Most Expensive NFTs Sold. The unique digital assets everyone wants were born out of the collision of the art world and digital collectibles, and the NFT market was born. The digital world of NFTs provides us with the best forms of artistic expression, including generative NFT art, digital artwork, and art ownership. The NFT space is reaching a new height due to the enormous demand accompanying the enormous value.
It is well-known that the NFT market has experienced consistent growth since its start. This growth was particularly noticeable following a challenging year, as the market led the first quarter of 2024 with high interest and a trading volume of 51.5%. If you read today’s article, you’ll find that we go into more detail on the most costly NFT artworks, including all the data about these digital collectibles.
What Are The Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold?
- Since its inception in 2017, the NFT space has grown considerably, and its revenue is projected to reach $2,378.0 million by the end of 2024.
- To this day, the most expensive NFT remains The Merge, an NFT collection created by PAK, a digital artist, cryptocurrency investor, and programmer.
- The most expensive NFT art recently sold was CryptoPunk#3100, which was traded for 4,500 ETH, approximately $16 million. Yet the second most expensive NFT is CryptoPunk #7804, sold for 4,850 ETH, equivalent to over $16.95 million.
20. Stay Free, Edward Snowden: $5.27 million
For the benefit of those unaware, Edward Snowden was an American computer scientist and whistleblower who revealed classified information about his work at the National Security Agency (NSA) in defence of free expression. Funds from the sale of this political NFT, totalling $5.27 million, were donated to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit that promotes free speech.
19. World Wide Web Source Code, Tim Berners-Lee: $5.43 million
We all know that the World Wide Web, established in the 1990s, is a platform for exchanging information and facilitating contact among users. It also provides easy and quick access to information on a global scale.
Therefore, Tim Berners-Lee created this remarkable NFT artwork. It highlights the early stages of the internet and allows us to ponder its evolution up until the present day, with crypto, blockchain, NFTs, and Web 3 extensions.
18. Ringers # 879, Dmitri Cherniak: $5.9 million
A modern NFT artist, Dmitri Cherniak, uses tech algorithms to make art, or what is now known as generative art, making one-of-a-kind creations that collectors and art lovers would love. Three Arrows Capital, a crypto investment firm based in Singapore, bought this NFT in 2021 for $5.9 million. Three Arrows Capital, a Singaporean cryptocurrency investment firm, purchased NFT Ringers #879 in August 2021.
17. Ocean Front, Beeple: $6 million
As usual, Beeple’s artwork envelops us in a mysterious yet impactful message, this time addressing climate change. This NFT portrays an oily terrain, likely alluding to the black gold that large corporations are eager to acquire but shirk responsibility for when they harm the environment.
Next up are the little post-apocalyptic homes, reminiscent of the environments in The Last of Us. Atop one of these dwellings sits a crooked tree with a mushroom, perhaps symbolizing humanity’s final opportunity to take care of the natural resource that has sustained us for millions of years.
Justin Sun, creator of Tron, appreciated the $6 million NFT and thought it was great conceptual art. The Open Earth Foundation, which fights climate change and global warming, received all the funds that were contributed.
16. All-Time High in the City, XCopy: $6.2 million
Once again, XCopy tops the charts for most costly NFTs sold; with All-Time High in the City, the company elevates its authentic flair to new heights. Curiously, the NFT was minted in 2018 but wasn’t sold until 2022, doubling its worth in just a few months. This led to an intriguing price of $6.2 million.
15. Crossroad, Beeple: $6.6 million
Here, we have a work of digital art that addresses social and political themes; in this case, the NFT stands in for the anti-Trump sentiments that circulate on social media. What makes it special and goes against the grain of conventional art industry thinking is that it was made to be swapped out in 2020 when the US presidential election came up. Before its auction at Christie’s, this NFT fetched $6.6 million at Nifty Gateway.
