The NFT culture experienced a meteoric rise in 2021 with some art pieces selling for multi-million dollars. However, the bubble soon burst, and the NFT market has been in decline since then with the majority of NFTs getting sold in double-digit figures.
While the market was at its peak, some NFTs fetched jaw-dropping prices for themselves with the top one getting sold for over $90 million. Amazing right? Well, It’s not the only one to go for such a price tag.
In this article, we will look at 13 of the most expensive NFTs sold to date. Along with that, we will also look at how the price of an NFT is decided and the future of the culture.
Let’s get into it, shall we?
List Of 13 Most Expensive NFTs (July ’23 Update)
Here is a table showing the most expensive NFTs to ever get sold as of 2023:
| Rank | NFT | Price Fetched |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Merge | $91.8 Million |
| 2 | Everydays: The First 5000 Days | $69.3 Million |
| 3 | Clock | $52.8 Milion |
| 4 | HUMAN ONE | $28.95 Million |
| 5 | CryptoPunk #5822 | $23.7 million |
| 6 | CryptoPunk #7523 | $11.75 Million |
| 7 | TPunk #3442 | $10.5 Million |
| 8 | CryptoPunk #4156 | $10.26 Million |
| 9 | CryptoPunk #5577 | $7.7 Million |
| 10 | CryptoPunk #3100 | $7.58 Million |
| 11 | CryptoPunk #7804 | $7.57 Million |
| 12 | Ringers #109 | $7.1 Million |
| 13 | CryptoPunk #8857 | $6.63 Million |
1. The Merge – $91.8 Million | An NFT Bought by Over 28,000 Collectors
What makes it special: The Merge is a dynamic NFT, which means that the artwork changes over time as more people acquire it. Currently, it has around 28.8k owners.
The Merge is a project by Pak (Murat Pak), who has an unknown identity. Some say it’s a group of people, and some say it’s a single person. Even we don’t know! But we know that “The Merge” was on sale for 48 hours in December 2021.
“The Merge” was sold into parts (units) called “mass.” During the sale, 295,417 units were sold to around 28,893 collectors.
“The Merge” has a built-in scarcity mechanism that decreases the token supply as time passes. This means that every “mass” merges in the recipient’s wallet, increasing the value and producing a single coin.
This is what happens when the NFT community gathers to grab something rare!
2. Everydays: The First 5000 Days – $69.3 Million | Most Expensive NFT Bought by a Single Person
What makes it special: It is a collage of 5000 individual images that were created by Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, over the course of 13 years.
Created by Mike Winkelmann, popularly known as Beeple, The first 5000 Days is a digital art composed of 5000 different images that Mike himself drew over time in his carrier. The NFT was sold at christies in 2021. Christie is famous for selling some of the world’s finest Art pieces by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Leonardo Da Vinci.
Not all the images are computer drawn, some of his hand-drawn work is also included in the compilation. The compilation features photos of Jeff Bezos, homophobic stereotypes, Rap stars, Donald Trump over the white house, and more.
Vignesh Sundaresan (Metakovan) owns this masterpiece and has all the rights to the NFT. The NFT is put on display in the metaverse.
3. Clock – $52.8 Million | Live Calculator for Julian Assange’s Imprisonment
What makes it special: it is a single NFT that depicts a timer, which counts the number of days Julian Assange has spent in prison.
The clock is a real-time timer that counts the days spent by Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, in imprisonment. Julian Assange has been serving 175 years in jail since April 2019 for committing hacking attacks on the US government’s computers.
100% of the sale amount went to the Wau Holland Foundation. The foundation works in Assange’s defence.
The NFT was created by Pak, the creator(s) who minted “The Merge.”
“Clock” was sold for 16,953 ETH to AssangeDAO.
4. HUMAN ONE – $28.95 Million | NFT with a Mix of Digital and Physical Art
What makes it special: This is a hybrid work of art that combines a physical sculpture with digital artwork. Also, the sculpture is constantly evolving, as Beeple will be updating the images displayed on the screen over time.
Yet another expensive NFT by Beeple! Human One is a combination of virtual and tangible components.
Let us explain how it is both digital and physical simultaneously.
HUMAN ONE is designed to continuously display the artwork of an astronaut that will develop over time. Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) will have remote access to HUMAN ONE, and he will keep on making changes to the NFT. The physical aspect of this is that the NFT is displayed in a transparent glass box.
This NFT was sold on November 9, 2021, at Christie’s to Ryan Zurrer, a well-known name in the Web3 space.
5. CryptoPunk #5822 – $23.7 million | Most Expensive CryptoPunk NFT
What makes it special: it is an Alien CryptoPunk with a blue bandana!
Crypto Punk is a project by larva labs. It holds the record for being the most expensive CryptoPunk NFT to its name. The seller of this NFT is unknown, but we do know the buyer; it was purchased by Deepak Thapliyal, the founder of chain.com.
The NFT was sold at 8k ETH on February 12, 2022. Deepak isn’t the first buyer of the NFT, an unknown person bought the NFT for $1641 five years prior to the sale.
6. CryptoPunk #7523 – $11.75 Million | Former Most expensive CryptoPunk NFT
What makes it special: CryptoPunk #7523’s medical mask attribute is particularly unique, as it is one of the rarest attributes in the CryptoPunks collection. This is because the medical mask was only added to the CryptoPunks collection in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic began
CryptoPunk was sold for $11,754,000 US dollars in June 10 2021. Before the resale of #5822, CryptoPunk #7523 was the most expensive NFT from the project.
