What Is a Blue Chip NFT and How to Identify One

When investing in NFT projects, one of the most concerning things is price fluctuation. In the NFT world, we are used to projects that were worth millions and decreased by more than 50% of their valuation in just one day.

With this in mind, having a stable NFT project to invest in is a great way to keep participation in the NFT market while guaranteeing that your money will be safely invested. That’s why the blue-chip NFTs come in handy for the NFT community.

The Concept of Blue Chip 

collection of the most famous NFT projects

A blue chip is basically a well-established company or project with considerable financial stability. They are characterized by having better management in downturns and making a profit even with adverse economic conditions.

In traditional blue chip stocks, the investments are safer than the traditional and more risky ones. On the other hand, the more risky projects can provide a way more significant profit, since the stability of blue chips tends to generate lower returns.

One example of a blue chip universe growing lately is the NFT industry. Considered by many as future blue chip investments, those projects can have characteristics similar to the traditional stock world and traditional blue chip stocks.

What Is a Blue Chip NFT

picture from different crypto punks

Just like in traditional blue chip companies and stocks, a blue chip NFT is a project that is considered to have stability of investment and price over time. The main characteristic of this kind of NFT project is the promise of long-term returns.

The unaltered flow of returns is the most attractive point of those investments for NFT holders. This guarantees constant profit with an extremely low chance of the asset losing value.

The Origin of the Blue Chip Expression

picture from blue poker chips

The expression “blue chip” comes all the way from Poker. In the game, there are chips from many different colors: red, green, etc. The blue chip holds the highest value when compared to the other colors. 

This originated the blue-chip status, given to companies and projects with a high floor price and low price fluctuation. 

Characteristics of Blue Chip NFTs

illustration of people analyzing and talking about NFTs

When analyzing NFT collections or any digital asset that became a successful project, you can notice that there are some common characteristics between them. These normally precede an NFT project created that has a higher chance of becoming a reliable investment.

Here are the most common characteristics of digital assets that are considered blue chips, attracting more and more market watchers and sales volume:

Branding

Successful projects are normally linked to big companies with previous projects that got famous and had a high valuation. With blue chip NFTs, this isn’t different.

These NFTs supported by famous companies are normally hyped by the NFT community and end up generating a higher chance of becoming blue-chip assets. One example of a company that generated a blue chip NFT collection is Coca-Cola, with a project that raised more than 500K for the company.

promotional picture from Coca-Cola's NFT project

Famous Figures Participation

Another factor that grants credibility to the blue chip is the engagement of famous figures on the project. This normally helps generate hype and announce the digital assets to a larger public. 

This is a common thing in the NFT space, with thousands of projects having the participation of figures that help promote them on social media. Some figures that already had participated in projects, acquiring and promoting them are Paris Hilton and Snoop Dogg.

Creator’s Fame

Another characteristic of blue chip NFT projects is the participation of known creators in the project, whether it’s in the dev team, digital art direction, or any other position. This makes the NFT sales fly higher than average since people normally are familiar with the creator’s work from previous projects.

NFT enthusiasts and investors understand that a good leader and project creator are important factors for the brand’s power and the project’s success. With this in mind, having those known names attached is a key feature for blue chip NFT projects.

image of snoop dogg and his bored apes

Examples of Blue Chip NFTs

More than just knowing the theory and the characteristics of a blue chip, it is important to analyze famous projects and see how they work in practice. The blue-chip NFT collections don’t have a secret formula or feature, so doing your research is crucial.

Here are the most famous blue chip NFT collections and projects launched in the last years:

Bored Ape Yacht Club

pictures from different bored apes

Probably the most famous NFT collection of all time, the Bored Ape Yacht Club shortly became one of the most required blue chip NFTs of the market. The collection created by Yuga Labs and is composed of 10,000 pieces, with the participation of big names from different fields, such as Neymar or Justin Bieber.

The collection also made big collaborations with blue chip companies like Adidas and Rolling Stones. Being the best option as a long-term blue chip NFT for investors, the company shortly expanded its activities with new store franchises and NFT collections.