14. CryptoPunk # 8857, Matt Hall and John Watkinson: $6.63 million
Presenting one of the rarest and most distinctive digital artworks in the CryptoPunk NFT ecosystem. Out of all the monkeys and aliens in the collection, it stands out with its zombie-like looks, 3D spectacles, and wavy hair.
The buyer remains unknown despite the NFT’s $6.63 million sale price.
13. Ringers #109, Dmitri Cherniak: $6.93 million
The 99,000 NFTs in the Art Blocks collection are only the latest example of generative art in the NFT market in the modern digital era. Also, NFT sales are skyrocketing because the generative is so visually appealing. With the sale of Ringers #109 for $6.93 million, AKIRA co-founder NarcissusGLRY now digitally owns the artwork.
12. Right-click and Save As Guy, XCopy: $7.09 million
This distinctive deconstructed style, reminiscent of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work, makes it a masterpiece among digital assets and the second most costly NFT artwork. This NFT stands for the emerging artistic styles of the NFT industry.
XCopy is an artist based in London who uses a variety of creative processes to create works that resemble glitches in computer systems through distortion, noise, and recomposition. As a result, XCopy became a popular NFT artist, as did his fans and fellow collectors. Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Cozomo de Medici, paid $7.09 million to acquire the Right-click and Save As Guy NFT.
11. CryptoPunk #7804, Larva Labs: $7.56 million
Part of the nine aliens, CryptoPunk #7804is a specific NFT as it shows unique elements, such as smoking a pipe, wearing a beret, and wearing sunglasses, making it an unusual piece within the digital art field. There are just 378 people smoking pipes in the whole collection, and 254 of them are sporting caps. Figma CEO Dylan Field bought the NFT for $7.56 million because of its cultural and historical importance.
10. CryptoPunk #5577 – 10th in Most Expensive NFTs, Larva Labs: $7.7 Million
Leverage was used to purchase CryptoPunk #5577 in February 2022. The NFT’s pricing may be explained by the cowboy hat trait, which Robert Leshner, creator of Compound Finance, acquired for $7.7 million.
9. TPunk #3442, Larva Labs: $10.5 Million
Digital TPunk art is a spinoff of CryptoPunks, a collection of NFTs that ranks high in price. In August 2021, the Tron co-founder acquired TPunk #3442, valued at $10.5 million. The buyer’s status surely affects the artwork’s price, as it resembles Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. Afterwards, the NFT was given to APENFT, a project on Tron that aims to tokenize artwork on the blockchain.
8. CryptoPunk #4156, Larva Labs: $10.25 Million
With the sale of CryptoPunk #4156, the ninth most expensive NFT in the collection, CryptoPunk keeps the NFT and art mania going strong. This NFT is noteworthy because it was used in artwork by Beeple and went on to launch Nouns, another well-known NFT project. After going for $1.25 million nine months earlier, the artwork made a huge profit for its final buyer when it was sold on December 21, 2021.
7. Alien CryptoPunk #7523, Larva Labs: $11.75 Million
Out of the nine alien punk kinds made by Larva Labs Studio, CryptoPunk #7523 became the third most expensive CryptoPunk NFTs when it sold for an astonishing $11.7 million. Along with its knitted cap and earrings, the NFT’s mask brings to recall the COVID-19 pandemic, lending it a unique social and worldwide importance. The biggest shareholder of DraftKings, Shalom McKenzie, also purchased it.
6. CryptoPunk #3100, Larva Labs: $16 Million
The CryptoPunks collection included nine aliens, including CryptoPunk #3100, which was sold on March 11, 2021. Because of its distinctive white and blue headband, this punk variety is the most unique in the collection. Nevertheless, it was sold for 4,500 Ether in March 2024, more than $16 million. The fact that just 450 punks possess it clearly explains its high selling price. Hence, as several users had hypothesized, this digital asset may have hinted at the NFT ecosystem bull market.
