Latest Knights of Degen News
Participate and earn, that's the web3 way, right?
The latest edition of participate and earn comes via Knights of Degen's, Degens Brackets, where March Madness meets web3.
After building an innovative bracket solution last year, KoD is back this year with an upgrade to its March Madness product which mints brackets to the Polygon blockchain. Find the announcement here.
What Is Degen Brackets?
Degen Brackets is a March Madness pool product that allows users to create brackets that are minted on the Polygon blockchain as NFTs. The Degen Bracket solution can be found inside the Knights of Degen mobile application, which is available in both the iOS and Google Play Stores.
With Degen Brackets, users can create or join March Madness pools with a web3 twist, winning prizes like NFTs, $DGEN (the KoD ERC-20 token), and more. Notably, the Knights of Degen app will automatically creative a native wallet for new users, not requiring the use of a seed or secret recovery phrase and lowering the barrier to entry by removing onboarding friction.
Each new wallet is automatically funded with 100 $DGEN, which can be used to enter in pools or other community events. Ready to fill out your bracket? Follow the steps below. Learn even more about the product here.
How to Join a Degen Brackets Pool
This year, Knights of Degen is offering one lucky player tickets to the Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona in 2024. Below we'll show you how to join.
1. Download the Knights of Degen Mobile App
Degen Brackets is hosted in the Knights of Degen mobile app. You can download it via the Apple App or Google Play Stores.
2. Sign Up, Create a Degen Wallet
Signing up for the Knights of Degen app doesn't involve any complicated recovery phrases or technical competence. Instead, users can simply sign up with email and password at which point they'll automatically have a Degen wallet created for them and seeded with 100 $DGEN to start. Once your wallet is created, you can find your wallet address inside the settings tab of your user profile. Here you'll find your $DGEN balance. At present time, $DGEN is unable to be transferred.
3. Join a Degen Tournament
After your wallet is funded and created, you can find Degen Tournaments by selecting the "Tournaments" icon at the bottom navigational bar. From here, select "Degen Tournaments" to find a list of available March Madness pools for entry.
For each available tournament, the entry fee, prize pool, and total entrants are listed.
After you've selected the tournament you wish to join, you can hit enter and join.
3a. Create a Tournament
Don't see anything that interests you, or want to challenge your own friends? By hitting the "plus" button, you can quickly create your own Degen Tournament. Follow the prompts to create a league that fits the conditions you wish to play for!
4. Fill Out Your Bracket
Upon joining a tournament you'll be able to choose to create a new bracket, or import an existing.
For those creating their first bracket, select "Fill Out New Bracket" and begin making your way through each region and round until a champion and tiebreaker score are selected.
In the event of a tie, the player with the total points closest to the actual total will be crowned champion.
Degen Brackets uses a simple multiple scoring system, which rewards points on advancement at the following intervals:
- Round of 64 winners = 1 point
- Round of 32 winners = 2 points
- Sweet Sixten winners = 4 points
- Elite Eight winners = 8 points
- Final Four winners = 16 points
- National Championship winner = 32 points
After your bracket is completed and submitted you'll be entered into each respective tournament. All $DGEN amounts used to enter brackets will be refunded at the conclusion of the tournament as part of Knights of Degen's "Stake2Play" functionality.
5. Follow Along
Once you're submitted, you can follow along and track your standings in the Knights of Degen app. Beyond the Final Four tickets to the winner, the prize pool will allocate 30,000 $DGEN to users as well.
Get More March Madness
Knights of Degen is not the only NFT community exploring March Madness.
Below find more March Madness opportunities depending on the NFT projects you hold:
Knights of Degen announced "Degen Brackets," an NFT/March Madness crossover in a teaser video shared with its Twitter following on Thursday night.
The Deets
Degen Brackets are March Madness brackets that are minted on the Polygon blockchain. Additional details include:
- Users can join or create a "tournament" in which other brackets may be entered.
- Degen Brackets is mobile first, running on the Knights of Degen app (available on iOS and Android).
- Prizes like Knights of Degen NFTs, or $DGEN, the ERC-20 of KoD can be won.
- Users will automatically get a web3 wallet in app, without needing to remember a seed phrase.
❗Why It Matters
March Madness is a major cultural event for sports fans and the general public. Knights of Degen - the web3 community for sports and gambling fans - is utilizing its niche to drive attention to its brand via an innovative approach to March Madness participation, all while removing a major barrier to web3 adoption (initial onboarding).
