While the market was at its peak, some NFTs fetched jaw-dropping price tags against them with the most expensive NFT getting sold for over $90 million.
The number sounds massive and you’d to surprised to know that this was not the only NFT that was sold in millions.
In this article, I have listed the 25 most expensive NFTs that are sold to date, in descending order of their price.
Towards the end, I have listed the factors that affect the price of an NFT, and what the future holds for the NFT market.
So, are you ready to know about the world’s most expensive NFTs in the world?
Let’s dive in!
Most Expensive NFTs In The World (2024)
| Rank | NFT | Price Fetched | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Merge | $91.8 Million | Murat Pak |
| 2 | Everydays: The First 5000 Days | $69.3 Million | Beeple |
| 3 | Clock | $52.8 Milion | Julian Assange and Pak |
| 4 | HUMAN ONE | $28.95 Million | Beeple |
| 5 | CryptoPunk #5822 | $23.7 million | Larva Labs |
| 6 | CryptoPunk #7523 | $11.75 Million | Larva Labs |
| 7 | TPunk #3442 | $10.5 Million | @mondiblo and @bastardber |
| 8 | CryptoPunk #4156 | $10.26 Million | Larva Labs |
| 9 | CryptoPunk #5577 | $7.7 Million | Larva Labs |
| 10 | CryptoPunk #3100 | $7.58 Million | Larva Labs |
| 11 | CryptoPunk #7804 | $7.57 Million | Larva Labs |
| 12 | Ringers #109 | $7.1 Million | Dmitri Cherniak |
| 13 | Right-click and Save As Guy | $7 Million | XCOPY |
Demandsage Bonus: The NFT market is still very strong, and the total NFT market revenue is expected to reach $1.601 billion soon.
Note: The Ethereum values mentioned in the post below might differ from the current market rate of the cryptocurrency. Use this calculator from Business Insider, to get an accurate idea of the value of Ethereum against the dollar for past dates.
1. The Merge – $91.8 Million
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, making it world’s most expensive nft.
“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
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 career.
The NFT was sold at Christie’s 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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. XCOPY, Right-click and Save As Guy: Approx. $7 million
What makes it special: The name gives away much of it, but it essentially is a dig at people who conveniently “right-click” and save an NFT.
This flashing image by the artist –XCOPY, was sold at 1600 ETH, approximately $7 Million, and is described as:
“Why would I buy it when I can right click and save as?”
It is an animated GIF that shows a resemblance to old artworks combined with a modern digital glitch twist. This NFT broke the market when it was sold for 1,600 ETH to “Cozomo de’ Medici” aka SNOOP DOGG.
14. 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 14th spot!
15. Beeple, Crossroad – $6.6 million
What makes it special: This NFT went live when Donald Trump lost the election to Joe Biden and depicts him falling to the ground.
Another masterpiece by Beeple, this NFT was essentially based on the elections and had two versions. This controversial NFT, owned by Pablo Fraile, was created in a way that the outcome of the elections would decide the result of the image.
It was based on times of uncertainty, and the person buying the NFT had no idea of the final depiction of the image. The alternate version to this, if Trump had won, was – a “video of sexy boi king trump stomping through hell FOREVER” and was certainly a big gamble.
16. XCOPY, All Time High in the City: $6.2 million
What makes it special: This is a dark and flickering image showing an abstract scene of two men rowing across a river that can be perceived as the river Styx of the underworld.
The is the second NFT by XCOPY that is again a GIF image. This was sold in January 2022 for 1,630 ETH, which is around $6.1 Million dollars which is a common flickering pattern often found in XCOPY’s NFTs.
The owner of this NFT remains unidentified but has a username @rarecollector3000
17. Dmitri Cherniak, Ringers #879: $6.2 Million
What makes it special: This NFT is special for its automation that gives life to the image by the algorithmic aspect of generative art.
This NFT was initially sold at $5.4 Million as the hammer price but was later sold for $6.2 Million to popular NFT investor “6529.”
Dmitri Cherniak has long been associated with creating digital art based on instigating an array of emotions. This unique artwork is described in Sotheby’s as: “The Goose: creature of chance, born of a million perfect coincidences. The undeniable capstone of a collector’s impeccable curation.”
