Solana is the only cryptocurrency in the top 10 that continues to rally, despite the recent $300 billion fall in overall crypto market value. SOL did pullback after hitting an all-time high of $214, but it bounced right back up. With this rally, the price of Solana is up by more than 13,200% year-to-date.
This crazy ramp-up in price is mainly due to massive user adoption. We already knew Solana’s underlying technology’s underlying technology, but it did not receive attention from mainstream users. Now with NFTs being the talking point, people are looking for a marketplace that is not only efficient but also costs extremely low in gas fees. This is what makes Solana the clear-cut winner.
Solana can currently handle 65,000 TPS, and it only costs you $0.0001 to do a transaction. As it uses Proof of History combined with Proof of Stake, the delay in block generation does not happen, thus making the blockchain insanely fast and reasonably decentralized.
On the other hand, Ethereum is lacking in providing a better user experience for both developers as well as mainstream users. Even with layer 2 solutions, the gas fee on the Ethereum blockchain network is still pretty high. As a result, it creates more entry barriers, making users opt-out for a better alternative.
Right now, the better alternative is Solana. The best way to understand why people are stacking more and more SOL is to download a Phantom wallet and play around with different Solana projects. Once you experience the ecosystem from the inside, you will see how fast and cheap Solana really is. It feels like using the internet.
Coming back to NFTs, Solana is starting to list some great projects with impressive roadmaps and online communities. In fact, its recent rally started right after launching one of its top NFT collections. When users flocked over to the Solana marketplace and purchased an NFT, they understood its way easier and less expensive than other Ethereum-based marketplaces.
Today, we are going to explore some of the best NFT projects listed on Solana and understand how they reached such a high-value valuation in just a few weeks.
Note- This is for educational purposes only. Do your own diligence and risk assessment before buying any NFT.
#1 Degenerate Ape Academy
The number one NFT collection listed on Solana is Degenerate Ape Academy. The collection is similar to Bored Apes and Crypto Punks, but it adds a little extra 3D feel to 10,000 unique pictures of cartoon apes. The entire collection sold out in less than 8 minutes, sending Solana to an all-time high.
Even though the launch was not smooth, we saw overwhelming interest from the NFT community as a whole. The mint price was only 6 SOL, and by the time it hit the floor, the value had more than doubled. Currently, it has a market cap of $241 million, with each Degenerate Ape selling for an average price of 129.7 SOL.
Few Super Rare Apes
Just like Bored Apes- the Degenerate Ape Academy also has a very strong community with more than 50k followers on Twitter and 16k members on the discord server. With the project being one of the best on Solana, it has attracted many big-time collectors ready to spend millions to acquire one-of-a-kind NFTs. If the community keeps growing and holders are actively involved, then there is no reason for this collection not to remain number one on the Solana marketplace.
#2 Solana Monkey Business
The second blue-chip NFT collection is Solana Monkey Business. The SMB collection consists of 5000 randomly generated monkeys with many different traits. “The Monkeys” aim to create a large community around Solana and provide holders with exclusive advantages and a community wallet. The current floor price is 59 SOL, and the overall market cap is $60 million.
With no gas war and minting cost of 2 SOL, the launch of SMB was successful. They also have separate marketplaces for GEN 1 and GEN 2. In terms of community strength, MSB has quite a following on social media. With over 10k members on the discord server and 20k followers on Twitter, MSB established itself as one of the best NFT projects on the Solana blockchain.
#3 Aurory
One of the most hyped collections in NFTs in recent weeks is Aurory. With play-to-earn making a strong case for the future of gaming, everyone wanted to try their luck on the launch day. We saw nearly 50,000 were on live, trying to mint for 5 SOL. The gaming platform reported that in three seconds, all the Aurorians were sold out.
However, the NFT project faced huge losses, as they made a mistake in the smart contract. Users issued tokens worth 1 SOL, not 5 SOL as it was supposed. Adding to this, we saw a hacker drain dozens of wallets, steal NFTs worth millions at that time. This was a very unfortunate event for NFTs on Solana as a whole. But the future of gaming is play-to-earn, and Aurory manages to implement its roadmap, it will stay on top. To stay connected with the community, you can follow them on Twitter and join the discord server.
#4 SolPunks
We have seen derivative art of Crypto Punks all year long, but there was never a similar project on the Solana NFT marketplace. With SolPunks, collectors can now add a generative-profile art at a lower price. The quality may not be the same, but SolPunks is unique. Currently, the floor price or average sale price is at 12.6 SOL, and the market cap is slowing, climbing over $50 million. It is also important to note- SolPunks is in no way or form connected with Larva Labs.
People who missed Crypto Punks are now looking to add a SolPunk to their collection. The community is solid for Punks, and with more maturation, it is going to have great price appreciation in the future. If you are a SolPunk owner, you should connect with members of discord to know the project’s future plans.
#5 Frakt
Frakt stands out in the NFT marketplace with its randomly generated design patterns. The mathematical nature of each fractal is attracting many collectors. All the images of fractals are stored using an InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). This is an efficient method to store and share large files. The rarity of these NFTs depends on only the type of fractal images and color schemes.
At the time of writing this, the floor price of Frakt is 11.6 SOL, and the market cap is just over $21 million. The team behind Frakt also plans to incentivize holders with airdrops. They are currently working with other projects and looking for more collaborations. Even a secondary market is a part of their roadmap. If you wish to know about this NFT collection, it is recommended to get in touch with some community members on discord. There is a high chance you will find all the info you need.
#6 Bold Badgers
Bold Badgers follows a similar approach to other digital art with 10,000 unique and randomly generated badgers. With more than 170 traits, each holder will have something special to look for. The Bold Badgers squad also mentions they have exclusive benefits to members of the burrow. For example, they gave out 20 SOL for every holder who minted a collaborative badger.
The community is at its core for everything. The project’s plans will be directed by the community members, making it more interactive for all holders. The average sale price in the last 24 hours is above 10 SOL. We have seen more activity recently, jumping the market cap to $18 million. The community also seems pretty strong, with 30k followers on Twitter.
#7 Sollamas
Our last pick from Solana NFT marketplace is Sollamas. It is a collection of 8,888 uniquely generated llamas with over 165 rare attributes. A team from Melbourne created this project, and according to the sales history, they made over $2.5 million selling llama JPGs. As llamas are pack animals, they decided to offer NFTs in packs. One can get three NFTs in one single pack. The mint price was 4 SOL, and now, the floor is almost close to 10 SOL.
The project is also planning to airdrop gen 2 llamas. They have already taken the snapshot so that holders may receive them soon. The demand for this collection is slowly but surely increasing. The market cap may hit $20 million in the next few weeks. If you want to know more about the project, connect with community members on discord.
Wrapping Up
The demand for NFTs is not going to die down anytime soon. Users want a marketplace that will not charge hundreds and thousands of dollars in gas fees and provide a decent experience. That is not Ethereum right now. Solana will attract more and more people sooner than later. But that is not a knock against the Ethereum blockchain. Right now, most of the projects on Solana are simply duplicates, and that needs to change. We have highlighted some good collections with excellent community support and a roadmap in the list given above. If you wish to buy some Solana NFTs, I recommend exploring the ecosystem first and then doing proper research and risk assessment on your desired NFT collection.
Born and brought up in India, Karthikeya Gutta is a crypto journalist and freelance contributor for ItsBlockchain. He covers various aspects of the industry with in-depth analysis and research. His passion towards blockchain and crypto ecosystem is mainly because he believes it can really change the world and help millions of people.
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