List of most expensive non-fungible tokens

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.

Right Click Save As Guy (7. 09 Million)

«Right Click Save As» became something of a joke among NFT detractors, the idea behind it being that NFT ownership seems superfluous when digital art can easily be copied and distributed at virtually no cost. Of course, NFTs could more accurately be thought of as receipts associated with art that cannot be replicated rather than the art itself, though the sentiment remains popular regardless of inaccuracy.

Interestingly enough, this piece was purchased by rapper and actor Snoop Dogg in December 2021 for just over seven million dollars. Snoop Dogg has been making waves in the NFT space by purchasing NFTs, real-estate space in the metaverse, and making NFT-related music.

The Merge ($91. 8 Million)

Taking the number one spot as the most expensive NFT ever sold, The Merge is the creation of famed digital artist Pak. Pak is another big name in the NFT space, having created some of the most iconic artworks out there. The artist’s actual identity remains a total mystery, but that hasn’t stopped them from having a massive presence in the digital art space.

Of all the NFTs Pak has created, The Merge is their most creative. Rather than creating and selling a static piece of art, The Merge was a collection of ‘masses’ that people could buy. The more folks spent, the larger their ‘mass’ became. All of these masses are lumped under the same creation, and, with total sales coming out to $91.8 million, it makes The Merge the most expensive NFT sale by a mile.

NEXT: 10 Best Movies About Famous Artists, According To IMDb

#10. “Right-click and Save As guy” – $7. 09 million

XCOPY’s «Right-click and Save As guy» was sold for 1,600 ETH ($7.09 million at the time of purchase) in December 2021.

XCOPY created this GIF in 2018, before the NFT boom. The piece openly mocks those skeptical about NFTs: “Why would I buy it when I can right click and save as?” reads its description on Superare, the digital art market on Ethereum. Ironically, it sold for millions of dollars, proving its message.

Shortly after Beeple’s historic Everydays’ auction, XCOPY’s «Right-click and Save As guy» person appeared on BBC World News, which helped to change the public’s opinion of NFTs.

Wrapping Up

And, if you want to invest in non-fungible tokens but don’t have millions to spend, check out Wizardia’s Arena Genesis NFTs. NFTs are at the very core of Wizardia’s realm, making generating revenue for players and investors easy. You could earn potentially endless royalties from all battles that will take place once the game’s battle arena is out.

CryptoPunk #5822 – $23. 58 million

#5822 is the most expensive CryptoPunk sold so far (and the last one on this list, really). It was bought by the CEO of Chain, Deepak Thapliyal, for 8,000 ETH ($23.58 million at the time) in February 2022.

This punk boasts such an expensive price tag because a) it belongs to the super rare Alien collection, and b) it has only one attribute—a bandana.

There are only 333 punks that have one attribute and 481 punks with a bandana.

CryptoPunk #5822 was listed for sale in March 2022 with the highest offer of 10,000 ETH, which was later withdrawn. The punk remains with the original buyer at the time of writing and is currently not listed for sale.

CryptoPunk #5217 ($5. 45 Million)

Going back to Larva Labs, the company’s CryptoPunk #5217 has also made history as one of the most expensive NFTs in its collection. The NFT first sold in 2018 for a little over $1800. In July 2021, it sold for a whopping $5.45 million.

Aside from the incredible price tag, CryptoPunk #5217 is notable for a few unique design attributes. It’s one of 169 designs with a gold chain around its neck, and one of 419 with a knitted cap. Most importantly, it’s one of a mere 24 apes in the CryptoPunk series.

“CryptoPunk #7523” — $11. 7 million

Another of the nine rare CryptoPunk ‘Aliens,’ Punk #7523 also has a mask — which made it all too timely when it went to auction with Sothebys in June of 2021. The NFT was sold for 4,700 ETH — a record at the time.

“HUMAN ONE” — $28. 9 million

Beeple’s piece “HUMAN ONE” is the story of the first human born in the Metaverse. The piece is both a physical sculpture and a NFT.

The physical sculpture is over 7 feet tall, constantly moving, and features four screens displaying a dynamic 16K video that changes depending on the time of day.

The piece went to auction in November of 2021 and sold for $28.9 million or 4,700 ETH. Beeple continues to update and modify the piece remotely.

