The 6 hottest NFT projects to know about
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have exploded in popularity as a niche in the cryptocurrency field. An NFT is at its core a piece of data stored on a blockchain. However, the ownership of this data is subject to change.
So an NFT can be linked to the ownership of an asset in the real world, such as a package of real estate, a song or a painting by an old master. However, the early success of NFT projects has been with digital artwork.
While the first NFT was minted back in 2014, the place has only taken off in the last two years. The market for NFT projects rose to over $ 41 billion in 2021, according to Forbes. It is an amount that is approaching the entire art market!
In a not so shocking development, growth in the NFT area has slowed in recent months as cryptocurrencies and technology stocks have sold out. However, NFT projects still attract capital, investor interest and future artists who would normally have gone through the conventional art scene. And it can still create a huge growth opportunity in the years ahead for investors who are targeting some of the best NFT collections today.
Here we look at the six largest NFT projects that are currently underway. The best NFTs today include a range of interests, from gaming and sports-related collectibles, to more unique artistic endeavors, and offer fascinating long-term opportunities for investors.
NFTs can be ranked in several ways, including the total amount of sales, transactions and owners. Leading in one category may not mean leading in all categories, at least for the time being. The NFT projects discussed here are the largest in terms of total sales. Check them out.
Data is as of June 28 and is with permission from CryptoSlam.io. NFT projects are listed in order of lowest to highest sales.
NBA top shot
- Krypton network: Flow
- Sale: $ 1.0 billion
- Total transactions: 20.6 million
- Buyers: 441,963
Most of today’s NFTs are seen as speculation. The value is determined by the scarcity and popularity of an NFT project.
Supported by millions of NBA fans, the NBA top shot The NFT platform has a chance to become the 21st century equivalent of trading cards.
The NBA Top Shot offers officially licensed NFTs that showcase influential “moments” in the North American professional basketball league.
Moments are embossed in packages, instead of being sold individually, similar to physical trading cards. Packages are currently sold in quantities of three moments per package. Individual moments can then be sold on the Top Shot marketplace.
NBA Top Shot is the product of Dapper Labs. This NFT company pays a 5% fee on marketplace sales, which are also shared with the NBA.
Some of the most legendary moments have hefty price tags. Legendary # 49 – featuring Derrick Rose of the Detroit Pistons making a layup during a game against the Phoenix Suns in February 2020 – currently has the highest marketplace listing, at $ 1 million.
The NBA Top Shot has over 1 million users on the platform, and recently reached $ 1 billion in sales. It shows that sports memorabilia and collectibles are still a popular – and lucrative – market for investors, even with a digital twist from the 21st century.
Art blocks
- Krypton network: Ethereum
- Sale: $ 1.3 billion
- Total transactions: 162,783
- Buyers: 30,285
Early NFT projects involved the generation and embossing of a non-fungible token before it was sold, dropped or otherwise claimed by its first owner.
Art blocks seems to turn that idea on its head. Art Blocks hosts a generative NFT platform where artists create a computer script to produce art.
This allows Art Blocks to offer unique, programmable digital art to collectors using NFT drops (the release of a collection). But here’s the kicker: The buyer does not know what they receive in advance.
The collector becomes the one who creates NFT – which means to create and then store the digital asset on the Ethereum blockchain.
Although this may sound unusual – and what about the NFT space is not it? – Art Blocks has become a successful platform in itself, with total sales to date of over 1 billion dollars.
The Art Blocks platform has three levels, starting with curated NFTs. These are top-level works of art, with millions of dollars resale. In August last year, a project known as Fidenza # 313 was sold for 1,000 ETH, worth $ 3.4 million at the time.
In addition to these exclusive works of art, there is a Playground project that allows artists to experiment with pieces, instead of focusing on the potential resale value. And that’s the Art Blocks Factor level, for uncut pieces with more whimsy and style.
Given the depth and breadth of the platform, it is likely to be a digital art project that can fit the budget and aesthetics of any potential NFT investor.
Mutant Ape Yacht Club
- Krypton network: Ethereum
- Sale: $ 1.6 billion
- Total transactions: 40,715
- Buyers: 21 800
The Mutant Ape Yacht Club is a spinoff of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which we will be coming to shortly.
It is a collection of up to 20,000 NFTs that can only be made by embossing through public sale, or exposing a Bored Monkey to “mutant serum.”
In August 2021, four months after the fall of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Yuga Labs created an air drop of mutant serums for all members. The project is expected to be the second and final gathering that is part of BAYC, and owners are also part of an official club with special events for members.
