Top 5 Tezos NFTs | The Tezos NFT Ecosystem

The Tezos NFT Ecosystem

While Ethereum dominates the NFT space, an alternative blockchain to take a look at is Tezos. The Tezos NFT ecosystem has a very distinctive culture. It’s heavily art focused, and comes across as avant-garde and experimental.

This is reflected not only in the NFT collections, but even in some of the NFT marketplaces themselves, which feel very different but can, in some cases, be difficult to navigate.

In general, there’s far less talk of things like utility and staking mechanisms, fewer PFP projects relative to the number of art collections, and rugpulls seem to be less of a concern (but you should still be very careful).

On the whole, if you’re looking for a change, and want to explore the artistic side of NFTs, then Tezos is well worth trying. An additional positive of using Tezos is that you don’t have to worry about expensive gas fees.

For a deeper look into the Tezos ecosystem, check out: What is Tezos | Addressing Blockchain Weaknesses

Wallet and Currency

Tezos is a smart contract blockchain, making it suited to decentralized apps and NFTs. Its token is XTZ, which is what you’ll be using to trade NFTs. You can buy XTZ on major exchanges including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken.

Having acquired some XTZ, you’ll need to send it from the exchange to a Tezos wallet. There are many wallet options, but if your focus is NFTs, then a very easy, NFT-friendly one to get set up with is Kukai. This is a browser based wallet, which you can connect up to a Ledger for greater security.

You can directly view your NFTs in a Kukai wallet, and you can also buy XTZ through Kukai, via Moonpay (although whether or not Moonpay will work for you depends on your region).

Marketplaces

Objkt: The largest dedicated Tezos NFT marketplace is Objkt, and it’s also the most approachable (meaning, basically, it’s the most similar to OpenSea). Rather than a connect wallet button, there’s a sync option (up at the top right of the page). Click on that to hook up your wallet and you can start shopping.

Teia: This is a community-owned fork of Hic et Nunc (see below), meaning that it looks and operates in a very similar manner to Hic et Nunc, and has been growing significantly in activity since mid-March, while Hic et Nunc itself has been on a downward trajectory.

Hic et Nunc: Also written as HEN or H=N, this site closed down last year, and was then reopened at a slightly different address (.art rather than .xyz). Most of the data beneath the HEN frontend was on the blockchain, so no collections were lost. Hic et Nunc has actually acted as a marketplace, a community, and a minting platform.

Fxhash: This is a creator platform and a marketplace, with a sandbox feature that allows artists to test out how their work will look when it’s minted. It specializes in generative art, so if that’s what you’re into then it’s always worth checking in to see what’s being produced.

Rarible: Tezos is featured among the several blockchains included on the well known NFT platform Rarible. As Rarible isn’t primarily a Tezos marketplace, it doesn’t have the same kind of unmistakably artistic, unusual design as the others on this list.

Also, something else that might come in handy is a Tezos blockchain explorer.

Tezos NFT Collections & Artists

As so much of what you find on Tezos is art in an NFT format, it’s really worth taking the time to browse, find creators you like, follow connections and see where they lead. Exploring Tezos NFTs is like looking round a gallery to see if there are any items you’d like in your collection. It’s very subjective, but here are some places to get started.

<h3 id=”john-karel”>John Karel

Perhaps the most famous artist within the Tezos ecosystem, also going by the name of jjjjjohn, John Karel is best known for his Window Still Life collection.

<h3 id=”mjlindow”>Mjlindow

In the abstract, generative art field, you should be aware of Mjlindow, who has produced several highly valued collections on the fxhash platform, the largest of which only runs to 571 pieces.

<h3 id=”paper-buddha”>Paper Buddha

You can find Paper Buddha’s work on Ethereum and Solana too, but they have consistently released psychedelic, mysticism-channeling work on the Tezos blockchain, and also work to build and maintain an artistic community.

<h3 id=”tired-pixels”>Tired Pixels

Created by a game developer going by the name of Armilk88, this is pixel art at its finest, and shows that whatever style of NFT art you’re interested in, you’re likely to find some high quality collections on Tezos.

<h3 id=”bwople”>BWOPLE

The closest on this list to a conventional PFP drop, BWOPLE features clean, stylish design work, and demonstrates that PFP projects can be distinctive and original when they’re executed with care. Created by Gengoya, an illustrator, these pieces are all hand-drawn, rather than generative.

Clean NFTs

Finally, one thing you might notice when you dive into Tezos NFTs is the #CleanNFT hashtag. This is Tezos, due to its employment of proof-of-stake, being touted as a more environmentally sustainable option when compared to proof-of-work blockchains such as Ethereum (although Ethereum plans to convert to proof-of-stake).

This may or may not be something you’re concerned about, and Tezos is certainly not the only blockchain that makes such claims, but anyway, it’s something that is especially emphasized in Tezos NFT circles.

Sam.

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