The Merge – $91. 8 million

Finally, we’ve come to the biggest NFT sale on the list—Pak’s —three white masses against a black background. This NFT was sold for a whopping $91.8 million on Nifty Gateway, a leading NFT marketplace, in December 2021. The platform called the event the “largest ever art sale by a living creator.”

The identity of the creator remains anonymous

This is the same Pak who worked with Julian Assange’s , the #4 on this list. Pak is a digital artist and a cryptocurrency investor. Or they could be a group of artists—no one knows as Pak remains anonymous and uses the pronouns they/them.

The debate surrounding the most expensive NFT ever sold

Some people aren’t sure whether should be on this list because it’s not technically a single NFT. went on auction as a collection of 312,686 units of mass. So, technically, it’s a collection of 312,686 NFTs that form a single artwork combined.

Plus, this collection of tokens wasn’t bought by a single person but by 28,983 collectors. They could buy any amount of non-fungible tokens they wanted, with the price for one token starting at $575 and gradually increasing by $25 every six hours.

What’s interesting about this NFT artwork is that each token was created to combine with other pieces in an owner’s crypto wallet. The more NFTs one accumulated, the larger their final mass would become. Each NFT merges with the token in one’s wallet, forming a single token with a unique mass value.

Right now, the collective piece consists of three white masses, but who knows, The Merge could end up being one final mass over time.

#14. “All Time High in the City” – $6. 19 million

XCopy’s “All Time High in the City” was sold for 1,630 ETH (about $6.2 million at the time of purchase) in January 2022. It was created by NFT artist XCOPY—a renowned name in the NFT art scene.

Minted in 2018, the GIF shows the underworld ferryman taking a man across the river Styx.

XCOPY is a London-based digital artist who created SuperRare and has been an early crypto adopter. He uses motion, glitching, or flickering effects to explore “death, dystopia and apathy through distorted visual loops.” His animated NFTs are highly sought after by serious collectors.

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. 56 million

Aliens are some of the rarest on the Larva Lab’s collection—no wonder we have a second blue-faced character on our list. It’s CryptoPunk #7804, and it was sold in March 2021 for 4,200 ETH ($7.56 million at the time).

CryptoPunk #7804 has three attributes, one of 4501 Punks with that many.

Other attributes include:

7 – Art Blocks, Ringers #109 — $6. 93M

Ringers #109 was sold for 2,100 ETH worth $6.93 million in October 2021, according to Dappradar.

The 10 Most Expensive NFT Sales

Last week, on July 12th, in what many are calling a ‘Crypto Winter,’ CryptoPunk #4464 sold for 2,500 ETH or roughly $2.6 Million USD. CryptoPunks, a 10,000 NFT collection launched in June of 2017, are among the oldest and rarest NFT collections. This monster NFT sale got us thinking:

What are the most expensive NFT sales of all time?

SMB #1355 ($2. 1 Million)

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.

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.

This is yet another NFT from Beeple, and, while it’s not the artist’s most expensive creation, it may just be their most unique. Unlike most NFTs which are exclusively digital, Human One is a hybrid design that also combines physical elements. It’s a human-sized sculpture made out of polished aluminum, mahogany wood and four video screens creating a combined total resolution of 16K.

The coolest part? Those screens display a virtual avatar that’ll keep changing for years to come. Beeple also plans on continually updating the avatar as time goes on. If someone’s going to spend nearly $29 million on an NFT, they might as well get one as cool as this.

This Changed Everything ($5. 4 Million)

It’s safe to say that the creation of the Internet changed the world forever. What’s the best way to memorialize its creation? Through NFTs, of course. Bidding for This Changed Everything began in June 2021 for $1,000. Once all was said and done, it sold to an anonymous buyer for roughly $5.4 million.

What did the buyer get for that price? They received an artistic take on the source code used for one of the earliest versions of the World Wide Web. This Changed Everything also came with a digital poster of code written by Tim Berners-Lee—commonly held to be the «father of the internet»—a letter written by him and time-stamped documents spelling out the history of the Internet.

The Top 10 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold (Updated September 2022)

Now that we have a better understanding of how NFTs attain value, let’s dive into the highest selling NFT in history. It is important to note that the prices cited in this article are based on the time of the sale.

CryptoPunk #3100 — $7. 57 Million

Rounding our Top 10 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold list is CryptoPunk #3100, fetching $7.6 million during its sale on March 11, 2021.

