GM

IT’S HERE…

Our first annual BEST NFT MINTS OF THE YEAR awards.

No time to waste.

The 38 Best NFTs of 2023 (Part 1)

We covered (literally) thousands of NFT drops this year. These were our favorites.

Before getting into it, some quick rules:

• We only included mints released between late Dec 2022 and now

• We picked based on what we found exciting or culturally important

• We did not pick based on floor performance or other pump-amentals

• This is a multi-genre list, so sometimes you’ll have a PFP followed by fine art followed by a game (it is what it is)

• We own some of these because we like to mint things too

Lastly, you might be tempted to believe that a list like this would be subjective given the intangible nature of the objects discussed.

But thankfully that’s not the case here.

These rankings are factual, ground truths that perfectly represent reality during that brief moment in time when I hit send.

In fact, there are no opinions here at all, I simply act as a conduit through which these truths are divinely communicated by ancient technospirits.

thx and enjoy ✨

38. Eric’s Orb by Eric Wall

The idea was simple. Anyone who held the Orb could ask Eric weekly questions AMA style.

But when you bought the Orb, you also had to set a new price that you’d be willing to sell at, and were obligated to pay a small fee periodically as long as you held it (with the fee going to the Orb creator).

This has since expanded to other Orbs and points to a possible future where creators are paid passively onchain using a Harberger Tax.

Check it out: eric.orb.land

37. Notable Pepes 

A carnival of Pepe-inspired memes, produced by one of the biggest Pepe fanbois in all the land, Vincent Van Dough.

Series 1-4 kept the spirit of CT’s favorite mascot alive all year with nearly 200 drops from artists like Jack Butcher, Joe Looney, and Batz.

Playful vibes, a dose of controversy, and old-fashioned internet trolling (as you would expect).

Check it out: OpenSea

36. Rolls by Dave Krugman

Grab a camera that can only take 10 frames per roll of film.

Then auction each unshot frame as an NFT ahead of time, and assign the images to the NFTs in the order that they’re shot.

What’s a better show of faith than buying placeholders and trusting the artist to deliver?

Plus, there was also some speculative fun given that the camera was essentially “minting” in real-time, without any do-overs, similar to generative art collections.

Check it out: SuperRare

35. Seaport Subject by Botto

Botto describes itself as a “decentralized autonomous artist governed by the community”, where people vote on what it should make each week, and then the most popular weekly image is minted.

This is cutting-edge stuff that touches on many New Internet trends: AI, DAOs, and NFTs.

And perhaps surprisingly, it all works.

Seaport Subject was Botto’s first-ever edition (the first non 1/1), and our favorite visual piece it produced this year.

Check it out: Verse

34. Mocaverse

Animoca Brands seems to have its hand in every pie when it comes to Web 3 gaming (you can’t help but respect the hustle).

So it makes sense that a PFP promising exclusive access to their family of companies and partners would be a hit.

An easy utility pick (we ignore the art on these…) for those who believe that mainstream onchain games are imminent.

Check it out: OpenSea

33. Fellowship’s Post-Photographic Perspectives II

The first prominent multi-artist auction focusing on AI video art.

Publikfruit and Frank Manzano provided those fast twitch, choppy frame reels that have become one of the trademarks of this early AI video era.

Irina Angles and Dr Formalyst gave us choreographed dance routines performed by severed hands, because why not?

And Mowgly Lee took us to a lonely futuristic space station with Truman Show vibes.

It all felt like one long eerie dream sequence that we enjoyed visiting.

Check it out: postphotography.xyz

32. Sproto Gremlins

There are times when you come across a meme so deranged and deep-fried that you’re forced to say “well that’s enough internet for me today” and take a step back to reevaluate what went wrong.

However…

If you were to instead keep pushing deeper and deeper into the abyss, you would eventually come face to face with a Sproto Gremlin, the AI generated mascot behind the HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu memecoin.

Modern-day scizcho-aesthetic at its best.

Check it out: OpenSea

31. Beef Brothkos by diewiththemostlikes

On social media, DWTML has turned himself into a walking chatGPT filter that translates normal scenarios into surreal strings of deep-cut brand references with mentions of various things going in and out of different orifices.

And in his art, he’s developed a funhouse where pop culture objects go in through one door and emerge from another as trippy melted playthings from a demented late-night infomercial.

This is our favorite work from maybe the weirdest breakout artist of the year.

Check it out: OpenSea

30. Bitcoin Frogs

Bitcoin’s most popular vibes-only PFP collection.

Free mint; no roadmap; no royalties; anon founder; low-ish inscription numbers; light-hearted pixel art; fun atmosphere; fully onchain and stored on nodes around the globe, forever.

Just a pure meme.

Check it out: Magic Eden

29. Contractual Obligations by Matt Kane

When SuperRare announced Matt Kane as part of its Rare Pass drop series, collectors expected a technical, visually appealing, dynamic generative collection (what he’s known for).

Instead, Matt launched a generic low-effort AI collection based on images of burning bridges.

This was a bit of performance art criticizing what Matt felt was a lack of support from SuperRare, and golly gee did it rustle some feathers.

But many collectors vibed with it, and ironically at one point it became the most valuable collection in the entire Rare Pass lineup.

Check it out: OpenSea

28. Hashmarks by 0xDEAFBEEF

Yes, NFT mfers would rather trek to Argentina for minting ceremonies than go to therapy.

0xDEAFBEEF followers traveled to Patagonia to obtain physical artifacts with cryptographic hashes engraved on the back. These let them claim an NFT that continuously fades over time unless they “refresh” it every year for 10 years, at which point the NFT becomes immortal.

Hashmarks, like much of Deafbeef’s work, relies heavily on time as a mechanic – playing out across decades and centuries instead of days or weeks.

Check it out: OpenSea

27. Nakamigos

However you want to define “meme market fit”, Nakamigos had it. There’s no denying that NFT Twitter became enthralled with this collection during one of the lowest points in the market.

Maybe it was the clever crypto references in the traits. Or the simplistic pixel art. Or the (ridiculous) theory that Yuga Labs was behind it all.

Who knows, but something definitely had people feeling a certain kind of way.

Check it out: OpenSea

26. Red Bull’s Velocity Pass

The curve ball that nobody saw coming.

At first glance, Red Bull partnering with Bybit (an exchange) doesn’t feel like the ideal recipe for deep culture.

But it wasn’t long until anons across the land pivoted from skepticism to “wait this lineup is looking kinda heat”.

The roster of Perkwerk, Rik Oostenbroek, Snowfro plus a mystery artist (who turned out to be Jack Butcher) landed way above expectations and quickly made this an S-tier art pass.

Check it out: OpenSea

25. NFL Rivals by Mythical Games

An addictive football game on mobile that uses NFTs to represent tradeable players.

Fun arcade-style gameplay (rare around these parts) and a few pioneering mobile trends including temporary custodial wallets, in-game marketplaces, and enforceable royalties.

Not only is this impressive for the actual NFL licensing deal (still wondering how they did that), but it also quietly became one of the most popular NFT games in the world, now with 3 million players since launching in August.

Check it out: Mythical

Part 2 coming tomorrow…

And as always, here’s what’s…

👉️ MINTING TODAY