A user named “SillyTuna” sold the NFT to an unknown buyer on a US-based broker platform Sotheby’s.
What’s so special about this NFT? It is the only masked crypto punk in the already rare alien category.
7. TPunk #3442 – $10.5 Million | Most expensive NFT on the Tron Blockchain
What makes it special: This NFT shares features with the famous DC Character “The Joker“
You can consider Tpunks, the cousins of CryptoPunks. Similar to CryptoPunks, TPunks have pixelated figures. The #3442 is the figure of a joker.
The TPunk project is also the first-ever to be on the Tron blockchain. TRX (Tronix) is the blockchain’s native token, and 120 million TRX were paid to acquire TPunk #3442.
It was bought by Justin Sun, the founder of Tron Blockchain.
8. CryptoPunk #4156 – $10.26 Million | Third Most Expensive NFT in the Project
What makes it special: It is one of the 24 Ape Punks and it has a blue bandana too!
Yet another CryptoPunk NFT on the list. Has it surprised you much? Well, get used to it as it’s all CryptoPunk from now on.
This NFT is a figure of an ape with blue headgear. The seller of this NFT went by the username “Punk4156”. The new owner is unknown; however, he/she has kept the new selling price at 4160 ETH, which roughly translates to $7566915.20 USD at the time of writing.
9. CryptoPunk #5577 – $7.7 Million | Second Most Expensive Ape NFT
What makes it special: It is one of the 24 Ape Punks and wears a brown-colored hat.
The ninth most expensive NFT to date is another ape-like figure from CrypoPunk. This ape wears a brown-colored hat. The NFT was sold to Robert Leshner, the founder of the compound Defi protocol.
The transaction happened in Feb 2022 for 2501 ETH.
10. CryptoPunk #3100 – $7.58 Million | One of the Rarest in the Alien NFT CryptoPunk Category
What makes it special: It is one of the 9 Alien Punks and wears a dual colored headband.
CryptoPunk #3100 is one of the nine rare alien CryptoPunk figures. This Figure wears a forehead band in blue and white color.
Created in 2017, the NFT was sold on March 11, 2021. The Owner of the NFT has put it on sale for 3,000 ETH, which, when translated to US dollars, is 63 Million at the time of writing this blog.
If the sale happens, CryptoPunk #310 will be the most expensive CryptoPuk NFT and the third most expensive NFT of all time.
11. CryptoPunk #7804 – 7.57 Million | Fifth Most Expensive CryptoPunk NFT
What makes it special: It is one of the 9 Alien Punks, has a grey hat, black glares, and a smoking pipe!
Ending the list with yet another CryptoPunk NFT. This time it’s #7804. It is a figure of an Alien smoking a pipe and is rocking a grey hat along with black sunglasses.
It was sold to Dylan Field, the CEO of Figma on 10th March 2021.
12. Ringers #109: $7.1 million | One of the Rarest Ringer NFT
What makes it so special: It belongs to the 0.31% of all Ringers having the additional red color trait. Ringer #109 also has a balanced wrap orientation and a loop wrap style, which is also very rare!
Known for its complexities as a piece of generative art, Dmitri Cherniak, Ringers #109 sold for more than $7 million in October of 2021, further solidifying the importance of the Art Blocks project.
Ringers is a collection of 1k NFTs created by Cherniak’s special p5js script.
13. CryptoPunk #8857 – $6.63 million
What makes it so special: One of the 88 Zombie Punks and wild hair and 3D glasses.
CryptoPunk #8857 is yet another NFT from the CryptoPunk gang which was sold for 2,000 ETH, or approximately $6.63 million, on OpenSea on December 23, 2021.
CryptoPunk dominates absolutely dominates the Top 10 list and its not a surprise seeing this one at the 13th spot!
How Is The Price Of An NFT Decided?
Buyers and sellers determine the value of an NFT. It is usually easier to evaluate when an NFT is minted to depict a tangible commodity. However, in the virtual world, most NFTs only exist on-chain.
Each NFT collection has its supply and rarity. However, there are several other variables that influence the value of an NFT. Limited-series NFTs with specific use cases are more valuable. The founders, artists as well as the community can also impact NFT’s demand and hence its price.
Where Can You Buy NFTs?
There are various marketplaces that offer NFTs, but it’s not as straightforward. Ou needs to have a crypto wallet and stuff for that. I have explained how you can Buy your First NFT step-by-step. In case, you are interested in NFT tokens, check the complete list here.
We have also reviewed the best NFT marketplaces to go for NFT shopping!
Conclusion
This is the most up-to-date list of the most expensive NFTs sold to date. I hope you got the information you came seeking here. I have covered more in-depth NFT topics on my blog.
As of July 2023, the NFT market is still in flux. It is unclear whether the market will recover or whether NFTs will be forgotten. However, the technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with digital assets, so it is worth keeping an eye on.
Frequently Asked Questions
‘The Merge’ remains the most expensive NFT of all time. It was sold at $91.8 million during the month of December 2021.
NFTs are non-fungible, meaning the owner is the only one who has ownership of the thing. These properties are distinctive and unique because they confirm the validity of a non-fungible asset.
