Here Are the Top 10 Most Expensive NFTs Sold to Date, From Beeple’s Record-Setter to Edward Snowden’s Court Transcription

One thing that caught the attention of the crypto community and the mainstream audience was the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFT). In case you’re unfamiliar with what these are, please take a look at our video guide on NFTs, or its written version.

Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are turning out to be a treasure store with prices striding into the millions of dollars. Instances of an NFT garnering more than $69 million or a tweet fetching $2. 9 million are not a fantasy, but an incredible reality.

In 2021, an NFT by digital artist Beeple, or Mike Winkelmann, sold for a whopping $69 million, making NFTs a media hotshot and opening the floodgates for a string of other NFT sales, many of these in millions of dollars. Prompted by the plentiful talk about NFTs, stars like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Eminem, Grimes and many more have hopped onto the NFT bandwagon.

In 2022, NFTs have been garnering attention from investors, artists and collectors alike. Let’s take a glance at the 10 most expensive NFTs sold to date:

Listed below are the stats for NFT collections and individual assets that have sold for the highest prices. We list the data in descending order. Data can be reordered by clicking on the column title.

Crypto Shark ClubSolana

Shark themed NFTs

4 hours ago

FITE is a web 3. 0 fitness project focusing on the health problem of people.

in 3 hours

Pre-sale: 0. 03 ETHSale: 0. 05 ETH

Solspy wraps every tool that a trader would want in just a single platform.

in 6 hours

In 2022, three of the biggest auction houses turned to something less conventional — non-fungible tokens (aka NFTs). And, by the look of the results, the demand for digital art is definitely there.

If you’re wondering who would spend money on buying NFTs, let alone millions of dollars, it’s not just so-called “super fans”. Instead, it’s anyone from collectors to individuals, who are searching for a way to earn higher profits, that are impacting the role of NFTs on the creator economy and empowering creators to earn millions from merely a single piece of work. Without further ado, here are the stars of this article – 14 of the most expensive NFTs ever to be sold.

14 of the Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold

• 1. Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple
• 2. CryptoPunk #7523 by Larva Labs
• 3. CryptoPunk #7804 by Larva Labs
• 4. CryptoPunk #3100 by Larva Labs
• 5. Crossroad by Beeple
• 6. Ocean Front by Beeple
• 7. CryptoPunk #5217 by Larva Labs
• 8. This Changed Everything by Sir Tim Berners-Lee
• 9. Stay Free by Edward Snowden
• 10. CryptoPunk #7252 by Larva Labs
• 11. Save Thousands of Lives by Noora Health
• 12. CryptoPunk #2338 by Larva Labs
• 13. Replicator by Micah Bowbak
• 14. Doge
• Frequently Asked Questions

This page lists the top NFT collections. They are listed by sales volume with the most valuable first and then in descending order.

