As of May 2025, more than 10,000 NFT Collections can be found in the blockchain-based industry. While many of them have generated millions of dollars, the majority of NFT collections are largely unknown to many sceptics of the industry.
In this article, we will shed light on some of the most famous NFT collections. This will help guide you in your search for some of the most tradable digital collections within the space.
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is one of the most popular NFTs in the digital collectibles stratosphere. The project came about a year after the hugely successful Pokémon Go hit the market in 2016.
The idea for the creation of one of the most famous NFT collections of all time came in December 2017 when Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis decided to combine the aspects of online gaming with the possibilities of the crypto universe.
Three months after conceiving the idea and working on it, Sky Mavis released Axie Infinity in March 2018. As an NFT-based online video game, Axie Infinity revolves around Pokémon-like creatures known as Axies. Axie Infinity is also known for its in-game economy, which has made it one of the leaders in the fast-growing Play-to-Earn (P2E) sector.
If you choose to be an Axie Infinity player, you will be collecting and minting NFTs that represent axolotl-inspired virtual pets collectively known as Axies.
Since the NFTs come from in-game activities, you can take advantage of this feature by playing a single-player video game or player-versus-player. Some of the platforms which support the playing of Axie Infinity online games include Mac operating systems, Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Android.
Bitcoin NFT Sales Surpass Ronin, Now 3rd Largest Chain by All-Time Volume
Axie Infinity leads the pack in sales volume
As of May 2025, Axie Infinity is the highest-selling NFT of all time, with total sales of approximately $4.2 billion. This milestone was reached through the activities of more than millions of buyers and sellers involved in millions of transactions.
The average sale value of Axie Infinity NFTs reached a lowest of $5.57 in October 2019 and the highest of $494.15 in July 2021.
Despite its popularity as one of the most known NFTs out there, Axie Infinity has not enjoyed a smooth ride throughout its existence.
Digital collectibles from its in-game activities reached a monthly low in sales in September 2019, when $5,410.22 was generated. Axie Infinity’s monthly sales reached a peak of $848 million in August 2021.
Despite reaching such figures, sales of one of the most popular NFTs have hit a downward spiral in 2022. After generating $126 million in January 2022, Axie Infinity has failed to surpass the $100 million mark from February 2022 to date.
The success of the project was also reflected in its native asset (cryptocurrency) called AXS. AXS followed in the footsteps of Axie Infinity NFT sales by reaching an all-time high price of $165.37 in November 2021.
As of May 2025, AXS remains a low-cap with about $460 million in market value (it has less than $2 billion in market capitalisation). The digital asset that has lost more than 90% of its peak price in November 2021.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), one of the most popular NFT Collections
Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the best-performing NFT Collections since digital art became a mainstream investment instrument. BAYC NFT was created by Yuga Labs. Bored Ape NFT was launched in 2021.
Bored Apes comprises a collection of 10,000 unique Bored Ape NFTs that reside in the blockchain of Ethereum. Being an owner of one of the 10,000 NFTs grants you access to exclusive in-person events, intellectual property (IP) rights for the BAYC image, and access to a private online club.
Many analysts believe Yuga Labs did extensive research about the market before launching the project, as it came at the right time and appropriate year when the crypto market was soaring to new milestones daily.
BAYC has thrived on celebrity appeal
BAYC NFT remains one of the most famous NFT collections due to its enormous celebrity endorsements. Should you become a Bored Ape NFT owner, you will be joining celebrities. NFL player Tom Brady, artist Madonna, NBA player Ben Simmons, artist Justin Bieber, and comedian and TV show host Jimmy Fallon bought Bored Apes. Aside from them, singer and songwriter Post Malone, global soccer star Neymar Jr., comedian Kevin Hart, American socialite Paris Hilton, rapper Snoop Dogg, NFL player Von Miller, and rapper Lil Baby also purchased BAYC art.
