Blockchain is exponentially expanding and the number of daily transactions continues to grow. The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market size is expected to cross a trillion mark by the year 2030. This growth bodes well for the industry and those investing in NFTs but the gas fees associated with Ethereum may decrease potential adoption.
Thankfully, Cardano (ADA) uses a newer blockchain technology that makes it more advantageous to use than traditional cryptocurrencies. It can facilitate transacting with lower transaction costs than ETH and has more features that make it easy to use and provide scalability benefits, alongside security and privacy improvements.
This is why many new Cardano NFT projects are a part of the evolving Cardano blockchain. More than 20 million tokens have already been produced on the Cardano ecosystem. Most of these tokens are NFTs (non-fungible tokens). In this guide we’ll review some of the top Cardano NFT projects.
Best Cardano NFT projects – Top List
- Clay Nation
- ADA Ninjaz
- Boss Cat Rocket Club
- SpaceBudz
- Yummi Universe
- Pavia
- Soho Kids
Our list of the best Cardano related NFT projects is based on metrics such as utility, transaction value, and community value in order to provide interested NFT investors and Cardano enthusiasts with more information about their investment.
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The Top Cardano NFT Projects – Full Reviews
1. Clay Nation
Clay Nation is a digital gallery that offers clay-based avatars and accessories. It is a collection of 3D characters with algorithmically created clay-like traits, accounting for their movements and portfolio through the use of the AI-based program.
ClayNation has priced around 35,000 ADA or higher. In January 2022, ClayNation has completed a total volume of transactions worth 14.8 million ADA.
2. ADA Ninjaz
ADA Ninjaz is an NFT based project focusing on manga. The top anime NFT project on the Cardano ecosystem, ADA Ninjaz includes community-driven hosting on Carano Blockchain.
ADA Ninja is a Randomly generated unique avatars from over 450 data points for a collection of 8888.
3. Boss Cat Rocket Club
The Boss Cat Rocket Club was established by members of the Bored App Yacht Club community in order to bring something new to space exploration. This collection consists of a finite supply of 9,999 generated space-bound cats on Cardano Blockchain.
The BCRC promotes fostering a strong community to foster the new technology and metaverse movement.
BCRC has exclusive access to Sandbox Space Centre and Beach clubs around the World, private galleries, and an underground auction house.
BCRC can be purchased at jpg.store and sold for more than 22.5 K ADA.
4. SpaceBudz
SpaceBudz is a 10,000 unique Cardano-based NFTs collection. The company was founded by Alessandro, creator of the Nami wallet, and Zieg who is an advocate for Non-Fungible Token technology.
Coming in with a $1 Million Sales Record is Space Bud, the first Cardano NFT to hit the achievement. Spacebudz was bought up for 510,000 ADA.
SpaceBudz currently has the highest listed price for a SpaceBudz at 3.5 million.
5. Yummi Universe
Like Pokemon, Digimon, and Moshi Monsters, Yummi aims to be an online digital world. Users can design customizable character skills and items, explore biomes and battle digital monsters with the help of friends.
The company is in the process of creating an entire ecosystem of NFT creatures, cards, and other forms of digital collectibles.
Yummi Universe is a 3D modeled and rendered digital environment with very high-quality 3D animations. The animation takes over 33 hours each to render for such realistic, detailed content.
6. Pavia
Pavia is the first-ever Cardano virtual world created, owned, and based by its user base. Pavia is a metaverse project built on Cardano that has over 8300 landowners.
If you’re looking for a land parcel in the digital world and you want it to be unique, choose the Cardano NFT.
The Pavia project is still in its infant stage and they are spending their time and efforts in making a high-quality experience for the community users.
The team at Pavia has a clear future roadmap of where they want to go. They have improved their map whereby people can run their own business, host events, host live competitions for others, or just find enjoyment in the Pavia landscape. With such features as community tools and design work, one day we will see unlimited possibilities lurking on this project.
7. Soho Kids
Soho Kids is a project focused on fashion design, bridging high fashion with street-style clothes. PFP is the perfect way to create fashion in the future while appreciating what came before.