#NameVolume24hEst. Market CapFloor PriceAvg. Price24hSales24hAssetsOwnersOwners%1Nina’s Super Cool WorldEthereum753. 37 ETH0. 37%6,982. 34 ETH1. 26 ETH1. 6098 ETH0. 37%468-5,0801,51129. 74 %2Bored Ape Yacht ClubEthereum434. 69 ETH-875,792. 48 ETH82. 11 ETH108. 67 ETH-4-10,0006,44164. 41 %3SPACE IDBSC669,484. 97 BUSD-803,381. 97 BUSD14,615 BUSD66,948. 5 BUSD-10-12650 %4Otherdeed for OthersideEthereum296. 78 ETH0. 04%424,884. 7 ETH2. 19 ETH4. 1219 ETH0. 04%72-100,00034,82634. 83 %5CryptoPunksEthereum241. 95 ETH0. 17%527,026. 01 ETH—40. 33 ETH0. 17%6-9,9993,56835. 68 %6Mutant Ape Yacht ClubEthereum173. 37 ETH0. 26%347,068. 79 ETH16. 49 ETH17. 34 ETH0. 26%10-19,42512,96966. 76 %7MoonbirdsEthereum128. 35 ETH0. 32%201,391. 94 ETH18. 75 ETH21. 39 ETH0. 32%6-10,0006,58365. 83 %8HALO OFFICIAL(BSC)BSC203,162. 06 BUSD1369. 95%267,672. 94 BUSD4,326. 04 BUSD3,443. 42 BUSD124. 23%59555. 56%1004242 %9MeebitsEthereum119. 36 ETH0. 46%137,170. 36 ETH4. 99 ETH5. 6838 ETH0. 46%21-20,0006,55032. 75 %10CLONE XEthereum101. 25 ETH0. 18%187,723. 8 ETH8. 3 ETH10. 13 ETH0. 18%10-19,3559,46248. 89 %goblintown. wtf$—Moonbirds Oddities$—Bored Ape Kennel Club$—VeeFriends Series 2$—mfers$—Veefriends$—Elemental Ape$—Cool Cats$—Based Ghouls$—HAPE Prime$—TUD NFT$—Bird World Mystery Box 3$—Fluf World$—Chimpers$—Sharks. BSC$—IlluminatiNFT$—Stickmen Toys$—Azuki$—Cryptoadz$—CryptoDickbutts$—Invisible Friends$—Pudgy Penguins$—World of Women Galaxy$—DummyNFT$—Gutter Cat Gang$—Murakami. Flowers$—BEANZ$—Kaiju Kingz$—NFT Worlds$—Akutars$—WonderfulDay Tiger NFT$—Impostors Genesis Aliens$—DEGEN TOONZ$—World of Women$—DeadFellaz$—Gutter Dogs$—alien frens$—The Saudis$—Milady Maker$—Bulls & Apes Project — Genesis$—Toxic Skulls Club$—Anonymous_511b$—OnChainMonkey$—Llamaverse Genesis$—Space Doodles$—Quirkies$—Gridcraft Genesis Identities$—Ragnarok Meta$—Gutter Pigeons$—Zipcy’s SuperNormal$—BBRC — IVY BOYS$—Apocalyptic Apes$—Meta Bounty Hunters$—ThePossessed$—Moonrunners$—CryptoSkulls$—Lazy Lions$—Space Riders$—Zinu’s Zombie Mob Secret Society$—Imaginary Ones$—CyberBrokers$—Boki$—Regulars$—Wilder Beasts$—MetaFans Genesis Collection$—Sappy Seals$—rektguy$—Cyber Bandits$—CyberKongz VX$—Gutter Clones$—SkinDrops$—Infinity Labs$—Welly$—3Landers$—ShitBeast$—Akumu Dragonz$—Meta Mansions$—BULL BTC CLUB$—Party Bears$—AIMoonbirds$—Gutter Rats$—Meta Legends$—Banana Task Force Ape$—CryptoMories$—Habbo Avatars$—Hero Galaxy: Heroes$—0n1 Force$—Baby Doge Army$—Loot (for Adventurers)$—Silks Genesis Avatar$—

Beeple, Human One. Photo courtesy of Christie’s New York.

Cryptocurrency may be in a tailspin that’s leaving some NFT collectors fearful of the longterm prospects for their new investments. We may gain some clarity at the NFT. NYC conference, touching down in New York this week (June 20–23).

To reflect on the market, we’ve compared the top 10 biggest NFT sales to date with our assessments of the market last December, June, and March.

It comes as no surprise that Beeple’s Everydays – The First 5000 Days is still the measuring stick by which all other NFTs are ranked. The artwork, a compendium of the artist’s over-13-year daily drawing project, opened for bidding at just $100 before skyrocketing to $69 million, becoming the third-most expensive work by a living artist ever sold at auction.

The piece, which represents the number of days Julian Assange has been in prison, was part of the “Censored” NFT collection sold to pay the Wikileaks founder’s legal fees as he fights extradition to the U. from London (the U. , however, just granted the extradition). The winning bidder, a 10,000-person collective called AssangeDAO, shelled out $52 million.

“Censored,” an NFT collection by Pak and Julian Assange. Courtesy of Pak.

But aside from Pak’s high-profile entry to the list, the rest of the top 10 has remained relatively static over the first half of the year, with only one other new entry. (Compare that to the turnover between our March and June lists in 2021, when eight of the initial top 10 lost their slots

Mad Dog Jones, REPLICATOR (2021). Courtesy of Phillips.

Falling off the list this time is an early XCOPY work by Mad Dog Jones, Some Asshole, rumored to belong to the rapper Snoop Dawg, as well as his Replicator, which went for $4. 1 million in April 2021 at Phillips, making him Canada’s most expensive living artist.

Our top 10 exclusively features one-of-one works, excluding NFTs from popular series like the 10,000-piece CryptoPunks collection. If factored in, there are no fewer than eight that exceed the $5. 4 million achieved by number 10 on our list, led by Cryptopunk #5822, which sold for a record $23. 7 million in February.

Here’s our updated list, based on the conversion value of Ether at the time of the sale.

Edward Snowden, Stay Free (Edward Snowden)
$5. 4 million, April 2021, Foundation

Ross Ulbricht, Perspective from freeross’s Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection.

