Non fungible tokens have been in the news for a lot of reasons. Some of these include the high demand for these digital files which has resulted in some being sold for what critics may term ridiculous prices. So which are the top non-fungible token platforms? What do they offer and why the high demand for their NFTs?
Cryptopunks
You wouldn’t want to talk about NFT avatars without mentioning Cryptopunks. These pixelated avatars have been sold for millions of dollars. Do you doubt that? You probably have not heard of the Covid Alien avatar that was sold for $11.6 million. The buyer of the avatar is the Israeli billionaire, Shalom Meckenzie. Meckenzie is just one of the many super rich who are shelling out mega-dollar in the quest to own one of the 10,000 Cryptopunk avatars.
Like all unique digital files placed on the blockchain, Cryptopunks have become quite popular for the scarcity that was built into the economics of the non-fungible tokens. What we are witnessing with this platform is just an example of what perception does when an asset is scarce.
Cryptopunks is among the pioneers of the non-fungible token concept that has become popular in 2021. The project and Cryptokitties were among the earliest NFT collectible projects in the cryptosphere. Every NFT minted on the platform is a unique item that the owner can prove ownership of on the blockchain.
Cryptopunks is another example of a project built on the Ethereum’s blockchain. In fact, the project and Cryptokitties were responsible for inspiring developers of the Ethereum blockchain network to commence the work on the non-fungible tokens blockchain for Ethereum – ERC-721.
Are you aware that these Cryptopunks were originally free to own due to the fact that the makers gave them away for free after they were launched? These days, you have to purchase a cryptopunk via an NFT marketplace where the cheapest cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Art Blocks
Art Blocks is an artists playground for non-fungible tokens. This platform enables creators of works of arts to easily have them tokenized as digital works of art. Having your work of art on canvas is one thing, having it hosted on the blockchain is quite another.
There are several benefits associated with this: the owner can always prove ownership and the buyer also can prove that they are the owners of the work. Furthermore, NFT minting platforms such as Art Block liaise with NFT marketplaces despite having on-platform means of exhibition and sale of such works.
All forms of art are digitized and hashed onto the blockchain via the Art Blocks platform. The platform is also built on the Ethereum blockchain, so all the works exhibited there are priced in ether. After having a work of art deployed on Art Blocks, the artist is at liberty to adjust the work through the platform before they are locked on the blockchain. The point at which the artist locks it on the blockchain is when the immutability of the item is initiated.
The platform features a curation board that sees to it that some of the best art works are included in its collections. The platform makes it possible for creators of artworks to easily deploy them on blockchain and get paid a percentage when such works are bought. It is based on the ERC-721 blockchain of Ethereum.
Axie Infinity
Have you heard of Axie Infinity, the pokemon-like game? It involves the collection, trading, breeding and battling of axies which represent aliens within the metaverse. The NFT video gaming platform has sold more than $42 million worth of axies since inception.
The attraction that Axie Infinity has for players as a video game is that it presents an investment opportunity as the game proceeds. The gamer players collect axies which are NFT and subsequently earn as they play. The game-play of Axie Infinity involves owning at least 3 Axies before commencing the game. These are sold for within the metaverse.
The popularity of this game can be seen from the number of daily users that download the Mavis Hub client. This is the software on which the Axie Infinity game is deployed.
There are two types of tokens that players can earn on the Axie Infinity platform. These are the Small Love Potion (SLP) which is the main in-game token and the Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) which would morph to governance token of the ecosystem. These tokens can be traded or exchanged like regular cryptocurrencies.
Breeding of Axies is possible. The owner has to purchase some SLP with which the baby axies are minted. The target is generally to get better or superior traits than what the parent axies have.
Pudgy Penguins
As a NFT, Pudgy Penguin tokenomics involves the creation of virtual assets in the form of penguins on the ERC-721. The scarcity is premised on the fact that just 8,888 items were minted and min-table. Pudgy Penguins is no mean NFT platform. It has recorded $83 million in trading volume. Although it doesn’t compete with top NFT ecosystems such as Cryptopunks, it holds its own as a unique item collectible platform.
Bored Ape Yacht Club
This is a tier-less NFT that features apes as well as access to an exclusive membership club. Each of the rare apes is priced equally at 0.08 ETH. This policy is meant to make distribution of the apes fair. There are 10,000 of these rare apes making them a scarce commodity for collectors. The rarity of these NFTs can be proven via the blockchain. The collector has commercial ownership of the item they have collected. Ownership of the asset gives the collector membership access to an exclusive club called The Bathroom. This was described as a collaborative graffiti board. The platform is working on a roadmap to add more incentives for members. This entitles the members to scribble a pixel every 15 minutes.
Each ape is just one out of a possible 170 possible traits. These traits can be based on facial expression, attire, head wear and many others. However, what is obvious is that each of the apes is unique and probably so. To own and access their bored apes, collectors need to sign in through Metamask.
