The 10k ENS Club with 713.eth & 562.eth | Alpha Leak

Welcome, Bankless Nation, to this very special episode of Alpha Leak. Alpha Leak episodes are where we uncover and unpack something that's going on that might be bullish in the world of crypto. And on today's episode of Alpha League, we're covering the 10K Club and also the 999 Club. There's this weird thing going on in the corner of ENS domains where people are speculating on numbers, uh digit numbers, especially the low digit numbers. Uh and so two things have emergently created been created out of this. There's this the 999 club for people that own ENS numbers, point like 999.eth and lower. And now there's also the 10K club for people that own 9999.eth and lower than that. And a bunch of weird things have spawned out of this. And so we brought on two community members uh to talk about the whole bull case for the 10K Club and the 999 club. Like, why are people doing this? How is this being organized? How is this being coordinated? Is this a DAO? Because the answer is no, but also yes. And so we're gonna explore all of these things and we're going to at the end of this episode uh talk about why you might want to own part uh and be a part of the 10K Club. Uh and so uh these are the Alpha Leak episodes. We cover these with various communities and various projects throughout the crypto ecosystem. Uh each individual token or project or community has a bull case for it. So if you are a part of a community and you think the bull case needs to be told, these are the shows for you. So here's what you gotta do. You gotta grab a team, uh, three people, two people, anyone who can give the bull case for your project or your team or your protocol or whatever, you gotta come up with an agenda and we gotta get you on the show so we can talk about the bull case for your program. And today, of course, we're talking about the bull case for the 10K Club, the 999 club, and whatever other clubs come out of this ENS domain. We're gonna explore that with two community members right after we get to some of these fantastic sponsors that make the show possible. All right, guys, let's get this show on the road. I'm here with two community members from this crazy weird 10K club project. On the bottom, you see Leo, who's also 562.eth. And then on the top right, you'll see soy.eth, also Patrick, also 713.eth. Uh, these are two community members, I guess, from this not DAO thing that's being created. Uh Patrick Leo, uh, thanks for coming on to this Alpha League show. Appreciate it.

Thanks for having us. Thank you.

Cheers. Okay guys, let's let's get right into it. How did this whole thing start and also what the hell is going on? Uh what what is happening in the world of like low digit ENS names and how did this whole thing get started? Uh Leo, I'll throw that one to you.

Well, I I probably started off with um my personal story and it kind of like we'll touch on all of these things. So uh we were majority of us were actually following, or I know I was following at the beginning, um

a uh NFT influencer, Daniel got hits and

When he was talking about ENS domains and giving ideas, giving alpha different ideas, things to get. And then he just made a post saying it would be such a flex to own a three-digit domain, and they weren't minted out at all. He just said it would be such a flex. And then his next tweet, or in that tweet, he attached how much uh Dubai number plates were being sold for. And he was like, Well, if the number plates are being sold for a lot, what happens when these people enter the Web3 space? They're probably going to want these, you know, three digit domains as a flex. That's how it began.

A few hours after that, or within like two tweets, just on Twitter. Yeah. And then us being DGens, we started minting them out. I I didn't mint it out. I actually bought both of mine at one ETH each. Um, but and then the community started saying it all this is all organic, no one, no idea, no founders started saying, Hey, why don't we form a club called the 999? Where you know, just a club for people who hold three digits. And then that's where it personally hit me. And it was like, I said, the 999 is going to be the most exclusive club in the world of ENS, and I want to be a part of that. It's no doubt going to start attracting some giga brains. Just because I watched your interview with Kevin Rose and I started thinking about proof, and I'm like, this is an inevitability. So then the 999.

Got together and then people started moving on to four digits. And then the 10K Club was essentially launched. There's a more detailed story for this, but I don't want to take up too much time on this answer. I actually wrote a thread about it. There's threads about it on Twitter to explain the full story, but it was just organically launched, no founders, unruggable. And it just came about. That's why there's such a passionate community behind it. And then we formed the whole idea of I am my digits, my digits are me. And it's been uh crazy ever since.

So it's just really this like property of ENS and and numbers. Like so we humans created numbers. We also created ENS. And so people just slammed these two things together and started playing the speculative game on low-digit ENS names. I mean the the bull case, of course, for ENS is that it's going to be this the domain system of planet Earth in the future. And so like there's there should be no like surprise that people are uh uh playing speculative games in the same way with ENS names as they are with dot com domains. Um but like I think it's the numbers thing that is really just like the kind of funny meme aspect about this.

See, it's looked at as a meme, but I think it's best to take it back to first principles, right?

Dot ETH domains are going to essentially be your personal point of identification in the Web3 world. When we had a, we actually jumped on spaces with Nick.eth, the creator of ENS, and he said it's going to be your Web3 passport. So every time I touch base, touch, I have a touch point with someone, they're going to see my.eth domain. It's going to be my bank account, my email, my login.

And if we take a look at the idea of numbers across cultures, cultures give them importance, especially low digits. In the Middle East, it's not a flex to own a Rolls Royce. It's a flex to own a Rolls Royce that has a multi million dollar low digit number plate attached to it, right? So if you want to think about it, if I'm going to constantly touch base with people in the Web3 world, having a low digit domain is essentially me walking around with a low digit number plate.

Strapped to my my forehead, right? In the real world. It's just constantly going to be a touch point.

