Plus: Who We'd Love to See on Ovation

If any of their top collectors joined Ovation, we'd be ready to welcome them with open arms and a sleek digital profile.

TL;DR

NFTs are still thriving in 2025. These five collections continue to lead the market in sales, community influence, and cultural relevance. From legendary avatars like CryptoPunks to the resurgence of Pudgy Penguins, these projects show that Web3 collectibles are not only alive but evolving. If any of their top collectors joined Ovation, we'd be ready to welcome them with open arms and a sleek digital profile.

What Is an NFT Whale and Why Do These Five Projects Matter?

In Web3, a whale is someone who holds a significant amount of a particular asset. Their moves can shift markets and change community sentiment. An NFT whale plays that same game but with digital collectibles instead of tokens. These are the people who mint early, collect deeply, and influence what others choose to value.

This list focuses on the five NFT projects whose whales still carry weight in 2025. They represent the highest volumes, most active communities, and strongest cultural impact across the ecosystem. We're not just highlighting sales numbers. These are the collections that helped shape the way we think about digital ownership, art, identity, and community.

1. CryptoPunks

CryptoPunks is the original flex in Web3. Launched in 2017 by Larva Labs and acquired by Yuga Labs, it's the 10,000-piece avatar collection that helped kick off the modern NFT movement. It has generated over three billion dollars in lifetime volume and remains the top NFT project by market cap, holding steady around one point two billion dollars.

One CryptoPunk sold for over twenty-three million. That's not hype. That's history. Punks are seen as the badge of early adoption and lasting value, often compared to Bitcoin in the way they represent the foundation of the NFT space.

2. Bored Ape Yacht Club

Launched in 2021 by Yuga Labs, Bored Ape Yacht Club quickly became a cultural icon. With over two point five billion dollars in total sales, BAYC is not just an NFT collection. It is a full ecosystem with companion drops, metaverse projects, and an ever-expanding brand.

Celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Justin Bieber helped drive visibility. Community-driven events and licensing rights added depth. Even in 2025, BAYC holds strong with a market cap between three hundred and three hundred thirty million dollars. It is one of the most recognized collections in the world.

3. Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity brought NFTs into gaming at scale. At its peak in 2021, Axie was more than a game. It became a source of income for players around the world, particularly in developing markets.

Axie was the first NFT project to exceed four billion dollars in total volume. Although the play-to-earn craze cooled off, Axie has maintained a dedicated user base. It remains a pioneer in blockchain gaming, influencing dozens of projects that followed. Its success shows that NFTs are more than static images. They can power economies and bring entire communities into Web3.

4. Art Blocks

Art Blocks changed the game for generative art. Launched in 2020, it became the go-to platform for artists using code to create visual masterpieces. The platform has hosted landmark collections like Fidenza and Ringers, and helped bring digital art into major galleries and auctions.

One Ringers piece sold for over two thousand ETH, around seven million dollars. By 2025, Art Blocks had surpassed one point five billion in cumulative sales. Chromie Squiggles alone hold a market cap of more than one hundred twenty million dollars. This is not just tech art. It is cultural currency.

5. Pudgy Penguins

Pudgy Penguins is the comeback story of the NFT world. After a rocky start, the project was revived by Luca Netz and has since become one of the most talked-about NFT brands in 2025. They have expanded into toys, books, and mainstream retail while maintaining strong Web3 roots.

In a single 24-hour period, Pudgy Penguins generated over eighteen million in volume. They often lead daily trading charts and have reached a market cap of around seven hundred million. Their community is both massive and genuinely joyful, proving that NFTs can be fun, collectible, and widely accessible.

What Would It Mean to Have These Whales on Ovation?

These whales hold the most influential NFT collections in the world. Their public wallets are followed, copied, and even mimicked by bots trying to front-run every move. But their profiles, the way they show up online, are still divided.

That's where Ovation comes in.

Imagine CryptoPunk holders curating their top punks on a single profile. Picture BAYC whales uploading animated visuals of their apes and linking to their favorite DAOs or communities. Think about an Art Blocks collector building a gallery right on their link-in-bio.

This is more than a feature. It's a shift in how we think about Web3 identity.

Having these whales on Ovation would set a new standard. It would show that expression and ownership belong together. And it would invite the next generation of collectors to do the same, even if they're just starting out.

Conclusion

These five projects are not just popular. They are benchmarks. They've proven that NFTs can hold value, drive culture, and evolve into brands that matter.

But as the space grows, so does the need for identity tools that reflect this evolution. Ovation is built for this moment. Whether you're a new collector or a verified whale, your digital presence deserves to be dynamic, expressive, and beautifully curated.

FAQ

• What is an NFT whale?

  An NFT whale is someone who holds a large number of valuable NFTs, often across multiple top-tier collections. These collectors can influence markets by what they buy, sell, or even promote. Think of them as the power players of the NFT world, early adopters with deep conviction and even deeper wallets.

• Who is behind CryptoPunks?

  CryptoPunks was created in 2017 by Larva Labs and later acquired by Yuga Labs, the company also behind Bored Ape Yacht Club. The collection includes 10,000 pixelated avatars and is considered one of the first NFT projects to go mainstream. CryptoPunks helped inspire the ERC-721 standard and is often seen as the original "blue-chip" of NFTs.

• What is Bored Ape Yacht Club?

  Bored Ape Yacht Club, or BAYC, is a collection of 10,000 cartoon ape NFTs launched in 2021 by Yuga Labs. More than just art, BAYC became a brand and community, with membership perks like event access and commercial rights. It helped push NFTs into pop culture with celebrity holders and high-profile collaborations.

• What is Axie Infinity?

  Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based game where players collect, breed, and battle cute digital creatures called Axies. At its peak, Axie became the leading play-to-earn game, especially popular in countries like the Philippines. It remains one of the most influential GameFi projects ever built on blockchain.

• What is Art Blocks?

  Art Blocks is a platform for generative art NFTs. Artists use code to create one-of-a-kind digital artworks that are minted live on-chain. Collections like Fidenza and Chromie Squiggles have become legendary in the NFT art world, making Art Blocks a go-to destination for serious digital art collectors.

• What is Pudgy Penguins?

  Pudgy Penguins is an NFT collection featuring adorable, chubby penguins. After launching in 2021 and going through early leadership drama, the project was reborn under new management led by entrepreneur Luca Netz. Since then, it has exploded in popularity, expanding into toys, books, and mainstream retail, all while keeping its Web3 roots intact.

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