The SOHO KIDS Initiative first debuted their NFTs in the initial collections and continue to maintain a pretty solid roadmap with an initial focus on community-building through pop-up parties, fashion item giveaways, events, and music and game nights for the community.
They hope to eventually produce vinyl toys of their products, work with other urban culture stores worldwide, and collaborate with local artists in each city.
Soho Kids clothes have been collected at Jpg.store for a staggering Cardano 1999 equivalent. By checking out the Soho Kids collection, you can buy some of the most popular pieces from this unusual brand and even get them customized with your initials.
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Recommended Cardano NFT Marketplaces
The Cardano ecosystem, though still in its infant stage, is growing quickly. With the Cardano NFT ecosystem, it’s never been easier to create, sell, or mint unique items (NFTs) and use them as digital goods within the virtual world.
Here is the list of the best Cardano NFT Marketplace. The ranking for the best NFT marketplace is based on the potential of the project, the number of active users of that plugin, supported wallet plugins, and transaction fees.
- CNFT
- Galaxy of Art
- store
- Tokhun
- Crypto.com
1. CNFT
CNFT.io is the first NFT marketplace that was launched in July 2021, they have a lot of features that lack on other similar NFT markets and new ones are being consistently added and enhanced to create a more seamless and structured space.
These are all the Cardano wallets that CNFT actively supports: ccvault, namiwallet, Daedalus wallet, adalite.
2. Galaxy of Art
The second-largest NFT marketplace for Cardano is GALAXY OF ART- the largest for this cryptocurrency. In Galaxy of Art, you can sell and buy rare digital items and crypto-collectibles based on NFTs.
Creators now have a better outlet for selling, buying, and engaging with their followers. With Galaxy of Art Marketplace, traders can buy and sell NFTs in a secure environment along with monetizing stickers, GIFs, and photography. Sellers can also create social interaction through showoff sessions and trading cards.
Art is about making the world a better place, and Galaxy of Art does exactly that. They create decentralized paintings which you can purchase or hold onto. No fees are charged for the minting process- only a Cardano fee when one sale is made. Also, they support any of the wallets at the moment.
3. Jpg.store
JPG store is dedicated to supporting the Cardano ecosystem artist, creators, and communities with a never-before-seen proposition.
JPG.store is a platform for buying and selling goods that incurs exceptionally low transaction fees of 2% as well as 1.88 ADA as service fees.
Currently, Nami and CCVault are the supported wallets with more planned to be added.
4. Tokhun
Tokhun is enabling a new collectability game by creating NFTs based on work and life experiences. It is a blockchain-based marketplace, where creators, businesses, artists, and collectors can buy and manage collectibles or tokens of NFTs.
Their system automates a fully-automated auction system. You can list your own items and have them do all the work for you through their own personal page. They also have anti-snipe capability to make sure no one can outbid you on your own piece.
Tokhun will also feature royalty payment after each sale, for both creative intellectual property like 3D models and music releases/other audio media, as well as written text materials.
Tokhun has a blockchain-based, peer-to-peer sales system with built-in transaction fees of 2 ADA per unique NFT. They charge an additional 2.5% or 2 ADA Sales commission per successful sale of your goods.
5. Crypto.com
Crypto.com might not have Cardano NFTs, or NFTs that you use Cardano to buy yet (it’s quite new) but it does have crypto-related art sold as NFTs, including Cardano-related art, and NFTs on there can be bought using fiat currency.
Cardano related NFT artwork on Crypto.com
Crypto.com is mainly a cryptocurrency exchange, so on that platform you can buy Cardano, and earn interest on Cardano. It’s possible they’ll add support for Cardano NFT projects in the future.
How are Cardano NFTs different from Ethereum NFTs?
Cardano is a decentralized, open-source blockchain network that has plans to take smart contracts to the next level by enabling higher speeds and broader interoperability. The hope is that it will make blockchain apps more functional and accessible than Ethereum’s smart contracts so that anyone – not just developers – can create their own decentralized applications.
