7 Best Blockchains For NFTs11 min read

NonFungible’s data about NFTs, tracks the total sales value of NFTs increasing as fast as to surpass $1.7 million between August 2021 and February 2022.  

This predicts a promising future for NFT, with more and more people investing. And when it comes to this, the first thing to decide is which NFT blockchain platform to select.

Note that: The, widely-considered, best blockchains NFTs are Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Binance Smart Chain, Flow, EOS, and Wax. However, selecting the ideal NFT blockchain requires carefully considering some factors, including transaction speed, transaction costs, consensus algorithm, and smart contract functionality. 

The following guide covers all about the best blockchains for NFTs, including the pros and cons of some of the top NFT blockchains and factors to consider before investing in one. 

7 Best Blockchains for NFTs

Let’s learn more about some of the best blockchains for NFTs. 

1. Ethereum

Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood launched Ethereum in 2015, and soon the platform became one of the most established and extensively used blockchains with only second to Bitcoin in its popularity and market capitalization. 

The trade for Ethereum is expected to exceed around $50,000 in 2023. And if the numbers keep increasing, the stats are predicted to reach as high as $11,170 by 2025.

Because Ethereum comes on the top, it comprises the biggest developers and investors community, linking buyers and sellers with several benefits, including advanced technology, smart contract functionality, and frequent bug fixing. 

Pros of Ethereum are:

• Its value is constantly rising.
• Its tokens are more stable and supported than other alternatives. 
• Its native currency, EtherEther, is supported by many wallets. 
• Various other reputable NFT marketplaces also support EtherEther.
• It supports interoperability with other blockchains. 

Cons of Ethereum are:

• It is widely adopted, so its transaction fees are higher. 
• Volatile cryptocurrency increases the risks of investing in Ethereum. 

2. Solana

Solana is known for its impressive community support, a faster transaction rate at comparatively lower gas fees, and an unbeatable combination of its proof-of-history (PoH) and proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms. 

Solana is one of the fastest programmable blockchains on the market. It embeds its smart contracts in Rust, C, and C++ programming languages, making it easier for users to understand the contract before making a transaction. 

Solana is one of the biggest competitors to Ethereum with its community growing every day. The blockchain even reached a record in 2021, when its total value locked (TVL) surpassed its previous record high of roughly $13.91 billion.

Experts believe that the future for Solana is bright and predict that it will enter 2023 with a maximum price of $82.46, and the numbers will hit the market with a price of $104.01 by the end of the year. 

Let’s now look at some of the benefits offered by Solana:

• Its PoH (Proof of History) technology makes higher transaction speeds possible. 
• Faster transaction rates are available at lower gas fees. 
• The platform is easier to understand, making it ideal for new NFT freaks. 
• Community support is better than other alternatives. 
• Its transactions make a low environmental impact. 

The following are some of the reasons Solana might not be the best option for you:

• It is not decentralized enough.
• Network stability is often an issue on Solana. 

3. Cardano

(Credit: Analytics Insight)

Cardano was launched by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson with the objective to create a platform where users can enjoy transactions with lower fees, improved security, and a green and environmentally friendly experience. 

However, the best thing about Cardano is its support for proof of stake (PoS), which allows users to stash their NFTs in a decentralized financial system. Such an approach is highly advantageous as users need not sell their NFTs to earn. Instead, they can earn a handsome amount by developing decentralized applications (dApps). 

The optimistic future of Cardano has made experts predict the blockchain’s price to exceed $1.2095 in 2023, while the increased profit can even strike $2.8255 by the end of 2025.

Let’s now look at some of the benefits of Cardano:

• It supports and is operated on peer-reviewed technology. 
• It is scalable and supports an increasing load of transactions and the number of nodes. 
• Transactions are available at cheaper rates. 
• Its PoS supports a decentralized financial system.
• Security is much improved and reliable. 

The following are some of the reasons Solana might not be the best option for you:

• Low prices result in less demand for network space.
• Its value is still progressing. 

4. Binance Smart Chain

BSC or Binance Smart Chain follows a dual-chain architecture synced to the Binance Chain. However, BSC offers additional benefits over Binance Chain, including an advanced smart contract functionality and strong compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). 

Every Ethereum node has a virtual component called the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) that can run contract bytecode. Because of this, users can enjoy various benefits when using Binance Smart Chain for NFTs, such as:

• It makes switching between blockchains easier. 
• Even if trading volumes are higher, the blockchain supports faster transactions. 
• It’s easier to exchange crypto. 
• The transaction fees are lower. 

However, there are also some demerits to BSC, like:

• Its complex platform is confusing to understand for new users. 
• Ethereum is responsible for most of its backend functions. 

