The 20 most expensive sold NFTs in the world

Last year, NFTs, those unique digital tokens, really stole the spotlight. It seemed like everyone, from famous folks to regular Joes, was talking about them. They quickly turned into something big within the worlds of cryptocurrency and virtual realms, gaining applause for their fresh appeal and potential.

What’s cool about NFTs is how their charm has only blossomed. People are getting why they’re so special. These digital treasures offer rock-solid proof of ownership, a crystal-clear history of where they’ve been, and they can be programmed in ways that make them stand out. Plus, when you mix art with tech, you spark a whole new level of creativity in what can be made and owned online.

NFTs have truly shaken up the art world, changing how we see the value of digital artwork and kicking off a booming market. Interest has surged, and so have sales, hitting an eye-popping $10.7 billion in just three months of 2021, as DappRadar reports. And it looks like this wave isn’t slowing down, especially with the pandemic speeding up how the world embraces NFTs.

As we grow to understand and treasure NFTs more, their future looks brighter and more thrilling than ever, marking them as an innovative bunch in the digital asset world.

So, Why the most expensive NFTs are so popular?

So, what’s the deal with those super pricey NFTs? Well, it’s all about their role in shaking up the digital world. An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a big deal because it’s a unique digital item you can’t swap like-for-like, and it’s proven genuine by blockchain tech. This has breathed new life into digital stuff, making it valuable because it’s rare, one-of-a-kind, and pretty much impossible to fake.

When we talk about the priciest NFTs, we’re usually talking about digital art. That’s why sales of NFTs are raking in billions. If you really want to get how massive this market is, taking a closer look at the most expensive NFTs sold globally is a must.

1- The Merge – $91 800 000
Artist: Pak

Beeple’s artwork “Every day” was before the end of 2021 the most expensive NFT art sold, until the artist Pak decides otherwise. The artwork “The Merge” is an NFT sold for the outrageous sum of $ 91.8 Million via Nifty Gateway. However, the difference lies upon the fact that this NFT was not bought by one, but rather 29,983 people, so “the Merge” sold out being split into 312,686 coins distributed to buyers.

2- Beeple Collection _ Every day: The First Five Thousand Days – $69 346 250
Artist: Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple

This Beeple’s artwork was the most expensive sold NFT-art until the end of 2021. “Everyday” NFT is a painting that collects all 5,000 images he drew over 5,000 days in a row. This unique piece was auctioned by the famous Christie house for the tidy sum of $69 million. This NFT was bought by Vignesh Sundaresan who forestalled Justin Sun, founder of Tron.

3- Clock – $52 740 000
Artist: Julian Assange and Pak

This expensive token was created to support a social cause. Created by Wikileaks founder Assange, this NFT represents a digital counter of the days Julian Assange spent in London’s Belmarsh prison, awaiting extradition to the United States on espionage charges. “Clock” was intended to raise funds to castigate Assange’s imprisonment and was auctioned off for over $52 million. 10,000 AssangeDAO members owned a share of this NFT as with “The Merge” NFT. Proceeds from the auction were donated to the Holland Foundation, which has been supporting Assange’s defense. This NFT initiative joins Edward Snowden’s initiative in favor of freedom of speech.

4- Human One – $28 985 000
Artist: Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple

“Human One” is the second most expensive artwork of Beeple, who is second in the ranking of artists with the highest NFT sales volume. Auctioned through Christie’s for $28.98 million, “Human One” is a life-size 3D NFT that features an individual sporting a spacesuit that changes color (bronze or silver) according to the artist’s wishes. Beeple told he will upgrade this artwork throughout its life, so that this piece of art remains dynamic and crosses time.

5- CryptoPunk #5822 – $23 700 000
Artists: Matt Hall and John Watkinson, Larva Labs’s directors

This NFT is the most expensive of the entire CryptoPunks collection of this studio. Cryptopunks are also popular because they convey a particular nostalgia of the 80s, pop, punk, super pixelated video games. In this collection of 10,000 cryptopunks, the rarest coins are those that have the most unique characteristics. Cryptopunks basically come in humanoid forms, and some of the rarest pieces are zombies, monkeys and aliens. Aliens cryptopunks are the most expensive in this case due to the fact that there are only 9 of them in the 10,000 collection.

This cryptopunk #5822 is one of the nine aliens and wears a blue bandana. Its value mainly comes from the fact that it is an alien.

6- CryptoPunk #7523 – $11 800 000
Artists: Matt Hall and John Watkinson, Larva Labs’s directors

Previously the highest in price of the cryptopunks collection, the value of cryptopunk #7523 comes from the fact that it has extremely rare characteristics: it is the only crypto that wears a surgical mask, which is eminently reminiscent of the pandemic, and it is one of the 9 super rare aliens. And in art, the rarer and more unique, the more expensive it is.

7- TPunk #3442 – $10 500 000
Artists: @mondiblo and @bastardber

This cousin of CryptoPunk, this Tpunk has become the 7th most expensive NFT ever sold. This high value sale can be attributed to the fact that this NFT shares features with the popular DC Comic character, Joker. It is also the first Tpunk NFT to be sold on Tron Blockchain and 120M TRX were paid to acquire it.

8- CryptoPunk #4156 – $10 350 000
Artists: Matt Hall and John Watkinson, Larva Labs’s directors

This cryptopunk is unique because it belongs to exclusives: it is one of the 24 cryptopunks monkeys, and this NFT is adorned with a blue bandana and is estimated to be worth $10.35 million. Fun fact about this NFT is its value jumped in just almost one month from $1.17 million to $10.35 million.

9- CryptoPunk # 5577 – $7 700 000
Artists: Matt Hall and John Watkinson, Larva Labs’s directors

This transaction took place in February 2022 and was sold to Robert Leshner, the founder of the compound Defi protocol. It is another ape like figure from Crypto Punk and was sold for 2501 ETH.

10- CryptoPunk # 7804 – $7 560 000
Artists: Matt Hall and John Watkinson, Larva Labs’s directors

This is the third of the most expensive NFTs from Larva Labs if we use ether tokens. This cryptopunk is one of the 9 aliens punks, which hence explains its exponential value. It has been fleshed out with other characteristics that make it unique: he smokes a pipe, wears a beret and sunglasses, which makes him an extremely rare piece. In the collection of 10,000 cryptopunks, there are only 378 pipe smokers, 317 with shade variations and 254 wearing forward caps.

This auctioned work was purchased by Dylan Field, CEO of Figma, a software company.