What is an NFT rarity ranking?

Summary of an NFT rarity ranking

NFT rarity rankings are a metric that quantifies the uniqueness of a non-fungible token’s (NFT’s) traits as compared to other NFTs within the same collection.

Every NFT is unique, a combination of different traits of differing rarity – ranging from common features that appear in thousands of a collection’s NFTs to one-of-one traits that only appear a single time.

Dozens of traits, including facial expressions, clothing items and accessories, appear in profile picture (PFP) collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cool Cats. Similarly, projects like Otherdeed for Otherside offer metaverse territories made up from unique combinations of terrain and valuable natural resources.

With so much variation and so many potential combinations within a collection, it can be difficult to fully appreciate what makes an NFT truly unique. An extremely rare trait that’s only present among a few select pieces is easy to spot, but gauging the true uniqueness of an NFT across all of its rare and common traits can be far more challenging.

Each piece in an NFT collection can be assigned a numerical rarity ranking, which indicates each NFT’s relative scarcity based on how rare its individual traits are in combination. The rarity rankings built into Kraken NFT help NFT owners and prospective buyers better understand how unique each NFT is.

How does rarity factor into the value of an NFT?

While every NFT is provably unique, an NFT that embodies multiple rare traits is generally more sought after in the market.

As a real-world example, there were 15,631 Ford Thunderbirds built in 1956. The different drivetrain, color and equipment options offered from the factory ensured that not all Thunderbirds rolled off the assembly line the same. A car that has a specific combination of options, such as power steering, a convertible top, radio and Peacock Blue paint, may end up being a far smaller sub-segment within the production run.

Because of its unique combination of options from the factory, a car that on first glance may appear to be the same as another may in fact be far more scarce, and therefore desirable in the collectors market, because of its specific characteristics. The same is true for NFTs as well.

How are NFT rarity rankings calculated?

There are many ways to calculate an NFT's rarity, each of which will result in a different score.

Some methodologies determine overall rarity by taking the average rarity of each trait expressed within an NFT. Other methods consider only the rarest trait, ignoring the scarcity of all other traits. Some multiply the rarity values of all the traits shown within an NFT by each other.

Ultimately, these methods offer incomplete assessments and different results. Some methods overweight the rarity of all traits within a collection, failing to properly account for the extreme rarity of certain outlier traits. Others provide an incomplete picture by focusing solely on an NFT’s rarest trait, assigning lesser importance to other traits that are also rare.

Kraken NFT solves these problems by using a formula that weights the number of NFTs in a collection that have a given trait against the total number of NFTs in the collection.

The sum of the rarity values for all of an NFT’s traits results in an overall rarity score, which is ranked against the other NFTs in the collection.

Kraken NFT offers a built-in rarity ranking based on the uniqueness of an NFT’s rarest individual trait while also weighting the combined rarity of the full NFT — a holistic approach that avoids over or underweighting the final metric.

NFTs beyond rarity rankings

While rarity plays an important role in the collectibility of an NFT, it is not the only factor to consider.

Unique aesthetic qualities, bespoke community offerings and other qualitative factors are just a few of the many elements that can help you determine whether you may want to buy an NFT and how much you’re willing to pay for it.

For example, a common NFT that has no particularly rare traits or trait combinations — but happens to be a collection’s first NFT ever issued — is often seen as more desirable because it is the first in the series.

Additionally, subcommunities have formed around specific traits found in certain collections such as a special piece of clothing or interesting attribute. This can drive interest in specific NFTs beyond a quantitative assessment of its rarity.

Even still, some collectors may value an NFT’s aesthetic qualities or subjective charm far more and not be concerned with rarity at all.

Native rarity rankings with Kraken NFT

With Kraken NFT marketplace's built-in rarity rankings, NFT collectors and traders have an easy way to make more informed decisions when evaluating different NFTs across a collection.

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