#3100 is one of nine ‘Alien’ CryptoPunks that exist in the entire CryptoPunks collection, and forms the collection’s rarest punk type. It also features special attributes like a white and blue headband, of which only 450 out of 10,000 punks have – explaining its high value.

CryptoPunk #5577 — $7. 7 Million

Ranked ninth, CryptoPunk #5577 is testament to the fact that the NFT frenzy did not end in 2021. In February 2022, this piece sold for $7.7 million. Notably, the work was bought with leverage. CryptoPunk #5577 features the ‘Cowboy Hat’ attribute, and it was purchased by the founder of Compound Finance, Robert Leshner.

CryptoPunk #4156 — $10. 26 Million

CryptoPunk #4156 is the eighth most expensive NFT sold, and one of the most notable and recognizable CryptoPunks in the NFT space. Not only did renowed digital artist Beeple featured this punk in one of his art pieces, #4156 also proceeded to launch Nouns – another notable NFT project known for its unique release and astronomical prices.

CryptoPunk #4156 was sold on December 21, 2021, for a whopping 10.26 million dollars after some dispute with the creators over commercialization rights. The original owner of Punk #4156 had bought it for $1.25 million before selling it nine months later at a profit of almost tenfold.

TPunk #3442 — $10. 5 Million

CryptoPunk #7523 — $11. 75 million

Besides, CryptoPunk #7523 has other special accessories such as earrings (only 2559 punks have earrings) and a knitted cap (just 419 punks have knitted caps).

CryptoPunk #5822 — $23. 7 Million

CryptoPunk #5822 is the most expensive CryptoPunk NFT ever sold – the CEO of Chain, Deepak Thapliyal, purchased it for $23.7 million in February 2022. Also an ‘Alien’ CryptoPunk, it fetched a high amount because it forms the collection’s rarest Punk Type being only one of nine only punks in the entire 10,000 collection. Moreover, #5822 is among just 333 punks with a bandana.

HUMAN ONE — $28. 9 Million

This is the first real-world artwork of Beeple – a 3D moving sculpture with four screens. It shows an infinite film of an astronaut exploring places at different times. HUMAN ONE NFT reveals the creator’s artistic determination outside the digital space. It is thought that the inspiration behind it originates from tests merging several televisions into several shapes and patterns.

It’s important to note that this piece changes with time. While Beeple lacks the ownership rights of HUMAN ONE, he remotely accesses and updates it regularly. The piece received a bid of $25 million at Christie’s auction in November 2021, which accumulated to $28.9 million when fees were included.

Clock — $52. 7 Million

Assange is still in prison on charges of spying on the US government, primarily through the WikiLeaks website he started. The piece is basically a clock showing the days since Assange was imprisoned.

The Clock NFT sold for $52.7 million (16,953 ETH) in February 2022 to AssangeDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) created to manage the sale. Apart from designing The Clock, the creators also permitted people to develop a series of NFTs with censored messages for free. The earnings from the series are channeled to pro-freedom organizations the creators choose.

The First 5000 Days — $69. 3 Million

The Merge — $91. 8 Million

The Merge is a virtual artwork designed by an unknown artist nicknamed Pak. It was auctioned on December 6, 2021, for $91.8 million on the Nifty Gateway marketplace. The Merge was divided into 312,686 pieces and circulated to 28,983 investors; in other words, this NFT was a collection of works people could purchase.

The Merge comprises three big white masses containing a black background. The more mass investors acquired, the bigger their mass would become. Besides, the piece has an inbuilt scarcity mechanism, which ensures its token supply declines with time. Each transferred Merge token unites with the token of the recipient address, leading to more mass value and one token.

UkraineDAO PartyBid — $6. 7 Million

An NFT representing the Ukrainian flag was auctioned for $6.75 million in March 2022. The earnings were channeled to Come Back Alive, an entity responsible for giving provisions to Ukrainian citizens and the military.

UkraineDAO managed the auction, a fundraising campaign steered by Russian art collective Pussy Riot and NFT studio Trippy Labs. The winning bid was placed by a pool of 3,271 contributors through PartyBid.

The relevance of the bid and the unique mechanism of PartyBid definitely enabled the NFT to gain a high valuation. The sale further set a precedent for fundraising methods to incentivize even great prices potentially. While this piece doesn’t make it to the top 10 most expensive NFTs sold, it is an honorable mention of its special fundraising goal and the crowdfunded auction.

