Nansen’s new dashboards give in-depth coverage of NFT rarity both at a project and trait level of insight.
The rarity of traits is the most fun and important part of the NFT market. From digital real estate to profile pictures, the desirability and popularity of the rare traits drives the success of a collection. Nansen’s dashboards now offer an in-depth breakdown of rarity for over 650+ NFT projects and counting. This core feature is available to all levels of subscribers (including those on the $9 trial). In this blog update, we demonstrate these new dashboard features based on the most important question NFT investors and collectors need to know.
What are the rarest NFTs and how are they valued?
Navigate to NFT God Mode. Now under the new Rarity Tab is an overview of the rarest 1000 NFTs in a collection. As rarity is very subjective, we choose this metric based on the most transparent and easy to understand method. Rank and rarity score as a % are calculated as follows:
- Divide the number of NFTs with a trait by the total in the collection
- Sum the points for each trait an NFT has
- Display as an overall rank and % Score
To add meaningful layers to this base metric, we give sortable columns by sales, number of traits, last price, and very importantly the gain or loss made in the last sale. Each of these metrics allows users a deeper view into the current market for these rarer NFTs.
How rare is rare?
Buying an NFT based on its rarity can be misleading. To identify the real rarity of an NFT it's important to look at the trait distribution against other NFTs in the collection. The trait distribution profiler does this visually, letting users assess at a glance the relative scarcity of NFT traits.
In the examples above, Bored Apes (top) and Doodles (bottom), we see very different rarity profiles. Doodles have far more NFTs with unique traits whilst Bored Apes' most rare trait is present in 26 NFTs (Bored Unshaven Pizza).
The scarcity and depth of trait rarity for an NFT project is a key consideration when assessing market value.
What traits does the market value most?
For users active in the market the most recent price and volume of a trait is far more important than statistical rarity. Often eye-catching traits such as BAYC Fur: Solid Gold can trade at a premium despite their apparent statistical rarity. In the 7 Day overview by trait, users can identify which traits the latest market activity is driven by and examine relative changes in how valuable a trait is.
Is most trading activity at the floor or are more rare NFTs highly valued?
Under the market overview is a chart highlighting where price premiums and buying activity is happening in relation to NFT rarity. This chart allows users to identify if recent market activity is buying rare trait NFTs or just buying the most common ‘floor’ NFTs. It also quantifies the strength with which rarity is valued in a project.
These two metrics are one of the most important ways for addressing how mature an NFT project is. Often if buying happens only at the floor then the project can be seen as having very little rarity based value. Conversely, a new project with high activity and a premium on rare NFTs suggests collectors are excited by the traits and rarity on offer.
Who owns the NFTs with the same trait type?
The 2nd of our new rarity dashboards is where we go another level deeper. Unlike NFT God Mode (rarity tab), Rarity Profiler is a stand-alone dashboard that breaks down sales and transfers data for specific traits. This allows users to focus precisely on specific traits to see where the sub-market is moving and more importantly who is driving it.
Top Rarity Rank, lists every owner of every NFT in the trait selected. It details the global rank of the NFT, links through to the owner's wallet profile and identifies the most recent prices and dates of sales. This tool has multiple use-cases but is perhaps most important for assessing the strength of fellow bag-holders, as rare trait markets can be very fragile to sudden buys and sells. Identifying smart-money wallets (Nansen labels for savvy NFT collectors) can be a good indicator of the strength of the particular trait-market.
What value does the sales data suggest for this trait in relation to the wider project?
Rarity statistics is not enough to judge relative value, it’s important to know how far above or below the average price a trait type is trading. Looking at this historically gives insight into how collectors' taste in trait types changes over time. For example BAYC Black Cap (above), was at first trading above the project's average and then below. This suggests the relative value of the BAYC Black Cap is decreasing.
What are the most recent transactions and what is the smart money doing?
The scatter graph above shows every recent sale allowing users to precisely establish the when, where, what and who of each trade made. This graph also includes Smart Money so we can see the behaviour of the most skilled investors.
In this example, the narrative expands around BAYC Black Cap: high smart money sales around July - August in a period of high liquidity and increases in price; contrasted with a leveling out price and decrease in sales more recently.
What is the history and trait data for a specific NFT?
After all the comparative stats, NFTs are by definition individually valued. For buyers, sellers and observers the individual history and rarity of an NFT will remain the most important data-point. With this update we have expanded our NFT Item Profile to include images, trait and rarity data for all NFT projects covered.
In Summary
The latest NFT offering by Nansen enables a new view into the value of NFTs both at a project and trait level. The important aspect of the market often drives activity in NFT projects and more widely suggests the popularity or longevity of a project. Now Nansen covers rarity data, we aim to continually explore and update new features such as price estimation, price sniping, trait-specific floor prices and also will continue to address the depth and speed with which we cover NFT projects.
Please upvote or suggest new features here or ask further questions in our Discord.