5. CryptoPunk #5822, Larva Labs: Fifth in Most Expensive NFTs $23.7 Million
One of just nine known examples, CryptoPunk #5822 is rare and the most costly CryptoPunk ever sold. Additionally, Chain CEO Deepak Thapliyal bought this Cryptopunk NFT in February 2022. The astounding cost of the NFT soared to $23.7 million. Out of all 333 bandana-wearing punks, this one has sold more NFTs than any other.
4. Human One, Beeple: $28.9 Million
One more pricey NFT that went for $28,985,000 in November 2021 was Human One. This four-screen, three-dimensional moving sculpture is Beeple’s debut piece of tangible art. The artist’s resolve to produce art outside of digital space is symbolized by this pricey artwork, which depicts an astronaut exploring different locations at different times.
The artist so eloquently puts it: this digital artwork depicts the tale of the first person born in the metaverse. Beeple may be using this artwork to reflect his evolving life, thus even if he doesn’t physically own the NFT, he frequently updates it remotely.
3. Clock, Assange, and PAK: $52.7 Million
Within the NFT community, the Clock’s tale is worth a thousand words and is one of the three most costly NFTs ever sold. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was convicted in 2019 and is now seeking funding for his defence. PAK collaborated with Assange to design the Clock, which depicts a digital counter.
Consequently, the artwork depicts the days of Assange’s imprisonment; it became the third most expensive NFT in February 2022 after selling for $52,740,000 million. The entire sum was disbursed to the Wau Holland Foundation to support Assange’s legal proceedings.
2. Everyday: The First 5000 Days, Beeple Collection: $69.3 Million
Everyday: The First 5000 Days showcases the works of artist Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, who produced an original work of art every day for five thousand days. Its idea could potentially be related to performance art.
With an initial bid of around $100, the electronic sculpture NFT fetched $69,346,250 million in March 2021 at Christie’s auction. In addition, no other major auction house had ever offered digitally created NFT paintings. Vignesh Sundaresan (Metakovan), a crypto investor and founder of Metapurse, bought the second most costly NFT ever sold.
1. The Merge, PAK’s NFT Artwork – The Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold: $91.8 Million
Long has passed since December 3, 2021, when PAK’s NFT digital art, The Merge, was made public and auctioned off on Nifty Gateway, an NFT marketplace. It remains one of the priciest NFT sales ever.
The fact that 28,983 investors and collectors divided this digital artwork into 312,686 unique pieces made it all the more remarkable. At an amazing $91.8 million, it is reasonable to claim that this is among the most costly NFT transactions ever.
The basic design features three white masses on a black background, and their size grows about the amount of mass investors’ holdings. The NFT also has a scarcity mechanism that guarantees the token supply will decrease with time.
What are NFTs, and Do They Work in the NFT Space?
To begin, NFTs are digital assets that may be exchanged for cryptocurrencies in an online setting. They can be made online or using real-world assets, but what makes them interesting is that they are digital art pieces in many formats.
Among the numerous possible types of NFTs are in-game avatars, photographs, videos, GIFs, music, and many more. Thanks to the computational metadata utilized for encoding, they differ from each other and are recorded on blockchains. One fascinating thing about NFTs is that there is no such thing as a “typical” digital asset. For example, although one bitcoin is equivalent to another, an NFT will always be unique.
Moreover, unlike cryptocurrencies, NFTs cannot function as a medium of exchange for digital assets because their prices are fixed. This seems highly unlikely given the abundance of NFT projects available, each with its characteristics and specifics.
Why Is The NFT Market Important?
NFTs have many advantages, not only because they are changing the art sector. For example, they are a natural progression from the original crypto idea, and no one in our generation ever imagined that we’d pay to have digital artworks recorded on a blockchain.
The substantial improvement to market efficiency that NFTs bring is yet another perk. Due to the nature of the internet, digital artists do not require the services of an agency and have direct access to their fans.
Even while discussing market efficiency, certain companies can reap the benefits of NFTs. For instance, physical things equipped with NFTs will be easier to track. This gives the consumer more information regarding the product’s history, origin, and manufacturing process.
How Are NFTs Digital Art Valued?