XCOPY, A Coin for the Ferryman
$6 million, SuperRare, November 2021

XCOPY, A Coin for the Ferryman.

Beeple, Ocean Front
$6 million, Nifty Gateway, March 2021

Beeple, Ocean Front. Courtesy of the artist.

XCOPY, All Time High in the City
$6. 14 million, January 2022, SuperRare

XCOPY, All Time High in the City.

Beeple, Crossroads
$6. 6 million, February 2021, Nifty Gateway

Beeple, Crossroads (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

XCOPY, Right-click and Save As guy
$7 million, December 2021, SuperRare

XCOPY, Right-click and Save As guy.

Beeple, HUMAN ONE
$29. 8 million, November 2021, Christie’s

Beeple, HUMAN ONE (2021). Courtesy Christie’s.

Pak, Clock,
$52 million, Manifold

Beeple, Everydays – The First 5000 Days. Courtesy of the artist and Christie’s.

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NFTs are continuously growing in popularity throughout 2022, with art collections worth millions being sold as digital jpegs, and some of the top influencers and celebrities the world over getting involved in the action with their own projects, such as NELK’s Full Send Metacard.

We’ve seen collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks become some of the most expensive pieces of art you could buy, with artists like Beeple and Pak selling their pieces for tens of millions of dollars.

But which ones are the most expensive? Let’s take a look.

Beeple’s Crossroad — $6

Beeple’s Crossroad is just a short, 10-second movie of sorts, depicting people walking past a large, fallen body with insults written all over it.

Beeple’s works are so highly respected because they offer something slightly different from the regular NFTs you see — and the price speaks for itself.

CryptoPunk #7804 — $7

Yet another Cryptopunk added to the list.

Yet another CryptoPunk on the list, but certainly not the last. #7804 is one of just nine ‘Alien’ CryptoPunks, with a cool cap, pipe, and shades to boot.

This is definitely one you’d be delighted to have minted when it first launched.

CryptoPunk #3100 — $7. 67m

#3100 has become a seriously sought after NFT.

On March 11, 2021, just one day after #7804 sold, #3100 became even more expensive than its brethren.

Another Alien punk, but this time sporting just a headband, #3100 is the seventh most rare CryptoPunk out there.

CryptoPunk #4156 — $10. 26m

4156 ranks as the third most expensive CryptoPunk of all time.

In a list largely dominated by the ever-popular CryptoPunks, #4156 ranks as the third most expensive Punk of all time. It was bought on December 9, 2021, just 10 months after a $1. 25m sale. That’s a pretty solid return on investment!

CryptoPunk #7523 — $11. 75m

This is the most expensive CryptoPunk in the world.

Blowing all of its CryptoPunk fellows out of the water, #7523 is the third rarest in the collection, and it’s got the price tag to match.

The question now becomes, with two more rare CryptoPunks than #7523, how much more can they really be sold for?

CryptoPunk #5822 — $23

At the time of writing, 5822 sold for double of the next most expensive CryptoPunk.

Continuing in the trend of super-expensive ‘alien’ style CryptoPunks, 5822 shattered all expectations when it sold for over $23m on February 12, 2022.

At double the cost of the next highest CryptoPunk, 5822 might have just sent the entire collection even further into the stratosphere.

Beeple’s HUMAN ONE — $28. 985

HUMAN ONE sold on November 9, 2021 for a fee just shy of $30m, closely linked to his previous piece ‘Everydays’ according to an interview with Christie’s.

Clock — $52

This Clock NFT updates every day to showcase how long Julian Assange has been imprisoned.

‘Clock’ is a piece created by Pak and Julian Assange, and almost acts literally as a clock, counting the days that WikiLeaks founder Assange has been imprisoned.

The goal of the NFT was to raise funds for Assange’s legal defense and was ultimately purchased by AssangeDAO — a collection of over 10,000 people pooling their money to purchase the NFT and support Assange.

The First 5000 Days — $69

Is Beeple the greatest digital artist in NFTs?

Another Beeple piece and the most expensive NFT ever sold to one sole owner — and there’s a good reason for it.

Beeple’s artwork is so high-tier and highly respected within the community, and this piece is essentially a collage of 5000 pieces of his work. Starting from 2007, he pledged to create one piece of art every day, and this is the result. Needless to say, it was worth the effort.

Pak’s ‘The Merge’ — $91

The Merge was bought by 28,983 collectors for a total of almost $100m.

Another Pak piece, The Merge officially became the most expensive NFT ever sold on December 2, 2021, with almost 30,000 collectors pitching together for a total cost of $91.