Binance Smart Chain is getting more popular every day. 2023 is expected to witness a rise in the numbers, hitting $820.6 by the end of 2023 and $995.027 by the end of 2025. 

5. Flow

Flow is one of the recently launched blockchains equipped with greater benefits than Ethereum; it’s still evolving, given the platform was introduced in 2020. 

The primary objective behind Flow was to create a platform solely for NFTs, and users are surprised by its higher performance and greater scalability. 

The predictions for Flow’s future involve a rise in numbers, with a potential price of $7.085 by the end of 2023 and $11.257 in 2024, and the blockchain is even expected to crash at $17.030 in 2025.

This PoS-based blockchain can undoubtedly fuel entire application ecosystems, especially those related to games and digital valuables.

Pros of using Flow are:

• It supports a faster concurrent transaction time.
• Users can trace all the smart contracts interacting with the resources.
• It is quickly growing as a fierce alternative to Ethereum. 
• It offers fast transactions and greater scalability. 

Cons of using Flow are:

• Its smart contracts are supported by Cadence (the programming language developed by Flow professionals; thus, specializers are rare to find). 
• The platform includes various transaction fees, making it costly. 

7. EOS

EOS is known in the NFT world for its shocking largest initial coin offering (ICO). The stats show EOS selling a billion tokens and raising nearly $4 billion within a year. 

The experts also believe the blockchain can rise between $30 – $100 from 2023 to 2025. The platform is now widely acknowledged for its free transaction fees and faster transaction rates, millions per second. 

EOS native tokens are tuned with the Ethereum blockchain (ERC-20) as they are created on top of Ethereum. However, EOS promises a long-term revenue potential, given it operates on powerful technology, impacting various industries globally. 

The list of benefits of the EOS blockchain is long:

• The platform requires almost no transaction fees. 
• It’s easy to use for everyone. 
• It supports high-end partnerships and greater community support. 
• Scalability and high volatility. 

Some of the cons of EOS are:

• It’s a decentralized project, but most of its tokens hang on its parent company, Block.one. 
• It may apply tax on profits. 

7. WAX

WAX or Worldwide Asset eXchange is another best blockchain for NFTs, offering about 8,000 transactions per second and consuming approximately 125,000x less energy per transaction than Ethereum. Also, because it is a carbon-neutral blockchain, WAX is known as an environmentally-conscious blockchain. 

Another benefit users get with WAX is its easy-to-understand smart contracts, written in C++. However, users are recommended to go through the WAX C/C++ API library to better understand the contract. 

WAX blockchain also offers the following features:

• It supports a one-click account creation.
• The platform accepts fiat currency. 
• Its transactions are fast and free.
• Entrepreneurs and artists can generate and sell their virtual products on virtual markets.
• It supports instant payments via the platform. 

However, a major concern regarding WAX is:

• The platform doesn’t support transferring coins to the WAX Coin contract itself, which can result in code duplication.

Factors to Consider Before Investing in a Blockchain

Converting a piece of art into a non-fungible token (NFT) requires listing it on a blockchain. The market has various best blockchains to consider, as listed above, but selecting one requires taking into account some aspects, as listed below. 

• Transaction Speed

A higher transaction speed means more transactions per second, while a lower transaction speed slows down the whole process, resulting in a minimal number of transactions per second. 

• Transaction Costs

The price of a transaction on a blockchain depends on various factors, including the blockchain charges and NFT features. Blockchain costs include account fees, gas fees, and listing fees. 

The transaction speed impacts the overall transaction cost on a blockchain. Other than that, the size, quality, format, and versions of an NFT result in a higher or lower cost. 

• Consensus Algorithm

Blockchains use different types of consensus mechanisms, depending on their operation strategies. 

A fault-tolerant consensus algorithm can be best described as a process that brings reliability to the NFT trade by providing consensus (agreement) on a single data value between various users or nodes. 

Two popular consensus mechanisms used by blockchains are proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS). 

PoW consensus is prone to more issues than PoS, so the latter is a much safer option if the blockchain is attacked, which risks all the valuable data. 

• Smart Contract Functionality

A must-consider factor before finalizing a blockchain is the smart contract it offers between a buyer and seller. Professional platforms craft a contract that reserves the rights of not just the artists, sellers, and buyers but of the whole blockchain. 

Take Away

NFTs are getting popular every year as many people are joining the competition. Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Flow, EOS, WAX, and Binance Smart Chain are some of the best blockchains to invest in in 2022. 

However, cryptocurrencies are volatile and fluctuate with time, which calls for the need for a careful blockchain selection. Novice investors are recommended to take note of the blockchain’s transaction speed, transaction costs, consensus algorithms, and smart contracts before making a final decision. 

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