NFT Deep Dive Using Covalent

My Gateway into the World of Crypto

NFTs can represent many things, but for me, they were my gateway into the world of crypto. Compared to DeFi products and many other complicated crypto use cases with high barriers to entry, NFTs spoke to me because it was a fun and user-friendly way to experience blockchain technology. Through NFTs, I was able to expand my understanding of what blockchains can be used for – decentralization, security, and self-custody, among other things.

If you are not familiar with NFTs, NFTs are unique digital tokens on blockchains that can be just about anything people can dream up; for example, a piece of history like the Covalent x Crypto.com NFTs or collectibles with different levels of rarities like NBA Top Shot. Although most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain, more and more growing blockchains, such as Avalanche, Fantom, and Arbitrum, are spinning up their own interesting NFT projects. Diving deeper into newer NFT projects on these up-and-coming blockchains, I realized that the data underneath them are hard to access and there’s limited visibility into their activity, traction, and communities.

Looking for a solution, I came across Covalent’s unified API, which hit the nail on the head.

My Experience with Covalent’s API as an Analyst

Covalent’s API endpoints for NFTs bring to light NFT market data across nine different blockchains from Ethereum to Moonbeam and 15 different marketplaces from OpenSea to tofuNFT. Covalent aggregates valuable data from all of these sources, indexes them into one giant database under the same format, and provides users with free access through their unified API.

Using <Analyst Mode> in Covalent’s API Reference Docs, I was able to easily find valuable information like:

• Market capitalization and number of unique wallets for top NFT projects via the <Get NFT Market Global View> endpoint,

• As well as average volume of sales and floor price for a specific project via <Get Historical Data for NFT Collection> endpoint.

All without any training or coding. Surprisingly, Covalent’s data was also more accurate than what I would find on any marketplace because they calculate transaction data across all marketplaces of a chosen blockchain, whereas a single marketplace, like OpenSea, only calculates transaction data on its own platform.

I’m sure that it will be a turnkey solution for Covalent to support even more marketplaces moving forward, as they have already done the heavy lifting by indexing granular and historical data from multiple blockchains. Additionally, with crypto becoming more mainstream, Covalent’s no-code support will be increasingly important for regular users.

Possibilities with Covalent’s API as a Developer

With so much value-add for regular users already, imagine what developers could do with such robust NFT market data across multiple blockchains. If you’re a developer, Covalent’s API endpoints can be used as building blocks and combined to support a diverse range of use cases.

Switching to <Developer Mode> in Covalent’s API Reference Docs, you can effortlessly build:

• Investor tools so NFT collectors who want to purchase a NFT can make more informed decisions via the <Get NFT External Metadata for Contract> and <Get NFT Market Global View> endpoints,

• As well as analytics tools that can provide NFT collectors with more accurate information about their portfolio via the <Get Token Balances For Address> and <Get Historical Data for NFT Collection> endpoints.

Above all, there is no need to write complicated subgraphs or SQL queries to extract the blockchain data you need.

During this year’s ETHGlobal NFTHack, other innovative developers made use of Covalent’s API endpoints to create:

• NFTly: a mobile first Tiktok-like frictionless NFT explorer.

• NFT Generator: a platform that empowers artists and creators to submit their NFTs to the blockchain.

• NFTpay: a project that allows users to make their own blockchain-hosted invoices.

These are just three examples on top of the tens of thousands of developers using Covalent’s API to power their crypto wallets, NFT galleries, and taxation tools, as well as thousands of data-rich applications, including DappRadar, AAVE, and Balancer. It is exciting to imagine what other use cases builders will come up with in the future.

How to Get Started in Just a Few Clicks

Tired of reading and want to tinker around with Covalent’s API? You can now create your own customizable NFT dashboard by directly using Covalent’s NFT Dashboard Template on GitHub or by watching this video tutorial on Covalent’s YouTube Channel.

In just a few clicks, you can get a beautiful interface that shows:

• A graph of floor prices with an adjustable date range,

• The 24-hour on-chain trading volume,

• And previews of the NFTs with metadata and rarity attributes.

You can build this all by yourself without relying on any centralized providers.

Covalent’s NFT Dashboard Template uses the <Get NFT External Metadata for Contract>, <Get NFT Market Global View>, and <Get Historical Data for NFT Collection> endpoints, and it is especially helpful if you want to look at emerging NFT projects that aren’t on the Ethereum blockchain or large marketplaces like LooksRare.

Democratizing Data

The internet democratized information by allowing anyone to access and create content with a click of a button. Crypto democratized value by enabling the transfer of money without the need for any intermediaries. Covalent is democratizing data by connecting the blockchains they index with anyone who wants to access that data without the need for any permission.

Although there are other blockchain data solutions out there, none can efficiently index billions of rows of unstructured data across multiple blockchains and standardize the response format like Covalent’s unified API. To use Covalent’s API as an analyst or developer, you do not need to understand the complex architectures behind a blockchain or need to use a different tool, response format, and API for each blockchain; all you have to do is open their live application directly from your browser and pull all the blockchain data you need in one simple query.

With the mission of helping the crypto industry grow to new heights, Covalent recently announced that they are supporting Avalanche subnets by providing a complete historical archive of subnet data. It is clear that in the imminent multichain world, Covalent will continue to tackle the challenge of blockchain data visibility and serve as the most powerful blockchain data provider of choice for end-user applications.