This is the only NFT on this top 10 list to have multiple owners, besides Clock, and it shows in the crazy price tag on it.

There’s no doubt that NFTs are growing more and more popular as time goes on, but it really begs the question: How high is the ceiling for NFT prices?

Needless to say, if you mint into the right projects and show a bit of patience, you might be sitting on a nice little fortune down the line.

Given the network’s speed and low costs, Solana has become home to several NFT trading platforms that allow collectors to buy, sell and trade Solana-based assets.

Magic Eden

Listing an NFT on Magic Eden attracts a fee of 0%. However, the platform charges a 2% transaction fee. Creators can also set their royalties and receive payment immediately after a sale happens.

Magic Eden supports most Solana wallets, including Phantom, Slope, Sollet, Solflare, Clover, Ledger, Solong and MathWallet.

Another interesting feature that Magic Eden gives to creators is its launchpad. It is designed to help NFT artists mint their collection without having to deal with technical know-how.

Solanart

In terms of trading volume, Solanart is currently the second-largest NFT marketplace on Solana, having over 200,000 traders and an overall sale volume of approximately $637 million. And although the platform is still in beta, it hosts a great portion of the biggest NFT projects on the Solana. Needless to say that Solanart was the first Solana NFT marketplace.

SolSea

Despite being in fifth place in terms of overall trading volume, SolSea touts itself as “the first NFT marketplace that enables creators to choose and embed licenses when they mint NFTs. ” Although other NFT marketplaces are beginning to integrate the functionality, SolSea was one of the first to release rarity rankings. The platform calculates the rarity rank, score and traits of every fully minted collection on its marketplace.

As for fees, SolSea charges a 3% transaction fee.

There’s no talking about Ethereum NFTs without mentioning the likes of CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). Similarly, there are a few collections currently dominating or making waves within the Solana NFT space.

Solana Monkey Business

Much like CryptoPunks and BAYC, Solana Monkey Business (SMB) is a blue-chip project on Solana, attracting notable owners like Steve Harvey, Steve Aoki and Alexis Ohanian. Although the original collection launched in June 2021 with just 205 total NFT collectibles, the Gen 2 collection of 5,000 pixel monkeys shot the project to the limelight and is more commonly associated with the SMB brand.

Owning an SMB NFT is akin to being a royalty on Solana. The lowest-priced Monkey in the market is 216 SOL or around $21,600 at current market prices. While this is a far cry from BAYC’s floor price of over $200,000, SMB is currently the second-largest collection on Solana in terms of the overall trading volume.

Degenerate Ape Academy

With an all-time secondary sales volume of over $120 million, Degenerate Ape Academy (DAA) is the largest NFT collection on Solana. Minted in August 2021, the collection consists of 10,000 ape avatars. Interestingly, the entire collection sold out in less than 8 minutes, which was a huge surprise to everyone.

According to its founders, DAA was created on the principles of “friendship making, crayon eating and absolute, unregulated, deplorable, degenerate behavior

It is also worth mentioning that DAA made history as the first million-dollar NFT collection on Solana, with a current floor price of 75 SOL or $7,500.

DeGods

Holders who stake their NFTs are rewarded with 10 $DUST daily, a utility token is already being integrated with Magic Eden, metaverse projects and play-to-earn games.

Cets on Crack

Despite being a newcomer, Cets on Crack is one of the most hyped projects on the Solana NFT scenes. In just a month after the project launched, its floor price surged to over 40 SOL, a testament to the power of community.

There have been rumors that Cets are linked to BAYC. Nevertheless, the project has focused on branding and storytelling.

Thugbirdz

There is no talking about Solana OG NFT projects without mentioning Thugbirdz. This collection of 3,333 pixel birds features different rarity traits based on shades, hats, earrings, face tattoos and lots more. The collection is being run by ThugDAO and has attracted big holders like Wiz Khalifa and Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder of Solana.

We’re well into 2022 but the NFT craze isn’t going anywhere it seems. Investors and collectors flush of money have continued pouring in money into non-fungible tokens, from cat memes to pixelated apes to popular NFT collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club and a lot — and we mean a lot — of punk-like avatars. In fact, sales are on pace to surpass last year’s total and they’re on track to hitting a total $90 billion by the end of 2022 despite NFTs prices seeing a downturn as of late. But what’s really moving the market and what makes people want to buy NFTs for tens of millions of dollars? How about you see it for yourself as you go through the list of the top 10 most expensive NFTs sold so far.