Crypto Punk

collection of crypto punks

Probably the most sought-after NFT collection recently is the Crypto Punks. The creation from Larva Labs is one of the biggest blue chips that you can find today, being requested by both investors and NFT enthusiasts.

Just like the Bored Ape NFTs, the blue-chip NFT collection is composed of 10,000 pieces and built a strong community around it. Their hype is big in the NFT space, attracting famous figures like Jay-Z.

Cool Cats

Image from the cool cats nft collection

Another collection of blue-chip assets in high demand on the NFT market is the Cool Cats collection, composed of 9,999 pieces. It’s created in the shape of Larva Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, with special benefits for the owners and investors, generating more hype and desire for the blue chips.

The collection attracted many famous personalities to acquire the Cool Cats, including Myke Tyson and Reese Witherspoon.

Art Blocks

different arts from the Art Blocks collection

Another collection that achieved a relatively high floor price, with pieces sold for more than a million dollars, is the Art Blocks collection. The pieces achieved blue-chip status thanks to a huge variety of different and creative designs, from abstract to traditional.

The project became very successful among NFT artists because of its design and shortly became an inspiration for future blue chips. This shows how much a good design can be a key difference in your project.

Mutant Ape Yacht Club

image of mutant apes from the MAYC NFT collection

The collection derivative from Bored Ape Yacht Club used Yuga Labs’ experience to create a new collection of 20,000 pieces, becoming the next NFT collection to achieve blue-chip status. Following the same formula paths from their previous project, they managed to achieve a huge community of interested people once again, generating the same hype from the Bored Ape collection.

The company quickly met its expectations regarding the project’s future, achieving an elevated floor price. Another fact for its success is once again the participation of figures like Neymar in the project.

Vee Friends

Official image of vee friends NFT collection

Considered one of the holy grails of NFT art and design, the Vee Friends collection shortly conquered a space at the top blue chip NFTs. The project created by Gary Vaynerchuk was very well received by the artistic community with huge social media support. 

One of the coolest features of the collection is that, just like with the Bored Ape NFTs, once you acquire a piece, you have access to a special community. In this case, the community is entitled as an “artistic group” for sharing passions about art and NFT investing.

Azuki

official artwork for the Azuki NFT collection

Last but not least, the Azuki is one of the most famous NFT projects ever created. The art style is one key difference that pleased a huge portion of the NFT enthusiasts, making it one of the most famous blue chip NFT collections of all time.

The anime-inspired collection was composed of 10,000 pieces and was a redemption from Zagabond’s previous project, which was not well received by the community. It generated doubts and critics throughout the production, but everything ended with the launch of a collection that turned into a masterpiece of the NFT world.

The Importance of Blue Chip Status

Achieving blue chip status on NFT projects is a go-to for both investors and creators. For the investors, it means that the project is a reliable investment, transmitting security and credibility and assuring good profit returns over time.

For the creators, it is great because it means that the product or service delivered succeeded and conquered a high value of negotiation. Along with that, it means that the collection is superior to most projects, gaining more visibility and endorsements.

Most NFTs will never achieve this status, so it can make a collection completely change its position on the market, no matter if it’s in the Ethereum blockchain or any other. Having those kinds of popular projects in your portfolio can be the door to future projects in big companies, especially with these professionals being more and more requested.

Ready to Find New Blue Chip NFTs?

image of blue chips from different blockchains

Just like in the traditional finance market, understanding the blue chips and studying these projects can grant you a huge advantage as an investor or artist. These NFT projects have huge potential, not just for investments but also to achieve collaborations with big brands.

Any NFT enthusiast knows how many projects are created every day along the different blockchains and how being considered a blue chip is important. Now that you know the main characteristics of these projects and how to find them, it is time for you to seek them.

No matter if it’s for investing or analyzing to get inspiration for your projects, these projects are worth keeping a track record for study. 

When doing that, be sure to understand why these projects got where they are. Understanding the process is one of the most important steps in having your successful collection.

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