Case Studies

Tokengating with the Mad Lads

Tokengating with the Mad Lads

Mad “Focking” Merch: The Launch of Edition 1

Meet Mad Lads, one of the boldest and fastest-rising NFT Collections in Web3 – now using Single to gate access to exclusive merch for token-holders.  

    

First – some background… 

The crew over at Backpack is making some big waves in the Web3 world. 

  • They first introduced Anchor, a framework for Solana's Sealevel runtime providing several convenient developer tools for writing smart contracts.
  • They next introduced the Backpack wallet, an interactive, first-of-its-kind open-source wallet that delivers crypto-native experiences through xNFTs. 

      

    What’s an xNFT you ask? Good question – the x stands for “executable.” 

    With an xNFT – the NFT has a line of code inside its meta data. Because of that code, it acts as a native decentralized application within the Backpack wallet so any holder can simply click on it to launch the application or experience within that xNFT.

    So for example, someone could create an xNFT that triggers a gaming experience. Someone would buy the xNFT, add it to their Backpack wallet, click on it, then be able to play that game directly inside the wallet. 

    As xNFTs are a brand new type of NFT, the Backpack crew wanted to launch a Collection of their own to serve as a model for what xNFTs could really do. 

      

    Enter Mad Lads – the first ever xNFT collection. 

    While the Backpack crew promises no ‘official utility’ to holders, they’re using the Mad Lads Collection to showcase how powerful xNFTs can be. 

        

    The Objective: Bridging NFTs and Merchandise

    One of the first use cases to highlight – trigger an in-app shopping experience. 

    No NFT collection is complete without merch – so with that, the Mad Lads crew hatched a plan to offer diamond handed holders access to hoodies of varying rarity.

    The team airdropped unique “merch tokens” to all Mad Lads holders. After users activated the xNFT in their Backpack wallet, they were given a unique link, which kept redeemed tokens off of secondary markets and enabled only holders to purchase a hoodie.

    To make this a reality, they chose: 

    1. Shopify – for its reliable checkout process and seamless user experience. 
    2. Single  – our app, which provides the necessary bridge to create a unique, tokengated merch store by integrating a Solana “wallet aware” plugin directly into Shopify.

      In a nutshell: the team sold hoodies via Shopify. They then used Single to gate access, ensuring only holders could redeem the exclusive merch. 

       

       

      The Outcome: A Successful Fusion of xNFTs and E-commerce

      By harnessing Single’s tokengating solution, Mad Lads successfully melded NFTs and e-commerce, pushing traditional boundaries with this emerging xNFT format. 

      Although the date for Edition 2 is still unknown, one thing is clear – this is only the beginning for Mad Lads and Backpack. Check out the Mad Lads store right here!

        

      Feeling Inspired?

      Get started on your own:

      Install Single in your Shopify store. 

        

      New to Shopify?

      Read our guide for launching a killer store in no time. 

        

      Want to enable Web3 Payments in your store?

      Plug in DePay and start accepting payments directly to your wallet.

        

      Thinking big?

      Want to discuss a bigger project? Our professional services team frequently partners with clients to help brainstorm ideas, build websites or membership programs, launch/promote campaigns and more.

      Get in touch and let’s talk!