It’s easy to forget quite how young the NFT space is. The Bored Ape yacht club, which is one of the most well-known projects in the NFT space, was launched in 2021. The market exploded that year. with nearly $41 billion of crypto spent on NFT marketplaces — CryptoPunk #7523 sold for $11.7 million, Bored Ape #3562 sold for more than $1.6 million, and Cool Cat #1490 sold for $1.4 million.
These projects may have been financially successful, but which of the following? world’s most expensive NFT collections Also Do you have staying power?
We’re here to find out. We looked at the most expensive projects in this space to discover their intrinsic and perceived value. We also reached out to experts to get their opinions on how these projects should evolve to be able to withstand the test of time.
1. CryptoPunks
A collection of 24×24 pixelated punky-looking images, CryptoPunks is arguably the most important and historically relevant project in the NFT space. CryptoPunks was launched in 2017 by Larva Labs and later acquired by Yuga Labs 2022. It is one of the first projects to demonstrate the potential of digital ownership. With NFTs becoming mainstream, Punks are now one of the most sought after digital collectibles (and status symbol) with celebrities and high-net worth collectors spending millions to be part of the community.
Bored Ape Yacht Club flipped the CryptoPunks floor in December 2021. This signaled a greater passing of the torch for mainstream NFT adoption. The CryptoPunks floor cost is still quite attractive at 53.5 ETH (or $106,000 at time of writing).
Experts agree that CryptoPunks’ ability to stay afloat is down to their historical significance. The cultural value of being among the first NFT projects is, in short, what translates into financial value. “Historical breakthrough projects have the most staying power (eg, CryptoPunks),” Liam HerbstNFT analyst and long-time collection holder, explains nft now.
“Historical projects will always receive attention and the social capital that comes with them, whereas every other project must earn it over time. For projects launched in the last year, it’s best to bet on ones led by people with staying power who’ve been here for years and will be here for decades. Their collections may not be historically significant yet but attention will flow toward them over time.”
2. CyberKongz
CyberKongz, a historic project, was released in March 2021. CyberKongz was a collection of 1,000 generative, pixelated apes. It had no roadmap and a price of.01ETH. This appealed to many early investors because of the way the art looked in profile photos on social media. This made CyberKongz one of the most popular PFP projects.
The low supply has driven the price explosion of Genesis CyberKongz, currently at 36 Ethereum (approximately $76,000 at the time this article was written). Over 2022, they’ve released an extension project, BabyKongz, and their $BANANA token, which can be used throughout the CyberKongz universe.
They’ve also launched KongzTank, a Shark TankCyberKongz team offers funding as well as resources to NFT projects in an incubator model. CyberKongz’s team has repeatedly proven their ability to generate and implement valuable ideas, despite launching without a plan. CyberKongz has gained the trust of its community and the wider market with tokenomics and extension projects.
3. Bored Ape Yacht Club
Bored Ape Yacht Club was created by Yuga Labs. It quickly became a sought-after NFT collection that celebrities and general collectors alike love. Sales were slow at first, but they picked up speed when NFT influencers made it available. Pranksy “aped in.” Since then, the floor price has rapidly increased, leading the project to its current floor of 101 ETH (over $204,000 USD). Yuga Labs has built a media empire that spans books, movies, TV and more with the acquisitions of CryptoPunks, Meebits, as well as a $450 million raise from Andreessen Horowitz.
Other than the signaling power and exclusivity, BAYC’s main selling point is the community rights and commercial usage rights. Anyone can use the Ape’s IP to start businesses or enter into licensing agreements. BAYC offers a range of compelling member offerings, including exclusive merchandise, events, and lucrative airdrops such as Mutant Ape Yacht Clube.
Herbst explains that in addition to a collection’s historical significance, one of the most important things that determine if the project has staying power is its ability to stand as a status symbol. He argues that this is ultimately what makes BAYC so compelling, “All humans seek status and NFTs are one the best ways to flex status online. Status is often awarded to projects through adoption by influential investors, just like a celebrity can raise the status of a clothing brand.”