Since NFTs are crypto-based, supply and demand market forces also govern them. But these aren’t the only two things that matter when deciding how much an NFT is worth. For instance, the developer of the NFT or the opinions of artists or influencers regarding a certain work of art can affect the price. Several other factors affect the value of NFTs, including their practicality, scarcity, tangibility, social proof, interoperability, ownership history, and speculation.
Top NFT Sellers
Since NFTs have grown in popularity, more and more artists are embarking on creating NFTs every day. However, there are NFT developers who are and likely will continue to be market leaders.
Larva Labs Studio
Larva Labs Studio created CryptoPunks, a well-regarded collection of NFTs. Founded by Canadians Matt Hall and John Watkinson, the project continues its work on applications for the T-Mobile Sidekick. After making fifty apps and twenty more for iOS and Android, the two programmers began collaborating using blockchain technology. In addition to CryptoPunks, Matt and John founded Meebits and Autoglyphs, two more blockchain ventures. Famous corporations, like Google and Microsoft, have solid client ties with Larva Labs Studio.
Tron
Another well-liked NFT collection, TPunk, was created by Tron in 2017. The Tron team is dedicated to using blockchain technology and Decentralized Applications (DApps) to speed up Internet decentralization. More than 113 million users and nearly 4 billion transactions have been recorded on the Tron network’s blockchain since the MainNet was released in May 2018.
Beeple
Beeple is an American graphic designer whose real name is Mike Winkelmann. He makes short films, works in virtual and augmented reality, and creates VJ loops for the Creative Commons. Famous singers like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Eminem, and Nicki Minaj have used Beeple to create graphics for their concerts. Among Beeple NFTs, The First 5000 Days is among the most well-liked.
Pak
The anonymous digital artist formerly went by the name Murat Pak. Theorists contend that Pak is more akin to a group than an individual creator. Pak is famous for developing Archillect, a curation site, and his work with non-fungible tokens. With the sale of 66,529 artworks, Pak has brought the total worth of his artworks up to over 200,000 ETH.
Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs, which launched BAYC in February 2021, is responsible for the biggest NFT project in the world. There are 10,000 NFTs, each worth an average of $118,000. The founders of Yuga Labs are still a mystery. But two men, Gordon Goner and Gargamel, who went by pseudonyms, were the driving forces behind the enterprise.
Chiru Labs
Zagabond, 2 pm. flow, location TBA, and HoshiBoy are the four anonymous founders of Chiru Labs, a Los Angeles-based company. Arnold Tsang, a conceptual artist in the gaming business, is one recognizable face that users may see at Chiru Labs. In their NFT project, Azuki is currently working hard. With a current collection value of 129,039 ETH, Azuki has become incredibly popular since its introduction.
Dapper Labs
With a current valuation of $7.6 billion, Dapper Labs was founded in 2018 in Vancouver by Roham Gharegozlou (CEO), Mik Nayeem, and Dieter Shirley. As a blockchain game, CryptoKitties has become one of Dapper Labs’ most beloved creations. Players may buy, breed, collect, and sell virtual cats using Ethereum tokens.
Have We Seen the Peak of The NFT Prices?
Profitability in the NFT sector is unparalleled. Artists may have their voices heard while also making money with their creations. Many factors influence the staggering amount of NFTs available for purchase, including their rarity, practicality, tangibility, social proof, and ownership history. Even while some well-known NFT developers are already available, there will always be artists whose work, if attractive to investors, has the potential to become just as famous.
Though other developers have NFTs included in the top ten most expensive NFTs ever sold, CryptoPunks reign supreme, accounting for half of the spots and 20% of the total sale value across all ten NFTs.With a current valuation of $7.6 billion, Dapper Labs was founded in 2018 in Vancouver by Roham Gharegozlou (CEO), Mik Nayeem, and Dieter Shirley. As a blockchain game, CryptoKitties has become one of Dapper Labs’ most beloved creations. Players may buy, breed, collect, and sell virtual cats using Ethereum tokens.
