NFTs have been one of the most popular implementations of cryptocurrencies and the metaverse. Earlier in the year, many investors were becoming extremely rich from new projects, which brought them much popularity (and notoriety).
In more recent times, however, they have fallen out of favor. The crash of cryptocurrency prices also affected NFT prices, which killed many projects.
However, in this “crypto winter” there are plenty of new projects to follow. VCs are still showing plenty of interest in NFT projects and startups, and there continues to be more innovation in the space by the day.
CryptoPunks
Though NFT values have dropped significantly, CryptoPunks are still the most popular NFT collection on OpenSea. With 994k ETH in total all time volume, CryptoPunks have become one of the poster children for NFTs. In addition, the project has a very active community with over 3500 members, and is currently ranked #1 on OpenSea’s Top 10 Most Active NFT Collections list.
CryptoPunks was created originally by a company called LarvaLabs. The idea behind the project was digitally created art that lived on the blockchain. All ownership is tied to the Ethereum blockchain, and as a result is traded using Ether.
On the Top Sales page, you can find the highest price that a CryptoPunk has sold for. CryptoPunk 5822, pictured below, sold for 8K Ether, or $23.7 million! This value has dropped significantly in recent times, however, and currently the most recent sale of any CryptoPunk was just a few hundred Ether.
In 2022, though, CryptoPunks are still very much alive and well. And as one of the biggest faces for NFTs, I do not expect this collection to go anywhere.
Bored Ape Yacht Club
An article about NFTs would be remiss to not mention Bored Ape Yacht Club. BAYC is one of the most popular NFT projects to date, with many celebrities such as Eminem, Stephen Curry, and Steve Aoki all have publicly changed their profile pictures at one point to their Bored Ape.
Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yachts are a collection of 10,000-pixel NFT avatars on the Ethereum Blockchain. Each avatar is handcrafted and unique, meaning no two avatars look exactly alike. This makes each NFT very expensive, especially since the avatars are designed exclusively for the BAYC project.
In addition, the project boasts an impressive amount of social media followers, with over 15000 Twitter followers alone. It is also worth noting that BAYC is one the only NFT collections to have a physical product.
The team behind BAYC is working hard to make sure that their NFTs continue to grow in popularity. They recently launched a brand new website, and have plans to launch a full virtual world and metaverse.
Plus, they are planning to release a mobile app soon, which will allow users to interact with their NFTs directly through their phone. I think it is safe to say that BAYC is going to be around for quite some time.
Axie Infinity
We previously have written about how Axie is one of the most popular games in the Metaverse today.
Axie Infinity is a blockchain based collectible card game where players play to earn digital assets called Axies. Players buy cards, train their Axies, trade them, battle with others’ Axies, and win rewards. This is done entirely within the game itself without ever having to transfer funds.
Players start out with just five Axies, but you can buy more with real money. You do this by buying AXI, the token for Axie Infinity. Some people sell off their entire collection of Axies for hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is quite impressive.
On the other hand, there are plenty of people who simply use their Axies to play the game. These people don’t care if they lose their Axies, because they know they can always get more.
It’s important to note that Axie Infinity isn’t a picture NFT, like CryptoPunks or BAYC. Instead, it is a digital asset that lives on the blockchain. To date, over $4 billion of Axie assets have been traded on the blockchain, with more than 1.6 million unique users.
Other Projects to Watch
This is just the tip of the iceberg for NFT projects. Though these are the most popular, there are tons of new projects everyday that are worth looking into. It is worth noting, however that many scams are run under the guise of “NFT Projects”, so you should be careful in which NFT projects you invest in.
