17 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have been making headlines lately as their prices have soared to astronomical heights. They changed people's perception of art - and investors noticed it. In 2021, the trading volume on the NFT market was about $25 billion. Although the hype has subsided a bit in the past few months, the market is still strong.

So what is NFT? Simply put, these are unique digital assets that cannot be replaced. This is because each NFT is stored on a blockchain, a decentralized ledger that records all transactions. This makes NFTs immutable, meaning they cannot be changed or duplicated.

Will the NFT market continue to grow? Only time will tell. As of today, we'll take a look at 17 of the most expensive NFT crypto art ever sold.

Why are NFTs so valuable?

Before moving on to the list, we should answer one frequently asked question: Why is NMT so valuable?

First of all, they are unique. For example, the first ever tweet was minted and sold for $3 million - even though it didn't even make our list. The man who bought it, businessman Sina Estavi, said: “This is not just a tweet!” For Estavi, this is a piece of history and worth every penny.

Another reason for the value of NFTs is their scarcity. For example, CryptoKitties has a limited supply of digital cats, so when someone buys one of them, the half penny price goes up because fewer cats are available to buy.

Of course, it is also a matter of status. If the NFT you are buying is rare or made by a popular artist, you will have to pay more. After all, not everyone can say they have a Beeple NFT.

Also, keep in mind that not all NFT art is expensive. The average NFT is now worth less than $2. We only find out about NFTs when there's a big sell-off because it's noteworthy.

The same thing happens with physical art. You only hear when someone paid a few million for a piece of art, and you never hear about sales that were made for a few hundred bucks.

17 Most Expensive NFT Sales

The NFT space is still in its infancy. It will continue to grow and change. This means record sales will be broken and new artists will emerge. So this list is subject to change!

But at the moment, these are the 17 most expensive NFTs ever sold.

1. Larva Labs: “CryptoPunk #9998” (sold for $529,77 million)

Larvalabs.com Technically, this punk is the most expensive piece of NFT art ever sold. However, some people do not consider the sale to be valid.

In October 2021, the owner of #9998 bought the punk from himself using a flash loan. He then used the same transaction to pay off the loan. This incredible trade is akin to a “wash trade” in the normal stock market. While the deal was technically valid, the Larva Labs website announced that it had rejected the application.

2. Pack: “The Merge” (sold for $91,8 million) (Actually the best-selling NFT)

For years, Park has been one of the biggest names in the industry, selling thousands of NFTs on platforms like SuperRare, Sotheby's, and Nifty Gateway. So it's no surprise that The Confluence broke the record for the largest NFT sale by a living artist. She was sold for $91,8 million at Nifty Gateway in December 2021.

The Merge collection showcases the use of blockchain technology to create digital art. Powered by Gemini, its unique smart contract mechanism rewards collectors who purchase multiple "gross" units during a two-day sale period with an NFT that gets larger when more "mass" is pooled.

Over 28 collectors came together to purchase over 000 "mass" units, which were then combined to create the final NFT.

3. Beeple: “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” (sold for $69,44 million)

Of course you knew this would happen. Beeple's Dynamic NFT is the third most expensive NFT ever sold. It consists of 5 different images.

Beeple began working on this piece in May 2007. Over the next 13 years, he continuously posted individual works. The art was purchased by crypto entrepreneur and investor MetaKovan for over $69 million at Christie's auction.

After the sale, Beeple became a celebrity, gaining 1,8 million followers on Instagram and partnering with brands such as Louis Vuitton and Nike.

4. Pak x Assange: "Clock" (sold for $52,7 million)

The Clock is NFT from the NFT's “Censored” collection, a collaboration between anonymous artist Puck and Julian Assange, the imprisoned creator of WikiLeaks. The NFT counts the number of days Assange spent in prison.

In February 2022, it was purchased for nearly $53 million by 10 AssangeDAO members. AssangeDAO was created in December 000 to free Julian Assange, who faces extradition to the US and possible life imprisonment.

5. Beeple: “HUMAN ONE” (sold for $28,9 million)

Created by Beeple, this dynamic NFT is one of a kind. A hybrid of physical and digital, it was the first NFT to be sold by major auction house Christie's during Christie's 21st Century Evening Sale in November 2021.

The three-dimensional video sculpture is displayed in a box with four screens on which the image is constantly projected and the impression of a moving picture is created. It comes with an NFT that contains a smart contract specially coded for Beeple to keep control of the image display so that it constantly evolves.

