NFTU
Stars of 2022 NFT Collections
In 2022, it was a tale of two NFT markets: the speculative craziness that defined the first few months of the year, and the steady decline that has culminated in a dramatic drop in trading action and prices for major collection.
Despite the early-year frenzy and the harsh aftermath, some projects clearly outperformed the rest in terms of trading demand.
We combed through the data collected by the analytics platform CryptoSlam to compile a list of the ten best-performing NFT collections from January to December 20. The data includes on-chain secondary sales as well as funds generated by the initial NFT mint for new projects launched in 2022.
It’s worth noting that CryptoSlam excludes sales that appear to be the result of wash trading or trades conducted at artificially inflated prices between a user’s own wallets. It’s frequently used to manipulate a token rewards model, skewing data in the process. The filtered data provides a more accurate picture of organic trading activity.
Axie Infinity ($291.1 million)
Last year’s largest NFT project, monster-battling game Axie Infinity, barely made the Top 10 this time around as its play-to-earn economy struggled. Axie racked up billions of dollars in trading in 2021 as its token rewards enticed millions of players to buy NFTs and participate, but momentum stalled in 2022.
Despite releasing a new version of the game and making changes to improve the economy, Axie Infinity’s trading activity has largely slowed this year. In January, CryptoSlam reported over $126 million in NFT trades, but less than $1.5 million in November. The entire NFT market is in decline, but Axie’s drop has been more severe than most.
Sorare ($318.1 million)
Despite falling NFT prices, the Web3 fantasy soccer game Sorare maintained relatively steady sales throughout 2021, eventually totaling about $318 million in trading volume so far this year. NBA Top Shot may have led the NFT charge into the mainstream in 2021, but it faded in 2022, while Sorare maintained its strong performance.
The $318 million in sales includes only trades made through Sorare’s original soccer platform. This year, it also launched league-specific NBA and MLB platforms, and CryptoSlam displays all of that data on its website in a single unified listing. However, a breakdown of the data shows that Sorare’s MLB platform hasn’t gained much traction, while the NBA game is still in its early stages.
Doodles ($391.6 million)
Doodles, an Ethereum profile picture (PFP) project that was launched last fall, has big plans for its brand, including music and entertainment collaborations with Pharrell Williams, as well as a larger-scale Doodles 2 drop built for the metaverse. In the midst of these announcements, secondary sales for the original collection continued in 2022.
Doodles have generated over $391 million in secondary trading volume this year, with a high of $122 million in January. With $54 million in venture capital funding and big plans ahead, we’ll see if Doodles can maintain momentum in 2023, despite recent price and trading volume declines.
CryptoPunks ($575.2 million)
2022 was a relatively eventful year for the influential 2017 profile picture project. In February, one CryptoPunk was sold for a record-breaking $23.7 million in ETH, and in March, creator Larva Labs sold the IP rights to Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs.
Yuga has since worked to address some of the complaints from holders, including offering them intellectual property commercialization rights to turn their Punks into derivative artwork and projects, as well as working to establish the O.G. NFT collection’s art world cred. Trading wasn’t as intense as it was with the Apes this year, but keep in mind that Punks were free to mint at launch. They still surpassed half a billion dollars in annual trading five years later.
CloneX ($600.5 million)
Following its late 2021 launch, the vibrant, anime-inspired collaboration between Nike-owned Web3 studio RTFKT and popular artist Takashi Murakami has continued to thrive this year, delivering just over $600 million in trading volume so far.
RTFKT’s continued push to deliver benefits to holders, including airdropped NFTs that gave them Nike’s CryptoKicks digital wearables, has contributed to the value equation. Prices and demand have fallen in recent months, as they have for the majority of the projects on this list, but RTFKT continues to tease big plans for its future and NFT holders.
Moonbirds ($613.4 million)
Kevin Rose’s Proof startup made a big splash in April with the release of Moonbirds, a collection of 10,000 pixel owl avatars that generated $280 million in minting and trading in just two days. The frenzy eventually died down, but the project’s total activity this year has surpassed $613 million.
Moonbirds was released in late 2021, following the buzzy Proof Collective membership NFT, which increased in value as a result of the Moonbirds frenzy. Proof has since raised a large sum of money and announced ambitious plans for the coming year, though its decision to open-source its artwork drew criticism from investors. Will Moonbirds sales continue to soar in 2023?
Azuki ($849.9 million)
Here it is the highest-ranking new project of 2022 that is not based on an existing IP. Azuki launched in January and thrived for months until the NFT market crashed in May, amassing approximately $850 million in trading to date.
The anime-inspired project has also done a better job than most at retaining value, as measured in ETH, while its Beanz “sidekick” NFTs—airdropped free to holders—have generated an additional $233 million in trading volume on their own. Azuki’s recent push to pair physical products with NFTs has also given it a distinct advantage in the future.
Otherside ($1,1 billion)
The metaverse play by the Bored Ape Yacht Club is easily the largest new NFT launch of 2022, with the initial mint and secondary sales generating $561 million in value within 24 hours. The massive resale barrage then propelled OpenSea to its highest single-day trading volume to date… just as the broader crypto market crashed. The total of mint and secondary sales has now surpassed the billion-dollar mark.
What NFT traders are purchasing with Otherside is an Otherdeed, or a plot of land within the world of the upcoming metaverse game. Yuga held the game’s first interactive test a few months ago and plans to add more demo experiences as development progresses, though it may be some time before those Otherdeeds are functional.
Mutant Ape Yacht Club ($1.14 billion)
Mutant Apes, the wilder-looking, less expensive counterparts to Bored Apes, took the second spot on the 2022 ranking. Because there are twice as many Mutant Apes and they trade more frequently than the original Bored Apes, the collection managed to surpass $1.1 billion in sales this year despite the set’s much lower average prices.
Owners of Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT received an allocation of the ApeCoin drop in March, as well as a free Otherdeed in April, indicating that ownership had benefits in 2022, even if they were not as prestigious as the Bored Apes.
Bored Ape Yacht Club ($1.57 billion)
Even before doing the math, it was clear which project would come out on top. Bored Ape Yacht Club amassed more than $1.5 billion in trades as hype kept the collection going through much of 2022.
The hype surrounding the ApeCoin and Otherside launches undoubtedly aided trades and rising prices for the Bored Apes. However, as their popularity grew in both crypto and mainstream culture, Apes were snatched up by celebrities and used to launch brands and products. Prices have dropped significantly since the April peak, but Bored Apes continue to dominate the NFT market.
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