In addition to mutating existing Bored Apes to a new version (the original BAYC NFT remains unchanged, but the serum is “burned”), original Mutant Apes can be embossed for a starting cost of 3 Ethereum. Today, the floor price – the lowest amount a buyer can spend to own an NFT – for a Mutant Ape is around 17.4 ETH, or around $ 19,400.
With twice the maximum population of BAYC, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club has not received awards in the seven-digit area – yet. In February, Mutant Ape # 4849 sold for 350 Ethereum, raising around $ 835,590.
Those looking for a popular NFT platform that is likely to continue to increase in value can afford a Mutant Monkey, given their lower cost compared to Bored Apes. But there is still a high price to pay in the NFT area.
Bored Ape Yacht Club
- Krypton network: Ethereum
- Sale: $ 2.3 billion
- Total transactions: 31,384
- Buyers: 11,601
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a collection of 10,000 unique digital collectibles on the Ethereum blockchain and is owned by Yuga Labs. It was launched in April 2021.
The NFTs are made programmatically using approximately 170 features that include clothing, headgear and expression. But as the name suggests, they all look like monkeys with glazed eyes.
Each image is stored on an ERC-721 token on the Ethereum blockchain. Ownership of a Bored Monkey allows membership in the “Yacht Club” which hosts membership benefits, including a digital board known as “The Bathroom”
Prices have risen since the launch of BAYC, and the cheapest Ape now goes for about 91 Ethereum on the NFT marketplace OpenSea. It works for around $ 101,000, given the cryptocurrency’s latest price of around $ 1100.
This is a huge increase from the original project price. Even last summer, when the project first looked expensive, they went for around 3.5 ETH, when Ethereum traded closer to $ 4000.
Given the project’s maximum ceiling, it is likely that prices may rise further over time. Especially since this is still one of the more popular NFT projects, with sales of just over $ 2 billion right now.
And the price increase is likely to continue to be driven by celebrity interests. Boring Monkey buyers to date have included Serena Williams, Justin Bieber and Jimmy Fallon.
With celebrity support, the NFT project has become a hot space in the digital art space. There is another factor that drives prices higher now, but like any trendy celebrity, it can change over time.
CryptoPunks
- Krypton network: Ethereum
- Sale: $ 2.3 billion
- Total transactions: 21,594 th most common
- Buyers: 5,817 th most common
Made by Larva Labs, CryptoPunks is an NFT project launched in June 2017. CryptoPunks is 10,000 algorithmically generated 24×24 pixels artwork of human profiles.
The project was the inspiration for ERC-721, which is the standard for non-fungible tokens used on the Ethereum blockchain. This is in contrast to ERC-1115, which can create semi-fungible (or interchangeable) tokens on NFT projects.
The NFT images themselves have been developed with inspiration from London’s punk scene, as well as cyberpunk films and novels. These simple images are said to have set in motion the dramatic growth NFTs saw in 2021.
At the time of launch, the CryptoPunks collection was free, and anyone with an Ethereum wallet could claim them. The only cost to potential buyers was the gas taxes – the cost of processing a transaction – on the blockchain, which were quite low at the time.
Times have changed rapidly. In February 2022, CryptoPunk # 5822 set a record for a sale of 8000 ETH. It was $ 23.7 million at the time of the transaction – beating the previous record of $ 11 million set in June 2021.
As an early player in the NFT area, the collective interest in this project is likely to continue – even with increasingly complex digital art being created today.
Axie Infinity
- Krypton network: Ronin
- Sale: $ 4.1 billion
- Total transactions: 16.5 million
- Buyers: 1.7 million
Axie Infinity is the largest of the NFT projects discussed here when looking at sales. Axie Infinity is a non-fungible token-based video game where players collect and emboss NFTs of Axies – a form of digital pet. The game uses a play-to-earn (P2E) model, where playing time on the platform generates rewards such as cryptocurrency.
Most NFT projects use the Ethereum network to secure ownership. However, Axie Infinity uses an Ethereum side chain known as the Ronin Network that allows users to buy, sell and trade NFTs. The price of minting an Axie NFT originally started at around $ 400, but has since dropped significantly to around $ 20 amid a broader decline in cryptocurrencies.
The size of Axie Infinity’s network, Ronin, and the use of the USDC – a stable currency linked to the US dollar on a 1: 1 basis – have made it a top target for hackers. In March alone, the network was compromised and hackers were able to steal $ 625 million of the cryptocurrency. However, the NFTs remained safe.
Given the low cost of these NFTs and the ability to generate them through games, this project is likely to continue to lead in sales for some time. But even though Axie Infinity is still considered a digital collectible, those who view NFTs as an investment may not achieve significant returns from the game.