6. Larva Labs: “CryptoPunk #5822” (sold for $23,7 million)

Get ready for the CryptoPunks series: This is the most expensive Punk of all time, sold in February 2021 for 8 ETH (roughly $000 million at the time). This alien punk has one signature feature - a blue bandana on his head. For a long time #23,7 was one of the most expensive NFTs ever sold.

The current owner is Chain CEO Deepak Tapliyal, who bought it using the DeFi protocol from Compound Finance. This means that Thapiliyal took out a crypto loan to purchase.

7. Larva Labs: “CryptoPunk #7523” (sold for $11,75 million)

In June 2021, the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the NFT hype led to the sale of this masked alien punk for nearly $12 million (2 ETH). For a long time it was the most expensive Punk ever sold (until #500 broke the record).

There are only nine "Alien Punks" in the world, and this one has three distinguishing features. In addition to a medical mask, Punk wears a knit cap on his head and has a gold piercing in his ear. No bid has been placed on #7523 and has remained at the same address since it was sold.

8. Larva Labs: “CryptoPunk #4156” (sold for $10,26 million)

The owner and namesake of Punk#4156 sold it to anonymous collector 0x4c1194 for 2500 ETH, or over $10 million at the time of the sale. Its value is due to its rarity. After all, out of a collection of 10 sets, there are only 000 Ape Punks.

9. Larva Labs: “CryptoPunk #3100” (sold for $7,58 million)

CryptoPunk #3100 is an alien punk wearing a headband. Since only 4% of all punk profiles wear headbands, this NFT is considered to be relatively rare. It was sold for 2500 ETH in 2021 to 0x7b8961, who also owns several other punks including Actor Punk #47 - Bruce Willis, Singer Punk #3 - Britney Spears, and Sailor Punk #0, among many others.

10. Larva Labs: “CryptoPunk #7804” (sold for $7,56 million)

Next up is another Alien Punk. It was sold in March 2021 to a user named Peruggia. The name "Peruggia" may be a direct reference to Vincenzo Perugia, the famous thief who stole the Mona Lisa in 1911. After all, former Figma owner and CEO Dylan Field called #7804 “the digital Mona Lisa.”

11. XCOPY: “Right-click and Save As guy” (Sold for $7,09 million)

This GIF portrait was sold for 1 ETH and was also created by the notorious XCOPY. Created four years ago, there is only one edition of this NFT and it was listed on SuperRare.

XCOPY is one of the best-selling crypto artists of all time, usually known for his dystopian work, but this NFT has a more flippant tone.

It's actually more of a parody, making fun of users who don't understand how NFTs work and claiming that they can easily store an image on their computer for free instead of spending millions of dollars.

12. Dmitry Chernyak: Ringers #109 (sold for $6,93 million)

Cherniak is a well-known digital artist based in New York. Ringers, one of his notable collections, includes 1 pieces, with transactions totaling nearly $000 million. The most expensive entry, Ringers #73, sold for over $109 million in October 6,9. The Ringers collection is created with a unique transaction hash, making each NFT a truly individual work of art.

Since the sale, the NFT artwork has changed hands numerous times. It is now owned by an anonymous OpenSea user 55FAF0.

13. Larva Labs: “CryptoPunk #8857” (sold for $6,63 million)

Zombie punks were all the rage a few years ago. This one features wild hair and 3D glasses. This is one of only 88 total Zombie Punks and was sold for 2 ETH back in May 000.

At the time of purchase, it cost over $6,6 million. It belongs to the user under the nickname 0xdf37ac. This punk is not listed for sale on any of the major NFT exchanges.

14. Beeple: "Crossroads" (sold for $6,6 million)

"Crossroads" is another of Beeple's iconic digital works, selling for a record $6,6 million on Nifty Gateway. The work depicts former US President Donald Trump, whose skin is painted with graffiti after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Anti-Trump images have been popular among artists and this work is no exception.

However, Beeple has also created a positive version in case Donald Trump wins the election.

15. Ross Ulbricht: “Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection” (sold for $6,2 million)

This piece of art has an interesting history. Entitled "Perspective", it was hand-drawn in pencil by Ross Ulbricht while in prison. This is part of a series of 10 works by the artist, “Genesis Collection”, which was sold as a single NFT using the KSPEC protocol.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of the collection will be used to fund efforts to alleviate the suffering of people in detention and their families. The remaining funds will be used to finance Ulbricht's legal defense.

