The Complete Guide To Blue Chip NFT Projects

If you’ve dabbled in the Web 3.0 space for a while, you’ve surely come across the term “Blue Chip NFTs”. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about blue chip NFTs for you to determine whether or not it is a worthy investment. Read on!

What is a blue chip NFT?

A blue chip NFT is defined as a well-established digital asset that has great potential to increase or retain its value over time. Although these investment-grade NFTs can come in all forms of shapes and sizes, there are a few ways to spot a blue chip NFT.

In general, a blue chip NFT project will have a clear vision with a solid team to execute the roadmap. These projects typically have a strong social presence, a vibrant community, and more importantly, boast unique and brandable NFT artwork.

Why invest in a blue chip NFT project?

Blue chip NFTs are often sought out by investors because of their long-term financial stability. While many projects lose traction after a few months, blue chip NFTs retain value over time. For example, the average price of BAYC is now hovering around 100 ETH, even in bearish market conditions. Many deem owning a blue chip NFT as a symbol of success, and being ‘part of the gang’ is akin to joining a club of wealthy investors and social elites.

While not just exclusive to blue chip NFTs, owning one may grant holders intellectual property rights and permission to commercialize their NFTs in some ways. For instance, Doodles NFTs allow owners to commercialize their NFTs for up to $100k each. You can also build a business around BAYC or CryptoPunks NFTs, as long as you own these NFTs. So, NFTs are more than just a profile picture (PFP).

What’s more, some of the best NFT projects will occasionally give back to their holders. Using the BAYC NFT as an example, the project allowed owners to claim ApeCoin tokens for free back in March 2022. Upon claiming the tokens, holders can choose to sell them in the open market right away. Needless to say, many managed to cash in for a handsome profit.

Top Blue Chip NFTs

Now that you know what is a blue chip NFT, you must be wondering which NFT collections out there will fit the bill. Below, we have listed the top 5 blue chip NFTs in the market. Floor prices shown are valid as of January, 2023 on OpenSea.

No.	NFT Project	Description	Floor Price (ETH)
1.	CryptoPunks	An NFT collection of 10,000 Punks originally created by Larva Labs. Now, Yuga Labs owns CryptoPunks.	66.88
2.	Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)	An NFT collection of 10,000 Bored Apes by Yuga Labs.	85.97
3.	Azuki NFT	A Japanese anime-themed NFT collection of 10,000 Azukis by Chiru Labs.	16.92
4.	Doodles	An NFT collection of 10,000 colorful Doodles by Burnt Toast.	7.14
5.	Clone X	A collection of 20,000 next-gen NFT avatars by RTFKT and Takashi Murakami.	6.5

Solana Blue Chip NFTs

Admittedly, many NFT collections are still hosted on the Ethereum network. But you can always find affordable blue chip NFTs on other blockchains too. One such promising alternative is the Solana network.

Given that, we have listed the top 5 Solana blue chip NFTs below for your reference. Floor prices shown are valid as of January 2023 on OpenSea.

No.	NFT Project	Description	Floor Price (SOL)
1.	DeGods	A deflationary, PFP NFT collection of 10,000 avatars by Frank and Finn.	568.00
2.	OkayBears	An NFT collection of 10,000 diverse bears by Kais and Suby.	95.00
3.	Cets on Creck	An NFT collection of 6,969 doped cats (cets) from a team led by Peblo.	28.39
4.	Catalina Whale Mixer	An NFT collection of 5,555 whale avatars providing access to a Web3 global entertainment franchise.	44.00
5.	Degenerate Ape Academy	An NFT collection of 10,000 degenerate ape NFTs from a team led by Dustin.	67.00

Famous Celebrities who bought Blue Chip NFTs

With blue chip NFTs rising in popularity, it won’t be surprising at all to see famous celebs “ape” into some of these NFTs. Among all the projects, the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection has managed to attract the most pop artists. Big names like Snoop Dogg, Steve Aoki, Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, Eminem, and Timbaland are all proud owners of at least one BAYC NFT.

Another example would be American actress Reese Witherspoon who bought World of Women #8072 back in October 2021. Besides that, Asian artists such as Jeffrey Huang, Jay Chou, and JJ Lin are well-known blue chip NFT collectors as well. Huang, in particular, has a whopping 3,500 NFTs in his public wallet on OpenSea as of last month.

Where to buy Blue Chip NFTs?

If you’re interested, you can always buy these blue chip NFTs from leading NFT marketplaces like OpenSea. Another option is to purchase from LooksRare, to enjoy a lower trading fee of 2%. In comparison, OpenSea takes a 2.5% cut out of every transaction.

Some blue chip NFT projects have their own marketplace. For instance, CryptoPunks has its own built-in marketplace that doesn’t charge any trading fees. So, buyers would only need to pay the gas fee in ETH plus the price of the NFT.

Famous Blue Chip NFT derivative projects

In essence, an NFT derivative is created based on the intellectual property (IP) of an existing project. Considering that, NFT derivatives can be blue chips too!

But since anyone can come up with NFT derivatives in this space, the general rule is to go for those created by the original founding team. For instance, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) is an official derivative from the BAYC team.

Another example is Space Doodles, which is an NFT derivative project created by the Doodles founding team. Interestingly, in order to get a Space Doodle, owners will need to swap their Doodles in a smart contract to get it. For that reason, the price of Space Doodles tends to track closely with the price of Doodles.

Conclusion

All things considered, starting your journey in Web3 with blue chip NFTs can be costly but also a rewarding experience. Besides reaping potential financial gains, you will get to make new friends too within the NFT community of your choice. For more exclusive guides, feel free to check our guides section at WAGMI.TIPS.