Since the introduction of NFTs in 2020, they have grown from barely a million dollars to over 11 billion dollars in 2022. This has sparked a huge interest in the NFT space. The first major break for the NFTs came in 2021 when Mike Wintlemann sold his artwork NFT for 69 million dollars. Since then, there’s been no turning around for the NFTs. The industry provides a lucrative niche to developers, and due to the high demand, the challenge to developers is to decide which blockchain network to build on.
Here is a compilation of blockchain networks with the most NFT projects.
Blockchain networks with the most NFT projects
Ethereum
Ethereum has been an overall leader when it comes to cryptocurrency, and it’s not any different when it comes to NFTs. Ethereum was the first blockchain to support NFTs, which placed it at the forefront. The launch of Ethereum 2.0 helped with the scalability issues on Ethereum, setting it up for success.
Ethereum’s ERC-721, the NFT-compatible token, is the most used for NFT projects. Ethereum is also popular for the semi-fungible tokens created on their ECR 1155 token making it the undeniable leader in the crypto world. According to the Crypto Times, more than 90% of NFT projects are created on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum’s success can be majorly attributed to its network security as well as its data design along with its technical documentation.
It is also worth noting that the major NFT marketplaces are created on the Ethereum blockchain. These marketplaces have the largest trading volumes, such as OpenSea, Rarible, Nifty Gateway, KnownOrigin, SuperRare, and Decentraland.
Solano
Since its launch, Solano has placed itself as a worthy competitor to Ethereum for anything to do with NFTs. It was able to tap into the congestion and slow performance of Ethereum back then, attaining a massive following and gaining the label as the fastest-growing blockchain network in the market. Not only is Solano fast-growing, but it is also able to keep its transaction fees pretty low.
Solano’s unique hybrid consensus on the proof of stake (PoS) and the proof of history (PoH) has provided faster validation for transaction and smart contract execution. In 2021, a Solano native token, SOL, whooped a 10,000% price, thrusting Solano into the limelight.
Major NFT platforms hosted on Solano include Solanart,solsea, and MagicEden, where you can trade on the following NFT collection: Degenerate Ape Academy, Solana Monkey Business, SolPunks, Frakt, Bold Badgers, and Sollamas.
Cardano
Cardano is one of the fastest-growing blockchain networks, famous for being an environmentally friendly blockchain. It is fully decentralized and open-source, focusing mainly on scalability and efficiency. With a market capitalization of 16.6 billion, it was one of the most popular blockchains.
Based on the distributed PoS consensus mechanism, Cardano is focused on creating an ecosystem for developing NFTs. Cardano is a high-performing blockchain that can be easily underestimated, processing 250 transactions per minute. However, according to Cardano’s 2nd layer scaling protocol, Hydra, Cardano can reach a transaction speed of 2 million TPS. The transaction cost is relatively high but seemingly worth it, given its high speed.
Several successful NFT projects are running on Cardano, such as Spacebudz, CardanoKidz, Professor Cardano, CryptoMayor, and Crypto Knitties
Avalanche
Avalanche blockchain is one of the fastest smart contracts platforms; it has taken up a position as a top 10 blockchain in the market. Its primary focus is scalability, usability, and interoperability, with several consensus mechanisms powering the platform. AVAX’s proof of stake allows it to charge low gas fees and quick transactions for NFTs. AVAX has three chains, which may prove a little complicated, but it’s no more difficult than other networks once you familiarize yourself with it.
Crabada a play-to-earn game on AVAX which gained lots of hype earning 63 million dollars in a month has been a focal NFT driver on AVAX. Play to earn is the major NFT project in AVAX but NFT users can use the AVAX NFT marketplace to browse for the non-P2E using their MetaMask wallet.
Binance smart chain (BSC)
Binance smart chain is based on Binance chain, an Ethereum virtual machine. It is compatible and runs along the Binance chain, totally independent so that it functions even if Binance goes down. BSC runs on the proof of staked authority (PoSA) consensus mechanism, which supports lower fees and short block times. Since BSC is compatible with EVM, developers can move their projects from the Ethereum blockchain to BSC. The developers have access to apps such as MetaMask, customized to work on BSC.
NFT users are eyeing BSC mainly because of their good performance and low fees in the minting of NFTs, besides BSC has its token, BEP-721, which allows the creation of NFTs. Some popular NFT projects that are hosted on BSC include BakerySwap, Battle Pets, and PancakeSwap among others. There may not have been many notable NFTs collections released on BSC however with the considerable advantages going for BSC especially its compatibility with EVM as well as support from Binance, its future is bright.
Polygon
Polygon is a layer-2 blockchain network based on Ethereum. It hosts various platforms such as OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. Polygon came into being as a scaling solution when Ethereum was facing scalability issues focused on efficiency as well as providing a more robust dynamic experience.
The proof of stake consensus mechanism boosted the validation process and reduced the transaction fees to near zero. Polygon compatibility with EVM ensures that Developers can mint and sell polygon NFTs on marketplaces such as open sea among others. Some NFTs created on polygon include The Martians, ZED Run, Chumbi Valley Official, and Genesis Kosmos, among others. More and more NFTs are being created on polygon networks, however, many people are still unfamiliar with Polygon.
EOS
Eos native tokens were ERC-20 tokens, i.e. they were created on the Ethereum blockchain. EOS is mainly known for holding the largest initial coin offering (ICO) about 4 billion dollars. It makes use of the delegated proof of stake (DPoS) consensus. C++ is the key programming language that enabled the launch of high-performing smart contracts.
EOS boasts of being able to conduct 10,000 TPS with an average confirmation time of 0.5 seconds. EOS does not charge any gas fees, users are required to deposit EOS coins in their wallets and the said coins are staked. NFT projects built on the EOS blockchain include Crypto Dynasty, Upland, and Blockchain Cuties.
Flow
Flow blockchain was designed for creating NFTs, decentralized apps, and games. Unlike blockchains such as Ethereum, scalability was part of the plan for the creators. Flow uses proof of stake (PoS) to verify transactions, enabling it to handle a higher number of TPS. Flow has been an integral part of popularizing the NFTs, with the launch of NBA Top Shot since flow hosts and facilitated the launch.
Flow NFTs are not only traded on blocktobay, a flow-native marketplace but also on other NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea, Rarible, and Foundation among others. Flow is popular with gaming organizations such as NBA, NFL, and UFC, mainly attributed to its scalability.
Conclusion
NFTs are barely three years old and a lot is yet to be seen. The technology they are based on (blockchain) is constantly evolving and the same will happen for NFTs as an industry. Just like crypto, the investors who engage in NFTs early are likely to reap the most benefits. With the many blockchains supporting NFTs, investors need to choose a suitable blockchain network to host their NFTs as the industry evolves.