Introduction

I break down the top 10 fastest growing NFT projects on Opensea this week using 7-day sales volume. This list is great to review and read in detail as I provide some insight and background on the projects to help you develop a lens to find emerging projects that have promise. Please remember that this is not financial advice and you should never spend more money than you can afford to lose on NFTs!

1. CryptoPunks 

Source: Opensea.io 

7-day Trading Volume: 83,789.32 ETH ($293 million) 

Floor Price: 93.88 ETH ($371,209) 

CryptoPunks launched in 2017 and was created by Matt Hall and John Watkinson. Both of them studied computer science and had a long track record of success in business before creating CryptoPunks. Larva Labs, the company they formed to create the NFTs, was originally formed to build mobile applications for the T-Mobile Sidekick Phone. 

There are 10,000 CryptoPunks in total and they are currently the most sought-after NFT asset. 

They were free back in 2017 and have since gained significant value, with at least 25 CryptoPunk sales of over $1 million, some from sellers who have held on to them since getting them for free. That’s quite the return on investment. 

2. Mutant Ape Yacht Club 

Source: Opensea.io 

7-day Trading Volume: 64,921.02 ETH ($227 million) 

Floor Price: 5 ETH ($19,500) 

NFTs from the Bored Ape Yacht Club are heading to auction at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s in the coming weeks. Both companies are prominent art auction houses that are globally recognized, which lends significant social proof and confidence to the project. 

Mutant Ape Yacht Club is a derivative NFT related to the original Bored Ape Yacht Club. 

There are a total of 20,000 Mutant Apes in this collection because the holders of the 10,000 original Bored Ape Yacht club assets were air-dropped (gifted) serum tokens and 10,000 Mutant Apes were sold to the public at 3 ETH. 

Original holders could use the serum (or sell it) to create a second ape, a Mutant. 

Those who bought Mutant Apes in the public auction are doing well as the floor price is currently 5 ETH. 

3. Art Blocks Curated 

Source: Opensea.io

7-day Trading Volume: 41,937.52 ETH ($146 million) 

Floor Price: 1.67 ETH ($6,153) 

Art Blocks Curated is a collection of different NFT projects that are highly filtered and curated. Given how many new NFT collections launch on a regular basis, this curation provides a level of trust to buyers knowing that it’s been reviewed and approved by a 3rd-party before being put into the collection. 

It’s no surprise then that rare pieces from the collection fetch significant values, with two sales of at least 1,000 ETH (~$35 million): 

Source: Opensea.io 

Artblocks Curated is home to famed projects like Ringers and Fidenza and helps bring some structure to the wild wild west of the NFT space. 

4. Bored Ape Yacht Club 

Source: Opensea.io 

7-day Trading Volume: 38,759.5 ETH ($135 million) 

Floor Price: 41.98 ETH ($163,722) 

Bored Ape Yacht Club assets could originally be minted for .08 ETH ($220 at the time). The project launched in April and seen a rocketing growth over the past few months. 

Even famous athletes like Steph Curry have purchased a Bored Ape and put it as his Twitter profile picture: 

Source: Twitter

The appeal and rise of Bored Ape Yacht club have a lot to do with being part of this elite social club. CryptoPunks are out of reach for many, but Bored Ape Yacht Club offers a profile picture avatar at a more affordable price point (for some of us). 

The Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction will likely bring more global attention to the brand as it continues to infiltrate pop culture. It’s important to remember — this project has evolved into exactly that: a powerful brand with visible influencers buying in and displaying their assets on social media channels. 

5. Loot (for Adventures) 

Source: Opensea.io

7-day Trading Volume: 38,753.47 ETH ($135 million) 

Floor Price: 16.74 ETH ($65,256) 

Loot is the most fascinating and explosive project for this week: 

Source: Opensea.io 

At first glance, these are just words on a black background. But their meaning got much bigger in the past few days. Each NFT is a description of a character and its attributes to be used in a metaverse (virtual space) and it was created by Dom Hoffman. 

The best part? 

