Canto NFTs have recently gained popularity, despite the fact that the blockchain has been in existence since Aug. 2022. Canto NFT volume surpassed $2.2 million $CANTO (about $1.3 million USD at the time of this article) on Feb. 1, 2023 and the chain now boasts more than 100,000 wallets.
Popular NFT blockchains, such as Ethereum and Solana, have grown overcrowded with NFT projects, and many collections are prohibitively expensive to join. Whether collectors are looking to Canto as an opportunity to "be early" or they are supporters of Canto's decentralized ethos, the rise in its NFT ecosystem has generated a lot of interest.
Learn more about Canto, how to buy Canto NFTs, and the top Canto NFT collections in our guide below.
What Is Canto?
Canto is a Layer 1 (L1) blockchain running the Ethereum Virtual Machine but built on Cosmos. It is a distributed community of DeFi advocates designed to support free public infrastructure (FPI). It has eliminated all centralized incentives; this means there was no presale, no official foundation, no VC backing, and no vesting. The developers are anonymous.
Canto aims to be the best execution layer for original work. It has three core tenets: liquidity as a free public good, rent extraction resistance, and minimal viable user capture. Essentially, this means that their decentralized DeFi exchange is governed by stakers. There is no governing protocol token, and there are zero fees. Canto wants to minimize dApps and instead build everything in.
In the docs on its website, Canto says: “Where existing protocols serve their community more similarly to a pay-by-hour private parking garage, Canto’s FPI intends to provide for its community in a manner more akin to free parking on a city street.”
Transactions Chart from @cantopublic
Canto Tokens
Canto has two tokens: CANTO and NOTE. They are designed to complement each other.
Canto
CANTO is the native token used to pay gas fees for transactions, and this is what you will be buying Canto NFTs with. The initial total supply for CANTO is 1 billion tokens, with an initial circulating supply of 150 million tokens.
Note
NOTE is the “unit of account,” otherwise known as a native automated “soft-stablecoin for the protocol. It adjusts interest rates with an algorithm to counter volatility. Though it is designed to have a value of around $1 USD, it may vary, especially in early days of Canto.
How to Buy a Canto NFT
If you want to get into “Cantofornia” and buy NFTs on the nascent blockchain with CANTO, it’s going to take a bit of effort. First, you'll need to bridge your tokens to Canto's blockchain, and then perform a token swap. Follow the steps below to buy your first Canto NFT.
Bridge Method 1: Synapse Protocol (USDC/USDT)
Synapse Protocol has built the simplest way to bridge to Canto. It accepts USDC or USDT. This method also gives you 1 CANTO to use for gas fees later on.
On the Ethereum network, select which token you want to bridge (USDC or USDT), and then select Canto from the dropdown arrow for the destination. The first approval will be for your wallet to allow USDC for Synapse Protocol. The second will be to bridge your funds.
There’s a “Bridge Watcher” right below this screen which shows the status of your bridged funds. When I did this method, the bridge was completed in a matter of minutes.
Bridge Method 2: Gravity Bridge (ETH/USDC/USDT)
If you want to use ETH to bridge over, the original bridge method is more manual and advanced. Here is a step-by-step guide:
- Add the Cantos network to your MetaMask wallet by going to chainlist.org and looking up Canto.
- Connect your MetaMask wallet to https://canto.io/bridge. Check to see that you are on the Ethereum network.
- This banner will be at the top. Before you bridge assets to Canto, you have to generate a public key. Click the box that says so and sign the transaction.
- Select the token you would like to bridge (ETH, USDC or USDT) and input the quantity. Quantities less than 1 must include a 0 in the ones place value (example: 0.99).
- Confirm the approval to allow the transfer of the asset to the bridge.
- Sign to confirm the transfer.
Swap for CANTO
Now that you have your USDC on the Canto network, it’s time to swap it into CANTO to buy jpegs.
An easy way to swap USDC to Canto is to use the decentralized exchange Slingshot Finance. You'll need some CANTO for gas fees, so be sure to use the faucet if you don't have enough to perform a transaction.
Note: You will need to add Canto as a network to your MetaMask. If you haven’t already, add the Canto network to your MetaMask wallet by going to chainlist.org and looking up Canto.
Canto NFT Marketplaces
Now that the journey of getting CANTO is complete, it’s time to check out NFTs.
The dominant marketplace is Alto Market. In the spirit of the blockchain, there are no fees. Creators can choose to set their own royalty and licensing rates for their collections.
Simply connect your MetaMask wallet (on the Canto network) to the site, browse collections, buy, and sell. It works similarly to other marketplaces like OpenSea and LooksRare. There are also features like offers, token activity, and more.
Alto.build
Canto Rarito is currently the only place to check the rarity of Canto NFTs. They only have a few collections but are adding new ones.
Top Canto NFT Collections
Here are the top 5 Canto NFT collections by all-time volume as of Feb. 5, 2023.
Canto Longnecks
The first animated generative NFT collection on the Canto blockchain, Canto Longnecks boasts the highest sales volume on the blockchain. Since they were created in Sep. 2022, Longnecks have done nearly $300,000 USD in secondary sales. The collection currently has a floor price of 4,555 CANTO ($2,367 USD).
There are 2,222 Canto Longnecks with varying traits and rarities. Inspired by emu pictures and a knack for pixelated art, the team says that community happiness is its primary driver.
The highest sale for a Canto Longneck was $100,000 CANTO for #919, around $45,000 USD at the time. This is also the current sales record for a Canto NFT.
Shnoises
Shnoises were the first free mint NFT collection on Canto and launched in Oct. 2022. Despite a small supply (2,888), the Shnoises community has grown significantly over the past few months. The floor is currently 975 CANTO ($506 USD).
CantoGraphs
CantoGraphs minted on Jan. 31 for a price of 125 CANTO each for a supply of 1,000. It’s a generative art project that uses inspiration from Ascii-style art. The floor is currently 1,413 CANTO ($734 USD).
For a more in-depth history of CantoGraphs, check out this post from the founder Sgt Slaughtermelon.
CantoGraph
Cuckys
Although Cuckys was just released on Feb. 3, they’ve already reached the top 5 all-time volume on Canto. These 999 pixelated duck NFTs sold out in 15 minutes and cost 15 CANTO each. The floor is currently 320 CANTO ($166 USD).
They recently launched the “Cucky Launcher,” which is a launchpad for new Canto NFT projects. Some of the funds from this launchpad will be distributed back to holders.
Dark Matter
This collection is made up of 888 pieces of Japanese-inspired generative art. Just like Cuckys, they sold out very quickly on Feb. 3, 2023. The floor price is currently 80 CANTO ($40 USD).
Explore Canto
It’s not exactly easy to bridge funds to Canto NFTs, but over $402 million has already been bridged. This goes to show that DeFi enthusiasts and NFT collectors are curious about Canto.
Canto NFTs are attracting a community that is dedicated to true decentralization. Artists and collectors alike love to be early to blockchains that show promise, and this early spike in Canto NFT volume is something to monitor in 2023. Even NFT “whales” like @dingaling have been buying up popular collections on the blockchain.
Here are some direct links to community-created Canto resources:
