Animals Red List (ARL) is a hand‑drawn NFT collection of 13,333 unique artworks that depict endangered species from the International Red Data Book. Launched in early 2022 on the TON blockchain, the project combines art, charity, and dynamic rarity tiers.
Launch and early performance#
ARL was launched on January 30, 2022> and became the first mass‑scale NFT project on TON, integrating paid Telegram subscriptions. Primary‑market sales exceeded $2 million>, establishing ARL as a leading collection in the ecosystem.
Production#
The artwork was created without procedural generation. About 300 illustrators> contributed, and roughly $176,000> was spent on image creation. Promotional spending on Telegram before the mint amounted to about $352,000>.
Rarity structure#
NFTs are organized into three primary tiers reflecting conservation status:
- Tier 1 – dying breed
- Tier 2 – endangered
- Tier 3 – in danger
Each tier is further divided into sub‑levels: legendary, epic, mythical, rare, and common. In summer 2022 the collection added Tier 0 (extinct) and Tier 4 (recovered) to reflect updates in the Red Data Book, with metadata changing semi‑annually (July and December).
Pricing and market activity#
During the presale, Tier 3 NFTs could be minted for 7 $TON. In the first days after launch, Tier 3 prices reached up to 100 $TON, while Tier 1 NFTs traded for hundreds of $TON. At peak secondary‑market activity, the most valuable NFTs fetched over 2,000 $TON. As of July 2024 the collection’s floor price was around 2 $TON>.
Charity component#
A core mission of ARL is to support wildlife conservation. Proceeds are regularly donated to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), affiliated with the International Red Data Book. The first donation of $1,582 was made on March 2, 2022>; at least four donations totaling over $8,000 have been recorded>.
Holder monetization#
The project is funded through a network of Telegram channels and the @donate bot, which accepts $TON payments. A portion of the collected funds is distributed to NFT holders as dividends, with payouts varying by tier, donation source, and other factors. Holders received passive income in their TON wallets for several months after launch.
Marketing and community engagement#
A summer 2022 contest attracted ~600 slogan proposals; the winning phrase “Animals are non‑fungible too” earned a 500 $TON prize and was rendered as street art on a building in central Tel Aviv by Sergei Ovseikin. A June 2022 broadcast with zoologist Viktor Bardashev received coverage from Crypto News, Metro Moscow, CoinsPaid Media, and others.
Telegram remains the primary community hub, with channels organized by animal groups:
- Fishes –
@ARLFISHs - Birds –
@arlbirds - Snails –
@snails_arl - Spiders –
@tonarachnids - Reptiles –
@tonarachnids - Primates –
@arl_primates - Mammals –
@arlmammalia
Some channels have been repurposed, but the collection continues to be listed on TON marketplaces.
Founders#
ARL was created by businessmen Sergey Romanov and Andrey Chunin, who previously managed a chain of coffee shops in Turkey and ran the jewelry brand “Made in Cosmos,” which generated roughly $650,000 in revenue in 2021>.