There was no mint (pre-sale), they were free (plus gas fees). The catch was that you had to mint these directly in the smart contract using Etherscan.io: 

Source: Opensea.io 

A community formed around this project and started bringing their talents to take simple words on a black background and create art, realms, and a whole universe.

This project highlights the critical shift NFTs are likely to bring to our society: the opportunity for communities to form and build together. 

Just look at what’s been built so far by the members: 

Source: Opensea.io

This is an impressive project to keep an eye on going forward. 

6. Bored Ape Chemistry Club 

Source: Opensea.io

7-day Trading Volume: 16,940.47 ETH ($59 million) 

Floor Price: 4.3 ETH ($16,770) 

Earlier on this list, we saw Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club. This project is the free airdrop to Bored Ape Yacht Club token holders and allowed them to create their Mutants. 

There are three levels of the serum available for sale (with multiples of each one): M1 Mutant Serum (4.5 ETH), M2 Mutant Serum (12.99 ETH), and Mega Mutant Serum (3,800 ETH). 

The last Mega Mutant Serum went for 350 ETH! That’s over $1.3 million: 

Source: Opensea.io 

These airdrops are an attempt to bring value to the Bored Ape Yacht club community and encourage those who own the assets to hold them. Given that the serum was free to holders and the lowest level serum is 4.5 ETH, I’d say that’s some strong value. 

7. Meebits 

Source: Opensea.io

7-day Trading Volume: 16,662.07 ETH

Floor Price: 5.15 ETH 

I’ve written extensively about Meebits, which was created by Larva Labs (CryptoPunks). The summary of the project is that CryptoPunks were pixelated art, whereas Meebits are voxel (3D pixels) art. 

Meebits are also headed to Christie’s Auction House. 

There are 20,000 total Meebits. 11,000 of them were airdropped to CryptoPunks holders (much like the mutant serum for Bored Ape Yacht Club) and 9,000 were sold to the public via dutch auction (reduction in price until someone buys). 

8. Creature World NFT 

Source: Opensea.io 

7-day Trading Volume: 11,579.35 ETH ($40.5 million) 

Floor Price: 0.88 ETH ($3,432) 

Creature World NFT was created by Danny Cole, a 21-year-old visual artist in New York City. Despite being so young, Cole has gained some notoriety as a painter. 

He got some press for “vandalizing” the famed Hollywood sign in Los Angeles after a painted cow face appeared in the O of the sign. He said there was no meaning behind the stunt, and posted on his Instagram account that the purpose and meaning of the cow “is for everyone else to make it whatever they wanted it to be.” 

He’s a self-taught artist who dreams of creating a Utopian world. His paintings of creatures are at the core of his work and this NFT project is inspired by that utopian vision and the creates who inhabit it. 

Some of the art in the project has sold for significant amounts: 

Source: Opensea.io 

9. Art Blocks Factory 

Source: Opensea.io 

7-day Trading Volume: 9,674.57 ETH ($33.8 million) 

Floor Price: 0.37 ETH ($1,443) 

The Art Blocks Factory is similar to Art Blocks Curated, but is different in that the work in the project is not curated prior to launch. This gives new artists a chance to launch and sell their work (which is in the spirit of the blockchain). 

Just because these works aren’t curated does mean prices are low for all projects. 

There have been a few sales of over 100 ETH: 

Source: Opensea.io

There are 49,050 assets in the Art Blocks Factory NFT project.

10. Cool Cats NFT

Source: Opensea.io

7-day Trading Volume: 8,399.46 ($29.3 million) 

Floor Price: 4.2 ETH ($16,380) 

Cool Cats NFT comprises 9,999 cats with different attributes and designs. In August, the project announced a collaboration with Time Magazine. 

The CEO of the multi-billion Salesforce CRM company also sports Cool Cats NFTs on his Twitter profile background image: 

Opensea.io 

The project launched on July 1st and the creators decided to lower the mint price from .06 ETH to .02 ETH, refunding those the difference who initially bought in. 

This helped get the project off the ground and it gained attention from celebrity adoption and smart partnerships.