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Non-fungible-tokens (NFTs) have seen tremendous growth over the past year. Meanwhile, NFT cryptos have followed behind the success of NFTs, playing a key role in the creation and development of the underlying economy within the metaverse. As the NFT world further gravitates toward blockchain-based games, we are likely to see NFT coins continue their remarkable growth this year. Against this backdrop, investors are focused on identifying the best NFT cryptos to buy now.
Hollywood and sports celebrities as well as prominent corporate brands are also making strong entries into the NFT space. Meanwhile, Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) expects the NFT market to reach $80 billion for 2025.
With that said, here are three of the best NFT cryptos that could benefit from the NFT frenzy in 2022:
Best NFT Cryptos: GALA (GALA-USD)
52-Week Range: $0.211700 – $0.228851
Gala Games is a play-to-earn (P2E) gaming environment, where players earn GALA-USD tokens. GALA was founded by Eric Schiermeyer, co-founder of Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA).
The platform boasts over 1.3 million monthly active users, with more than 26,000 NFTs sold since its inception in 2019. Players can also secure NFTs with inherent value for reaching milestones within games. Individuals can trade GALA-USD tokens and NFTs to enhance their gaming experience. They can also use them on major crypto exchanges outside the game.
In order to expand its NFT offerings, Gala is investing $5 billion into gaming, music, movies, and an NFT theme park. Management is also preparing the launch of GalaChain, its own blockchain network. The platform currently runs on Ethereum (ETH-USD), implying high transaction fees.
GALA-USD hovers around 25 cents, down 70% from its peak value in November. Despite the dip, the altcoin has returned 900% over the past 6 months. Its market capitalization (cap) of $1.5 billion positions Gala among the top 60 coins in the crypto space.
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Illuvium (ILV-USD)
52-Week Range: $29.77 – $2,868.95
Illuvium is a fantasy role-playing (RPG) metaverse project developed on the Ethereum blockchain by the Illuvium decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The game has recently been accepting beta testers. It is considered one of the first AAA blockchain-based video games in the crypto space.
This gaming project uses Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) to introduce developments. For players, the objective is to catch creatures, or Illuvials, which are represented as NFTs with real value.
ILV-USD is the ERC-20 native cryptocurrency that powers this blockchain ecosystem. Thus, through the P2E model, players can earn earn ILV-USD rewards.
The altcoin currently trades shy of $500, down 62% from its November high. ILV-USD has lost over 53% year-to-date (YTD). Its market cap of $316 million positions Illuvium among the top 170 largest tokens in the market.
Best NFT Cryptos: The Sandbox (SAND-USD)
52-Week Range: $0.1471 – $8.4421
Most InvestorPlace.com readers would be familiar with our final NFT crypto, The Sandbox. It is another P2E gaming ecosystem merging blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), and NFTs.
This popular platform encourages content creation. Therefore, loyal fans as well as coding experts participate in revenue sharing.
The Sandbox allows players to build and monetize their gaming experiences using the SAND-USD token. For instance, players need the digital asset to buy LANDs or trade ASSETs. Also, NFTs created on the platform can be sold on The Sandbox Marketplace, using the native token SAND-USD.
A report from the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship reveals that Sandbox is the largest virtual world in transaction volumes, with 65,000 transactions in virtual land totaling $350 million in 2021.
SAND-USD hovers around $2.80, down 53% YTD. Despite the dip, the NFT coin has returned more than 900% over the past year. Its market capitalization of $3.15 billion makes The Sandbox among the top 45 coins.
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On the date of publication, Tezcan Gecgil 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.