Celebrities like Steph Curry, Drake Bell, Adam Draper, Steve Aoki, Mark Cuban, Timbaland, Shaquille O’Neal, Dez Bryant, Marshmello, Logan Paul, Rich the Kid, Future, DJ Khaled, Eminem, Meek Mill, Alexis Ohanian, and Taylor Gerring have invested in BAYC NFTs.
Some of the best NFT marketplaces to buy Bored Apes are OpenSea, Crypto.com’s NFT marketplace, and Rarible.
BAYC among NFT Collections with great statistics
As of May 2025, Bored Ape Yacht Club is the second-highest-selling NFT project of all time, with total sales of around $3.3 billion.
Such a metric was reached from the trading activities of thousands of buyers and sellers, respectively, who were involved in thousands of transactions.
Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT prices reached the smallest average sale value of $213.39 in April 2021 and exchanged hands for the biggest average sale value of $312,273 in April 2022.
Although BAYC has become a household name for an NFT project, it has not always resulted in awesome monthly sales volume.
In the month of its launch, BAYC’s sales volume was $37,556.90, and this remains the lowest monthly sales. BAYC’s highest monthly sale came in January 2022, with roughly $346 million generated within the period.
After the collapse of Terra LUNA, one of the projects that showed promise in the decentralised finance industry, Bored Ape has hit a downtrend in monthly sales. After generating $223.7 million in May 2022, Bored Ape NFT’s monthly sales have failed to surpass $100 million.
Other projects tied to Bored Ape
Yuga Labs, the company behind BAYC, also released other NFT projects such as Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Kennel Club.
Mutant ape yacht club NFT was released in August 2021 and comprises 20,000 Mutant Apes that can only be generated when existing Bored Apes are exposed to a vial of MUTANT serum. You can understand Mutant Apes as an extension of the Bored Ape NFT project.
As of May 2025, Mutant Ape NFT has not disappointed as it remains the fourth-highest-selling NFT project by all-time sales volume with approximately $2.2 billion.
Despite playing a secondary role to BAYC NFTs, Mutant Apes saw its highest monthly sale of $277.95 million in August 2021 and the lowest monthly sale of $16 million in October 2022.
MAYC NFT had an average sale value of $16,068.86 in November 2022 (lowest) after reaching a peak average sale value of $92,907.69 in April 2022.
Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) was launched in June 2021 and has surpassed over $475 million in total sales. BAKC is among the top 20 highest-selling NFTs of all time.
Solana NFT Sales Surpass $6 Billion: Is SOL A Game-Changer for Digital Collectibles?
CryptoPunks NFT Collections one of the best-selling
Founded in June 2017 by Larva Labs, CryptoPunks is not only among the most popular NFT Collections, but it is also one of the best-performing NFTs in the crypto finance space today.
CryptoPunks comprise 10,000 unique collectible characters housed in the ecosystem of Ethereum. CryptoPunks is seen as the first project that has contributed to the CryptoArt movement.
CryptoPunk #5822 is the most expensive CryptoPunk of all time. It sold for $23.7 million in February 2022.
The most expensive sales rank as follows: #4156 takes second place with a $10.26 million sale in December 2021, followed by CryptoPunk #5577, which sold for $7.7 million in February 2022, CryptoPunk #7804 for $7.57 million, #3100 for $7.5 million in March 2021, #5127 for $5.45 million in July 2021, #2924 for $4.45 million in September 2022, and another #4156 sale for $3.31 million in July 2022.
Such above-average sales have contributed to CryptoPunks being the third-highest NFT by all-time sales volume, with approximately $3 billion.
Total sales came from thousands of buyers involved in thousands of transactions. CryptoPunk price has not always been up. CryptoPunk NFTs had their smallest average sale value of $350.53 in October 2020 and the biggest average sale value of $198,976 in December 2021.
As discussed several times in this article tailored to NFTs for beginners, OpenSea remains the most used NFT marketplace, and it is the best place to buy CryptoPunk NFTs.
In March 2022, Yuga Labs, the creators of BAYC, MAYC, and BAKC, acquired the rights to CryptoPunks. Despite its relatively higher average sale value, buying CryptoPunks on OpenSea or other NFT marketplaces is one of the best digital art investments you can ever make.