“CryptoPunk #4156” — $10. 26 million

One of only 24 ‘Ape’ CryptoPunks, Punk #4156 was sold for 2,500 ETH in December of 2021. At the time, the ETH amount was valued at $10.26 million USD.

Punk #4156 was later resold for 2,691 ETH on July 15, 2022 — then valued at around $3.3 million USD.

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.

Table of Contents

Sale details: Stay Free, created by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, sold to PleasrDAO for $5.4 million in April 2021. Proceeds from the sale went to the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Why it’s valuable: An endeavor launched toward the beginning of the 2021 NFT boom, the NFT predates similar efforts to aid influential prisoners (like Ross Ulbricht and Julian Assange, who are also featured on this list) in their fights for freedom.

The token itself is represented visually by Snowden’s iconic Platon portrait comprised of the court documents associated with the landmark decision ruling the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance violated the law.

Dmitri Cherniak, Ringers #879

Sale details: Ringers #879, known affectionately as the “goose ringer,” is a single NFT from Dmitri Cherniak’s groundbreaking generative project that sold for just short of $6 million in August 2021. The buyer was Three Arrows Capital, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency investment firm.

Beeple, Ocean Front

Proceeds from the sale were donated to the Open Earth Foundation.

Why it’s valuable: The piece, which is part of Beeple’s valuable “Everydays” series, featured the caption “together we can solve this,” in reference to the climate crisis. The NFT came as part of The Carbon Drop collection launched by Nifty Gateway in collaboration with the Open Earth Foundation. Inspired by the conversation surrounding NFT’s impact on the environment, the collection included eight unique “carbon negative” NFTs in an effort to compensate for the underlying emissions from minting.

XCOPY, A Coin for the Ferryman

Why it’s valuable: Similar to his other high-value pieces, A Coin for the Ferryman can be traced back to the beginning of the enigmatic creator’s career as a crypto-artist. Originally sold for $139 in 2018, the piece wouldn’t change wallets again till November 2021, only days before the price of Ether reached an all-time high. As crypto prices continued to rise, the high-profile sale of A Coin for the Ferryman created speculation and renewed belief in the long-term value of 1/1 NFTs.

Ross Ulbricht, FreeRoss

Sale details: Ross Ulbricht’s first ever NFT, FreeRoss, fetched a whopping $6.12 million after being on auction for six days at the beginning of December 2021. Released as part of the Ross Ulbricht Genesis NFT Collection, proceeds from the sale went not only to efforts to free Ulbricht from prison, but also toward creating a donor-advised fund called Art4Giving. The fund is dedicated to relieving the suffering of the incarcerated and their families.

XCOPY, All Time High in the City

Sale details: XCOPY’s All Time High in the City sold for 1,630 ETH in January 2022 to rarecollector3000 just a few months after initially selling for 1,000 ETH. The animated artwork, which was minted in 2018, depicts the ferryman of the underworld transporting a man across the river Styx.

Why it’s valuable: Known for dark, abstract, and dystopian illustrations, the London-based XCOPY often uses motion, flickering, or glitching effects in his pieces. His style has become a staple of the NFT ecosystem, with countless artists and projects imitating his animated pieces in creations of their own.

6 million (4400 ETH)

Beeple’s Crossroad sold for $66,666 to influential collector Pablo Fraile. Only four months later, it found a new home with faceless collector anonymous10.

Why it’s valuable: Before NFTs had received any truly significant mainstream news coverage, Crossroad became a meme surrounding the 2020 presidential race. It was created as a reflection of the political tension in the United States, and Beeple says he had multiple versions of the piece ready, depending on who won the presidency.

63 million (2000 ETH)

Sale details: CryptoPunk #8857 sold for $6.63 million on September 11, 2021. The sale came as part of a string of buys that happened throughout the summer and fall of 2021.

Why it’s valuable: Zombie CryptoPunks are some of the most famous NFTs to date. Why? For starters, they come from one of the earliest NFT collections, CryptoPunks. Additionally, there are only 88 zombie CryptoPunks in existence.

