With NFTs becoming increasingly popular in the early months of 2021, a few noteworthy startups have been on the horizon. It seems like NFT investments are shaping up to be a great way to earn some money, and today we will go over some of the best and game-changing NFT startups, startups that open new doors and pave the way for future companies, and change the way the NFT marketplace works as of today.

CryptoPunks

Let's start with an NFT project that by now most of you are undoubtedly familiar with, and for those of you who have been hibernating all this time, we will break it down for you.

CryptoPunks are NFTs, made by LarvaLabs, which Matt Hall and John Watkinson founded, are collectible pieces of digital art that have been algorithmically generated. There are a total of 10,000 cryptopunks, and every single one of them carries its own traits and attributes, and a random generation of certain accessories and characteristics makes them utterly unique. It's simple, really, some attributes, let's take a cigar as an example, are shared with only a few other punks, which makes this particular attribute very desirable as it is considered to be 'rare.'

Many don't know this, but the crypto punks projects started as an experiment to see how high the value of non-fungible tokens and digital art can rise.

Can a few lines of algorithm transform into meaningful ownership?

And just like that, the experiment turned into a multi-billion dollar project, with just one punk selling for 7.5 million dollars in 2021.


2. Bored Apes

Here's a little riddle for you,

What do Snoop Dogg, Steph Curry, and Steve Aoki have in common?

Yes, you've guessed it, they are all proud Bored Apes Yacht Club members.

Just like CryptoPunks, BoredApes released their collection of 10,000 totally unique NFTs. So if you're thinking, "Heck yeah, I wanna be part of this Club," then think again, because the average price for a Bored Ape NFT is 40 eth, and for those of you who don't geek out on Ethereum and crypto that's about $127,000. So if you feel like living out on the streets but boasting about your new NFT, then this is the way.

The BAYC or Bored Ape Yacht Club was launched in late April 2021 by four people who go by the pseudonyms; Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and No Sass, who claims that he is 'here for the apes, not the sass.' And just 12 hours after launch, all 10,000 apes were sold for 0.08, $190.

So what makes an NFT so popular? We think that it is a perfect concoction of Influencer/Celebrity involvement and the exposure they bring, Community strength and following, and the utilities for members that these NFTs hold.


3.CloneX

Developed by a team called RTFKT, which are extremely popular for making NFT sneakers and other collectibles, merging realities in fashion and gaming. They have a solid community-driven environment that is focused on quality. They have released 20,000 lifelike NFT's unlike the usual 10,000, due to their massive following across all social media channels.

Their NFTs will be auctioned off in what they call 'Dutch Auction,' which means that the price for the NFTs will be reduced gradually until a buyer is found. If you are an owner of any of their previous NFT collections, then you are in luck as you will be added to their waitlist, which is an excellent way for RTFKT to reward early supporters.

RTFKT plans to implement their NFTs in AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), which increases their NFT utility by a lot; you will be able to use them for gaming, social media, and of course, the metaverse.

Oh, and did we mention that they were recently acquired by Nike, yes, Nike, the shoe brand. This NFT series is seriously awesome and is one to look out for.

4. Axie Infinity

If you are a fan of the cute, fluffy, and 'awwwwsome,' then Axies are the NFTs for you.

This is a game that Skymavis developed in early 2018. They took their inspiration from the famous 'CryptoKitties' but added their own spin on it. They saw that CryptoKitties lacked long-term financial benefits as there wasn't much you could do with these kitties apart from buy, breed, and sell.

So Axie made a game much more addictive by adding more economic incentives that made players want to play longer. You are able to trade, battle and breed your Axies. In addition, you can battle NPCs in adventure mode to rank up or battle other real-world players to earn SLP (smooth love potion).

'Why in the world would I be interested in a 'smooth love potion'?"

Great question; SLP is the in-game crypto token that can be exchanged for other crypto tokens and eventually exchanged for real-world money. YAY.

So instead of just having an NFT collection collecting dust somewhere in the depths of the blockchain-based marketplace, you can actually play a pretty cool game, all the while potentially earning money.

5. Cats Corporation

This is a fire, new startup that centers around... drum roll, please... Cats.
This god-like creature that was given to humanity for... well, no reason, we don't deserve them.

Everybody likes cats, and if you don't, you are lying to yourself; you're probably just overshadowed by their perfection.

Their roadmap is looking very promising; let us elaborate.

This up-and-coming NFT startup will be releasing 10,000 perfectly unique cats NFTs. (price)
You will have the opportunity to adopt a 2D digital cat for 0.03 eth, and when enough of them are sold, this 2D digital ball of fur will be your gateway into being on the waitlist for their 3D CAT NFTs.

And this is where it gets interesting.

'Great, another NFT with no other use other than showing off to your friends.' WRONG

Later on down the roadmap, a metaverse will be created, which is essentially a virtual world where you can explore, purchase land, and communicate with your buddies.

BUT WAIT! There is more.

If you have ever played Brawl Stars, the highly addictive PvP game, this will be very similar to that. With your 3D cat character, you will be able to enter PvP battles, choose your role out of Marksman, Tank, and Assassin and climb the ranks, earning MEOW tokens as you play. In addition, there will be clans, a leaderboard, mysterious cat boxes that are full of surprises. And to top it all off, you can collect insane skins and wearables, which can increase your chances of winning in games.

Cats Corporation really have it all; they have taken the best bits out of all the above projects and created something totally wack, exciting and addictive. Hurry and sign up for their whitelist, and subscribe to their discord. @CatsCorporation



And with our list coming to an end. Let us put a question out there. Obviously, many people are skeptical about NFTs and the value they have; many even think that NFTs are a crypto scam. But you can't deny the fact that we as humans choose what we put value in, whether it's shiny new cars or a digital image that you can't even touch. We have the power to put value in whatever we want, and people are now choosing NFTs - this is as good an investment as any.