The Merge — $91. 8 million

The First 5000 Days — $69. 3 million

Breaking record after record, the world of NFT art really smashed it last year. And bringing the market to its highest high was digital artist Mike «Beeple» Winkelmann who became a household name after selling a collage of 5000 pictures made one per day over more than thirteen years titled ‘Everydays: The First 5000 Days’ at Christie’s first-ever digital art auction in March of 2021. The NFT was sold to Singapore-based crypto investor Vignesh Sundaresan, also known as MetaKovan, who is also the founder of the Metapurse NFT project. As described by Christie’s «the individual pieces are organized in loose chronological order: zooming in reveals pictures by turn abstract, fantastical, grotesque or absurd, deeply personal or representative of current events. Recurring themes include society’s obsession with and fear of technology; the desire for and resentment of wealth; and America’s recent political turbulence. » Besides being the second most expensive NFT sold to date, Everydays is also the fourth most expensive work from a living artist ever sold at auction. Clock — $52. 7 million

HUMAN ONE — $28. 9 million

CryptoPunk #5822 — $23. 7 million

There are a few NFT collections to have achieved a cult-like status and the CryptoPunks are surely at the top of the most popular tokens, selling for record-breaking prices time after time. The project, which launched in 2017 by the hand of Larva Labs, was inspired by the London punk scene, the cyberpunk movement, and electronic music artists such as Daft Punk. Capping off the list of the most expensive CryptoPunks (and the fifth on the list of the most valuable NFTs) is CryptoPunk #5822. The token sold for roughly $23. 7 million in February of this year and there’s seemingly good reason for the price tag; CryptoPunk #5822 is part of the series’ rarest alien edition, of which only 9 exist out of the 10,000 punks available. On top of this, this token is one out of 333 others with a bandana. The NFT was purchased by Deepak Thapliyal, the CEO of Chain. And given how rare it is, we can expect it to remain one of the most expensive NFTs out there. Alien Cryptopunk #7523 — $11. 75 million

TPunk #3442 — $10. 5 million

We’ve seen why the Alien punks are so valuable, but there’s a different breed also catching the attention of investors — the TPunks. They’re seen as Tron’s version of CryptoPunks. This one in particular resembles the Joker and while TPunks NFTs typically don’t sell for much, TPunk #3442 went for $10. 5 million at a sale held last year and was bought by Tron co-founder and cryptocurrency mogul, Justin Sun. He did not keep the token, though, and has since donated it to the APENFT marketplace. CryptoPunk #4156 — $10. 26 million

Making this one of the highest NFT sales to date is — yes, you guessed it — another Punk. This time is CryptoPunk #4156, which sold for $10. 26 million last year. The sale was prompted by the pseudonymous collector Punk4156 becoming disillusioned with the NFT project and the way in which Larva Labs handled communication, licensing guidance, and community engagement. 4156 remains in the NFT scene, however, after having gained popularity by becoming a thought leader and launching Nouns, an NFT project that is building open-source IP. CryptoPunk #5577 — $7. 7 million

Even after the 2021 NFT frenzy, 2022 saw no signs of seeing a slowdown in the interest for CryptoPunks with CryptoPunk #4156 selling for $7. 7 million back in February. This token was purchased by Robert Leshner, founder of the Compound DeFi protocol who announced his move with a “Yeehaw” tweet as CryptoPunk #5577 featuring a cowboy hat. CryptoPunk #3100 — $7. 6 million

And last but not least, CryptoPunk #3100. By now we already know that CryptoPunks have a special place in the hearts of NFT collectors and art lovers worldwide and the tenth most expensive NFT ever sold is none other than a CryptoPunk that also happens to be one of the rare alien avatars, wearing a white and blue headband. Only 450 other punks have headbands, which makes CryptoPunk #3100 even rarer.

10 – Save Thousands of Lives — $4

Save Thousands of Lives is an NFT created by Noora Health, an organization that saves the lives of at-risk patients in South Asia. The artwork was sold for 1337 ETH, worth $4. 5 million in May 2021. The profits were allocated to the organization’s program aimed at saving newborns’ lives instead.

9 – This Changed Everything — $5

The NFT comes with several perks for the owner, like a letter written by Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, an English computer scientist and the inventor of the internet, a digital poster of the code written by him, and time-stamped documents recording the history of the internet in its early days.

8 – Beeple, Crossroad — $6

Crossroad is an animated NFT created by Mike Winkelmann, better known for his artistic pseudonym Beeple. It features the former US President Donald Trump laying on a field while bystanders ignore him.

It was sold for $6. 6 million in February 2021 on Nifty Gateway, but the sale execution was made on the secondary market.

