Are NFTs Back? Top 12 With Comeback Potential

TL;DR
After a tough year, NFTs have recently been showing some green in the charts, led by a surge in sales for CryptoPunks and a bounce for Bored Ape Yacht Club. Although previous ATHs are a very long way off this is still a positive development, especially for anyone who was buying at the lows. Among OG NFT projects there are several that have good comeback potential as they have been building consistently, or have retained collectability and community, including the likes of Azuki, Doodles, Creepz, and several others.

With many recent posts on social media asking the question, are NFTs back, is there really a sentiment shift, and if so, which existing projects might have the best comeback potential? Let’s take a look at whether the NFT market could be ready to pick up momentum, and check which OG projects still look good from here.

Are NFTs Back?

First of all, are NFTs actually back? It’s a little early to make that claim for sure, but there are some positive signals. This week, there were 49 CryptoPunks sold in one 24-hour period, resulting in $7.55 million in sales over the past week and moving the floor price from 22 ETH to over 29 ETH, although it’s now dipped back a little to 27.65 ETH.

The floor price on Bored Ape Yacht Club has also gone up this month from lows below 9 ETH to a high of 13 ETH, and a current price of around 12.7 ETH. And there has been plenty of green on the price charts for other collections too, including the likes of Azuki, Doodles, and Pudgy Penguins.

Also–although it’s less concrete–there’s a general sense that while memecoins have provided opportunities to profit, they’re just not quite as fun as NFTs were two or three years ago, and at some point–perhaps soon–conditions will be right for a comeback.

That said though, despite the green in the charts, NFT prices are still down hugely from all-time highs, while volumes and trader numbers overall also remain low, which means that if you think a sustained comeback is possible, there’s still time to look at some OG collections with potential.

Top Projects With Comeback Potential

Most of the projects that look best have been constantly building through all market conditions, while there are also collections that simply have status, community and collectability, so let’s run through some contenders.

• CryptoPunks: These fall in the highly collectable category, and are valuable simply as art-like digital assets. If NFTs overall pick up interest, CryptoPunks–as the original PFP drop dating back to 2017–should lead the way, and in fact, that looks like it might already be happening.
• Bored Ape Yacht Club: Apes were the headline story in the NFT bull run of 2021/22 and, like CryptoPunks, might be a leader in an NFT uptick. Also, BAYC is at the center of the Yuga Labs empire, and while Yuga has been criticized for perceived missteps, it has nonetheless been building consistently.

• CyberKongz: A true OG from March 2021, CyberKongz is involved in interactive manga and physical collectibles. It introduced an early token called BANANA but has also released a Runes token on Bitcoin called Decentralized, and recently announced a collaboration with Adidas, all of which makes it a busy project.
• The Mories: Created by artist Iwwon, the Mories collection became prominent after launching in October 2021. And even after NFT markets crashed, Iwwon has been busy, creating the Boom and Bloom art and gaming platform, where NFTs within the Mories ecosystem can earn the off-chain BOOM token, and where an on-chain token called BLOOM is in the pipeline.
• Azuki: Anime is a core niche in the NFT world, and Azuki is widely regarded as the top anime-focused collection. What’s more, it hasn’t stood still over the past couple of years, putting a strong emphasis on anime production, and with close involvement in the AnimeChain project.

• Renga: If you were looking for a slightly less well-known anime project that isn’t Azuki, then Renga is a solid choice. It launched back in 2022, a little after the peak of the NFT bull run, but still gained a loyal following on the strength of founder/artist Daniel Isles’ highly distinctive design work.
• Doodles: This one created an entire aesthetic of its own with multiple copycats springing up (and quickly disappearing), and it has remained extremely busy, shifting its approach towards becoming a Web3 media and entertainment brand. You can read about Doodles in more detail in this report.

• Pudgy Penguins: Like Doodles, Pudgy Penguins has pivoted towards building beyond crypto, in this case successfully branching out into physical toys. In fact, Pudgies haven’t suffered as badly as many other collections in terms of floor prices (they’re currently down about 50% from ATHs), and having demonstrated resilience it will be interesting to see how prices perform if the NFT market flips more bullish.
• Creepz: One more project to put in the same bracket as Doodles and Pudgy Penguins–those building a multi-faceted platform–is Creepz, which, having launched in early 2022, has since expanded into fashion (collaborating last year with fashion retailer End) and gaming. Additionally, it’s also launching a project-specific gaming chain called Odyssey.

• Wanderers: Released back in 2021, Wanderers was a sci-fi collection containing stylishly animated visuals and atmospheric audio. It’s under-the-radar but has subsequently been working on a game that’s now available as an early access version on the Epic Games Store.
• Degen Toonz: Taking a lead from BAYC (it came later and also used the mechanism of mutating its original PFPs to create a secondary collection), Degen Toonz built up a solid community, has stuck around through the lows, and might be an OG dark horse to keep tabs on.
• Chimpers: Released in April 2021, Chimpers is all about retro gaming and pixel art vibes, and has built out an ecosystem taking in animation, storytelling, and physical collectibles, with a strong sense of community holding it all together. Overall, this one has just enough of a cult-like vibe, combined with creative productivity, that it could potentially make gains under the right conditions.