NFT coins to watch right now
With NFTs exploding, let’s put some of the biggest NFT coins under the spotlight
The world of cryptocurrency and the world of blockchain technology have been disrupted by the growth of non fungible tokens (NFTs) over the last year or so. The ability for people to, in effect, own their own digital equivalent of a collectors card has really taken off recently, bringing more and more people to the cryptosphere. With the rise of NFTs, though, there has been a parallel explosion in crypto, the rise of NFT tokens. These cryptocurrencies are linked to non fungible tokens and allow holders to get more involved in the world of NFTs. While, again, this was once a very niche thing, these tokens are garnering more and more attention, so let’s look at the five biggest NFT coins to watch right now.
Axie infinity (AXS)
When talking about NFT coins to watch, it makes sense to look at the top NFT token in terms of market cap, so let’s do that. Axie Infinity (AXS) has grown exponentially over the course of 2021, going from being worth about $0.50 at the start of the year to being worth around $126 on the afternoon of 18 November. What’s the deal with AXS? Well, it is named after a game, made by Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis, which aims to teach people about the blockchain. Based on the Ethereum network, players get crypto rewards for playing the game, which was created by a group of people who met playing proto-NFT game CryptoKitties.
The game uses turn-based strategy where the players’ characters, Axies, attack each other using different cards. Each Axie is unique, and both they and every piece of equipment is an NFT, which can be traded on the marketplace. This allows frequent users to reap profits as engaging in battles levels up the Axies, which increases their worth on the marketplace. Players can also use tokens to breed new Axies, which can then be sold on.
The AXS token is used to help govern the game, with people who stake the coin given the right to vote on the future direction of the program. There is also a community treasury for AXS stakers, which receives funding from transactions and fees. As well as receiving rewards from the treasury, AXS stakers govern it.
The popularity of the game, which has around 1.8 million daily users, means that there is a distinct interest in AXS. Whether it can continue to hold its popularity remains to be seen but with a market cap of around $7.78bn, it is worth looking at.
Decentraland (MANA)
Let’s now take a look at the second of the top NFT coins by market cap. Decentraland’s MANA is part of an online ecosystem which allows participants to buy virtual land in a virtual world. This token has a market cap of about $6.6bn. In terms of how the MANA price has changed over the course of the year, it started January 2021 at somewhere around $0.08 and, as of the afternoon of 18 November, it was worth about $3.50. If we are looking at top NFT coins to invest in, while it is entirely likely that sort of growth won’t be repeated going forward, it is still worth keeping in mind.
In Decentraland itself, MANA is used to purchase land, which is represented by the LAND token, and also to buy NFTs to fill up the users territory. The system is becoming more and more popular and on 17 November, Barbados announced that it would open a virtual embassy in the network. This marked a major step for the program and for the MANA token. While the token can be used to buy in game purchases, the latest moves could well lead to it becoming better known and gaining some more real world traction. There’s also the growth of virtual reality, which Decentraland could be well positioned to take advantage of. Either way, things have been getting pretty interesting as of late with MANA, so that’s why it is an NFT coin to watch right now.
THETA
The third biggest NFT cryptocurrency is THETA, which works slightly differently to MANA and AXS. While those two cryptos deal in pure NFTs, THETA operates in a way to encourage entertainment as a whole. That is because the Theta Network is designed to allow users, called nodes, to team up and offer spare bandwidth to enable fast, effective and efficient streaming. That isn’t to say that THETA has nothing to do with NFTs, though. If it didn’t, it would not be on this list. Earlier this year, Theta launched its own NFT marketplace, THETAdrop, giving users the change to utilise the program to buy and sell NFTs. This means that THETA is a coin which generates a fair amount of interest from people involved in non fungible tokens, even though it wasn’t quite what it was originally designed for. The news that the network will launch another token, TDROP, linked to its NFT marketplace, in 2022, is also worth noting.
What is your sentiment on MANA/USD?
Regardless, with a 2021 which has seen it go from around $1.95 at the start of the year to around $6.15 on the afternoon of 18 November and get a market cap of about $6.18bn, THETA is still one of the NFT coins to watch.
Tezos (XTZ)
The fourth biggest NFT coin by market cap is tezos (XTZ). Again, like THETA, we can classify this as an NFT coin by virtue of some of the services it provides, rather than in its core form. Nevertheless, its association with NFTs will have, no doubt, drawn a good number of people to invest in it, so let’s talk about it.
XTZ, which has a market cap of about $4.25bn, is the native coin of the Tezos blockchain. This chain aims to use advanced alterations to its system to avoid having to go through a hard fork process in the future. The system is, somewhat like Ethereum, based around smart contracts, computer programs which automatically execute once certain conditions are met. It is this particular feature which ties it to NFTs. One of the largest NFT marketplaces, Hic Et Nunc, is based on the blockchain. While there was some concern when it seemingly ceased trading in November, the marketplace was soon, in effect, back up and running again when a group of users teamed together to create a carbon copy of the old one on the same blockchain. This showed the link between NFTs and Tezos and, by extension, XTZ. In all, XTZ has had a good year overall, starting off January 2021 at just over $2 and standing at more than $4.80 on the afternoon of 18 November.
FLOW
Let’s round things off by talking about the fifth biggest NFT coin by market cap, which is FLOW. This coin, which has a market cap of about $3.75bn, is the native token of the Flow network. This is an interesting system because, while it is not quite a pure NFT program like Axie Infinity or Decentraland, it is more linked to the online interactive worlds of which NFTs are a part than Tezos or Theta might be. The idea behind Flow is to allow games and assets like NFTs to be utilised on the blockchain in a way that is fast and efficient. It is also designed to be scalable, which makes it an attractive place for NFT marketplaces to operate.
Another thing to note is that the team behind Flow, Dapper Labs, were also the team responsible for CryptoKitties. This means that the network has some past history when it comes to NFTs, making FLOW an enticing cryptocurrency for fans of non fungible tokens. The crypto has done well this year, going from around $6.87 at the time of its January launch to stand at just over $12 on the afternoon 18 November.
So that’s our list of the top NFT coins to watch. What you must remember, though, is just because they are the top NFT coins to watch, that does not mean they are the top NFT coins to buy. As ever, you will have to do your own research, remember prices can go down as well as up, and never invest more money than you can afford to lose.
FAQs
How many NFT coins are there?
It depends on how you define what an “NFT coin” is, but if you classify it as a coin which has something to do with NFTs, then coinmarketcap lists 425 of them. Depending on how you view things, there may be more, or there may be less, but either way 425 is a good number.
Where can I buy NFT coins?
Depending on what NFT coin you want to buy, you can get hold of them on crypto exchanges. Here at currency.com, for instance, you can buy and sell MANA. Just remember to do your research, remember prices can go down as well as up, and don’t invest more money than you can afford to lose.
Should I invest in NFT?
This is entirely a matter for you. Just remember to do your research, remember prices can go down as well as up, and don’t invest more money than you can afford to lose.
