The NFT market has become huge nowadays, but when wondering which NFTs are worth buying, you should focus on established collections. I’ve looked into the most important projects that are truly worth a look.

Bored Ape Yacht Club is still the go-to for many. The project launched in 2021 with a mint price of 0.08 ETH and has exploded since then. Those who got in early have multiplied their investment. BAYC also popularized the concept that NFT owners get exclusive rights and access to products. Many projects have copied this since.

When considering which NFTs to buy, CryptoPunks cannot be missed. The project was a pioneer in the PFP genre and was launched in 2017 by Larva Labs. The collection is legendary—some Punks with rare features fetch astronomical prices. A CryptoPunk with the rare "Alien" feature was sold for over $23 million.

Azuki offers a different approach—the anime aesthetic appeals to many, and the collection is somewhat more accessible than BAYC or CryptoPunks. The project calls itself a "Metaverse Brand" and collaborates with real brands. If you're wondering which NFTs to buy as a beginner, Azuki could be a good starting point.

Fidenza and Ringers are for art lovers. Both are generative art projects released via Art Blocks. Fidenza by artist Tyler Hobbs is particularly impressive—999 unique pieces, all generated with different parameters. Ringers by Dmitri Cherniak follows a similar concept. These collections are considered "Blue Chip" NFTs and are likely to remain valuable long-term.

Otherdeeds are interesting if you believe in the Metaverse. Yuga Labs is developing Otherside, and these NFTs give you land in that universe. Some Otherdeeds also include Kodas, special creatures that are significantly more expensive. Speculative? Yes. Actively traded? Definitely.

The Doge NFT is a special case—the legendary meme photo owned by Atsuko Sato. PleasrDAO bought it for $4 million and made something revolutionary: they split ownership into 16.9 billion DOG tokens. Anyone can buy shares and become partial owner of the Doge NFT.

Nouns is a different model. Instead of a one-time drop, a new Noun is generated and auctioned every day. The proceeds go to the Nouns DAO. NFT owners have voting rights and fund projects. This is more than just collecting—it’s active participation.

CLONE X was a collaboration between RTFKT and Takashi Murakami. The avatars can be customized individually, which is relatively unique in the NFT space. Invisible Friends by Swedish animator Markus Magnusson is also popular—animated characters with invisible bodies, only clothing and accessories visible.

When asking today which NFTs to buy, the key insight is: many of these collections have high entry barriers. Minimum prices have risen. But these established projects have proven to be value-stable. They are not hot air but collections with real history and community.

The exciting part is that the market continues to evolve. Generative art is gaining recognition, Metaverse NFTs are becoming more important, and new mechanisms like DAOs are changing how NFT projects operate. If you think strategically about which NFTs to buy for long-term positions, you should look at these established names. They have proven themselves and have strong communities behind them.