Meebits
Meebits are 3D voxel images that were generated with special algorithms on the blockchain. There are just 20,000 of these characters. This ERC-721 platform has been scaled to support 100 transactions of these NFT collectibles per second. The platform supports an integrated marketplace where users can buy, sell, ask and bid for items.
How would you like to gain access to the full 3D model of the Meebit character you have purchased? This is exactly what the platform does for the collector. The collector gets the full model rendered as an animated avatar from the metaverse. The Meebit marketplace caters for simple trades as well as more complex one that involve up to 50 Meebit NFT tokens. Trading volume for Meebit in the secondary market is more than $143 million.
NBA Top Shot
This would interest you if you’re a basketball enthusiast. Even if you’re not, the demand for these sporting NFTs and the possibility of trading them for profit down the line is enough incentive to own them.
NBA Top Shot is a NFT platform that is licensed by NBA to feature and mint memorable play moments. These unique moments are placed on the blockchain. Collectors can then buy and own them as collection items.
The collector has the option of supercharging their collections by buying NFT packs for NBA top shots. This helps them capture the best moments of action for the season. It is a race to do so before another collector does. There is also a selection option with which the collector can follow their favorite teams for best shot NFTs.
Gutter Cat Gang
This NFT platform is an interplanetary story set in the future. 2050 to be precise. This was the so-called post-apocalyps era with attendant destruction. Humans are interplanetary beings while cats dominate the story.
There are 3000 unique Gutter Cat Gangs which are available for purchase on the site. The ownership of any of these cats entitles the owner to certain privileges. These include commercial rights as well as creative . This subsists as long as the buyer owns the NFT cats. Ownership of this Ethereum blockchain based NFTs will also give some randomly selected owners framed prints of their cats that are custom-made for them.
Physical and digital versions of the Gutter Cat Gang comic will be made available after all the gutter cats have been sold as NFTs. Ownership of Gutter Cats will also confer voting rights on the owners as long as they retain their NFT cats. They can then contribute in the direction of the project in terms of what future features will be added. Some of these could be breeding of gutter cats and more. $27 million has been made in trading volumes on the platform.
World of Women
10,000 images of women, each of them unique, made its debut in the NFT market months ago. It is not surprising that all of these images have been sold out. The ERC-721 tokens are hosted on IPFS. Some of the perks associated with owning any of these WoW collectibles is a revenue share of the royalty accruable to the owners of the platform. This is a 50% share between the platform owners and the holders of the WoW NFT artwork. The platform also plans to airdrop 100 of physical prints of the WoW arts to some community members that own NFT versions of the work. Even though 800×800 pixel versions of these NFTs are downloadable by anyone, only the owner of the NFT can own a high resolution version.
More than 22,000 transactions have been made on the platform with a trading volume of $31 million.
Cyber Kongz
These are 34×34 pixel randomly generated images. Cyber Kongz becams popular when colllectors discovered that the images are suitable as profile pictures. This led to high demand for these NFT and has made it quite popular despite being launched in March 2021. The discovery of the minting process of this NFT on OpenSea contributed to its increasing circulation and popularity. The project has gone further by introducing the Babana token. Holders of Cyber Kongz genesis token can generate $10 value of the $Banana token daily for the next 10 years. Some of the tokens can be burned by the holders of the Cyber Kongz token to mint baby Kongz with definite desirable characteristics. There are 4000 of these baby Kongz that can exist. 1000 Cyber Kongz are mintable. Apart from their use as avatars, Cyber Kongs are gamified and can be used in gaming on platforms such as The Sandbox. The trading volune for Cyber Kong VX is about $33 million.
Sup Ducks
Could you imagine the blockchain hatching one of 10,000 ducks the moment that you sent a transaction on the Ethereum ERC-721 blockchain? This is what Sup Ducks is about. These were initially crafted from hand-drawn ducks by frankynines, an accomplished artist, before they were minted on the blockchain. There are several combinations that are possible with Sup Ducks. These are based on background, clothes, skin, mouth eyes and if they’re super ducks. Nearly 20,000 transactions have been made on the Sup Ducks platform generating a trading volume of $17 million.
Foundation
Foundation was built for creators with the objective of creating a digital economy where creators can deploy their works on the Ehereum blockchain. The platform also helps the creators to connect with supporters and a market base. It is meant for people who value digital expression in conjunction with developers. With a sales volume of $65 million, Foundation has quickly built a reputation as a platform of choice for communal-minded creators.
Hash Masks
Most NFT platforms were created for the community,but not Hash Masks. In this case, it is a community of artists that have created a platform where participants and collectors can own these works of art for the dual purpose of ownership of a token and an NFT. The token behind Hash Mask is NCT or Name Change Token. This ensures that the owner can commoditize the name of the token they own. The value of the token on the Hash Mask platform is not predetermined by creators unlike that of other platforms. The tokeneconomics involves ensuring that the final value is fixed after all the NCTs have been burnt. The trading volume for this platform run by Zug, Switzerland-based Suum Cuique Labs is $61 million.
