Curious about which are the top NFT tokens in 2022? Learn about it from this post if you are considering buying NFTs for yourself.

By now you all must have already heard about NFTs. NFTs are creating quite a buzz over the last few years. In fact, in March 2021, NFTs made headlines when Beeple’s crypto art “First 5000 Days” grabbed the topmost position in the world of NFTs by becoming the most expensive NFT valued at 69 million USD. As per a report by Statista, the year-on-year growth projected by the NFT market cap is 138.7%.

The first NFT was launched in 2014 when Kevin McCoy minted Quantum. The world’s first permanent NFT art museum opened in Seattle, United States this year on January 14^th to display art-based NFTs in a brick and mortar environment.

A report from The Business Research Company forecasts that the global NFT market size will reach $21.33 billion in 2022 growing at a CAGR of 52.1% from 2021 while it is expected to surpass a market valuation of $82.43 billion by 2026.

So, if you are wondering what is a non-fungible token, here is an interesting take on everything you need to know about NFTs.

What are NFTs and how do they work?

In simple terms, an NFT is a digital certificate (token) on a blockchain having unique identification codes and metadata (non-fungible.) Thus, they cannot be replicated. They also can’t be traded or exchanged like cryptocurrencies but can only be acquired by trading cryptocurrencies. They contain valuable information that ascertains their value.

How do NFTs work?

NFTs came into existence from the ERC-721 standard and it comprises ownership details, security, and metadata. The majority of NFTs are created with the help of Ethereum’s blockchain of smart contracts.

These cryptocurrency assets are minted (created) and sold using blockchain technology, which is a distributed public ledger. Since they are hosted on blockchain, therefore the transactions are completely traceable. Other characteristic features of NFTs are listed below:

• Their scarcity drives their value, a notion similar to that of crypto coins like Bitcoin.
• NFTs can be minted from digital forms of both physical and virtual or intangible objects.
• For physical objects, buyers acquire digital format files instead of the physical form of the object.
• The owner of the NFT reserves its full ownership rights.
• Each unique NFT has a unique owner too.
• Extensibility is another feature of NFTs. It means that two or more NFTs can be combined to give birth to a new breed of NFT.

An overview of the minting process:

 Why NFTs are gaining prominence?

Top NFT tokens are gaining importance due to the following reasons:

• NFTs are perfect for representing tangible assets in a digital form like artwork, collectibles, music, etc. As they are blockchain-based, so they can simplify transactions by eliminating the need for intermediaries.
• Non-fungible tokens can also help the owners reach newer markets with potential customers.
• NFT improve market efficiency and streamlines the digital transactions processes.
• They are also incredibly efficient in managing the identity associated with each NFT within the digital world.

Invest in these top 7 NFT Tokens in 2022

Here are some of the top-performing NFT collections based on their all-time market volume according to CoinMarketCap.

1. CryptoPunks

Platform: Ethereum

All-Time Volume: 942,698.13 ETH

Estimated Market Cap: 687,964.22 ETH

Average Price: 45.29 ETH

CryptoPunks has made media appearances in The Financial Times, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and many more. An NFT project of the Larva Labs, Crypto Punks is what inspired the modern CryptoArt movement. Originally these NFT tokens were available for free but all were quickly acquired and now need to be purchased from the NFT marketplace.

Key Features:

• CryptoPunks comprises 10,000 unique characters of punky-looking girls, boys, apes, zombies, and aliens.
• These NFT tokens are 24×24 pixel art images generated with the help of algorithms.
• The punks are based on custom contracts and bear more resemblance to ERC20 tokens than ERC-21 tokens.
• The total value of all-time sales collectively amounts to $1.95 billion.

2. Bored Ape Yacht Club

Platform: Ethereum

All-Time Volume: 623,180.15 ETH

Estimated Market Cap: 977,890.47 ETH

Average Price: 23.37 ETH

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a limited NFT collection on the Ethereum blockchain. This top NFT token is a unique digital collectible that doubles as your Yacht Club membership card. It also opens doors for members-only benefits like access to The Bathroom and other areas.