Right-Click and Save As Guy — 7. 09M

Right-click and Save As Guy is an NFT image auctioned on the decentralized marketplace Superrare, sold for 1,600 ETH worth 7. 09 Million on December 10 to Comozo de Medici.

Interestingly enough, the buyer’s alias belongs to no other than hip hop legend and world-class celebrity – Snoop Dogg.

5 – Larva Labs, CryptoPunk #3100 — $7. 58M

CryptoPunk #3100 is part of the 9 Alien Punks series, and it’s slightly above CryptoPunk #7804 as one of the most expensive Alien Punks sold to date. #3100 is an Alien wearing a blue and white headband.

It’s worth noting that only 406 of the 10,000 CryptoPunks have a headband. It was first released in 2017 and rose to prominence with a $2 million bid in March 2021, eventually selling for $7. 58 million that same month. The NFT is currently for sale for 35000 ETH, which is around $100 million at the time of writing.

4 – Larva Labs, CryptoPunk #7523 — $11. 75M

On June 2021, London’s auction house Sotheby’s saw CryptoPunk #7523, also dubbed “Covid Alien,” sold for $11. 75 million, making it the most expensive CryptoPunk sold to date. The NFT belonged to a series of rare aliens, which consisted of 9 “Alien Punks

3 – Beeple, Human One — $29. 98M

The Human One is a dynamic, life-generative sculpture created by Beeple. It consists of an astronaut wandering across shifting environments and can change depending on the artist — Beeple has promised to “update” the Human One during his lifetime so the art will never remain static.

The concept attracted numerous investors at Christie’s, but it was crypto billionaire Ryan Zurrer who snapped it up for $29,985,000 on December 9, 2021.

2 – The First 5000 Days

Everydays: The First 5000 Days is an NFT artwork created by Michael Winkelmann, a digital artist known as Beeple. The artwork was auctioned at Christie’s with an initial bid of roughly $100 made by traditional customers.

But the bigger bids came shortly by crypto enthusiasts. Beeple was well-known in the crypto art community with six-digit sales like Crossroads, so it only took an hour for the piece to skyrocket to more than $1 million, with the final result being $69 million for the piece completed on the 21st of February 2021.

The First 5000 Days is an important artwork in the NFT community as it paved the way for mainstream audiences to explore on-fungible assets.

Fun fact: the art piece was bought by MetaKovan —the pseudonymous founder of Metapurse, an NFT investment fund. He wants everyone to download and copy the expensive artwork he bought. Why? Because he believes in free information.

1 – The Merge — $91

These pieces could be stockpiled to make a bigger mass and sell it on the secondary market. By the end of the sale, a total of $91. 8 million was spent, making it the most expensive NFT sold to date.

The First 5000 Days by Beeple

In March 2021, Everydays: The First 5000 Days, created by the digital artist Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple), was sold for a record high of $69. 3 million, making it the most expensive NFT to date. In fact, it’s one of the most expensive artworks that have ever been sold.

The artwork is a collage of 5,000 of the artist’s earlier work. In 2007, Beeple embarked on a mission to create and post a new digital artwork online every single day. The result – 5,000 digital pictures.

The artwork, which was sold by the auction house Christie’s at an online auction, was bought by Vignesh Sundaresan (aka MetaKovan). In an interview with CNBC, he said that he was willing to bid even higher as NFTs were the start of a new era in art.

CryptoPunk #7523 by Larva Labs

In very few instances will a pixelated image bag you millions of dollars. CryptoPunk #7523 that was developed by John Watkinson and Matt Hall from Larva Labs is one example of this exception. While there are 10,000 other similar collectible characters, this particular digital character is one of just nine Alien punks and the only one that wears a medical mask.

CryptoPunk #7804 by Larva Labs

You’re not seeing double. These pixelated faces might look similar, but it’s the unique attributes that set them apart and drive their popularity. As a matter of fact, you’ll be seeing more of these blue faces later on our list.

CryptoPunk #7804 is also one of the nine Alien punks. Instead of a medical mask, this one has a pipe in his mouth and wears small shades and a cap facing forward.

In January 2018, it was sold for the first time for only $14,988. Then, in March 2021, CryptoPunk #7804 was resold for $7. 5 million.

CryptoPunk #3100 by Larva Labs

Crossroad is another NFT created by Beeple that was sold for millions of dollars. While not nearly reaching the price of Everydays, Crossroad was sold on Nifty Gateway, a digital art marketplace and platform, to an anonymous buyer for $6. 66 million.