With its many improvements, Cardano has been hailed as an Ethereum killer. Cardano seeks to improve the existing Ethereum 1.0 blockchain infrastructure even more with the introduction of significantly cheaper fees thanks to sidechains and better transaction throughput via parallel processing.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a peer-to-peer, decentralized network that uses ether as its in-house currency, which stores cryptocurrencies and can be used publicly and more surgically, among other functions.
Ethereum’s functionality also includes the creation of ether through mining. Alongside Ether, Ethereum also supports other in-house cryptocurrency forms such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), semi-fungible tokens, and decentralized applications.
It was originally released in 2015 with the purpose of sending transactions without any restrictions and is solely based on decentralized technology.
Ethereum’s currency, Ether, can only be mined and made available through contracts with those who have Ethereum tokens. Usage isn’t limited to digital transactions either; the currency can also be used in the real world such as paying for goods or services.
Improvements Cardano made after learning from Ethereum
In order to help current systems and more users, Cardano has taken lessons from Ethereum’s second-generation infrastructure. There are three main areas where Cardano encompasses improvements over Ethereum – Architecture, Mechanism and Approach.
Architecture
While Ethereum’s layer handles the ecosystem’s transactions and smart contracts, Cardano keeps them separate to help resolve congestion. While it is possible to upgrade one of the layers while leaving the other untouched or performing multiple independent updates to address a given issue, typically upgrades are done by replacing CSL with a new release.
Mechanism
Cardano is learning from Ethereum that consensus algorithms are essential in determining how a system operates. Their unique proof-of-stake (PoS) system, called Ouroboros, can process more transactions and consume less energy than Ethereum’s proof-of-work (PoW).
When initially launching, Ethereum relied on a PoW algorithm (a slow and energy-consuming consensus mechanism) to reach the network’s goal of decentralization.
In response to this issue, the Ethereum Foundation (renamed from the original Ethereum front team) is moving to transition to a PoS algorithm as part of Ethereum 2.0. As it stands now, the upgrade will aid in scalability, energy efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
Approach
Cardano implements a peer-review academic process that makes new releases of their service or product more reliable than offered by many other cryptocurrency projects. First, they create an academic article detailing their proposal and its underlying technologies.
The paper is made available for computer scientists and academics to independently review it without any connection to Cardano. With a total of 128 papers published to date, it seems clear the rigorous process of peer review boosts their confidence in new releases.
Cardano is the Ethereum successor that arrived late to market. They were able to learn from what errors Ethereum had made and created a protocol to better address those issues.
Advantages of Cardano over Ethereum
Scalability
Issues with PoW blockchains, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there’s hope for either cryptocurrency. Cardano is working to reach millions of transactions per second (tps) thanks to Hydra – a second-layer solution built on top of Ouroboros – which could eventually lead to 100,000 transactions per second.
Second-layer solutions are additional protocols built on top of a blockchain that will help increase the transactions per second (tps) by reducing workload for the main chain.
Interoperability
With independent blockchain networks that cannot communicate with one another, Cardano wants to solve the lack of interoperability. In this case, Ethereum has solved this problem of interoperability by abiding by specific standards.
But they are an ERC-20 standard that limits the blockchain networks on a smaller scale. Cardano implements InterLedger and Polaris as methods for communicating across different types of blockchains, which removes coding language restraints.
Cardano can allow digital assets to run across the blockchain. Blockchain interoperability is a debilitating issue hindering mainstream adoption, not only will Cardano help solve it, they are working on solving digital asset interoperability as well through sidechains.
Sustainability
Cardano is addressing blockchain’s open-sourcing problems by implementing a treasury, which works to lessen the reliance on centralized funding in order to develop upgrades.
Whenever a block is mined, part of the ADA rewards will eventually go to the treasury, and when someone wants to propose changes to the network, they can submit a ballot and ask for grants.
The project starts with ADA holders (stakeholders) voting on a proposal. This is unlike the Ethereum Foundation, which has a major influence on how Ethereum works and where the network is heading to.
Governance
Cardano is implementing a liquid democratic voting system, once the final stage of Cardano’s development, “Voltaire,” is fully deployed. With Voltaire, ADA holders can make decisions related to technical improvements, software updates, and funding decisions.
It will include a stakeholder voting system in the form of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), with all ADA holders able to vote or delegate others to represent them.
