The Top 11 PFP NFT Projects to Follow in 2022

PFP (Profile picture non-fungible tokens) NFTs have taken the crypto world by storm. Since the million-dollar-worth CryptoPunks project launched in 2017, avatar NFTs have become more of a status symbol by the day. Crypto enthusiasts are eager to own them,  developers can’t wait to launch them, and you need to make sense of it all. So, here are the best Avatar NFT projects out there, complete with details on what makes them reign supreme.

What Are PFP NFT Projects?

Profile Picture (PFP) NFT are a unique set of digital collectibles that people use to represent themselves on online platforms. These pieces of digital artwork are often a wide collection of characters called avatars used as profile pictures on social media accounts like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook among others. The characters could be anything from historic arts, to zombies, to fantasy figures with some collections having as many as 10000 unique avatars. 

Each avatar comes with distinct and unique traits that are digitally generated, hence the name generative avatars. Besides being used to represent you online, your avatar can come with certain benefits like; getting you access to certain virtual clubhouses, using them in games and other multimedia projects in the future.

Similar to other NFTs, generative avatar NFTs are attached to particular blockchains and can be traded for cryptocurrency. This means that besides owning them as digital identities, you can make some decent cash from your PFP NFTs, by selling them, or as the NFT market calls it, flipping them.

How to Know If an PFP NFT Is Legit?

The growing demand for PFP NFTs has brought a ton of benefits to developers and NFT traders alike. But at the same time, it has unleashed a gold rush perception. Many NFT investors are now flipping their PFPs to get more profits, and even more, developers are compromising on quality for quantity. As more and more people become interested in PFP NFTs, it’s important to know how to distinguish between legitimate PFP NFTs and scams. Here are a few things to help you out:

  • A Community: One of the best ways to determine whether or not an PFP NFT provider is legitimate is by looking at their community. Are they active on social media? Do they have a strong online presence? Are people talking about them positively? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it’s probably best to stay away.
  • A Roadmap: Another key thing to look for when determining whether or not an PFP NFT provider is legitimate is their roadmap. Are they forthcoming about their plans and goals? Can you see what they’re working on and where they’re headed? Stay away from a project that doesn’t fulfill any of these. Reputable PFP NFT projects will always be transparent about their plans and goals, so if a provider is secretive, it’s probably best to steer clear.
  • A Team: Most teams behind avatar NFT projects are anonymous, but you might get a chance to know one or two people behind the project. It’s always advisable to run a background check on such people, just to see how legitimate they are. If something is off about them, you might want to pump the brakes on buying their PFP NFTs. 
  • Design and Quality: When it comes to PFP NFTs, design and quality are incredibly important. The best providers will offer high-quality designs and products that you can be proud to own. So if aesthetics are important to you, make sure to choose a provider who delivers on this front. Beyond your artistic eye, you can also get real data on just how good your next avatar piece is. This data comes from a ton of sites that can help you gauge the rarity of your NFT before you make a purchase. 
  • Utility: You should be able to do more with your PFP NFT besides buying, holding, and flipping. Certain projects will give you avatars that can be used in gaming, others will offer you exclusive access to parties when you hold a certain collection of their avatar NFTs, and some will give you a slice of their royalties. Such high utility levels increase the value of NFTs which is a good sign that they are worth your investment.
  • Follow the Paper Trail: You should be on the lookout for PFP NFTs that celebrities and crypto-authority figures are putting their money on. If an avatar is linked to a certain high-standing celebrity or a big-time crypto investor,  it could stand a high chance of being profitable. For instance, Snoop Dogg and JayZ own the famous Crypto Punk, and Aston Kusher flaunts a Stoner Cat NFT, both of which are all doing very well.

What Are the Best Avatar NFTs to Invest In?

Now that you know how to identify a legitimate PFP NFT, let’s take a look at the top avatar NFTs picks. By analyzing factors like floor prices, community presence, trade volumes, among others, we’ve compiled for you a list of PFP NFTs that stand tall in the NFT space. These are all excellent investment opportunities, and they are sure to appreciate in value over time. These include:

1. CryptoPunks

Larva Labs’ 2017 creation, CryptoPunks, is at the center of all Avatar NFT fame. It was one of Ethereum’s first generative art projects and it came with 10000 avatars pixelated at 24×24 and still one of the best PFP NFTs on the market. This first edition was free to claim, as long as you had an Ethereum wallet. CryptoPunk 7523 sold for a record $11.75 million.

