NFT communities are known for being dedicated, engaged and passionate – but one community stands out from all the rest: DeGods.
Since minting on Solana in 2021, thanks to its transparent leadership, culture-focused direction and community-first mantra, it’s quickly become one of the loudest and most widely-known NFT collections amongst blockchain enthusiasts – but how did it get to where it is today?
Here’s our complete 2025 guide to DeGods.
What is DeGods?
DeGods is a collection of 10,000 unique human avatar NFTs, originally minted on Solana in October 2021. Each DeGod holds a distinct mix of traits; from different backgrounds and hairstyles to clothing, eyewear and more quirky accessories.
The collection rapidly gained popularity thanks to a set of unique features. Holders were able to mine the $DUST token, with future initiatives including access to NFT tracking app DYOR, exclusive merch and much more.
DeGods is a product of DeLabs, a company with three main figures; Frank DeGods (Rohun Vora), Kevin DeGods (Kevin Henrikson), and Finn DeGods – who announced his departure in August 2023. DeLabs also created the y00ts companion collection in November 2022, and continues to manage both collections to this day.
As of today, DeGods now exist on all three leading NFT blockchains: Solana, Ethereum and Bitcoin, and holders continue to benefit from an expanding list of features and utility, including conversions into DeadGods NFTs (using $DUST), access to DeDAO, real-world opportunities, and – most recently – access to the $DEGOD token.
What have DeGods accomplished so far?
DeGods were minted on October 8, 2021, priced at 3 SOL. A combination of demand and technical issues saw the all 10,000 NFTs sell out in just 7 seconds, with many questioning the fairness of the mint.
To try and mitigate the decline of floor prices, DeGods brought in the “Paper Hands Bitch Tax”, a 33.3% tax on anyone who listing their DeGods below the floor price. Any funds collected from this tax were used to buy and burn DeGods NFTs, reducing the overall supply in an attempt to increase the value of the remaining NFTs.
By the time the Paper Hands Bitch Tax was halted on January 1, 2022, the total supply had been reduced to 9,465 – but that was just the start of DeGods track-record of innovation.
In January 2022, DeGods introduced the $DUST token – and with it, the DeadGods. Holders could stake their DeGods to earn $DUST, which could then be used to upgrade their DeGods into DeadGods at the cost of 1,000 $DUST. This revitalized interest, addressed aesthetic issues with DeGods, and attracted even more attention.
April 2022 saw a move from downtown, as DeDAO decided to purchase Big3 Basketball team Killer 3’s for $625,000, giving DeGods its first mainstream exposure, and giving holders multiple options to benefit from the IP and licensing rights of the team, on top of opportunities to purchase ownership stakes in the form of NFTs.
December 2022 saw DeGods announce controversial plans to move from Solana to Ethereum, which was completed in March 2023 – but not before the previously burned 535 DeGods made their return as Bitcoin Ordinals in February 2023.
The chain-hopping wouldn’t stop there, as in May 2024, DeGods made the shock move to migrate both DeGods and y00ts (which had spent the last year on Polygon) back to Solana, with a bridge now supporting the existence of DeGods on Solana, Bitcoin and Ethereum.
September 2024 saw DeGods release the long-awaited $DEGOD token – but as with all things DeGods, they had taken a unique approach. Holders were able to:
- Swap a DeGod NFT for 550,000 $DEGOD tokens
- Burn a y00ts NFT for 120,000 $DEGOD tokens (regardless of rarity), or
- Burn 1 $DUST token for 36 $DEGOD tokens
Reactions were mixed, with many worried about the impact that tying DeGods directly to a highly-liquid token could have on floor prices. In the short-term, DeGods have declined from 2.00 ETH on September 16 to 1.03 ETH at the time of writing – but the long-term effects are yet to be known.
What does the future hold for DeGods?
DeGods never do things by halves – indeed the team has conceived that DeGod stands for “do everything great or die” – and with that mantra at the heart of what they do, we’re sure they’ll continue to make waves.
Although the debut of $DEGOD has been a mixed bag – and the only real utility as such thus far has been the release of a merch line – we’re sure the DeGods team has deeper ideas for the token, though when we’ll find those out is anyone’s guess.
They’ve been unafraid to push boundaries, challenge conventions or do virtually anything in a way that’s been done before – and it’s that level of brash confidence that’s won them so many fans thus far.
Dust Labs – a blockchain technology side-project to DeGods – has began to branch out into developing software solutions for other NFT projects, off the back of their chain-hopping expertise, and we’re confident this could lead to further innovations for DeGods themselves down the line.
As much as the DeGods team have their influence, the DeDAO will play a major part in what DeGods will become. The passion from its members is felt everywhere you turn – from X to Discord and more – ensuring that the interests of the DeGods team and their holders are always one and the same.
What does the future hold? With DeGods, it’s difficult to know – but we do know one thing for sure: with DeGods, expect the unexpected.
Riding crypto waves since 2012, bridging digital and physical worlds through prose.