NFT Creator – Cointelegraph Magazine

A self-proclaimed jack of all trades and master of none, OSF has become a prolific figure in the nonfungible token world in just over two years, trading his former life at Barclay’s to focus full-time on Web3, his digital art pursuits, his PFP project Rekt Guy and living the life of a degen collector. 

The self-deprecating 34-year-old Englishman has a Swiss army knife of skills suited for a modern world of creating digital objects — being a self-taught coder, understanding internet culture, with an ability to capture attention and not take himself too seriously. 

While he wears many hats, OSF, the artist, has been featured at Sotheby’s and has sold multiple pieces for six figures. He describes himself most as an artist and project founder.

“I find it really tough to classify myself as one thing or another, but it’s certainly a question I get asked quite a bit. I do have periods where I’m more focused on certain things like trading but overall, an artist and project founder is the way I would describe myself,” OSF tells NFT Creator. 

“I hate the idea of constraining myself to one thing. I think it’s just probably a problem I have in life. My attention gets easily captured by anything really and as you probably can guess, I have ADD and all that kind of stuff. I do feel that I just enjoy lots of different aspects of the [Web3] space, and I kind of want to be a part of it all.”

While initially a crypto skeptic, OSF cut his teeth in early 2021 when he bought some Bitcoin, but it was his good friend Mando who provided the nudge required for OSF to truly catch the NFT curiosity bug. 

It wasn’t long until he found himself applying his past decade of experience as a trader in traditional finance to this new emerging asset class of NFTs. Originally minting 150 Bored Apes (0.08 ETH each) in late April 2021, OSF sold most of them about a week later for five times the mint price but remained a large Ape holder, teaming up with Mando in September 2021 to combine their collections.

The duo made headlines in February 2023, selling around 70 Apes at a healthy clip of 78 ETH each into Blur bids as liquidity rushed back into NFTs after Blur Season 1’s airdrop occurred. Apes’ current floor price sits at 25.84 ETH, with NFT prices being down for most collections since that iconic trade. 

“It’s not like we were bearish on Apes. We weren’t even really bearish on NFTs at this point in time. I know it now looks like a great trade, but I’d be lying if I said at that point in time, I think NFTs are going to go to where they are now. I didn’t really see that; I only think that became clear later on,” OSF says. 

“In our old jobs, if someone could tell you you’ve made all this money, but you still have all this risk, and you can clean up that risk in two trades and just take the money, you’d do it. You wouldn’t think twice.” 

Crypto culture, nostalgia and XCOPY

In a similar vein to the likes of Josie Bellini and Trevor Jones, OSF has leaned into crypto culture with a passion for nostalgia that shines through his work. 

This is exemplified by his art and Rekt Guy, his PFP collection launched in May 2022, shortly after the demise of Terra. Rekt Guy, a collection of approximately 8,800, was a free mint that saw its floor run up as most other PFPs went the opposite way. The floor still sits at 0.47 ETH. 

“I really like nostalgia and capturing moments over time. I’m the sort of person who looks through my photos from 10 years ago just to see what I was doing then. I’ve organized my music into quarterly playlists. I have 2008 Q1, 2008 Q2 and so on. I’ve done that since 2008 Q1, so it’s been 15+ years now,” says OSF. 

“When I listen to a playlist from, say, seven years ago, I can remember what I was doing at this time. I really like that idea of nostalgia and capturing moments and looking back on it. I think art is a fantastic way to do that.”

As a fellow Brit, OSF said XCOPY’s style of art and his ability to capture culture have played a significant role in his own creation process.

“I would say XCOPY is definitely an inspiration — obviously, the style of the art but also the ideologies I love. I love looking at his pieces through 2020. They’re very British pieces that you wouldn’t really get unless you were living in the U.K. during COVID-19; maybe the Aussies would, too,” he said.

“I think that that’s what I love. That’s what art is. It’s like when you see something and just really connect with it and get it. I think pieces that can capture culture in moments in time end up being the ones that are iconic.”

“With my art, I think I just recognized that, and I saw that’s how XCOPY did it. I guess I wanted to do the same thing, and half of it was because I thought it could be successful….