Philosophy
At first glance, Cardano just seems like another blockchain technology, but their philosophy is what makes them stand out. Cardano aims to change cryptocurrency into a global ecosystem that reaches the unbanked people and caters to every possible use case.
For example, IOG has partnered with several African governments to promote their blockchain as well as teach passionate programmers how to use it.
Disadvantages of Cardano
Ethereum has nearly 3,000 dapps, with a larger market capitalization than Cardano. For this reason, some developers are choosing to stick with Ethereum. After all, Ethereum is still the platform that attracts the most traffic and has dynamic contracts on offer.
9 million Ether has been locked up in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and it’s unknown exactly how many ADA tokens have made their way into a DeFi protocol.
Cardano is a future of blockchain that is safe and sustainable, thanks to its advanced technologies. Although there are many challenges ahead, Cardano is ready to challenge Ethereum’s dominance and address some of the most prominent blockchain problems including scalability, sustainability, interoperability, and governance.
How to Buy Cardano for NFTs – Step by Step
Recommended Crypto Exchange for Cardano – eToro
Selecting the right exchange can be the most important step on your journey to owning ADA. But that doesn’t mean it is the easiest. To make this process as painless as possible, we have selected a few of our top choices below.
1. Open an account on an online exchange
With high liquidity, Cardano is offered on most large exchanges. Platforms like eToro and Crypto.com are both beginner-friendly with simple interfaces that don’t require extensive experience to get started trading.
eToro is the latest company operating in the cryptocurrency market. Their trading platform has set the standard for other companies by implementing their revolutionary technologies.
This can be an excellent feature for people who are new to cryptocurrency investing and are not confident enough in their own successful transactions.
eToro CopyTrader feature
eToro is a trusted and easy-to-use crypto exchange that provides trading Copy trader services, as well as other useful features like a clean interface, high liquidity, and access to 100s of the most popular coins.
ADA investors can also stake their ADA – eToro supports Cardano staking, alongside Ethereum and Tron (TRX).
Update 2024 – Going forward, the only cryptocurrencies eToro customers in the United States will be able to trade on the platform will be Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum.
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2. Open a crypto wallet
Keeping your cryptocurrency connected to an exchange puts it at risk of being hacked. After you purchase Cardano on an exchange, you’ll want to protect your currency by managing the private key and storing your currencies off the exchange in a personal wallet.
eToro Wallet
There are a variety of cold storage wallets that you could consider purchasing. But it is important to follow guidelines on how to back up these wallets should something happen.
Durability and mere convenience of these wallets varied as some were just not effective enough in an uncommon environment or needed touch screen or human interaction for transactions. The research will lead to the best selection for wallet purchases.
3. Buy Cardano
Cardano is listed on most major crypto exchanges including eToro. You can trade USD for Cardano (ADA) by searching for ‘Cardano’ on the exchange and opening a trade by clicking ‘Trade’.
We have provided you with the list of the best Cardano NFT Marketplaces above – simply send the ADA you just bought to yourself on an NFT marketplace to buy NFTs with.
Another popular alternative to eToro is Crypto.com exchange – on which you can earn 5% – 6.25% interest per annum on your Cardano holdings.
Alongside buying and selling ADA, the platform also has an attached NFT marketplace with affordable NFTs and auctions that start at just $1.
FAQs
Does Cardano have NFTs?
With its successful Ethereum fork for smart contracts, Cardano has now seen a boom of tokenized items on the blockchain. Yes, Cardano has NFTs.
What are the best Cardano NFT projects?
As discussed earlier in this article, Clay Mates, Pavia, Yummi Universe, etc. are the best Cardano NFT projects.
How much does it cost to mint NFT on Cardano?
Ethereum is known for its high gas fees, and if you want to mint NFTs on Cardano, you will experience paying just 1/4 of a dollar as a Gas Fee. The Eutxo Model differs from Ethereum in that it's not programmable like Ethereum.
Where can I sell Cardano NFTs?
You can buy and sell Cardano NFTs at the above-listed marketplaces like CNFT, Galaxy of Art, jpg.store, Tokhun, Crypto.com, and others.