The enormous price tag was also triggered by a legendary single-day sale in which prominent NFT collector Keyboard Monkey bought a zombie Punk and sold it less than 24 hours later for a profit of nearly one million dollars. It was what many would call the height of zombie NFT trading. Around this time in the zombie Punk market, we even saw the birth of prominent investor Cozomo de’ Medici with the purchase of CryptoPunk #3831.

XCOPY, Right-click and Save As Guy

Sale details: XCOPY’s Right-click and Save As Guy sold to Cozomo de’ Medici for $7 million on December 9, 2021.

Why it’s valuable: The legend of XCOPY’s “Right-click and Save As Guy” goes back far beyond the days of our current NFT ecosystem. It was minted years ago, on December 6, 2018. The iconic piece helped signal a shift in public perception about NFTs when it was featured on BBC World News, shortly after Beeple’s landmark Everydays auction. As this famous NFT art had only changed hands twice before this latest sale — first for $90 (1 ETH) and then for $174,195 (99 ETH) — de’ Medici’s buy marked more than a 3,500 percent increase in the value of the artwork.

Dmitri Cherniak, Ringers #109

56 million (4200 ETH)

Sale details: CryptoPunk #7804 was one of two major alien Punk sales to happen on March 11, 2021. Purchased for the equivalent of $7.5 million at the time, the 4,200 ETH price tag would amount to nearly $17 million at 2021 year-end.

Why it’s valuable: Punk #7804 has some rare traits, including being one of only nine aliens in existence. But the significance of this purchase goes far beyond the price. Almost immediately after the Punk changed hands, we witnessed the birth of NFT collector and social media influencer Peruggia (who has been heavily speculated to be the alternate account of prominent investor Robert Leshner).

57 million (4200 ETH)

Sale details: The second major Punk sale to happen on March 11, 2021, was CryptoPunk #3100. This also happened to be the last on-chain alien Punk sale of 2021. We wouldn’t see another change hands till the Sotheby’s auction of CryptoPunk #7523 (also on this list).

Why it’s valuable: CryptoPunk #3100 is one of nine aliens in existence, making it an obviously influential and rare Punk. Similar to #8857 though, no one came forward to give this high-profile NFT a personality via social media.

7 million (2501 ETH)

Sale details: This cowboy-hat-wearing punk sold in February 2022 for 2,500 ETH. It is believed to have been purchased by Robert Leshner, CEO of Compound Finance, who Tweeted an enthusiastic “Yeehaw” after the sale.

Why it’s valuable: It’s one of 24 Ape punks, and one of 142 with cowboy hats. As Ape Punks have continued to rise in popularity among the Bored Ape-dominated NFT market, it’s unlikely we’ll see many high-profile trades like #5577 for some time.

$10. 2 million (2500 ETH)

Sale details: On December 9, 2021, CryptoPunk #4156 sold for $10.2 million.

Why it’s valuable: Although CryptoPunk #4156 wasn’t the highest selling NFT from the CryptoPunk family, it was undoubtedly the most famous NFT trade for a Punk in 2021. That’s because bandana ape #4156 had become synonymous with the personality of prominent NFT influencer and builder Punk4156. As a result, when the sales happened, it felt like the end of an era.

$10. 5 million (120 million TRX)

Sale details: This rare “Joker” Tpunk was purchased by TRON founder Justin Sun in August 2021. Sun is well-versed in the NFT space. He was an active bidder on Beeple’s Everydays: the First 5,000 Days, but he was outbid by $250,000 at the last minute.

$11. 7 million (4700 ETH)

Known to many as the “COVID Alien” due to its prominent facemask trait, CryptoPunk #7523 was the largest punk sale of 2021.

Why it’s valuable: The original minter of #7523, Straybits, and the Punk’s second-ever collector, Sillytuna (who supplied it for auction), are both prominent parts of the NFT community. As a result, the sale was seen as a huge win for the NFT ecosystem and also as a major push towards mainstream NFT adoption.

$23. 7 million (8000 ETH)

Sale details: The most expensive CryptoPunk ever sold is punk #5822. The alien-style punk featuring a blue bandana sold for $23 million on February 12, 2022 — more than double the cost of the next highest-grossing punk.

The buyer is the

CEO of Chain, Deepak Thapliyal. He tweeted an image of his punk after the purchase. It came close to being the highest selling NFT at the time of sale, but it missed the mark by just a few million.

Why it’s valuable: Because it’s one of only nine aliens in the collection, it was bound to sell at a high price.

