Jack Butcher’s checks burn. What will be next?

When Jack Butcher introduced his Checks project to the NFT space, he did so with a single sentence: “This artwork may or may not be remarkable.” His page first tweethas become clear that not only are checks remarkable, but the collection marks a major shift in NFTs for the first time in nearly a year.

While still convoluted to some, Checks has emerged as the frontrunner for the recently launched open edition (OE) craze, as well as a timely commentary on and criticism of Twitter verification under Elon Musk’s ownership of the platform. As the project continues to take on a life of its own—inspiring communities, conversations around social status, and countless diversions—the unique endeavor has entered its second phase, taking the NFT space for another go.

Check’s unique burning mechanism

On February 12, after weeks of anticipation and the introduction of Checks migration, Butcher started phase two of the project by introducing a burn mechanism. A common feature among OEs, burning refers to the destruction of an NFT or multiple NFTs where either a new token is created or another incentive or reward is provided by the user whose token was burned.

Burning dynamics often creates conflict among those who find it difficult to choose between burning or keeping their NFTs. But considering that the Checks collection was originally over 16,000 pieces, holders seemed more than happy to enter phase two once they were opened. Moreover, a significant amount of fanfare came from the fact that upon burning a Checks NFT, users would receive a unique piece of on-chain artwork in return.

It all starts with holders of multiple Checks editions. Butcher himself theorized that given the total supply of NFTs vs. number of unique owners, most collectors will likely have around six NFTs, with 80 checks per NFT. From there he settled on a system that would allow the burning of two original 80 checks to create a 40 check NFT. Then, by burning two 40s, users could make a 20 check, and so on down the line, hitting the lowest potential numbers of 10, five, and four checks per NFT and finally culminating in a single colored check. But it doesn’t stop there, as Butcher outlined in a massive Twitter thread that led to the fire.

Since only 250 single checks could possibly exist (thanks to Butcher for do the math), given the number of holders in the collection, Butcher added incentives that went beyond the initial burn. If a holder can acquire and burn 64 simple checkers, they can produce a new simple black chess piece of art, of which only three can ever exist. While some deep-pocketed collectors out there may try to follow the rabbit hole all the way down, it will likely only serve to increase the scarcity of the original 80 checks.

Furthermore, Butcher aims to ensure that holders retain a significant amount of agency through phase two by allowing burn participants to dictate the NFT’s token ID and color palette. When burning two pieces, users can choose which of the two token IDs to preserve and transfer to the new chain NFT created as a result. Likewise, because the color of this new NFT is affected by the tokens burned to obtain it, holders are encouraged to plan, according to their visual preferences, which pieces to collect and burn to combine.

Burning Checks, What’s Next?

In the NFT space, imitation often goes far beyond flattery, which often results in a series of low-quality copycat efforts. We’ve seen it happen time and time again after the popularization of CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, Loot, Azuki, Goblintown… the list goes on. But curiously, although some cash derivatives appeared, knockoff checks have mostly been the product of prominent builders in Web3 and have subsequently been hailed as successes in their own right.

Perhaps this is due to the importance of the underlying themes that Butcher has instilled in his project, which focuses on the criticism surrounding social media verification. Or maybe it has more to do with the respect that Butcher and his brand have Visualize value have accrued in recent years. Whatever the reason, it’s hard to see the success of Checks, the subsequent OE boom and the corresponding increase in NFT sales through 2023 Q1 as existing independently of Butcher.