A decentralized autonomous organization called FreeRossDAO bought the collection for 1 ETH, which at the time was about $446 million. The fund initially raised 6,2 ETH from over 2 members worldwide.

More than half of that money was subsequently used to secure the landmark NFT.

16. XCOPY: "All Time High in the City" (sold for $6,19 million)

This XCOPY NFT is the epitome of the usual XCOPY style, depicting a skeletal ferryman carrying a man across the River Styx. The name of the coin is “All-Time High in the City” and it was also minted at SuperRare in 2018.

In January 2022, she was bought by rarecollector3000 for nearly $6,2 million. It is currently listed on SuperRare for 33 ETH, which is around $666 million. It seems a bit overpriced, especially in the current climate, but who knows – maybe one day someone will pay that much for it.

17. XCOPY: “A Coin for the Ferryman” (sold for $6,03 million)

This rainbow GIF called “A Coin for the Ferryman” is one of the earliest works of XCOPY, created in 2018. In the same year, a user named 0xclipse bought it for 0,5 ETH, which in those days was less than $140. In 2021, a user named jpeggy on SuperRare bought it for 1 ETH, which at that time was $630 million. This NFT is currently not for sale.

The most expensive NFT collections

Now that we've covered individual NFT art, let's take a step back and look at the most expensive collections.

Axie Infinity

Founded in 2018, Axie Infinity is a digital pet game based on the Ethereum blockchain. The game allows players to buy, breed and sell digital pets called "Axi". And these are not just digital pets - they have their own characteristics and can even fight with each other.

As of this writing, Axie Infinity – now an expanded digital platform – has a daily trading volume of over $222 million. This is more than any other NFT game.

CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties is a blockchain game on the Ethereum network developed by Canadian design studio Dapper Labs. The game allows you to buy, sell and breed virtual cats.

The first generation of CryptoKitties, Gen 0, has a limit of 50, which may seem like a lot. But not all of them were released. Since they cannot be bred, they are considered valuable. At the end of 000, CryptoKitties also created a new game mechanic called Shiny Fancy, which increased the level of difficulty in breeding rare CryptoKitties.

Bored Monkey Yacht Club (BAYC)

You have probably already seen the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, because they are one of the most popular and expensive NFTs in the world. Some Bored Apes have been sold for over $1 million apiece.

The entire collection is quite rare. In BAYC's case, there are only 10 Bored Apes, each with a unique facial expression, color, and outfit. Less than 000 Bored Apes have been sold so far.

Cryptopunks

The collection that started the craze. CryptoPunks is considered so valuable because it is the first collection ever created on the Ethereum blockchain. These NFTs actually inspired the ERC-721 standard on which most digital art is based today.

While the images themselves aren't the prettiest - they're a collection of pixelated images of people with punk haircuts, after all - they're still very desirable. Like Bored Ape's NFT, there are only 10 CryptoPunks, each one is unique.

F.A.Q.

1. Why are NFTs so valuable?

Like physical objects, the value of digital art depends on how much someone is willing to pay for it. This may depend on many factors. NFTs are so valuable because they are rare and unique. There is only a limited number of NFTs, and each one is different from the other. Therefore, they are highly valued by collectors.

2. Is the art of NFT a good investment?

The NFT market is still relatively new and unstable. If you are an art lover and truly believe that NFTs are the future of art, then it makes sense to invest in them. At the same time, invest only the amount that you do not mind losing.

3. What is the most expensive NFT ever sold?

The most expensive NFT so far is The Merge by artist Park, which sold for $91,8 million in December 2021. Although CryptoPunk #9998 is technically more expensive, since the owner sold and bought the same NFT, this is considered an invalid transaction.

4. Who owns the most expensive HFT?

Instead of one person, more than 28 collectors own the most expensive NFT to date, “The Merge,” thanks to a collective buying effort made during the two-day sale.

5. Why are NFTs from Bored Ape so expensive?

First, there are only 10 Bored Ape NFTs, each one different from the other. Some permutations are especially rare, making them highly sought after by collectors. The quality of the art in the collection is also considered superior compared to many older NFTs, which tend to be heavily pixelated.

In addition, the Bored Ape team has done a great job promoting their NFTs. They belong to various celebrities. In addition, the Bored Ape NFT universe is constantly expanding, and owning a Bored Ape NFT provides exclusive benefits. All this contributed to the price increase for Bored Ape NFT.