🎬 Take Action
Prepare for Degen Brackets by downloading the K.o.D. mobile app in the iOS or Google Play Store.
Knights of Degen released its updated whitepaper yesterday to "set out the next phase of the development of the Knights of Degen ecosystem," while touching on a number of initiatives fior 2023 and beyond. In this article, we'll review some of the main takeaways from this announcement by the web3 sports brand.
Launching the KoD Mobile App
The project's upcoming app will serve as a hub for KoD holders to interact with each other on iOs, Android, and web. A valid "Degen Identity" will be required in order to access the app as proof of membership in the ecosystem. Interested users can join the app's whitelist here by entering password "carpeDegen" and providing an email address.
A key feature of the app will be the "Degen Feed", which covers the betting and fantasy activity of users in the KoD app. Members will be able to link different third party sports betting or fantasy applications to the feed, and that activity will be viewable by other app users.
Knights of Degen will also host "Degen Tournaments" via its app. Eventually, the app will support fully customizable, user-hosted tournaments, where tournaments can be josted by anyone in the KoD ecosystem.
What is a Degen Identity?
A KoD Identity is comprised of a member's username, avatars, web3 wallet, NFT characters and authorized third party apps. It serves as an on-chain personal identifier that is used to connect the various apps and products across the KoD ecosystem. One motivation the project had for creating Degen Identities was to help onboard new collectors by assisting with key storage and asset custody.
The whitepaper also mentions an upcoming "Gen II Knights" collection, which will serve as "the virtual personification of your Degen Identity." Gen II Knights will be customizable NFTs that provide utility within the ecosystem.
Fantasy Initiatives with LeagueDAO
Knights of Degen acquired the fantasy sports platform LeagueDAO in the summer of 2022, and this acquisition will help KoD integrate fantasy applications into the KoD ecosystem. KoD's fantasy product will be called "Degen Fantasy", and it will allow users to join and host web3 fantasy sports leagues within the ecosystem. The whitepaper provides an example future usecase of a manager being able to sell or rent out players on their team in exchange for $DGEN tokens. A variety of different fantasy formats will be supported, including:
- Season Long Fantasy Mega Leagues: multi-division season-long managed leagues
- Season Long Dynasty Leagues: Multi-year managed leagues
- Scramble Fantasy: A unique NFT-powered format where collectors mint NFTs of random players, which are then "scrambled" into teams
Members will be able to enter contests in one of three ways: by entering free-to-play contests, by staking the project's upcoming native $DGEN token, or by traditional paid entry
Betting to Earn
Members will be able to earn the project's $DGEN based on their betting activity and/or through the completion of different tasks called "quests." Contests and quests will be presented and voted on by the project's DAO.
What is The $DGEN Token?
$DGEN will be the native token of the Knights of Degen ecosystem. When the $DGEN token is released, it will be distributed according to the following allotments:
- 45% to the Degen DAO Treasury
- 30% to Knights of Degen Inc.
- 10% to Contributors
- 15% via Token Claim
There will be a DAO staking pool where holders can stake their tokens to vote on different DAO proposals, with DAO governance serving as one of the token's main utility functions. The other function is the token's use as an in-game currency as referenced in previous sections.
The DAO will also be responsible for funding ecosystem development grants, managing the DAO Treasury, reviewing and approving proposals, and managing Degen Ventures, the venture arm of the DAO, among other duties.
Read the whitepaper in its entirety here.
Knights of Degen is officially acquiring LeagueDAO, a blockchain fantasy sports project, according to a press release from Knights of Degen.
The LeagueDAO team — Jake Craven, Tyler Ward, and Matt Hunter — will join Knights of Degen as part of the deal, though the remaining terms of the deal were not released. LeagueDAO will continue to offer its existing products — Mega League, Nomo League, and Non Fungible Brackets — and allow the platform to offer upcoming games to Knights holders.
“We have always seen fantasy sports as a pillar of the KOD ecosystem, and to that end, we’re thrilled to onboard the LeagueDAO products, team, and community," said Knights of Degen co-founder Drew Austin in the release.
The possible acquisition was first reported by Lucky Trader back in September.
Knights of Degen is planning on releasing a token ($DGEN) that will be the native currency for its game ecosystem, the release said. LeagueDAO already has a token ($LEAG) but the project said in a Discord announcement it could not disclose any token agreements (such as claiming or those airdropped) between the two "due to legal and regulatory concerns."
