in the Telegram chat of the DeGods community for 24 hours.

The chat has around 2,100 members in total, with around 300 users active at any given time. Because Telegram operates on a single channel, communication is concentrated in one space, which amplifies the hype and excitement. It’s usually exclusive to NFT holders, but they welcomed me as a temporary guest.

When I joined the chat, I was greeted by hundreds and hundreds of messages.

“/WE LOVE ERIKA”

“/ERIKA_GREATEST_REPORTER”

“/ERIKA_SOLVED_WORLD_PEACE”

“/ERIKA_OUR_DEGODDESS”

During those 24 hours, the community – including admins and bots – kept the momentum going non-stop.

Posts were constantly shared and new holders were welcomed in a flurry of activity. There was not a moment of silence and I had to take breaks to rest my eyes. It may get overloaded, but it’s pure, concentrated hype – a change of pace from the usual doom-scrolling vibes of Twitter these days.

There are slogans that every member knows by heart, including “Imagine if I never met the broskis,” “The most entertaining NFT is the most likely,” and “DeGods = the best version of yourself.”

Not only do community members from all different parts of the world keep the chat going at all times, but the bots and streamlined system drive this constant activity.

When a DeGod member shares a post, a Raid bot is activated, similar to the one used in the meme coin trenches. Although it is an automated bot, an administrator or moderator decides which specific posts to raid. To complete or “detonate” the raid, a certain number of comments, likes, retweets and bookmarks are required. The chat will be locked until the goal is reached, resulting in a continued wave of engagement with DeGod-related content across the X timeline.

The idea of ​​relying on automated bots is based on Frank’s research over the past six months trading meme coins.

“I’ve noticed little things that small communities are good at,” he said. “I’ve always had some consideration in my research process and I try to apply the things that are best to what we do. If something doesn’t quite fit, we just make our own version of it.”

DeGods has created his own version of a “buy bot” that would track NFT market cap instead of meme coin market cap. They also created token-gated Telegram tools to allow the channel to restrict membership based on NFT ownership.

The result is something that may be familiar to crypto users, but still feels new.

“I think there’s so much energy when you get everyone together in the same place with the same goals,” Frank said. “The question that keeps coming up is: ‘What can we do to make it even crazier? How can we push the needle even further, but not force it, you know?”

Can raids remain relevant?

Frank added that plundering other members’ posts also aligns with the philosophy of making DeGods bigger than himself, to shine a spotlight on the community and its members. In the past, he has occasionally been a reluctant face on the project, minimizing his presence in an attempt to boost others but ultimately giving in to the holders’ overwhelming demands for his energy.

Will the Telegram have longevity for the project’s popularity? The answer is that he doesn’t know, but that’s not the point of the endeavor.

“There is no direct incentive to loot DeGods. Most people have accepted that NFTs will not make a comeback. The majority of owners do not think that DeGods will make them rich,” Malcolmsaid a core team member of DeGods Declutter. “They plunder because they love plundering, and they love DeGods.”

While the design of the raids lends itself to criticism of the bullposting’s fabrication, he believes that inauthentic raids would ultimately not be sustainable. People really need to feel it, otherwise what’s the point?

“Raids should be fun so the community keeps coming back,” Malcolm added. “There’s a popular saying: ‘The meme that takes over the world is the one that’s the most fun to kick.’ Right now, DeGods is one of the most fun ‘memes’ to spread because everyone in the community is proud to be there.”

Frank explains that historically, longevity stress has led to his team’s worst decisions. DeGods has made a number of moves over the past year that were poorly received by many holders, such as bridging Solana to Ethereum and overpromising features and benefits.

“Ironically, the worst things we’ve ever made were created under stress,” he said. “The best was when we just tried to do things that we thought were interesting or cool or fun.”

When asked to explain this, he pointed to last year’s divisive Season 3 rollout.

“We tried to respond to stories that others imposed on DeGods,” he said. “But the truth is, it’s not just one story, it’s a community. The more cool and interesting people we have in the community, the more dynamic it becomes.”

He mentions CryptoPunks as an example. “There is no roadmap for CryptoPunks, but they attract people who are authentically cool and interesting,” he said. “That’s what brings more people like that into the community.”

When asked if his strategy is simply to adapt to what’s happening and adjust as he goes, Frank replied, “My strategy is ‘DeGod Mode.'”

What is ‘TheGod Mode?’ It’s different for everyone. “It’s a lifestyle, it’s a feeling,” said one holder in the Telegram chat.

“It’s a different kind of energy every time we need to activate it. If you need them for something, they will do it. And that’s what I’m most grateful for,” Frank said. “I am just a humble community servant. I have spent so many years building with the boys through all these changes.”

After leaving the Telegram, I’m hit with a mix of emotions. I feel energetic, entertained and amused. For a day they made me feel like I was the most important person in the world. Many of the early NFT communities have fractured and fallen apart as the industry has suffered, and as traders lose interest or flip their holdings and chase other sensations.

But DeGod Mode has a certain, special allure. Isn’t that what we all look for when we join a community? We want to feel like we belong, to be affirmed, to feel united. You feel that within their community.

One thing is clear: they know how to adapt to the current meta, have fun and make it their own.

Now that I’m out of the trenches, I open my Twitter timeline.

“Our DeGoddess,” I see a DeGod response to an influencer. More comments are coming in with the same comment, and I can already tell the Raid Bot is about to go off.

Just like that, they’re at it again – only this time, without me. They really know how to turn on DeGod mode and turn the spotlight on whoever has the time at the time.

Edited by Andrew Hayward