Longevity is also about utility — something that BAYC has a lot of. Herbst continues, “Projects can provide a set of experiences and rewards that holders will promote to elevate the project’s image. The PFP holders also develop a strong brand advocacy by becoming attached to their PFP. Projects must have an original narrative, desirable brand, and grow their network of promoters to build staying power.”
4.Otherdeeds
In March 2022, Yuga Labs announced the introduction of ApeCoin and the Otherside, the first expansion in Yuga Labs’ broader metaverse plans. Otherdeeds is a collection comprising 100,000 plots in Otherside Metaverse land. Although Otherdeeds’ purpose is still unknown, each plot is highly-coveted and has a variety of ingame features that will be revealed in time.
A 55,000 Otherdeeds collection was released by public mint on April 30, 2022. The remaining 45,000 were distributed to existing BAYC/MAYC holders and Yuga Labs workers, as well as project partners. Each Otherdeed was worth 305 ApeCoin (roughly $20,000 at time of mint), plus an additional ETH or gas (around $2.750 at the same time).
After a controversial launch that burned more than $157 million in ETH, Otherdeeds’ floor prices quickly spiked to around 6.5 ETH. Since then, they’ve returned to a reduced floor of around 3 ETH (over $6,000 USD).
5. Mutant Ape Yacht Club
Mutant Ape Yacht Club began as an exclusive member-only airdrop that provided Bored Ape holders with digital mutant serum. Ape owners exposed their Apes to the serum (an off-chain transaction), and a mutant Ape was created. As a way to bring new entrants to the BAYC ecosystem, 10,000 additional mutants were released to the public via Dutch Auction.
MAYC has emerged as a separate blue chip NFT after riding the Yuga Labs/BAYC ascension. MAYC has steadily climbed up to a floor of nearly 20 Ethereum (over $40,000 USD as of the time of writing), and there are no signs that it will slow down anytime soon.
6. Cool Cats
Cool Cats became a rage after launching in July 2021 by co-founders Evan Luza, Tom Williamson and Tom Williamson. Cool Cats were popular in celebrity flocks, much like BAYC. Mike Tyson made one his Twitter profile picture and even tried to buy Andrew Wang’s famous Cat for over a million dollars. Driven by the cute, blue artwork, Clon’s inspiring founder story, and celebrity endorsements, Cool Cats sales exploded. The Cats that were once sold for around $150 grew steadily to a level of more than 10 Ethereum.
During this rise, the slogan “We like the Cats” became a fun way to justify the purchase which had no real utility at the time. It ended up becoming the project’s unofficial motto. Since then, Cooltopia (Cool Cats’ broader ecosystem) has birthed an authentic, uplifting, and welcoming community which in itself has become a massive selling point when comparing Cool Cats to other projects.
Cool Cats founders recognized the strength of their community and announced that 20 percent all ETH generated by their project would be returned to them through raffles, contests and other activities. Cool Cats has been volatile, in contrast to other top-tier projects that tend to hold their value over time. The Cats once sitting at 16 ETH have dropped to 4 ETH (around $8,000 US). Although market fluctuations can be partially to blame, there have been some complaints about how the team has implemented its roadmap. The long-awaited Cool Pets Extension was repeatedly delayed, the $MILK coin has fallen in price dramatically, and Cooltopia has been a buggy.
Lisa Teh, Co-Founder of Mooning.com and Founder of CODI Agency tells nft now, “There is enormous pressure on founders to keep their community engaged. You need to be seen as consistently moving forward, otherwise, your community can get distracted by another project, and the reality is, there are only so many hours you can spend on Discord a day, so if they aren’t getting value from your community and roadmap, they can easily switch out to something new and shiny. Also, if a project stops delivering on its roadmap or continuously fails to meet deadlines, this can have a detrimental effect on the community.”