Key Features:

• You can acquire a Bored Ape for 0.08 ETH. The distribution is fair without any price tiers.
• The apes are hosted on IPFS and stored as ERC-721 tokens.
• Each ape is programmed uniquely from more than 170 possible traits of different expression, styles, headwear, etc.
• Buying a Bored Ape helps you gain access to the BAYC club and serves as your digital identity.

3. WIN NFT HORSE

Platform: BSC

All-Time Volume: 527,266,445.51 BUSD

Estimated Market Cap: 3,080,000 BUSD

Average Price: 50,383.8 BUSD

WIN NFT Horse lives on the Tron blockchain and is an innovative ecosystem of NFT, DeFi, and blockchain technology. GameFi in collaboration with Tron and APENFT is revolutionizing the world of gaming. Win NFT Horse is playable on the Tron Network as well as the Binance network.

Key Features:

• Win NFT Horse is an interactive open-source gaming platform.
• The game has four modes – Challenge, Match, Duel, and Arena.
• The Binance platform launched 10000 NFT tokens of WIN NFT Horse.
• The price of each token is 0.019 BNB.

4. Moonbirds

Platform: Ethereum

All-Time Volume: 152,917.29 ETH

Estimated market Cap: 219,482.71 ETH

Average Price: 18.03 ETH

Built by PROOF and based on the Ethereum blockchain, Moonbirds are a collection of 10,000 unique collections of utility-enabled PFPs. They feature rare traits and also provide access to private club membership coupled with extra benefits for nesting Moonbirds for a longer period.

Key Features:

• Moonbirds are IPFS-hosted.
• They help you gain access to the PROOF metaverse and also the PROOF Discord.
• Their unique PFP design facilitates locking them up and holding them for a longer period in your wallet.
• Moonbirds upgrade their tier levels and nests enabling newer rewards as the total nesting time increases.

5. Doodles

Platform: Ethereum

All-Time Volume: 139,280.21 ETH

Estimated Market Cap: 162,297.46 ETH

Average Price: 6.0517 ETH

If you are a fan of space voyages, then this is another top NFT token to acquire. With Space Doodles, you can venture into the vast galaxy to experience joy and discover rainbow puke. Designed by Burnt Toast, Space Doodles can be claimed for free by all Doodlers.

Key Features:

• Space Doodles are a collection of 10,000 NFTs.
• Doodle collection consists of hand-drawn Doodles including cats, apes, aliens, and more.
• Owning a Doodle helps you gain access to several products, features, and events.

6. World of Women

Platform: Ethereum

All-Time Volume: 70,716.49 ETH

Estimated Market Cap: 47,043.03 ETH

Average Price: 2.9143 ETH

The World of Women is more than just an NFT collection. It is a community that aims to create opportunities for anyone to be the owners, creators, and contributors of WoW from all around the world. WoW is also on a mission to build an inclusive web3 through its NFT collections and communities.

Key Features:

• The signature NFT collection released last year consists of 10,000 collectibles.
• The next collection of WoW Galaxy comprises 21,000 items portraying women.
• Owning WoW offers other benefits like ownership over the underlying artwork and IP.
• Each WoW NFT token has a floor price of 4.20 ETH and the WoW Galaxy token has a floor price of 0.49 ETH.

7. Pudgy Penguins

Platform: Ethereum

All-Time Volume: 54,811.97 ETH

Estimated Market Cap: 13,965.81 ETH

Average Price: 1.5214 ETH

Pudgy Penguins are one of the cutest-looking NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. About 22,222 pudgys from the North form a might alliance in the fight against evil-doers.

Key Features:

• It is a profile picture (PFP) NFT project with 8,888 unique collectible Penguins.
• Each NFT is an ERC-721 token generated from more than 150 hand-drawn traits.
• It has a floor price of 0.93 ETH.
• The background story associated with Pudgy Penguins makes them unique.

