The Top 5 Most Valuable NFT Collections And A Tool To Track Them Down

Some of these NFT collections are so ever-present that they are already part of the collective unconscious. Others, the general public has not even heard about.  What makes an NFT collection valuable? Market capitalization is the potential value of the whole collection, based on its size and the value of the individual pieces. In the case of NFTs, it’s hard to pinpoint, because it’s a volatile market with lots of action all-day-every-day.

Agreeing on which are the most valuable #NFTs collections is certainly hard.

We created a matrix called "Most Valuable NFTs Collections" and it shows the 20 most valuable collections, sorted by their market capitalization.

Access this data for free here: https://t.co/wXJyMCmRBD pic.twitter.com/PyzbPMDKCk

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) April 21, 2022

When IntoTheBlock announced their list, they presented it by saying, “Agreeing on which are the most valuable NFTs collections is certainly hard.” Besides market capitalization, the “Most Valuable NFT Collections” list tracks number of owners, volume trade, average price, and number of sales. All of those stats are pretty common when discussing NFTs, but it’s certainly helpful to have them all on an interactive database.

The page also displays useful graphs that put everything into perspective, like “All-time Most Traded Collections,” “Collections With Most Unique Owners” and “Booming NFT Collections.” With that being said, let’s dive into each of the collections in the Top 5 and give some insight about them.

#1 NFT Collection: Bored Ape Yacht Club

At the moment, the BAYC surpassed the all-powerful Cryptopunks as the most valuable NFT collection. This is not surprising, since the Bored Apes became part of popular culture and are on their way to becoming mainstream. On their official site, they describe themselves as “A limited NFT collection where the token itself doubles as your membership to a swamp club for apes. The club is open! Ape in with us.”

As with most successful products, the Yuga Labs creation doesn’t come without its share of controversy. 

#2 Cryptopunks

They might not have been the firsts, but the Cryptopunks are certainly responsible for spearheading and popularizing the NFT movement. At first, you could mint them for free. Nowadays, the average price is 76.64 ETH. On their official site, they describe themselves as “The Cryptopunks are one of the earliest examples of a “Non-Fungible Token” on Ethereum, and were inspiration for the ERC-721 standard that powers most digital art and collectibles.”

The creators recently sold the whole collection to Yuga Labs. And, of course, controversy follows this project as well. And, they’re also on their way to mainstream adoption.

ETH price chart on Capital.com | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
#3 NFT Collection: Mutant Ape Yacht Club

At first, these ones were free as well. They came into the scene as a way to reward BAYC members. Owners received an airdrop of “Mutant Serum,” using it they could mint a mutant version of their ape as a completely new NFT. Nowadays, the average price is 32.99 ETH. They don’t have an official site, but this is the NFT collection’s Open Sea page. As you can see by its place on this list, the interest in this collection keeps growing.

#4 CloneX

The collaboration between legendary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and “digital artifacts” creator RTFKT is a success like no other. This might have to do with Nike’s recent acquisition of the company. The NFT collection ’s official site doesn’t describe itself, but NFT News does, “CloneX NFT collection is not only equipped for the Metaverse and features high-end avatars, but also marks the beginning of a community-focused environment ”

#5 NFT Collection: Moonbirds

The newcomer of the bunch is the Moonbirds NFT Collection. Their official site describes them as, “a collection of 10,000 utility-enabled PFPs that feature a richly diverse and unique pool of rarity-powered traits.” Since they’re so new, they’re easily beating all of the other collections in number of daily sales. Of course, the NewsBTC team has been covering the story as it happens.

Other NFT collections in the Top 10: Azuki, Sandbox’s LANDs, Doodles, Veefriends, and Meebits.

Featured Image: the most valuable list, taken from this tweet | Charts by TradingView

Christie’s Will Auction Original Art From Gary Vee ‘s Veefriends NFT Collection

Notorious entrepreneur and social media personality, Gary Vee, is now a full-blown artist. The legendary auction house Christie’s crowned him as so by announcing the sale of five of the original pieces from his Veefriends NFT collection. Is this new development positive for NFT mania? Is it positive for Veefriends holders? What does it say about the current state of the arts? So many questions.