CryptoPunk NFT Features

2. Avastars

In April 2020, Avastars brought a unique twist to Avatar NFTs by allowing users to generate and preview their avatars before purchase. It also varied the minting prices based on the rarity of the generated traits. This spiced things up, and resulted in 5 generations of Prime Avastars. Each generation has 5,000 unique avatars and all have been minted so far. 

Avastars NFT Features

3. The Hashmasks

Just before the tidal wave of interest in PFP NFTs rose, Hashmasks entered the market with a bang. This project teamed up with over 70 artists around the world and came up with some of the most distinct art styles present for avatar NFTs. What’s more interesting is that you can rename your Hashmask if you earn 1830 Name Change Tokens (NCT) by holding a Hashmask NFT. 

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Hashmasks NFT Features

4. Meebits

Meebits is another Larva Labs creation that features voxel characters in 3D. When it launched in May 2021, Meebits received backlash from the larger NFT community for reserving almost half of its supply as freebies for holders with Autoglyph and Crypptopunk. Still, it managed to sell at about 2.5 ETH at launch time.

 Meebits NFT Features

5. Bored Ape Yacht Club

The NFT community seemed to have had enough of overpriced, inaccessible avatar NFTs, which led to the birth of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). When this NFT launched in May 2021, its mint price went for as low as 0.08 ETH per ape. Not only was BAYC affordable but it came with special benefits. BAYC holders had access to a Bathroom section on the main website which has a community wall where the holders can do digital graffiti.  

BAYC NFT Features

6. Bored Ape Kennel Club

BAYC also had another spin-off NFT project dubbed Bored Ape Kennel Club. This project allows every Ape holder to adopt a free pet dog NFT should they want to. Bored Ape Kennel Club has served as a utility benchmark for many upcoming NFTs mainly because 2.5% of the royalty it generates is given to charity. 

Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT Features

7. Cool Cats NFT

As their name suggests, Cool Cat NFTs are a collection of 9,999 randomly curated cat PFP NFTs found on the Ethereum Blockchain. The coolest thing about owning a cool cat NFT besides having a cool avatar is that it gives you access to exclusive Cool Cat events like raffles, NFT claims, and community giveaways. 

 Cool Cat NFT Features

8. SupDucks

SupDucks developers believe that having one of these PFP NFTs will “grant you legendary status,” and they may not be far from the truth. SupDuck holders have a chance of making considerable profits with the NFT. Holders can use the NFT’s utility token $VOLT to wager on coin flips, Chess, and even Rock-Paper-Scissors on SupDuck’s discord. They can also earn bounties, and even make 10 $VOLT per day, per duck. 

SupDucks NFT Features

9. Weird Whales

Weird Whales NFT may not be doing so well on its resales compared to other generative avatars NFTs, but this avatar’s origin warrants it to be on this list. Weird Whales NFT is the brainchild of a 12-year-old coder. The boy posted a moving thread on Twitter, explaining how he made his CryptoPunk-inspired project. The collection contained 3500 avatars and they all sold out on the same day. 

Weird Whales NFT Features

10. World of Women

PFP NFTs aren’t all inspired by animals and other creatures. There are also women-inspired ones, such as World of Women. This NFT features women-only avatars. The digital art created by Yam Karkai also comes with additional benefits such as access to an investors club where WOW fund profits are split to fund women artists in NFT. You may also get access to a royalties club that divides 50% of OpenSea secondary sale royalties to members. 

World of Women NFT Features

11. DeadHeads

DeadHeads also makes it to this list because of the ambition it has for the NFT avatar market. DeadHeads aims to become a bigger animation endeavor. In its roadmap, the project indicates plans to fund an animated series. It also plans to buy land for graveyards in some metaverse games such as Cryptovoxels, and Decentraland. Holders will get 3D model avatar files to use in the games. 

DeadHeads NFT Features

Get an NFT Avatar Project That Suits You

So there you have it, our top picks for NFTs that are worth your time and attention. Each of these projects is doing something different and has the potential to be a game-changer in the world of digital assets. But before investing in any PFP NFT, do your research, read reviews, and only invest in NFTs that have a good track record.

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