Power Rankings Review | Apes Remain King
The Lucky Trader Power Rankings uses a set of weighted attributes to curate a full set of numbered rankings for NFT projects across blockchains.*
Every week we'll take a snapshot of the rankings and review the movement from the week before as a result of the latest news, trades, and more.
*Full details on our weighted rankings can be found at the bottom of the Power Rankings page.
It's been a while since our last update, so this week I'll focus more on providing a snapshot of the current rankings, while moving forward I can provide greater detail on the movements and fluctuations of your favorite NFT collections.
Top 30
This top ten seems pretty familiar, with little overall movement since our last update (at the end of 2022). Apes and Punks are still dueling for the top spot, while generative art's triumvirate - Fidenza, Ringers, and Autoglyphs - follow, with brief interjections from other mid-tier PFP projects.
Below, I'll walk through some of the news surrounding the seemingly minor movements in our top 30 rankings.
Pudgy's Having Fun
NFT Twitter was polarized by the videos coming out of a joint DeGods/Pudgy Penguins event at NFT Paris. While the viral videos showcased a testosterone-filled dance circle, the full cut from DeGods does provide proof that at least some women were at the party. I'm not here to discuss the lack of diversity at the party - but merely point out that the Pudgy's have made a slow climb back towards the top ten in our rankings.
For comparison, the Pudgy's climb two spots to No. 12 marks a notable improvement from just a few months ago. In our rankings snapshot at the beginning of November, Pudgy's were ranked No. 22 and held a floor price of just 3.10 ETH.
The floor price chart is a nice sight for holders.
Captainz Are Coming
Memeland went from an outsider to a near blue-chip organization and its NFT collections are being rewarded in our power rankings.
Captainz, which have only just debuted in 2023, are up 12 spots to No. 22 overall in our rankings. The floor price has tracked back up in recent weeks as Memeland has been busy - but cryptically. The project made a bid on the Golden Key, swept a whole bunch of Trippy Apes, and lowered royalties.
What exactly is coming? Beats me. But a storm may be brewing.
Moonbirds Falling
When we launched our power rankings last year, Moonbirds was firmly cemented in the top ten. Now? It's at risk of falling outside the top 20. The project is down only one spot to No. 16 overall, but sentiment surrounding the entire PROOF ecosystem is at an all-time low following the cancellation of PROOF of Conference. A full update on the Moonbirds brand is expected this week. Can PROOF turn it around?
Where Pudgy holders can rejoice, Moonbirds nesters may not want to check out the floor price chart.
PFP Rankings
Week over week, there is no change to our top ten PFP ranks, with the only notable change a move of six spots for Captainz to No. 12 overall.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, despite an eventual move to ETH, DeGods continued its fall four spots to No. 16 in the PFP ranks.
Art, Art Blocks Rankings
Previously I was publishing Art rankings with a focus on Art Blocks dominance. Specifically, how many projects in the top 30 overall were generated on Art Blocks. Most weeks, the Art Blocks dominance number was near 60 percent or more. Now, we've created a specific Art Blocks Curated category. While these projects will still litter the traditional Art rankings, you can gain a better relative comparison point of just Art Blocks Curated collections using that category.
Art
A cursory glance through the Art rankings pushes a few notable projects into view that weren't there at the turn of the year - Checks (both VV and Originals) and Opepen. Did I say something about Art Blocks dominance? Perhaps we should be focusing on Jack Butcher dominance?
Both Jack's open edition mints have taken the NFT ecosystem by storm, providing massive gains for minters while creating considerable intrigue for technology lovers and speculators alike.
From out of nowhere, Checks - VV Edition is up to No. 12, Checks - VV Originals is No. 19, and Opepen is No. 23. Their respective moments from the last week are of little interest to me now, but I am curious about the potential staying power of these collections. Metas change so frequently in NFTs, can Jack Butcher meta sustain?
Brain Drops, Life in West America
Most all Brain Drops collections recently surged on secondary markets with the rise of AI meta, buoyed in large part by the rise of Life in West America, an AI photography project from Roope Rainisto. While the collection has declined from a floor price high of more than 12 ETH, it's still up more than 70x in less than a month since its mint. Life in West America currently ranks No. 31 overall in our art rankings.
*Note: Contractual issues are impacting the ability to import all Brain Drops collections.
Help Us Improve the Power Rankings!
Power rankings updates are finally back thanks to improved data and efficiencies on our backend, but that doesn't mean we can't improve them even more!
We are actively reviewing our existing categories and recategorizing a variety of projects to build the best set of NFT Power Rankings around.
If you have feedback about a particular category ranking you'd like to see, or input about a project that seems out of place, please let us know by sending a direct message to @LuckyTraderHQ on Twitter!
Want to see how things shake out next week? Be sure to follow our Power Rankings and look for this column each week. Furthermore, be sure to download the Lucky Trader app to stay updated on all things NFTs!
