While the crypto market is barely making a move to the upside with bitcoin failing to claim a $53k support band, the NFT market is booming with more than $700 million in sales in the first three days of 2022. We might as well see another record month for the Open Sea marketplace if the momentum continues throughout January. So it is safe to say that NFTs are back in a big way.
The Bored Ape mania is a major factor contributing to surging trading volumes and money inflows. In less than three weeks, the floor price of both BAYC and MAYC surged by more than 40%, putting them at 70 and 16 ETH, respectively. In addition, a huge wave of interest from celebrities to entrepreneurs is driving more popularity for these generative ape NFTs. Eminem, a global icon in the music industry, purchased a Bored Ape for nearly $500,000. Also, a fan-favorite comedian, Dave Chapelle, added a six-figure BAYC NFT.
It is not only the top collections soaring in price. We are seeing market-wide growth. NFT world was a recent surprise with a pleasant airdrop of $WRLD tokens. Few other recently launched collections rising to the top are Alien Frens, Coolman’s Universe, inBetweeners, and Prime Ape Planet.
The NFT market is primed for a massive rally in the near future. As the crypto market continues to consolidate, the money will flow into NFTs, and new projects with high potential will give great returns. This weekly list brings you the top 5 NFT collections that have strong communities and utilities in place for their owners. Let’s get started.
#1 Oxya Origin
One of the most hyped projects in the NFT space that is dropping this week is Oxya Origin. They managed to gain a massive following on social platforms, which helped them build a strong and passionate community. I selected this project partly because of their social presence in the NFT community but mainly because the core team of Oxya Origin is well experienced.
The artists Maxime Delcambre and Laury Guintrand, worked on some of the biggest projects in the film industry, such as Avengers, Witcher, Robin Hood, and The Fantastic Four. Gaotan Simonot is another artist creating the characters for Oxya Origin. He previously worked for Ubisfot and One Piece, and contributed to one of the biggest animated series on Netflix, Arcane. Even other team members of this project are well versed with NFTs and web three concepts.
The concept of Oxya Origin is also outstanding compared to regular NFT projects that only focus on generative art. These NFTs bring in so much utility to its owners, so it will likely not be just a hype-driven project. The roadmap of Oxya Origin is quite comprehensive. With a sustainable token system and land utility, NFT holders will accrue long-term value. The end goal would be to integrate metaverses and reward players with quests and land rents.
Things you need to know
#2 CryptoBatz
I am truly excited to see how CryptoBatz will turn out. Not just because it was created by a famous singer and songwriter, Ozzy Osbourne, he was also a member of the Black Sabbath rock band. His prominence in the celebrity world has brought a great deal of attention to CryptoBatz. However, I still think people are not paying close attention to this project and how unique the artwork and utility are.
The CryptoBatz collection consists of 9,666 NFTs co-created by Ozzy and a group called Sutter Systems. In the NFT space, people value art with historical significance written all over it. Also, collectors want to own artworks created by big-time artists and global icons. Ozzy Osbourne is one such personality. As he was a legendary rock icon for decades, people will buy these NFTs in a flash.
Further, every owner of CryptoBatz will automatically enter into a raffle that will determine the winner of a unique art piece created by Ozzy. I find the concept of mutation will resonate with the NFT community in terms of utility. Basically, CryptoBatz owners will be able to mutate their bat with any other NFT or blue-chip project present in their wallet to get a one-of-one type NFT.
Speaking of one CryptoBatz, supergremplin has created three legendary NFTs that will be minted at random. They are the artists behind crypto toadz, so having them adds a lot of credibility to the project, and people in the NFT community will likely show incredible support.
Things you need to know
#3 Metaverse Cool Cats
The NFT community does love cats. Metaverse Cool Cats is a unique NFT collection with 9,999 ultra-realistic avatars. The team wants to bring the VR element of NFTs to this particular project by deploying cats into the metaverse.
VAT labs create metaverse Cool Cats. It is a group of three entrepreneurs who’ve had success scaling and delivering on NFT projects. They promise to give two more NFTs for free after the public sale of Metaverse Cool Cats. And that is with no cap on wallets. This is considering NFT owners will not sell or list on marketplaces and hold for at least 30 days. As a result, I expect the demand to rise quickly, increasing the floor price.
After the public sale, the community will also decide which land to buy and what social experiences to create for NFT owners. The voting procedures will be done using a DAO structure, giving everyone an equal say in all matters.
Things you need to know
#4 Space Bulls
In these weekly lists, I always emphasize the importance of community and giving back to holders. Space Bulls is one such collection aiming to maximize value for NFT holders in terms of future whitelist spots and secondary sale royalties.
The team has been working for over a year now, and they recently had a long discussion with the community to decide on a roadmap and future goals. It is good to see projects taking the initiative to host such events and increase transparency.
https://twitter.com/TheSpaceBulls/status/1478126941710569472
Space Bulls also has a different art concept with its NFTs. Essentially, the owners will get two separate NFTs, where one will have a 3D rotating box, and the other is an avatar. Space Bulls built a passionate community with hundreds of thousands of followers with promising utility concepts and pleasing artworks.
Things you need to know
#5 Frosties
The final collection of this list is Frosties. I love the art. I think it looks cute. Though there is no hype or any participation from influencers, I believe Frosties is a decent project to consider buying. It is a great NFT for newcomers who don’t have enough ETH to start their NFT journey. I also think the real utility of the project will come with the metaverse game. Now it is still early to predict how much value this can add. But it is, for sure, a great thing to count on in the roadmap.
The team promised to use the royalties for floor sweeps and hold the price above mint. They are also going to raffle 10 Frosties once the Discord community has over 5,000 members. A future staking option is also a possibility with this collection. We have to wait and watch how the public sale would run.
Wrapping Up
The crypto market is still not showing any signs of recovery, mainly the bitcoin structure. In the meantime, we will see a massive rally in the NFT markets, where established projects will continue to thrive, and new ones will find their niche community. You can explore the projects mentioned above and get in at a reasonable discounted price. Before you ape in, make sure to talk to different community members and see if everyone is on the same page. It will give you clarity on where the project is headed.
That’s it for today. I hope you found something you like. I will be back next week with more NFT collections. Till then, stay safe and don’t FOMO into any projects without doing proper research.
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.
Subscribe to get notified on latest posts.
