Key Takeaways:
- The NFT market relies on randomly generated digital assets.
- Through random generation, mixing, and matching attributes, some NFTs are rarer than others.
- There are three types of metrics that NFT rarity tools measure: trait ranking, statistical rarity, and average trait rarity.
- Rare NFT attributes don’t necessarily translate to the most valued NFTs.
The foundation of the NFT economy is scarcity. After all, non-fungible assets, be they houses, diamonds, or NFTs, are illiquid. And illiquid scarcity is just another wording for rarity.
The more rare something is, the more valuable it tends to become because it is low in supply.
Case in point, when the Federal Reserve increased its balance sheet from March 2020 to May 2022 by $4.6 trillion, it ended up devaluing the USD by 8.3%, which we call inflation.
Now that we understand why rarity is important, let’s see what nft rarity tools we can use to measure it in the NFT market.
NFT Rarity Tools Explored
The most common types of NFT collections are set within the 10,000 item range. This itself is scarce compared to cryptocurrencies that typically have millions or billions of tokens.
But for every NFT to be worth a lot, the whole collection would have to get a lot of attention from celebrities and become very popular.
Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) certainly accomplished this goal with the floor price reaching Ξ97.75 (~$188.8k).
Nonetheless, that kind of success is itself rare, and not likely to be repeated in a new NFT market. For this reason, algorithms that generate NFT collections are set up in such a way as to produce rarity levels.
In fact, this is identical to RPG games oriented around loot drops, divided into common, magic, rare, epic, and legendary.
In both cases, the algorithm in charge of generating the asset comes up with the cream of the rarity cream. To illustrate, BAYC #8817 sold for Ξ852.38 (~$3.4 million).
One of the reasons for that astronomic price tag is its rarity score of 297.37, making it into the top 20 rarest BAYC NFTs out of 10,000 Apes. In other words, it is within the 0.2% rarity range.
You can figure out that rarity score because the NFT collection can be measured in a clear way. This means that each BAYC NFT has seven traits from which to choose a random one.
In the same way, the rarity score of each trait is added to the total score because it is known how many traits are in the whole collection.
In formula form, NFT rarity tools looks like this:
Rarity score for individual trait = 1/ ([number of NFTs with that trait) /[number of total NFTs in the collection])
Then, each score is added up to deliver the final figure, against which ranking is made.
So, both the overall trait combo rarity and the rarity of each trait is taken into account. Rarity score is convenient because it compares it with other NFTs present in the collection. For example, OpenSea lists #8817 BAYC with the following trait percentages.
However, this doesn’t tell us how it compares to others. The rarity score formula makes that comparison — ranking — possible.
With that said, it is not appropriate to apply trait ranking to every NFT collection.
Different NFT Rarity Methods
The above example is the most common way to measure NFT rarity, via trait counting, in typically generative collections. Yet, even NFTs in collections that have a fixed number of traits may be valued differently.
This is a difference between an eclectic and a complementary style. For example, if an NFT collection is more about tight clothes matching from an artistic point of view. It would be bad if the NFT looked like a mess no matter how rare the traits were.
To illustrate, Alita of Waifusion NFT collection is ranked #1 not because her traits are exceedingly rare, but because some traits match with others.
Specifically, a Wacdonald cap with Wacdonald shirt and pants.
For this reason, the rarity score in that particular NFT collection revolves around match-counting instead of rarity counting.
Lastly, there is statistical ranking. This formula simply multiplies all trait rarities:
Statistical rarity = Trait1 x Trait2 x Traitn
Therefore, if NFT has one trait at 13%, and other traits at 7%, its statistical rarity would stand at (13% x 7%) = 0.91%
Statistical ranking is simpler than the standard one. The lower the score, the rarer the NFT. The statistical method is different from the previous formula. Because it looks at the rarity of traits as a whole instead of how rare each trait is on its own.
This is also its vulnerability because NFTs with exceedingly rare traits are undervalued. Simply put, other traits dilute super rare traits.
On the other hand, statistical rarity makes up for trait rarity method. Because the trait rarity method looks at the most rare traits instead of the rarity as a whole.
The average trait rarity method is a compromise between the statistical method and the trait rarity method.
(Trait1+Trait2)/2 = average trait rarity
Using the same figures from the statistical rarity example, this method would yield (13+7)/2 = 10%, which is a lot higher than 0.91%. Is one method superior to the other?
Not exactly. Average trait rarity still emphasizes overall rarity too much, diluting extremely rare traits, just like the statistical rarity method.
Top 5 NFT Rarity Tools
Although it is possible to measure NFT rarity tools manually, this would be an extremely time-consuming process. To make things simple and convenient, a number of platforms have emerged.
1. Rarity.Tools
This platform has become the most popular NFT valuation tool, using the most common trait rarity ranking.
Alongside the powerful filtering by trait, price, volume, ranking, and sales, the platform also integrated OpenSea NFT marketplace link for extra shopping convenience.
2. Omnimint.xyz
OmniMint focuses on content, market analytics, and the most current NFT drops. The platform has a news section to keep traders abreast of the latest happenings in the space, accompanied by guides and big picture pieces.
The platform’s core features are the NFT calendar, allowing users to view the space at a glance on a single page, and the market insights panel, providing detailed pricing and NFT ranking information.
Each project has a timer within a thumbnail, followed up by detailed statistics on sales, roadmap, social media footprint, and floor price.
As NFT discovery platforms go, Omnimint delivers the most condensed and vital information possible with as few tab-clicking as possible.
This applies to rarity ranking as well. For example, if one were to click on the BAYC collection, each NFT can be filtered by rare traits and sorted accordingly.
3. RaritySniffer.com
To get on top of new NFT collections, as soon as they are released, RaritySniffer is a solid choice. It purports to deliver rarity results within seconds after the NFT reveal.
However, as a relatively newer platform, this means that major older NFT collections are missing.
Its strong point is a thriving Discord channel (over 14k members) that delivers rarity analysis that may become revealed even before it is publicly available. For any NFT trader, that is a huge advantage.
4. RaritySniper.com
Equally user-friendly as Rarity.Tools, RaritySniper integrates both Solana and Ethereum collections. Even more impressively, the platform has a giant Discord channel consisting of over 337k members.
The reason for this popularity is Discord’s rarity discovery bot. Not only does it deliver rarity ranking, but also gas fees and floor prices.
5. TraitSniper.com
TraitSniper is competing with RaritySniffer to be the fastest rarity delivery vehicle. For this reason, its focus is only on upcoming and the latest NFT projects.
While the platform is free to use thanks to its automated rarity analysis bot, the paid perk (lifetime pass) includes real-time notifications of the latest hot NFT happenings and rarity scores.
Although its interface is not as smooth as RarityTools or RaritySniper, it does the job. In fact, some may prefer its simplicity, direct wallet integration and Twitter feeds.
Do NFT Rarity Tools Matter That Much?
In conclusion, these are all beneficial tools. However, it bears keeping in mind that the most important decision to make in NFT trading is selecting the right NFT collection in the first place. It doesn’t matter if one NFT is rarer than the next, if the whole deal is dead in the water.
Furthermore, even NFTs with technically the rarest traits don’t yield the highest prices because they don’t “look right.” In the end, the NFT market is an illiquid one, so the asking price is in the eye of the beholder, not the buyer.
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