Uh cultures like in the Asian, in the Asian cultures, Chinese culture, they value numbers, right? They make decisions based on numbers. We had a whale who came and bought 555.ETH for 55.5 Ethereum. And then he was located and asked why he did it, and he said, just for fun.

So it's not even about, it's not even about it's beyond the just the community. There is intrinsic value in holding these low digits, especially when they're going to be used as your personal point of identification. No different to a prestigious profile picture or a verified tick on Twitter.

Patrick, I want to get your story in on this. How did you discover this whole like ENS thing? Where where did you uh what what's your genesis with this whole like 10K club thing?

Um

well if I go all the way back, I mean I got an ES in 2020. Um, and you know, I thought this was gonna be a thing eventually.

Um, but I didn't I didn't think numbers would be like the thing,

um, as big as like specific words. And so I only had one number, one three digit number when this thing happened. And

I was the one tweeting about it, like me, Daniel, some other people are talking about the numbers, and we're like, there's only a few left. Like, you know, maybe we should actually grab them. Cause like we're tweeting about them, but

you know, we only had a couple ourselves. I'm like, God, I'm gonna grab another one and uh

I sold it for three ETH and I still have my my one three digit. I picked up some more four digits and um

it's actually mind blowing and it makes sense like in hindsight and it's just like

you know, it's like I was tweeting this stuff out and it's like I kind of faded myself

uh a little bit.

Um, but I'm glad I'm still holding and stuff. And yeah,

I don't know. I think there's a crazy future for it, like Daniel said.

Or like Leo said with the license plates and whatnot.

Right. Yeah, if this is like our uh self-chosen like social security number of the metaverse, which any ENS name can be really like there's not any meaningful difference between the numbers and like David Hoffman.eth, for example, or or like soy.eth, which Patrick you have, but also it's just kind of it's just like a a shelling point, right? It's just like there is a fence around the numbers only ENS names and like all the other ENS names just because like it's numbers and like because people like to be in like at least in the the West, we really like our lines and when everyone wants to be first in line all the time. And so I feel like it's that same kind of property where just like, you know, first, like got here first, like look at my very low number, I'm earlier than you, uh, even though you could have come in later, but it doesn't really matter because the number is so low. So what what kind of like behaviors have you guys seen in the community? Like, how do how are people picking what numbers they want to get? Like, are are they just finding the the cheapest four digit number that they can find? Or like are they playing like I don't know, maybe they're going for like prime numbers? Like, how are how are people valuing different ENS digit numbers differently? Uh Leo, I'll throw that one to you.

Yeah. So people are going with birthdays, uh postcodes, um, you know, some uh people, if you hold an Azuki or a board ape, you're getting the respective number uh that your your board ape actually has as an as an ID. Um palindromes, um

lucky numbers as well is a is a is a big thing. Um but there's no central.

As no flavor, not really.

No, not not really. And that was like the beautiful thing at the very beginning is that initially we had the option to mint what we wanted. So people were actually getting something that was meaningful to them. Now it's become more of a secondary thing. So you're just getting a number to have it uh essentially a pass into the 10K club or a pass into the 999 club. Um, so it's become less, say, meaningful, but um there are still people who are so attached to that initial number that they got that they wouldn't ever think about, you know, uh selling because it's become part of like their identity. So that's the type of behavior that um, you know, the the decision making that people took.

Yeah, and I can definitely tell from the chat this meme of uh my digits are me or what what's the what's the line?

I am my I am my digits, my digits are me.

Uh and so like uh I so I'm I'm in the 10k club. My number starts with a six. I can't remember what number it is. Uh so I need to go go check that, but I'm sure as soon as I go realize what what my ten my four digit numbers are, I'm gonna have that like number baked into my brain. Uh and it'll just be like a part of a part of me. Has anyone gotten a tattoo yet? Is that what's next?

Not that I know of. Uh I'm

sure someone will.

Yeah.

Like I I know I know uh Patrick as 713.

His entire identity is built around that. I've

Did never never didn't even really know his name and it didn't it didn't matter because our numbers became our point of identity. And it's it's why it happened, the explanation behind it is it's it's it's a difficult one to say. It all I can say is it did happen.

So what's what's making the community so excited? Like w w are people you I mean I I'm trying to like ask my typical questions when I'm like, okay, like what's the roadmap, guys? But like is is there a roadmap? And if there's not a roadmap map, what makes the community so excited about this whole thing?

You want me to take that one? So

Yeah, go for it.

um, yeah, so like Leo said, um, it formed kind of uh spontaneously, and it

was just like, hey, let's let's make this little club.

And then,

you know, a week later it blew up almost 7,000 people in the Discord. There's articles around the world. Um,

and you

know, part of the reason like uh Daniel stepped down is he was like, This thing is really blowing up. Um

You know, we just try to make this club and I want to make it Daniel proof. Like, you know, because he's he was fully docs, he's an influencer, and you know, he's like, I don't want something uh bad to happen in this, like if he gets canceled or for whatever reason. And he's like, So this is going into your hands now.

Um,

I want to protect the community, I'm taking a step back.

And

there there's no Dow. Um, but I mean, honestly, the the

the there's no uh limitations to what can happen. I mean, we have a huge community, we have plans, um, there's multiple ways that we've thought about how to get funding.

Um

Okay, so we are thinking about actually producing a treasury.