$28. 9 million (4700 ETH)

Beeple’s HUMAN ONE sold for $28.9 million on November 9, 2021. It was auctioned off as part of Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale.

Julian Assange and Pak, Clock

Sale details: In February of 2022, Julian Assange and Pak’s Clock NFT became the second-most expensive single NFT ever sold. The NFT depicts a timer that counts the number of days Assange has spent in prison. It was curated as part of Pak and Assange’s Censored collection, which also featured a dynamic open edition.

The First 5000 Days – $69. 3 million (38525 ETH)

The most famous NFT sale (and the most expensive NFT sale to date) was Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days for $69.3 million.

Why it’s valuable: Not only was this the most expensive NFT sale ever, but the event created a snowball effect throughout mainstream media, and brought the term “NFT” into households around the world. Before Christie’s decided to take a chance on NFTs via its Online Auction, the act of minting, collecting, and trading NFTs was seen as niche at best. But after Beeple secured the biggest bag in all of NFTs, it was clear — even to Saturday Night Live

— that the time of NFTs had arrived.

Honorable mentions for the most expensive NFT sales

UkraineDAO PartyBid: $6.7 million (2258 ETH)

In February 2022, Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova, Trippy Labs, and members from the influential PleasrDAO came together to form UkraineDAO with the goal of raising funds for those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After days of collecting donations, Tolokonnikova initiated a PartyBid — which is essentially a way to crowdfund capital to purchase an NFT on auction — to purchase a 1/1 NFT of the Ukrainian flag. A total of 3,271 bidders raised around 2,258 ETH (just under $6.7 million). The timeliness of the auction and the unique mechanics of PartyBid undoubtedly helped the Ukraine flag NFT to sell high, and set a precedent for similar mechanisms to potentially incentivize even bigger sales. Although the NFT outsold number 20 on this list, it is included here as an honorable mention because of the unique situation surrounding the sale, as well as the fact that the purchase was crowdfunded.

Additionally, while these pieces didn’t make our list of the biggest NFT sales, they still sold at impressive prices.

Mad Dog Jones’ piece, REPLICATOR sold for $4.1 million in April 2021. According to the artist: “REPLICATOR is the story of a machine through time. It is a reflection on forms of past groundbreaking innovation and serves as a metaphor for modern technology’s continuum. I’m interested to see how collectors will respond as the work evolves and the NFTs in their possession continue to create new generations.”

This list wouldn’t be complete without some Bored Apes. Ape #8817 raked in $3.4

million at a Sotheby’s Metaverse auction in October 2021. The Ape sports a wool turtleneck, rainbow spinner hat, and silver hoop earrings.

Bored Ape #3739 sold for $2.9 million in September 2021. The Ape is a six-trait gold fur ape with a sea captain’s hat, a black t-shirt, and laser eyes. Based on these traits, Bored Ape #3749 is the 27th rarest ape, according to Rarity Tools.

FEWOCiOUS’ piece, Nice to meet you, I’m Mr. MiSUNDERSTOOD, sold for $2.8 million in 2021. The digital piece was in MP4 format. However, the winning bidder also received a lifesize physical sculpture of the same title.

The third most expensive NFT sale BAYC sale is #8585, a trippy rainbow ape that sold for nearly $2.7 million on Opeasea. The Ape has an elaborate crown, red heart-shaped sunglasses, and is posed biting its lips.

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated. A previous version listed Tpunk #3443. This has been updated to the correct number, Tpunk #3442

“Human One” – $28. 9 million

“Human One” is another NFT created by Beeple. In November 2021, it sold for $28.9 million at Christie’s, a world-leading auction house founded in 1766. Human One stands out from other NFTs in this list as it includes a physical object—a video sculpture.

The physical sculpture accompanying Beeple’s Human One consists of four video screens and built-in computers that display a video in a constant loop that changes over time. The video shows a person walking through multiple different backgrounds.

«We had a bunch of TVs on rollers in our studio and were rolling them around in different shapes and patterns,» Beeple told Christie’s when talking about the inspiration for this powerful NFT artwork.

Beeple will update “Human One” throughout his life

CryptoPunk #7523 – $11. 8 million

Here’s one more Alien punk with a twist—CryptoPunk #7523. Dubbed “Covid Alien,” it was sold for $11.8 million in June 2021.