LeagueDAO members were invited to join the Knights of Degen Discord after the project enables roles.
“The Knights of Degen community and ecosystem offers exactly the right engine to pursue our passion for building on-chain fantasy sports products. We are so excited about this next chapter for LeagueDAO,” said LeagueDAO co-founder Jake Craven.
Knights of Degen's new Degen Haze IPA by Saucy Brew Works is now available to order online, according to a recent Discord announcement.
Order an exclusive four-pack here (this is a password-protected website).
Degen Haze IPA is a Hazy India Pale Ale, eight percent ABV (alcohol by volume), and available in 16 ounce cans. The password for the website is available in the Knights of Degen and Steedz token-gated Discord channel #degen-haze-ipa.
"Saucy Brew Works has been making a splash since opening in 2017 as one of the fastest growing and most popular breweries in Cleveland, Ohio," Knights of Degen wrote in its announcement. "They even claimed the 2019 title as the #1 Brewery in Cleveland. Two of our incredible KOD community members , Frostdude and k9wolf, are connected with the team at Saucy. And upon learning about their interest in becoming more involved in the web3 space, thought it would be a great fit to bring the two parties together. Cheers to you two, Zach, and Kyle."
To help with the cost per order, customers can add an additional eight cans of beer at $4 per can.
Shipping is only available in the United States, excluding Alaska, Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Utah.
Knights of Degen holders have until 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday to register for the Knights Fantasy Football League.
Users have to sign up on the Knights website and send $100 USDC registration fee from the same wallet. The contest, which awards $10,000 to the winner, is only for Knights holders. The KFFL is a multi-division league with 12-team divisions. The top four teams (record and points) in each division from weeks 1-14 will move on to a league-wide playoff.
For more information, including where to send fees, read the Knights' Medium article.
Knights of Degen (KoD) collaborated with ICE, an amusement and arcade games manufacturer, and One of None, DeShone Kizer's limited-edition NFT marketplace, to create a KoD-inspired, hybrid NFT basketball arcade machine, according to the team's blog post announcement.
The machine, a custom Game Time Pro, features artwork from Blake Jamieson, the lead artist for KoD, including each of the Roundtable Team's (founders and advisors) NFTs and the Degen Tavern, a well-known design within the KoD ecosystem.
To purchase the Game Time Pro, first the buyer will have to own the NFT attached to the machine. They then have to decide whether to keep the arcade machine vaulted or redeem the NFT to have the physical game shipped to their house.
The KoD Game Time Pro is listed for $8,500 and can be purchased with ETH or a credit card. It is a 1/1 item, and the NFT can be seen on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea.
For more information about the KoD Game Time Pro collaboration between the team, ICE, and One of None, see their Medium article here.
Knights of Degen has acquired DinoMonks according to a recent post from the team.
DinoMonks is an NFT project that promotes mental health awareness and gives its holders a place to find support within Web 3.
The Knights of Degen team stated in the post that its team will be "working with DinoMonks to continue their mission within the KOD ecosystem."
Holders of a DinoMonks NFT at the time of the snapshot at 1:20 p.m. ET today will be eligble to claim the Knights of Degen utlity token $DGEN.
DinoMonks NFT owners will also be able to buy a "Knight NFT claim pass" where they will have the right to purchase a Knight at its original mint price of 0.088 ETH.
Knights of Degen holders will receive a subscription to a sports betting site as a result of a new partnership with Action Network, according to a press release.
Action Network, which is owned by Denmark-based Better Collective, will also purchase Knights of Degen NFTs as part of the deal. Knights holders will receive a premium subscription to the site, which includes betting content and analytics. (Lucky Trader co-founders Peter Jennings and Jonathan Bales were part of a team that founded Action Network, which was sold to Better Collective in May 2021.)
"Our partnership with the Knights of Degen will provide their community with direct access to Action's best experts and serve as a bridge between the sports betting and NFT communities,'' said Scott Miller, SVP Commercial for Better Collective, in a release. "Sports betting is filled with unique one-of-a-kind experiences (just like NFTs) and our entrance into Web3 only furthers our commitment to combining the worlds of sports media and technology."
Action Network community members will receive access to Knights of Degen's contests, NFT onboarding content, and athlete AMAs. Knights was founded by web3 entrepreneurs and sports celebrities including former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber.
"We think Action Network is the perfect partner to provide great value and service to our community, and we believe KOD is the perfect entrance for traditional sports fans into Web3," said Barber in the release.
