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2020 saw an explosion of interest to the cryptocurrency market as prices surged and investors buying tokens increased. 2021 saw a continuation, but brought with it an increased interest to digital assets of the non-fungible ilk. Non-fungible tokens, NFTs, experienced a record breaking year, with total sales volumes spiking to see billions of dollars enter the industry as artists, collectors, and innovative project owners stepped into the emerging world of blockchain-based assets.
With it, the current NFT collections saw massive attention turned towards them and newer collections saw unprecedented adoption. In this, we’ll be looking at the top selling NFT collections over the past few years.
What is an NFT?
Before we look at the collections, let’s examine exactly what an NFT is. An NFT is a blockchain-based token, like a cryptocurrency. With a cryptocurrency, each token is equal in value to the other token (for example, one Bitcoin equals any other Bitcoin). With NFTs, though, each token is unique and valued completely differently from one another, much like art.
Most NFTs live on Ethereum’s blockchain and are sold through NFT marketplaces, like OpenSea. However, there are other blockchains that support the minting of NFTs, such as Tezos.
Over the past month at the time of writing, NFT sales have spiked and held consistently, according to NonFungible.com. The number of sales is currently at 341,680, with $926 million USD coming from the sales, both primary and secondary.
NFT sales are showing no signs of stopping. Over the past week, these are the top selling collection.
5. Art Blocks
Over the past seven days, Art Blocks has brought in $15,302,095.23 USD, with the average NFT going for $3,887.73 USD. 3936 sales have been made, with the top Art Block (Fidenza #288 by Tyler Hobbs) going for 199.01 ETH.
Art Blocks is a collection as well as a platform based on Ethereum’s blockchain. On the platform, artists can create coded, unique and on-demand generative art (art which is created by an algorithm according to boundaries set up by the artist). It mints (creates) the NFT before the collector or artist knows what it will look like. Not only does the artist set the boundaries, but often they hand-code the mechanism that generates the pieces too, making the art a mix of expert coding and technological expression.
4. CyberKongz
Over the past week, the CyberKongz collection has seen $17,446,098.16 USD come in, with the average NFT in the collection going for $14,635.99 USD. There have been 1,192 sales in the past seven days and the highest NFT (CyberKong #385) has gone for 100 ETH.
The CyberKongz are similar to the famous CyberPunks. They are randomly generated 2D/3D NFTs that act as social avatars and are bought by NFT collectors. They have various attributes that differ in rarity and scarcity and each one is entirely unique.
3. Doodles
Over the past week, the Doodles collection has seen a massive $19,131,820.81 USD come in over only 525 sales. This means on average, a Doodle is going for $36,441.56 USD. The top-selling priced Doodle (a doodle) took in 250 ETH.
Doodles are a collection of 10,000 NFTs that are created by a various different visual aspects drawn and designed by the digital artist, Burnt Toast. There are different kind of Doodles that have been hand-drawn and then minted as NFTs, such as skeletons (skellys), cats, apes, aliens and mascots. Owning a Doodle comes with exclusive features, such as allowing owners to cote on community-driven products and events.
2. CryptoPunks
The CryptoPunks saw a massive $35,588,995.58 USD come in over only 132 sales, making an average sale taking a $269,613.60 USD value. Over the past week, the top selling CryptoPunk (Ͼ #7121) went for a whopping 1,180 ETH.
The CryptoPunks are among the original blockchain-based digital collectables. It was the project that inspired the crypto-art movement as we know and put NFTs on the map.
1. Bored Ape Yacht Club
Over the past seven, 1,854 sales have brought in $173,069,489.67 USD. On average, each Ape has picked up a $93,349.24 USD price tag, with the top selling Ape (Bored Ape #3001) went for 500 ETH.
Like the CryptoPunks and the Doodles, there are 10,000 Apes that will ever be created. The Apes are based on Ethereum’s blockchain. Owners of the Apes get exclusive access to the Yacht Club membership and receive special perks.