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What makes an NFT rare in crypto?

You bought an NFT from the new trendy collection and you want to know its rarity? Do you want to find a nugget at a low price and have all the information? Let’s answer the following question: what makes an NFT rare?

The attributes of a rare or common NFT in crypto

Taking the case of avatar collections, several thousand NFTs are usually generated automatically. Indeed, dozens of attributes (or traits) are randomly mixed by an algorithm to create these unique avatars.

Some attributes are thus present much more often than others, making it possible to establish an order of rarity of the NFTs.

Common attributes of a rare NFT in crypto

It should be noted that the creators of the smart contract used for the mint of an NFT collection have the possibility to predefine the rarity of each attribute used. Therefore, similar attributes can be found in many NFT collections such as skin, fur or gold body, lasers in the eyes or simply an upside down avatar.

A gold NFT is therefore usually rare compared to the rest of its collection, but that shouldn’t be enough to convince you when the designers might very well have decided to make this feature common.

#500 Cool Cats with head down

Attribute combos that make an NFT rare in crypto

A key point to consider is the mix of attributes that an NFT has. Indeed, some traits blend better than others, either visually or just by making more sense. If, for instance, a collection has a very rare zombie skin attribute, as well as an uncommon zombie eye attribute, having both on the same NFT avatar could be extremely rare.

This sometimes leads to NFTs with no exceptional attributes becoming very rare thanks to a combo of several uncommon attributes. The aesthetic aspect should also be taken into account in attribute combos. Even if they are not rare, a combination of common attributes that are considered beautiful brings rarity to an NFT.

The aesthetics of an NFT and its subjective rarity

Indeed, sometimes the rarity of an NFT is simply due to the hype surrounding its aesthetics, leading owners to refuse to sell their avatar. The simple principle of supply and demand can then drive up the price of NFTs that have, at first glance, no rare attributes.

The lack of attributes can also be the reason for the value of a piece of art. A perfect example can be found in the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection: Bored Apes with only 4 attributes are special in the eyes of collectors. Often more “refined”, their simple art is very popular and makes them valuable pieces in the collection. They are, by the way, not very present among the 10 000 monkeys.

#9606 3rd rarest Bored Ape in the collection

How to check the rarity of an NFT in crypto?

Let’s get down to business. There are several options to check the rarity of an NFT and we will present you some of them. Some sites reference an impressive number of NFT collections and calculate the rarity of each piece in the collection to obtain a complete classification.

Since their algorithms are different, the same NFT can have a different position in the rankings, which is why we recommend using multiple rarity ranking platforms while searching.

The most used sites to obtain the rarity of an NFT are :

Some sites are specialised in a network such as Ethereum or Solana while others promote for example upcoming drops.

#8811 : the 6th rarest Bored Ape in the NFT collection

Each collection NFT has an identification number called ID. Choose the relevant collection and simply use this number to find a token and discover its rarity score, its position, as well as the various attributes responsible for its place in the ranking.