Web3 culture shifts on a daily basis. Forged by degens, innovators and those curious few that have stepped into the world of blockchain technology, Web3 culture is an all-powerful, all-uniting energy. One NFT brand lives, breathes and shapes that culture like no other. That NFT brand is Rektguy.
Built around the character of a true blockchain degen, Rektguy grew from humble beginnings into a calling card for artistic value, creativity, and the best of Web3 culture.
In Rektguy, holders access a condensed experience of the best the Web3 industry has to offer – but what exactly is Rektguy, what successes has Rektguy achieved so far, and what can we expect to see in its future?
Master the topic, as we explain the past, present and future of Rektguy.
Key Insights
- First conceived in January 2022 by OSF
- Debuted as a 8,814-piece NFT collection in May 2022
- Known for its passionate, culture-first brand and community
- Recognised for its in-person events, viral moments, and celebrity holders
- Grew into Rekt Brands, Rekt Rewards and Rekt Drinks beginning late 2024
What is Rektguy?
Rektguy is an 8,814-piece NFT avatar collection, minted on the Ethereum blockchain in May 2022. Created by OSF, the collection also saw contributions from co-founders Mando and AlienQueen, with additional input from none other but OSF’s own family.
The NFT collection revolves around the character of Rektguy – a semi-autobiographical creation of OSF that represents your typical crypto trader. Often getting “rekt” by the ever-volatile crypto markets, his gloomy presence and drinking habits are a humorous reflection of real-world Web3 degens.
With this honest approach to portraying Web3 culture and the experiences inherent to those in the blockchain community, Rektguy quickly grew a sizeable audience, becoming a symbol of the shared culture that all in the industry contribute towards.
The creator of Rektguy is Ovie Faruq, better known as OSF. The idea behind Rektguy was formed during OSF time at Barclays bank. Feeling increasingly disillusioned with his corporate role, he would doodle in his spare time. One of these doodles – a hooded skull figure holding a cup of coffee – would later become the Rektguy character.
At the time, OSF was beginning to explore the Web3 industry. As he began to create NFT art himself, the Rektguy character would be front-and-centre of his artworks. In October 2021, OSF minted an artwork featuring the Rektguy character for the first time – a 1-of-1 NFT on Foundation titled “gm”.
This character would become increasingly prominent in his later digital creations. This led to the first concepts of a Rektguy NFT collection in January 2022, and its eventual launch in May 2022.
What has Rektguy achieved so far?
The Rektguy NFT collection debuted in May 2022.
Holders of OSF’s other NFT works, including his Degenz NFT collection, could mint a Rektguy NFT for free, alongside an additional mint that was available to the public. 8,814 total Rektguy NFTs were minted, with the collection seeing instant success, reaching an all-time high floor price of 1.2 ETH post-mint.
Rektguy was released under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) licence. This meant that any holder could make derivative artworks using their Rektguy NFT. The first notable derivative, titled eRektguy, debuted in June 2022, and became the first of many Rektguy derivative collections.
2022 saw the cultural aspects of Rektguy come to the forefront. Within the Dive Bar Discord server and across social media, figures such as The Patron, The Ghost, and later celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Gary Vaynerchuk, helped add to Rektguy’s growing place in Web3 culture.
Excitement rose in summer 2022, where Rektguy held The Rekt Show at burlesque venue The Box during NFT.NYC 2022. Seeing the Rektguy come together for the very first time, the event celebrated the Rektguy brand and the community they had built. This show would later spread to London, and a second showing in NYC.
September 2022 marked the start of The Metallic War – a friendly rivalry between three groups of Rektguy holders: the Golden Girls, the Silver Foxes, and the Strawberry Laces. This well-spirited competitiveness continues to this day, and shows the passion and shared togetherness of Rektguy holders worldwide.
September 2022 saw OSF issue a challenge: if Rektguy hits 1 ETH, he’d get a “rekt” tattoo. When the challenges was made, the floor price sat at 0.3 ETH – some way away. In solidarity, members of the Rektguy community pledged to also get a “rekt” tattoo if the 1 ETH target was reached – which happened in December 2022.
Knowing that the 1 ETH target was coming, OSF got the “rekt” tattoo in advance with Ian Rogers, CXO of Ledger, at Paris-based tattoo studio Tin-Tin Tatouages. Once the 1 ETH floor was hit, OSF revealed the tattoo, creating an huge community response. Rektguy holders followed up on their pledges too, cementing the passion of the Rektguy community.
Two other Rektguy-related challenges are currently live. OSF has pledged to not cut his hair until a 4.2 ETH floor price, whilst co-founder Mando – who is not a “tattoo guy” – will get a “rekt” tattoo at 4.2 ETH.
2023 was a quieter year – despite Gary Vee becoming a holder in May 2023. In 2024 though, Rektguy truly came alive.
July 2024 saw OSF announce that Rekt Brands – a company set up to manage the Rektguy brand – had given shares in the company to all Rektguys holders, becoming the first major NFT collection to make such a move.
Cryptic social media posts followed, all ending with “Something is brewing…”. This led to August 1, 2024, and the announcement of Rekt Rewards. Rekt Rewards allowed participants to earn DRANK points by completing social media quests and purchasing Rekt Drinks – a brand-new sparkling water drink created by Rekt Brands.
September 2024 came the announcement that all revenues and royalties from future OSF artworks would be funnelled into Rekt Brands, both growing the company and showing commitment to the Rektguy community.
Rekt Drinks held its launch on October 30, 2025, and was available to purchase online in fiat, SOL and SOL USDC, with near-global delivery. The launch was a huge success, with the total run – over 222,000 cans – selling out by November 1.
Just a few days later, Rekt Brands announced a $1.5M seed round, featuring investors such as Luca Netz of Pudgy Penguins, Zagabond of Azuki, and Jack Butcher of Visualize Value.
DRANK points came into play shortly thereafter. November 22, 2025 saw the launch of the $REKT token – an ecosystem currency for the Rektguy community. Today, $REKT has a market cap of $10.1 million USD, with a fully-diluted value of over $16.5 million USD.
The Rektguy X profile became AI-ran in January 2025, and the brand has continued to grow. Rekt Drinks had a major booth presence at NFT Paris 2025, and their Rekt Radio podcast reached its 100th episode in February 2025.
What does the future have in store for Rektguy?
As the community is such a central aspect to Rektguy, much of its future is in their hands.
On the back of their recent seed round, and the success of Rekt Drinks so far, here’s what we could see in future:
- More physical products. Powered by $REKT, Rekt Drinks has become a big success – so perhaps we could see further physical Rektguy products in future.
- More community initiatives. Rektguy’s biggest strength is its passionate community. Capitalising on their supporters – in a way that benefits all – could be a big factor to their future success.
- More partnerships. With big-name Web3 backers and the community behind them, opportunities are rife to leverage other Web3 communities and boost both the Rektguy brand and their NFT holders.
Rektguy is more than a movement, it’s the cultural home of the blockchain community. What began as a doodle in a notebook is now a rapidly-growing Web3 brand that’s gathering new fans around the world.
Thanks to its camaraderie, Rektguy is one of the most highly-regarded projects in the industry – and with the strength of the community behind them, the road ahead looks brighter than ever.
Riding crypto waves since 2012, bridging digital and physical worlds through prose.