Otherdeed NFTs
Launched on 30 April 2022, the Otherdeed NFT Collection comprises 100,000 parcels of virtual land. About 55,000 parcels of virtual land went on public sale on the day of its land.
Yuga Labs has reserved the remaining 45,000 tokens for Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders, its employees, and partners. This strategic allocation underscores the company’s commitment to its community and team, fostering continued growth and engagement within the BAYC ecosystem.
Otherdeed NFTs came about through the Otherside Metaverse. Yuga Labs has developed the Otherside Metaverse as an immersive online multiplayer game deeply integrated with the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem.
Yuga Labs created the Otherside Metaverse, an immersive gaming experience modeled after MMORPGs, a year after launching BAYC, capitalizing on the success of Bored Ape NFTs, Mutant Ape NFTs, and other projects.
Design-wise, people often compare The Otherside Metaverse to top Metaverse platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland.
If you choose to engage with the Otherside, you will be able to interact with different users and build different experiences.
Yuga Labs currently hosts the Otherside Metaverse on the Ethereum ecosystem, but experts speculate that the company might transition BAYC, MAYC, Otherside, and the ApeCoin ecosystem to an independent blockchain in the future.
Otherside’s move could impact the metaverse landscape, rivaling projects like Sandbox and Decentraland with immersive experiences offered.
Otherside and ApeCoin
To engage with the Otherside Metaverse, you need a token called APE. APE is the novel token of the ApeCoin ecosystem launched in March 2022.
The ApeCoin project is backed by Marria Bajwa, Principal at Sound Ventures; Amy Wu, Head of Ventures and Gaming at FTX; Dean Steinbeck, the President and General Counsel at Horizen Labs; and Alexis Ohanian, founder and general partner of Seven Seven Six, who also doubles up as a co-founder of Reddit.
The developers made a total and maximum supply of one billion tokens (1,000,000,000) available for traders and investors.
As of May 2025, 62% (750,000,000) of APEs were in circulation. APE traded below $1 in May 2025, still reeling from the FTX collapse’s bearish market impact lasting effects.
APE has a $580 million market capitalization, classifying it as a small-cap digital asset with room for growth potential.
The success of Otherdeed NFTs has made it the sixth-largest digital collectible project of all time, with sales of around $1.3 billion.
This is quite impressive considering the project began selling NFTs in May 2022. Otherdeed NFTs saw 29,991 purchases and 26,378 sales, fueling over 79,000 transactions in just eight months rapidly.
Otherdeed NFTs from the Otherside Metaverse generated their highest monthly sale in May 2022, with around $1.05 billion, and their lowest monthly sale came in November 2022, when $15 million was generated in October 2022.
The NFTs have traded at prices ranging from $2,309.40 to $24,105.44 on average.
Otherdeed NFTs are available on OpenSea and Rarible, among several supporting NFT marketplaces.
ApeCoin Crypto: Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Invest in APE in 2025 and Beyond
NBA Top Shot NFTs
NBA Top Shot, launched in 2020, is a joint venture between Dapper Labs and the NBA for digital collectibles.
Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain powers NBA Top Shot, allowing fans to buy, sell, and trade iconic NBA highlight NFTs.
NBA Top Shot’s user-friendly interface makes it accessible to potential NFT investors, even those who find blockchain technology complex.
NBA Top Shot lets fans and collectors invest in their favorite players and moments through unique digital collectibles.
Someone bought a digital art piece featuring LeBron James for $230,023, making it the highest-selling NBA Top Shot.
LeBron James has seven (7) of the top-selling NFT basketball cards. Fred VanVleet, Zion Williamson, and Ja Morant round out the top 10 highest-selling Top Shot NFTs with strong sales.
All 10 NFTs sold for a minimum amount of $100,000. NBA Top Shot is the seventh-highest-selling NFT by all-time sales volume.