The digital artwork shows former US president Donald Trump flat on his stomach with derogatory words written all over his body after his defeat in the 2020 US presidential election. The interesting fact about this NFT is that when it was first created by Beeple, he designed it in such a manner that the artwork would change depending on the result of the election.

Ocean Front by Beeple

After nearly acquiring Beeple’s Everydays, Justin Sun, the CEO and founder of the cryptocurrency platform TRON, managed to snatch up this digital artwork by Beeple for a “modest” $6 million, 10 times less than what he was willing to pay for Everydays. The best part about this sale that was made via Nifty Gateway is that the profits of the auction were given to Open Earth Foundation, a non-profit organization with the goal of fighting climate change.

The artwork depicts a tree that sits on top of a platform with shipping containers and trailers that in turn sits on the ocean. It serves to comment on the climate change issues that we’re currently facing. So, the fact that the proceeds will go to help keep tabs on the progress of the Paris Agreement makes this sale bittersweet.

CryptoPunk #5217 by Larva Labs

Unlike the other digital artworks by Larva Labs on our list, this CryptoPunk forms part of the Ape punks collection. CryptoPunk #5217 is one of 24 Ape punks and sports a knitted cap and a gold chain.

It was sold at the end of July 2021 for $5. 45 million. It’s currently not listed for sale by its owner.

This Changed Everything by Sir Tim Berners-Lee

This Changed Everything is an artistic representation of the world wide web’s source code, making it a type of historical artifact. Included in the NFT is timestamped documentation that outlines the creation of the internet. It also includes a letter written by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and a digital poster of the full code that he created.

It was auctioned the last week of June 2021 by Sotheby’s and sold for $5,434,500 million to an anonymous buyer. Though, less than an hour after the auction closed, Scott Burke, a member of PleasrDAO, found a mistake in the video of the source code that gets typed up.

Stay Free by Edward Snowden

The whistleblower, Edward Snowden, made another contribution to society. This one is in the form of an NFT artwork.

In April 2021, his digital artwork titled Stay Free was sold for $2. 75 million. The artwork features a portrait of Snowden by Platon that’s placed on top of court documents that declared that the mass surveillance practice of the National Security Agency was unlawful. The proceeds of this auction went to Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to aid free speech and freedom of the press.

To date, this is the only NFT that Snowden has created.

CryptoPunk #7252 by Larva Labs

CryptoPunk #7252 is the first of the Zombie punks collection on our list. It’s one of 88 Zombie punks and sports three accessories: a chinstrap, an earring, and crazy hair.

Save Thousands of Lives by Noora Health

Similar to Stay Free by Snowden and Beeple’s Ocean Front, this NFT by Noora Health is less about the money and more about the cause. Noora Health was launched in 2014 to redefine healthcare by equipping families to play a key role in the healthcare journeys of their loved ones.

In May 2021, the NFT, Save Thousands of Lives, created by Noora Health was sold via OpenSea for just over $5 million. As the title suggests, the proceeds will be used by the non-profit organization to save quite literally thousands of lives. According to their numbers, they can save one life (and improve many more lives) with every $1,235 raised by the sale.

CryptoPunk #2338 by Larva Labs

If you’ve grown tired of looking at pixelated faces (or getting jealous of the success of Larva Labs), this is the last punk on our list. Just like CryptoPunk #7252, this NFT is also one of 88 Zombie punks and has only one accessory – a mohawk thin.

After CryptoPunk #2338 was first sold in July 2017 for a mere $673, it was already resold three times. The highest price that it has achieved was $4. 38 million at the beginning of August 2021.

Interestingly enough, when this NFT was resold the first time, it was actually sold at a loss of $73. If the owner kicked himself then, this latest transaction will for sure make him revisit that bad decision four years ago again.

Replicator by Micah Bowbak

Replicator is a self-replicating NFT that creates variant NFTs every 28 days that the owner can then sell. This means that the owner can end up selling more than a hundred NFTs, each with its own resale value.

The creator Micah Bowbak (aka Mad Dog Jones) dubbed his artwork as the first “multi-generational NFT. It was sold at a Phillips auction for just over $4 million in April 2021.

Doge

The image of a Shiba Inu, a breed of hunting dog from Japan, is viewed as one of the most famous memes. As of June 2021, it’s also the most expensive meme NFT after it was sold for about $4 million on Zora. A percentage of the sale’s proceeds will go toward the World Food Program, the Japanese Red Cross Society, and a number of other charities.

