Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been undergoing a renaissance in the past few months, as new investors flood the market for digital art. Token collections such at the CryptoPunks on the Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD) network have fetched massive price tags; one recently sold for over $600,000. Another sold for an astonishing $530 million, albeit as part of a publicity stunt. As the industry booms, where should you be putting your money? Well, there are a handful of solid cryptos to buy to leverage the NFT boom.
As CoinTelegraph reported this morning, investors are seeking out info on NFTs on a greater scale than ever before. Search interest around NFTs has surpassed that even for Ethereum. The tokens are becoming a global phenomenon as well, with interest heating up particularly in Asia.
Search interest is one piece of evidence pointing to NFTs gaining prominence, but recent sales are impossible to ignore or refute. These tokens, when they appeal to buyers in just the right way, can fetch prices similar to centuries-old paintings from Van Gogh or Monet. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent on single works of digital art.
It’s obvious that NFTs are red-hot right now, and they appear to only be getting hotter. Thus, investors want to pile in while they still can. You could buy a CryptoPunk or Bored Ape, but the safest way to secure NFT profits is in the underlying currencies themselves. Some of the best cryptos to buy relating to NFTs include:
- Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD)
- Decentraland (CCC:MANA-USD)
- Solana (CCC:SOL-USD)
NFT-Focused Cryptos to Buy: Ethereum (ETH-USD)
Ethereum isn’t just a great NFT-related crypto to buy — it’s a great crypto to buy in general. It’s the most robust blockchain network in the world, hosting thousands of applications. This means ETH is a no-brainer purchase to capitalize on blockchain as an increasingly necessary industry. But even still, its NFT capabilities sweeten the deal for any skeptics.
With its giant web of applications and its massive user base, it’s no big surprise that Ethereum is the biggest home for NFT transactions. From the second quarter to the start of Q4, over 7 million NFT transactions took place on the Ethereum network. As of last month, ETH accounted for over 97% of the entire industry market share.
It’s safe to say Ethereum will be a tour de force within the NFT realm for a long, long time. Regardless of whether its industry dominance falters slightly, it still has its hands sunk into every facet of the trading process. Most of the largest NFT marketplaces in the world support Ethereum transactions, including OpenSea — the largest NFT market by far.
Decentraland (MANA-USD)
Decentraland’s MANA token presents one of the most topical NFT cryptos to buy right now.
As both an NFT play and a metaverse play, the incentive to buy MANA is doubled. On Decentraland, users enter a virtual world with seemingly limitless potential. You can hang out virtually with friends, play games, see real live music, or go to an NFT gallery.
Of course, none of this would be possible if Decentraland didn’t have these partnerships with Sotheby’s, as well as countless musicians and artists. The fact that these esteemed partners work with Decentraland speaks to its increasing popularity and obvious profitability.
What makes MANA an NFT play is that NFTs exist literally everywhere in the metaverse. Things you might use on a day-to-day basis are tokenized items within Decentraland. Even the clothes your avatars wear are non-fungible tokens. Decentraland has its own NFT marketplace where these items can be bought and sold.
Decentraland’s appeal comes from the fact that you don’t just buy and sell NFTs. You wear them, you use them, you show them off to your friends. Virtual reality is the most interesting way to show off the assets you purchase, and that will be of great value to the network as it grows in popularity.
NFT-Focused Cryptos to Buy: Solana (SOL-USD)
Solana rounds out the list because it is one of the most explosive blockchain networks this season. The back half of 2021 has been kind to the SOL coin, and NFTs have been a huge part of that. SOL began growing significantly in value as of the end of July. Part of that growth is due to Solana’s impressive scalability. As Ethereum gas fees continue to grow, Solana has been looked at as an attractive alternative.
The network continued to pick up steam at the end of August, thanks to the major successes of a particular NFT collection on Solana. It hosted 10,000 tokens from a collection called Degenerate Apes. These gorilla-themed tokens sold out in less than 10 minutes, making them an instant success and a jackpot for NFT arbitrageurs.
Ever since, investors have been looking at Solana as a viable play on the NFT craze. This has shown itself through significant gains in both SOL prices and gains in market share.
Upon the launch and subsequent sale of the Degenerate Ape NFTs, the network became the tenth-largest crypto network in the world. It has added nearly $47 billion in market capitalization; the SOL coin grew over 200%. It is also pulling enough market share from Ethereum to begin attracting serious attention not just as a network of apps, but as the biggest Ethereum competitor in the NFT space.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