“Covid Alien” is the only one of nine Alien punks who wears a mask. It has three attributes like 4501 other punks.

CryptoPunk #7523 is currently not listed for sale by its owner.

“Ringers #109” — $7. 12 Million

Each piece in the collection features a variation in peg count, string size, color, and more. Ringers #109 was sold for 2,100 ETH in October of 2021.

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

Beeple — EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS

Beeple’s most expensive piece to date was sold at auction by Christie’s in March of 2021 for $69.3 Million.

This piece is a collage of the first 5,000 pieces in Beeple’s ‘Everydays’ series, a series in which he created a digital piece of art everyday from May 1st, 2007 — January 7th, 2021. This sale gave Beeple an eye-popping payout and put the term NFT into headlines everywhere.

“CryptoPunk #3100” & “CryptoPunk #7804” — $7. 56 million

March 11, 2021 was a good day to own a CryptoPunk. Both Punk #3100 & Punk #7804 have the ultra rare ‘Alien’ trait and both went for 4,200 ETH on the very same day.

Ocean Front ($6 Million)

Along with Larva Labs, another big name in the NFT world is Beeple. Beeple’s sold a number of record-breaking NFTs, one of which is the Ocean Front NFT shown above. Ocean Front sold at auction for a clean $6 million, and it isn’t even the most valuable Beeple creation out there.

While it may not technically be the most coveted Beeple creation of all time, Ocean Front is a really gorgeous piece of art. It shows a wooden structure in the middle of an ocean with a variety of shipping containers and campers/RVs on top of it. At the very top rests a large tree and a couple of large mushrooms.

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.

#12. CryptoPunk #8857 – $6. 64 million

If you’ve already read a thing or two about NFTs, you’ve probably seen an image like this one:

It’s CryptoPunk #8857, which comes from the famous CryptoPunks collection created by Larva Labs. This highly pixelated NFT was sold for 2,000 ETH in May 2018 ($6.64 million at the time of purchase).

Attributes of CryptoPunks

Most of the Punks are humans, but you can also find some rarer types. For instance, there are 88 Zombie Punks, 24 Ape Punks, and 9 Alien Punks. A punk’s value depends on how rare its attributes are: the rarer the attributes, the more valuable (and expensive) the NFT.

Each CryptoPunk has its profile page, where you can see the attributes that determine its value. For example, CryptoPunk #8857, which we saw above, has these traits listed on its

Larva Labs created one of the most important NFT collections in history

When Larva Labs created the CryptoPunks collection in 2017, they were claimed quickly (for free) but weren’t a big thing yet. However, with the rise of NFTs in the last few years, CryptoPunks has become one of the most important NFT projects.

Today, owning a CryptoPunk is a thing of status—crypto enthusiasts pay millions of dollars to have a 24×24 pixelated human smoking a pipe.

CryptoPunks are highly valuable assets written in Internet history. They also inspired the ERC-721 standard, an interface that now powers most Ethereum-based non-fungible tokens

FAQs

What is the most expensive NFT sold to date?

The most expensive NFT ever sold to date is “The Merge.” Created by Pak, an anonymous digital artist and crypto investor (or a group of artists), “The Merge” was sold for a record $91.8 million in December 2021 on Nifty Gateway.

Who owns the most expensive NFT?

«The Merge” by Pak is the most expensive NFT, and 28,983 collectors own it. The piece was auctioned as a collection of 312,686 units of mass, and people could buy as many masses as they wanted. These units now form a single artwork when combined. The most expensive NFT owned by a single NFT collector is Beeple’s “Everydays: the First 5000 Days,” sold for $69.3 million to crypto billionaire MetaKovan.

The First 5000 Days” – $69. 3 million

In 2007, Beeple set out to draw a picture from start to finish every single day. The creator kept his promise for 5,000 days straight and posted his artwork daily from May 1st, 2007, until January 7th, 2021!

Today, these 5000 pictures form “EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS”, the most expensive single NFT ever sold.

The NFT artwork made headlines in 2021 when it was auctioned at Christie’s for an enormous price tag. The piece was bought for over $69.3 million by crypto billionaire MetaKovan.