It’s not the first time that this meme’s journey to stardom took a different turn. It enjoyed a recent resurgence after a cryptocurrency Dogecoin was named after the meme. Then, earlier in 2021, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, endorsed the cryptocurrency on social media which also helped to increase its popularity. The Doge NFT now is 99. 29% below its price an it’s worth $0. 0009887.

Frequently Asked Questions

Mike Winkelmann (also known as Beeple) is without any doubt the star of NFTs. He’s a graphic designer from Charleston in the USA and does a variety of digital artwork, including short films. He’s best known for Everydays, his most successful artwork. It’s a compilation of pictures from his first 5,000 days online and the most expensive NFT ever to be sold.

Who’s Michah Dowbak?

Micah Dowbak (also known as Mad Dog Jones) hails from Toronto. He launched his career by displaying 15 neon- and citrus-toned prints of his work at Diesel Art Gallery in Shibuya. He makes the most of modern technology to create futuristic art. His artwork starts as photographs or hand-drawings of nature and morphs through coloring into a cyberpunk scene. Each image tells a specific story. Currently, he also experiments with NFT digital artwork.

What are some of the risks linked with NFTs?

Sold via Nifty Gateway, Beeple’s NFT Crossroads came as a response to the 2020 United States presidential election. The piece shows a despondent figure, supposedly Trump, lying on the ground and symbolizing the former president after losing the election.

Crossroads also featured two videos, one with a triumphant Trump and the other a solemn one. What would eventually play depended on the outcome of the election.

Ocean Front — $6 Million

Aimed at the climate crisis, the Ocean Front depicts a tree atop trailers and shipping containers stationed on a platform. Captioned “together we can solve this,” the NFT was auctioned for charity and the beneficiary was the Open Earth Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

One of the most valuable NFTs of the time, the Ocean Front, started bidding at $2. 77 million. The winner of the bid was Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron Foundation.

Right-click and Save As Guy — $7. 08 million

Snoop Dogg bought XCOPY’s NFT Right-click and Save As Guy, created as a satire of people who don’t recognize the worth of crypto art.

CryptoPunk #7804 — $7. 57 million

These traits include Alien skin, possessed only by 0. 09% of the collection. A pipe is another feature, present with only 3% of the collection. The small shades are yet another feature that only 4% of the collection has. There is the “cap forward” trait as well, which is on just 3% of the NFTs. These attributes make CryptoPunk #7804 such a rarity, making it one of the highest-selling NFTs.

CryptoPunk #3100 — $7. 58 million

As one of the nine Alien Punks, CryptoPunk #3100 features the Alien skin as well, which is a major factor pushing the token’s value up. The NFT with bluish-green skin also gets a unique look with a white-and-blue headband. The fact that only 406 out of 10,000 in the collection wear a headband underlines its rarity.

First released in 2017, CryptoPunk #3100 gained prominence with a $2 million bid in March 2021 and was eventually bought at $7. 58 million in the same month.

CryptoPunk #7523 — $11. 7 million

Like other expensive NFTs in the series, CryptoPunk #7523 has a gamut of rare features as well. It is a component of the Alien sub-collection. CryptoPunk #7523 stands out with three attributes possessed by 24% of the collection and an earring, which is only in 25% of the collection.

Human One — $28. 9 million

Designed by Beeple, Human one is a digital and physical hybrid piece of artwork. A peculiar fact about Human One is that its artwork keeps changing over time. Beeple retains remote access to the artwork and updates it periodically.

The NFT showcases an astronaut ambling through the different backgrounds that change over time. Experiments fusing various TVs into different shapes and patterns influence the appearance of the NFT.

Clocks — $52. 74 million

Clocks was meant to raise funds to defend Julian Assange after his controversial imprisonment in May 2019. He was facing charges of espionage due to his association with WikiLeaks, a website he founded. The clock showcases the number of days Assange had been behind bars.

The First 5,000 Days — $69. 3 million

Another creation of Beeple, the First 5,000 Days, is a colossal compilation of 5,000 pieces of artwork that differs in terms of content, medium and style that Beeple made every day starting in 2007. Often relying on dystopian or satirical settings, these art pieces have been highly appreciated by aficionados.

To date, it has been the most expensive collage of NFT art pieces ever sold to one sole owner.

The Merge — $91. 8 million

Created by artist Pak, The Merge occupies the top position as the most expensive NFT ever sold. Though the artist has never revealed their actual identity, they have a huge presence in the digital art space.

The Merge isn’t a static art piece, but a mash-up of “masses” that anyone interested could buy. When starting, the NFT consisted of three large dots against a black background. The size of the dots increased as the number of buyers went up.