18. Free Ross: $6.12 Million
What makes it special: This NFT was auctioned for six days when it finally fetched $6.12
The Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection is a collection of writings and ten artworks from his early childhood, to teenage and to a prisoner. What you see above is called – the perspective that he drew at age 36.
This NFT was sold in December 2021 for 1,446 ETH and was won by @yfimaxi in an auction that lasted for six days and is now owned by an anonymous user.
19. Beeple, Everyday Ocean Front #4344: $6 Million
What makes it special: This NFT is part of the Everyday collection from Beeple and tries to highlight the climate crisis issue.
This next NFT from Beeple’s collection is from the “Everyday” collection, including the artist’s note: “Together we can solve this”. This is believed to be depicting the current climate crisis of the world and was dropped by Niftygatway as part of their “Carbon Drop” collection.
The NFT is owned by a cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun who beat the bidder Farzin for a $6 Million price for the winning bid.
20. XCOPY, A Coin for the Ferryman: $6.02 Million
What makes it special: This is one of the earliest creations of the artist – XCOPY
The third NFT from XCOPY titled – “A Coin From The Ferryman” was sold to @jpeggy for 1,330 ETH back in November 2021 converted to $6.02 Million at that time. When First minted in 2018, this NFT was made an initial offer of 0.050 ETH only!
You can see the same flickering pattern in the form of a GIF, this NFT.
21. CryptoPunk # 5217: $5.45 Million
What makes it special: This punk NFT is one of the 24 Ape Punks from Larva Labs.
This punk ape appears to be wearing a knitted red wollen cap and wearing a heavy golden necklace. This NFT was purchased by a user “0x8f7cee” for 2,250 ETH i.e. $5.45 Million, and was transferred to another user “0xe30161”
22. Stay Free: $5.4 Million
What makes it special: This NFT includes Edward Snowden’s face made inside the pages of the court’s decision.
Stay Free is based on the popular whistleblower, Edward Snowden, who exposed the mass surveillance that was violating US law and called – “Stay Free”.
This NFT was sold for $5.4 Million and the profits of this sale were reported to go to the “Freedom of the Press Foundation”
23. Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web Source Code: $5.4 Million
What makes it special: This NFT included the original source code that was used to form the World Wide Web.
This masterpiece is an archive of the original files from Tim Berners Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web. These files contain written codes between 3rd October 1990 to 24th August 1991.
The NFT was sold for a massive collection that includes about 9,555 lines of code written by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a 30-minute 25-second visual representation of the code, a digital poster of the code, and a digital letter written by him in June 2021.
24. CryptoPunk #7252: $5.33 Million
What makes it special: This crypto punk is one of the 88 zombie punks
The next crypto punk on this list was bought for 1,600 ETH approx. $5.33 Million in August 2021 by
the user “0x956d14”. After a couple of more swaps of hands, the NFT is currently owned by – “0x0a8f40”.
#7252 Punk has 3 attributes including – a chinstrap, earrings, and crazy hair.
25. CryptoPunk # 2338: $4.32M
What makes it special: This NFT is again one of the 88 zombie punks by Larva Labs.
The last NFT on this list is another zombie punk who is owned by “0x7cd3fc”. The NFT was sold on 6th August 2021 for 1,500 ETH, which equaled $4.32 Million in 2021.
Cryptopunk #2338 has only one attribute, and that is – a thin Mohawk.
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 and the community can also impact NFT’s demand and hence its price.
Check out this video where the popular artist Beeple shares his thoughts on why NFTs are so expensive –
Where Can You Buy NFTs?
To buy an NFT, you first need an NFT token. The NFT tokens allow you to own digital assets in the virtual world. Some common NFT tokens are – MANA, SAND, XTZ, THETA, and AXS.
Once you have an NFT token, you can head to these NFT marketplaces to invest in an NFT. This list includes the popular NFT marketplaces that I used for reference of the price and to give image references.
Conclusion: Most Expensive NFTs
During my period of writing this article and researching, I found the price of these NFTs to have a massive drop against the price that these were sold for. Some have even seen a 50% decrease in their price.
As of 2024 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!
In case of any changes in this list, I’ll make sure to keep it updated.
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.