Related Reading | In The Mood For Auction: Wong Kar-Wai ‘s First NFT Available At Sotheby’s

First of all, these are the five pieces that Christie’s will auction:

Christie’s pic.twitter.com/YGxkeyZ3KE

— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) September 14, 2021

On the Veefriends official site, the NFT collection is defined as:

“VeeFriends is the name of Gary Vaynerchuk’s NFT collection. He created VeeFriends to bring to life his ambitions of building a community around his creative and business passions using NFT technology and their smart contract capabilities. By owning a VeeFriend NFT, you immediately become part of the VeeFriends community and get access to VeeCon.”

So, maybe Gary Vee ’s credentials as an artist are lacking, but he’s a titan at generating value. Maybe his childlike drawings are not that aesthetically pleasing, but Gary Vee’s ability to generate community around an idea is a proven fact. And his drive to win is unmatched. Which characteristics are more important for an NFT project? What are Veefriend’s holders investing in?

At the moment of writing, Open Sea informs that the floor price for a Veefriend is 18,4 ETH. According to CNN, Veefriends “amasses $70M in sales since launch in May.”

ETH price chart for 09/14/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
CNN’s First Move Announces Gary Vee/ Christie’s Auction

The man himself, Gary Vee, went on CNN to announce that Veefriend’s original art is to be auctioned by the legendary Christie’s. How much value for his NFT holders did this move create?

“People underestimated this project in the OG NFT-land, and this is another execution that’s not going to allow them to underestimate it anymore.”@garyvee announces he's bringing five personal artworks from his #NFT collection @veefriends to @ChristiesInc!@IsaCNN | #NFTart pic.twitter.com/dikTsu5iW8

— First Move CNN (@firstmove) September 14, 2021

When host Isa Soares asked Gary Vee about the reasons behind partnering with Christie’s, besides dedicating the win to his parents, he said:

“Why? Because it elevates the brand. I have people who are watching right now that own the gorilla, own the tiger, own the “you’re gonna die” fly. This is my Disney. This is my Pokemon. This is my character IP based reality and I’m going to build this for the next 40 to 50 years.“

Isn’t that exactly what you want to hear if you’re a Veefriends holder? Commitment. Through a huge platform. Gary Vee ’s community appreciated and understood the impact of the moment, as this video shows:

Jeeez! The @veefriends discord is on fire! 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🔥🔥🔥🔥😭 @garyvee! pic.twitter.com/QdxYFSbuTQ

— ℂ𝕒𝕡𝕦𝕥(ℂ𝕣𝕪𝕡𝕥𝕠)𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕤🦋 (@CryptoDragonis) September 14, 2021

Another quote from the CNN interview:

“People underestimated this project in the OG NFT-land, and this is another execution that’s not going to allow them to underestimate it anymore.”

In light of the announcement, it’s hard to argue with that.

The story behind the slabs and the drawings and the auction at @ChristiesInc pic.twitter.com/7ZNLWD9kAY

— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) September 14, 2021

The Veefriends Are Doing It In Their Own Way

Not everything in NFT-land is about the art. Not everything in the Veefriends is about childlike drawings. As we learned from Bitcoinist’s “The Andy Milonakis NFT Show,” “The NFT world has got its own characteristics, though, and a sense of belonging is one of the main ones. The Bored Apes are part of a Yacht Club. The Gutter Cats are part of a Gang.”

Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course

Gary Vee understands this better than everyone. From the Veefriends site:

“VeeFriends are all about utility and access, meaning each NFT will have different levels of access and activities through the smart contract attached with each investment thus giving them “utility” through metadata. Over the last 15 years, he has spent time interacting with hundreds of thousands of people — what VeeFriends will allow will be a structure around these interactions.

The token is the key that unlocks you into Gary’s world.”

The drawings somehow connect to the hundreds of meetings with entrepreneurs young and old that Gary Vee has had through the years. And give you access to that world. The NFT collection is an extension of Gary Vee ‘s work.

It will always be “AND” when it comes to art 🖼 .. “OR” always losses historically pic.twitter.com/jQaIYV0mJG

— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) September 14, 2021

“There’s just so many ways to do it, and I cheer for them all,” says Gary Vee regarding NFTs. In light of the Christie’s announcement, it’s hard to argue with that.

Featured Image: The five Christie’s pieces as per this tweet | Charts by TradingView