Top 10 Fully On-Chain NFT Projects of 2023

It’s been quite the eventful year in web3. We’ve seen more and more innovations not only from the technical side but also artistically. Here are our top 10 fully on-chain NFT projects of 2023 (In no particular order).

Web — Jan Robert Leegte

Web is an artistic exploration of the Internet. 1000 unique web pages interlinked in a smart contract with a distinctive color and composition. A tribute to hyperlinks and machine learning, it's a monument to digital navigation and information architecture, where each NFT holds the DNA of the entire network. Use the explorer site to navigate through the web of documents.

Chaos Roads — Chainleft

Chaos Roads is an immersive collection that blends art with blockchain tech, presenting each token as a combination of a visual painting, a musical piece, and a poem, all evolving in real time. This concept, coined "runtime art," showcases a dynamic interplay of controlled chaos, highlighting the balance between disorder and order.

The Metro — Int.Art

The Metro is an innovative exploration of abstract metro maps, built entirely on-chain and designed to evolve in unpredictable ways. As each one evolves, they are likely to take on new and unexpected forms, reflecting the creative input of owners.

Cartae — 0xdiid

A fully on-chain collectible trading card collection. 0xdiid has done a lot for the community by introducing tools and techniques that make storing complex images on the blockchain easier. Cartae is a collection that aims to make collecting beautiful fully on-chain art more accessible.

Crypto Coaster — Int.Art

Crypto Coasters introduced a series of 2000 unique, randomly generated 3D roller coasters, compatible with VR and stored fully on-chain. This collection features a variety of track designs, ranging from fast-paced to slow and wild, providing a novel and thrilling experience, and is the first 3D immersive VR-compatible NFT.

A Fundamental Dispute — Adam genlight & Frolic

A series of digital sunsets living inside the world computer. Each piece is procedurally and beautifully drawn onto the canvas using code fully stored on the blockchain. AFD uses EthFS from Frolic to utilize p5.js stored directly on Ethereum.

byteGANs — Pindar Van Arman

“A kilobyte on blockchain.” Pindar Van Arman is an award-winning artist known for creating, programming, and exploring AI and robots. byteGANs are considered to be the first fully on-chain AI art collection. There are 1,111 pixelated dancing skulls in the form of animated gifs. Each GIF comes in at roughly 1kb. They have recently been 100% immutable as the contract has been renounced to the burn address.

Advent Stars — Miragenesi

A celestial on-chain Advent Calendar. Every day in December, a new star will shine in the night sky, sometimes together with colorful nebulae. Advent Stars is a beautiful time-based artwork that gifts you a unique experience every year.

GOLD — James Bloom

GOLD is a fully on-chain artistic exploration of its own market behavior. The art changes as the market changes. It explores how we see in digital environments, and how market networks influence how we see. The full spectrum of possibilities for GOLD will take years to reveal.

Checks - VV Originals — Jack butcher

This artwork may or may not be notable. Jack Butcher may have won NFTs in 2023 and it’s no surprise that this dynamic, customizable, and composable art project made our list. Checks are an infinite canvas for expression that is designed to challenge the concept of ownership and authorship in the age of the internet. Checks inherit the DNA of their merged parents. Collectors choose which token ID to keep. The largest and final piece in the collection is the black check, requiring 64 single checks to produce (4,096 editions). Only three will ever be possible.

Thanks for reading. We expect 2024 to have an explosion of on-chain projects that will push the limits of what we thought was possible with new mechanics and art styles. If you liked this thread please consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our bi-monthly newsletter.