“I found OLGA.”
Say what? Has Old School Crypto lost his mind?
What kind of geek speak tech bro gibberish is this?
Hang on, I can explain, and I urge you to stick around because this is really important stuff.
On March 26, 2021, one of the most important discoveries in the history of blockchain and NFTs happened quietly, and over a Telegram chat. Someone had decoded the base64 string on an asset named OLGA on Xchain (CounterParty) and what they found was this small image.
OLGA, used with permission
Whoever discovered the image attached to the asset excitedly said “I found OLGA.” It was a eureka moment, and it would quietly lead to the discovery of some of the first NFTs in history and the creator JP Janssen. But we will get to him in a minute.
Is that it? Just a black-and-white image of some dude and his girlfriend kissing?
You lack imagination, my friends. This is way deeper and cooler than Bored Ape Yacht Club for a variety of reasons.
For starters the token was a 1:1, meaning it was unique. It wasn’t just a 1:1 it was the first 1:1, the first unique NFT in history.
There is only one OLGA. It was created on June 14, 2014, meaning it predates CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, Mooncats, or any other well-known NFT project. The image was added on August 11th, 2015, which still predates the above-mentioned projects. To add to the mystery it was not discovered until March ’21, meaning the creator never made it public.
So who created it?
What’s the backstory?
JP Janssen, the godfather of NFTS
JP Janssen is one of those names that almost nobody outside of vintage NFTs knows about, but I hope to contribute to making him a household name for serious collectors.
In his own words and as far as we know to this date he is the creator of the first NFTs.
OLGA — June 2014 with image added in August 2015 First 1:1 NFT in history
JPGOLD — First 1/N limited edition NFT — June 2014
JPJA — Second 1/N and first real NFT project, which would pay a dividend at a later date for buying ownership in an ebook called The Economics of Bitcoin written by Janssen.
Weird N Wild — 2015 — Some of the first blockchain trading cards with their image data stored onchain.
That’s a lot of revolutionary stuff, and all by a guy that almost nobody has heard of right?
He has a degree in economics, studied computer science and according to his website, his main occupation is running apartment rental businesses. Blockchain tech was just a fun hobby, a way to explore his curiosity. In his spare time, he likes inline skating in the summer and ice hockey in the winter, and Olga is his wife, not his girlfriend.
He is still quietly active on Twitter, and from the looks of it, some of his recent Tweets about Weird N Wild sparked enough interest that collectors bought up LOCHNESS and GENET.
Images from Xchain
OLGA
OLGA was created as a way to honor and celebrate his girlfriend who eventually became his wife. It was born out of a love for dancing on the edge of what was at that time very experimental technology, and out of love for the woman in his life.
And he kept it private.
That’s my favorite part about the OLGA story. He wasn’t doing it for money or fame, but out of love and curiosity.
This is the stuff that makes for a great backstory and ironically leads to the asset probably becoming one of the most coveted and priceless NFTs in history in the not-so-distant future.
The image description is a Russian and English phrase “Моя Вечная One & Only, which means My Eternal One and Only.
Love immortalized onchain. I love it.
Who let the dogs out?
You cannot buy OLGA, but you can buy the OLGA token on DogeParty. It is another rare token, but it has a supply of 1000 and not 1, and is divisible, meaning each token can be divided.
The token was issued on DogeParty back in June 2014, and the colored image of the artist and his wife was added in November 2022.
image taken from here
As of now, there is only 1 dispenser open for buying one whole OLGA token on DogeParty.
Peeling back the layers
Stories like this are what make crypto interesting for me. I love the history, the characters, and the backstory behind the various pieces of work in the scene. There is so much more to crypto than meets the eye, but you must dig deep because it’s not out in the open.
The crypto scene is like an onion. You have to peel back the layers to get to the good stuff. On the surface are the Sam Bankman Frieds, the Ben Armstrongs, corporate fake blockchains, and all the mainstream cash grabs, but there is always something shimmering and priceless and beautiful beneath the depths.
I hope the story of OLGA and JP Janssen will help my dear readers get a taste of that beauty.
It has always been said that we can only write what we know, and teach what we know. Well, this is what I know, and what I can teach.
And I do it out of my love for this, and in the hopes that even one person might find this same love and follow their curiosity.
If you find this helpful then share it with your friends and family, connect with me on X, or if you must donate something then send me CounterParty or DogeParty stuff.
Donations
XCP addy 1JjzE9THRbJ2SuofCjMMnxA1WPTAuXqgRk
XDP addy D6rgvu7whW45DWQjdzRmjptsJzgaHSJdVu
Until next time…
Awesome story! Really cool to learn about these kinda crypto "underground" stories.
I wonder, could the original OLGA NFT still be sold in theory?
Thanks for the encouragement.
JP Janssen has the 1/1 so he could sell it, but he probably has no intention of doing it.
He did create an OLGA token for DogeParty, which was also made in June of 2014. It is divisible, and there are 1000 tokens. The image data was added in 2022 and is a beautiful shimmery color photo of him and his girlfriend/wife.
What is so interesting to me is this guy basically created NFTs, both the 1/1, the 1/N, and the NFT project where people get dividends or part ownership in something for holding tokens, and almost nobody knows he exists outside those in the crypto underground.
Dogeparty is a story for another time. I always laugh when people say Doge is irrelevant because I know they are unaware that some of the earliest NFTs in history were created on DogeParty.
You are welcome!
I remember when NFTs became a thing and just started popping up everywhere but nobody was asking who came up with the idea - at least I don't remember reading about it. They just appeared and people went crazy.
I think in the future when the dust has settled, people start searching for history of tech inventions and become interested in stories like these.
Have to bookmark this, I have a feeling I need to refer to this at some point.
Thanks for sharing, great post!
Thank you. I appreciate it. I kind of like the geeky historical and obscure stuff about crypto, so that kind of story got my interest.
They will never be as flashy as stuff like Bored Apes or CryptoPunks, but for collectors with deep pockets owning some of these gems will come with a big payoff someday.
The way I see it, OLGA could have much more value in the long run because of it being a frontrunner. Hard to tell what happens to Bored Apes & Crypto Punks, should they also have historical value or are they replaced by another trendy NFT hype?
Crypto Punks are historical in their own right, and they've inspired a million derivatives. It's wild how many Punk projects there are. Stampunks. PridePunks Phunks,Bitcoin Punks,Dogecoin Punks,Pipe Punks, ETH scriptions Punks,Cursed Punks and probably a million others.
Seems like the first thing to drop on any new chain or protocol are copy/paste Punks collections.
I still don't get why V1 Punks are worth less than V2, especially considering V1 have an older contract.
BAYC have made their way into crypto cultural history, but since they're from 2021 it's hard to say what will happen to them long term.
I remember Punks also on SmartBCH?
I wonder about the urge to replicate that on every chain... perhaps that just tells us how little the actual art matters when talking about NFTs. Instead of coming up with something unique, people see more value in well-known stuff.