An Introduction to Base NFTs

TL;DR
Layer-2 blockchain Base, from Coinbase, is showing impressive growth and that includes an expanding NFT ecosystem that is still in its early days. Leading NFT marketplace Magic Eden has added support for Base, and some notable collections so far include Based Punks, Swatches, Based Pixels, Onchain Gaias, Bomefers, and Primitives, while Web3 art platform Prohibition is expanding to Base with a network called Moonshine.

Last week saw positive news for NFTs on Layer-2 blockchain Base, as the Magic Eden marketplace launched support for Base NFTs. So with Magic Eden on board, let’s take a look at why Base NFTs are worth paying attention to, and which collections in particular have good potential.

Why Buy Base NFTs?

A primary reason it may be worth picking up some Base NFTs is because the Base chain itself is making moves, and has a lot of plus points in its favor.

Having first launched last August, the low cost Layer-2 is currently onboarding at a rate of 50K to 100K new users per day, while its TVL and network revenue have also been climbing. And as Base was developed by Coinbase, it has the advantage of being able to tap into the major crypto exchange’s existing user base, while Coinbase’s upcoming new smart wallet may act as a further positive catalyst.

Magic Eden’s Base NFT integration is also a bullish development, with the multichain NFT exchange having this year established itself as the leading NFT marketplace, taking an impressive 42.5% of market share, in part through its rapid integration of both Ordinals and Runes on Bitcoin.

Top Base NFT Collections

Although it’s still early days for Base NFTs, there are several collections that are pulling ahead and catching attention, so let’s run through some of the best early drops and what they have to offer.

Based Punks

Yes, it’s a CryptoPunks derivative, but some derivatives have done well on other chains, this one actually puts an interesting aesthetic tilt on the original Ethereum PFPs, and right now, Based Punks is the top trading Base NFT collection on Magic Eden over the past month.

There are only 5,000 items in the collection (compared to 10,000 CryptoPunks), and having minted at 0.0075 ETH at the beginning of April, they are now trading from a floor price of 0.28 ETH.

Swatches

Currently the top art collection on Base, Swatches had some observers (rightly or wrongly) hailing it as the Chromie Squiggle of Base. That might be true in that it’s early and very simple in its design style (to a point where it also attracts criticism), but whether or not it’s you’re kind of thing artistically, it’s the top traded Base collection over the last seven days, holding a floor price right now of 0.08 ETH.

The Swatch collection was created by artist and streetwear designer jvmi, who is also a frontend dev at Optimism. There are 7,777 items in the collections, and they are dynamically designed, with the artwork changing when interacted with.

Based Pixels

Are you looking for nostalgic, pixelated, cinematic-looking artworks, with a retro sci-fi aesthetic? If so, then the Based Pixels collection has you covered. Created by artist Tristan Rettich, who has worked with clients including Marvel, DC and Sony, there are 444 unique, animated Based Pixels NFTs, and they can be picked up from 0.09 ETH.

Onchain Gaias

With design work by artist Anton Marrast, the first thing you might notice when you’re looking around Onchain Gaias is how beautifully constructed its visuals are (although the NFTs themselves currently all show a mysterious-looking ‘Degen’s Golden Ticket’, there are other illustrations to be found.)

However, Onchain Gaias is not only about the art, as it’s focused on AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), with the vision being a decentralized AI training network, allowing holders to create their own Gaias (general artificial intelligence agents), which are trained through playing on-chain games, with a gambling element and a marketplace also planned.

There are 5,556 Onchain Gaia NFTs, and they’ve picked up a lot of interest, selling now from a floor price of 0.86 ETH.

Bomefers

If you’re looking to pick up something from the deeply degen side of crypto art and PFPs, then Bomefers may be the Base NFT collection you need. It’s a straightforward but darkly-styled collection of 4,269 Pepe-centered PFPs referencing various dank aspects of the screen-addled crypto world, and including frog versions of some main (real-life) crypto characters, including, for example, Satoshi Nakamoto and Binance’s CZ.

The Bomefers Twitter bio promises “no Discord, no Telegram, no coin”, so you get what you see with this one, and the current floor price is 0.06 ETH.

Primitives

Another simple and straightforward collection, Primitives looks very similar to Nakamigos on Ethereum, and consists of 2,222 pixel art PFPs. The collection was created by an artist named Hunter, includes 1/1s from several other pixel artists, and–thanks to a growing community–has risen to a floor price of over 0.2 ETH since launching in March.

Moonshine

Finally, not an NFT collection, but a points and rewards program called Moonshine, from Web3 art platform Prohibition. Having started on Arbitrum, Prohibition is now expanding over to Base, and Moonshine is intended as a meeting point and network for artists and collectors.

To get involved early, the starting points are The Moonshine Syndicate (that’s the name of the network), and the Moonshine Farcaster channel, where you can keep up with the project’s latest updates.