How are top NFT tokens proving to be useful?

NFTs have so far been used for the following:

• Artwork – Artists can create a digital file of their artwork and convert it to an NFT. They can directly sell it to interested buyers, helping them retain the entire profits by eliminating galleries as middlemen. They can also opt-in to receive royalties whenever their artwork is sold to a new owner.

• Digital Content – Digital content creators can increase their profits by converting them to NFTs. Digital content could include anything from music to GIFs, videos, sports highlights, collectibles, and even virtual avatars.

• Gaming Items – Gamers need to spend a lot on buying in-game accessories and items. However, if the gaming items existed in the form of NFTs, then gamers could earn by selling those items once they were done utilizing them.

• Investments – Certain NFT projects are upcoming that would allow borrowing money through DeFi apps by using NFT as the collateral.

• Physical Items – Physical assets like real estate, etc. can transform the future of acquiring homes and cars.   

• Collectibles –   Individuals can build a collection of digital assets for rare artifacts having a rich history or cultural relevance.

Celebrity NFT ventures

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey converted his first tweet into an NFT and sold it for over $2.9 million. Here are some of the most expensive NFTs that are associated with some big celebrities.

Key difference between NFTs and Cryptocurrencies

Although crypto tokens and NFTs are both based on the blockchain, the key differences between both are pointed out below.

NFTs	Cryptocurrencies
NFTs are non-fungible	Crypto tokens are fungible
Each NFT is unique	Crypto tokens of a single kind are not unique.
NFTs can be purchased using cryptocurrencies only.	Cryptocurrencies can be purchased with fiat money or other cryptocurrencies and vice-versa.   NFTs are not needed to acquire crypto tokens.
NFTs can be bought or sold on NFT platforms like OpenSea, NBA Top Shot, etc.	Cryptocurrencies are available through crypto exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, etc.
NFTs are minted	Crypto tokens have to be mined

Do NFTs have a high carbon footprint?

Yes, NFTs do contribute to the blockchain’s total carbon footprint. Since a majority of top NFT tokens are based on the Ethereum blockchain, therefore, they do contribute to massive amounts of energy consumption and release of CO₂.

• In 2021, Ethereum’s power consumption was estimated to be around 103.17 TWh surpassing the electricity consumption of countries like Czechia or Colombia.
• According to CBS, Ethereum releases about 21.35 metric tons of CO₂ each year.
• However, the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 based on proof-of-stake rather than PoW(proof-of-work) can bring down the blockchain’s energy consumption by 99.95%.    
• Switching to Liquid Proof-of-Stake (LPoS) mechanism can also reduce energy consumption and consequently decrease the environmental release of CO₂ .
• According to Digiconomist, Tezos, a proof-of-stake network, only utilizes 0.00006 TWh of electricity per year.

Contemplating about investing in top NFT tokens?

NFTs are the recent craze of the tech world. You just learned about what are NFTs and how do they work. Besides this, you also became aware of the top 7 NFT tokens to invest in 2022.

Now comes the question of whether you should invest in NFTs or not?

There isn’t a straight answer available for this question. On one hand, NFTs let you possess rare art pieces, artifacts, and other forms of collectibles. In the near future, NFTs might even be employed to acquire properties and might be a foolproof way of proving sole ownership over a property.

However, on the other hand, investing in NFTs comes with its risks. First of all, NFTs are quite new in the market and their performance trends are still unfathomable. Another reason is that NFTs might attract taxes. Next, you must always bear in mind that the value of NFTs is largely determined by their scarcity and what others are willing to pay for them. Therefore, the price of NFT tokens is demand-driven rather than fixed as per the technical, fundamental, or economic factors. You might also face challenges while selling it if there are no takers in the market.

So, you must consider all the factors before investing in NFTs and then decide after conducting a thorough market analysis.