When I look for NFTs to collect, I pay close attention to things like artistic commentary, historical significance, and technical innovation.
And while the NFT market may be bearish lately, some iconic digital collectibles with these notable attributes have become very affordable, presenting friendly entry opportunities for discerning collectors.
Below, I walk through my three favorite NFTs currently priced under $100 that stand out to me for their innovation and potential future relevance. Whether you're an avid collector or just starting out, these picks each offer something unique!
1) ChainFaces
Current floor price: 0.023 ETH (~$76)
When I think about legends in the NFT space, Nate Alex is one of the top names that jumps to my mind.
Nate has multiple claims to fame here, from being an early prolific collector of CryptoKitties, CryptoPunks, and Autoglyphs, to creating pioneering cryptoart himself with series like ChainFaces and Squiggly.
I’m particularly fond of ChainFaces because I started really diving deep into NFTs in December 2019, and then Nate released the collection in January 2020, and I remember picking up a few from OpenSea secondary listings right after that. These were some of my first NFT purchases ever!
Yet it’s not just nostalgia that makes me love ChainFaces. These 9,999 unique ASCII text faces are among the first generative art releases in NFTs, and they’re also the very first fully onchain profile picture (PFP) collection, with this design having inspired dozens of new projects in its wake.
So yes, there is some nostalgia here. But I also sincerely believe more and more people will come to look back on ChainFaces as a pioneering effort, so it bears historical relevancy potential that the vast majority of 2021 NFTs lack. It can age well, in my opinion.
2) Corruption(s*)
Current floor price: 0.018 ETH (~$60)
One of the most impressive creative streaks during the 2021 NFT bull run came via dom, a trailblazer in various senses who is renowned for having created Vine and currently heading up Sup.
Indeed, it was 2021 that dom became a significant early pioneer in onchain art, serving as a driving force behind innovative projects like Blitmap andLoot and as one of the Nounders, the small group that created Nouns DAO.
It was also that year when dom stealth launched what is one of his most overlooked, but also now most affordable, onchain creations: Corruptions(s*).
Corruption(s*) is an avant-garde cryptoart collection with a unique interplay of art and mechanics. In other words, each NFT in the collection is entirely onchain and features generative ASCII art that evokes textual portals, containing one of ten specific words like "CORRUPTION" or "EVERYTHING."
These NFTs accumulate and evolve onchain based on a trait called Insight over time, with the rate of accrual affected by whether the NFT is transferred or remains stable. This innovation makes each Corruption(s*) NFT a dynamic, evolving piece of art and places these works among the more interesting digital artifacts from 2021 in my mind.
3) Fini
Current floor price: 0.023 ETH (~$76)
My favorite NFT project behind Terraforms is probably Fini. Created by artist Ed Fornieles and a team of assistants, the collection is, in my opinion, a genius conceptual art project wrapped up in the form of 10,000 PFP NFTs.
Full disclosure, I own just over 25, as this is the one collection that I’ve actually collected from in the classic sense of an obsessive collector. So why the obsession? A couple of reasons:
1) Aesthetics – If we collectively tried to create a “7 Wonders of NFTs” list, I’d vote Fini on aesthetic grounds. The collection boasts over 11,000 traits and more than 70 animations across 10 families and over 100 clans, all of which are beautifully charming. The breadth here is an impressive artistic feat, unlike anything else in NFTs, making it one giant amazing artwork that I can own unique pieces of.
2) Genre-bending – At the surface level, Fini work as PFPs. But they’re also dynamic “living NFTs,” with Chainlink oracles allowing their moods to change in real-time in line with crypto price changes. These dimensions spring from the concept of our emotional relationships with money, and the centrality of this concept here is why I also see the collection as a singular conceptual artwork.
My bottom line, then? Fini fuses art, tech, and market dynamics compellingly, offering a powerful commentary on our emotional entanglement with crypto assets.
In turning abstract data into "digital cuties," Fini make for adorable online pets in their own right while providing an artistic critique of the emotional volatility inherent to crypto speculation. I can’t help but love how deep the collection is, in multiple senses!