MetaKovan didn’t reveal his identity at first. However, later on, he went public. “The point was to show Indians and people of color that they, too, could be patrons, that crypto was an equalizing power between the West and the Rest, and that the global south was rising,” MetaKovan told

What’s revealed by zoomed-in individual pieces

In “Everydays: the First 5000 Days”, Beeple created an aesthetic collage by putting together 5,000 pictures in loose chronological order. If you zoom in on the digital artwork, you can see anything from basic drawings and deeply personal moments to abstract and absurd images, and 3D takes on current events.

Here are some zoomed-in pieces of the artwork:

After the record sale of “Everydays: the First 5000 Days,” the NFT market was no longer a niche interest among crypto enthusiasts—it seemed that everyone was buzzing about it! It was a defining moment in art history where the value of NFTs became evident.

Beeple’s Crossroads — $6. 6 million

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.

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.

Meebit #10761 ($2. 78 Million)

However, Meebit #10761 stood out from the rest; pulling in 2.7 million dollars, it became the most expensive of the Meebits line shortly after it dropped. One of a small number of «dissected» Meebit, its ghoulish appearance may have made it all the more interesting for some.

“CryptoPunk #5822” — $23. 7 million

One of only nine CryptoPunks with the ‘Alien’ trait, CryptoPunk 5822 sold for a jaw-dropping 8000 ETH in February of 2022. By USD value, this is the highest CryptoPunk sale by more than double.

Doge ($4 Million)

For newcomers and those not familiar with the ever-evolving crypto industry, the concept of an NFT often seems like a strange one, and the fact that buyers are allegedly paying as much as four million dollars for a meme doesn’t help the situation. There are plenty of things most don’t know about cryptocurrency, but, given how prevalent they are becoming, it may be worth learning the ins and outs of crypto.

Sold in early June 2021 and reported on by NBCNews, auction winner ‘pleaserdao’ placed a bid of 1,696.9 ETH, which is an incredible amount of cryptocurrency to spend on anything, let alone a picture of one of the internet’s most well-known memes.

CryptoPunk #4156 – $10. 35 million

Moving on, here’s an example of a punk from the Ape collection—a CryptoPunk #4156. It was sold in December 2021 for 2,500 ETH ($10.35 million at the time).

This is one of the 24 Ape punks. CryptoPunk #4156 has only one attribute, one of 333 punks with that many, making it especially rare.

This CryptoPunk is currently not for sale.

“Clock” – $52. 7 million

Created by an anonymous artist Pak (more on them later) and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, “Clock” was sold for $52.7 million in February 2022. The piece is a part of a collection by Pak and Assange called “

“Clock” was created to collect funds for Julian Assange’s defense, who was imprisoned in May 2019 because of his work with WikiLeaks. He is currently behind bars for suspicion of espionage against the US Government. The NFT is a clock that shows the number of days the WikiLeaks founder has been detained.

Over 10,000 Assange’s supporters raised the money

Save Thousands Of Lives ($4. 5 Million)

For many, the concept of an NFT is too abstract to risk investing in, but would investor’s opinions soften if NFTs were distributed with a virtuous purpose? That’s exactly what Noora Health is trying to do with its aptly named Save Thousands Of Lives.

As one of the pioneers in the NFT ecosystem, CryptoPunks seem to now be synonymous with NFTs and become a cornerstone to the Web3 subcultures. From rounding up the list of the Top 10 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold, it is interesting to note that CryptoPunks dominate the rankings, with five from the collection making it to the top 10.

The total sale value of all five CryptoPunks in this top 10 list is US$60.8 million, which is almost 20% of the total sale value of all 10 most expensive NFTs ever sold.

At fifth position, CryptoPunk #5822 is the most expensive CryptoPunk ever sold. It is one of nine ‘Alien’ CryptoPunks that exist in the entire CryptoPunks collection, and forms the collection’s rarest Punk Type. CEO of Chain, Deepak Thapliyal, purchased it at approximately US$23.7 million in February 2022.

CryptoPunk #4156 is the eighth most expensive NFT sold, and also one of the most notable CryptoPunks in the NFT space – previously featured by renowned digital artist Beeple and associated with the launch of another significant NFT project, Nouns. #4156 was sold in December 2021, for US$10.26 million.

Ranked ninth, CryptoPunk #5577 features the ‘Cowboy Hat’ attribute and was sold in February 2022, for US$7.7 million. CryptoPunk #3100 comes close, rounding the Top 10 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold list at 10th place, fetching US$7.57 million in March 2021.

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