With around $1.03 billion, Top Shot is ahead of Clone X, Azuki, The Sandbox, BAKC, and the World of Women. Over 400k buyers and 436k sellers drove Top Shot NFTs to milestones in 2 years with 22M+ transactions.
Top Shots NFT Collections had impressive metrics from the start
NBA Top Shots came during the start of the NFT mania in February 2021, when it generated around $224 million in monthly sales. Top Shots’ lowest monthly sale came in July 2020, when $8,352 was generated.
NBA Top Shot NFTs average prices range from $13.98 to $181.81, vastly different from art pieces selling for $100,000+.
Dapper Labs supports other sports projects beyond NBA Top Shot. NFL and NFLPA partnered with Dapper Labs to launch NFL ALL DAY, a platform for digital collectibles, in August 2022.
NFL fans can buy, own, and trade licensed digital video highlight NFTs featuring legendary players and modern stars.
As of May 2025, NFL All Day has grossed $154 million in total sales, and this makes it a top 100 highest-selling NFT.
The activities of NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day impact the native asset of Flow, which is FLOW. The FLOW coin is among the most traded cryptocurrencies in the market today. It is a small-cap (has less than $2 billion in market capitalisation) digital asset which reached an all-time high price of $46.16 during the peak of the NFT markets in April 2021.
NFTs: What is the Purpose of Owning Non-Fungible Tokens?
Moonbirds among the most famous NFT Collections
The creator launched the Moonbirds NFT Collections in April 2022, featuring 10,000 utility-enabled profile pictures (PFPs).
Holders of Moonbirds NFTs gain exclusive access to private club membership and enjoy other benefits.
The Ethereum blockchain houses Moonbirds NFTs, which feature portraits of owls, members of the nocturnal family.
Moonbirds has contributed immensely to the use of NFTs as profile pictures across social media platforms, especially Twitter.
Over 37,000 buyers and 34,000 sellers have engaged with Moonbirds NFTs as of May 2025.
Moonbirds NFT total sales stood at $680 million in May 2025, with the collectibles being involved in more than 40,000 transactions.
Most of the sales came from its first month of launch in April 2022, with approximately $485 million. Sorare generated $4.4 million in sales in October 2022, marking the platform’s lowest monthly sale.
Moonbirds NFTs saw average sale values range from $10,176 in November 2022 to $57,838 in May 2022.
NFTs for Beginners: A Beginner’s Guide to NFTs
Sorare among the largest NFT Collections
Football cards are a top NFT choice for beginners, thanks to the global popularity of association football (soccer).
You can acquire football NFTs through Sorare, a fantasy football game.
Sorare, launched in 2018, lets you buy, sell, and trade digital player cards to build and manage fantasy teams.
Erling Haaland’s Sorare NFT card sold for $687,000, highlighting the Norwegian star’s popularity among digital football collectors.
Top-selling Sorare NFTs feature football stars like Ronaldo, De Bruyne, Griezmann, Vinicius Jr., Pogba, and Mbappe, driving huge sales. You can find Sorare NFTs on OpenSea.
The platform where fantasy football NFTs rank 13th in the all-time list had total sales of $857 million as of May 2025.
Sorare NFTs are among the collectibles to have seen a lot of transactions. Within four years, the activities of thousands of buyers and sellers saw Sorare NFTs involved in millions of transactions.
Notable NFT collections include Art Block, Azuki, CloneX, Doodles, Meebits, Cool Cats, The Sandbox and VeeFriends, among others.
8 Comments
Great blog. It is great to know some of the top collections within the NFT landscape.
The top NFT collections are a great starting point for anyone looking to get into the market.
Some of these collections are truly iconic. They will hold value for years to come.
The community around certain NFT collections is incredible. It’s more than just buying and selling.
Investing in NFT Collections can be risky, but the potential rewards are worth it.
Some of these collections have amazing artwork. Where can I find more?
The rarity and exclusivity of certain NFT collections are what make them so valuable.
Love seeing the variety of NFT collections out there. Each one has its own unique charm.