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Most Expensive NFT Sold
The success of NFTs is unprecedented: new technology, new concept, and a new economy.
It’s baffling just how much people are willing to SPEND on them!
And we’re not kidding here: the MOST EXPENSIVE NFTs have sold for millions and millions of dollars!
We’re here to introduce these NFTs to you… are you ready?
What Is the Most Expensive NFT Ever Sold?
This one’s a no-brainer.
The most expensive NFT outsells the #2 spot by over $50 MILLION.
Crazy, right?! So without further ado, the most expensive non-fungible token is…
Everydays: the First 5000 Days
Sold for $69.3 million
Beeple’s “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” takes the crown for the most expensive NFT artwork sold on the market.
Just closed in March 11, 2021, this is also the FIRST TIME the major auction house Christie’s has sold a purely digital NFT.
Why Is It So Famous?
Imagine creating art every single day for OVER 13 YEARS.
Digital artist Beeple doesn’t have to imagine it: that’s exactly what he did for Everydays.
You simply cannot deny why people went crazy for it:
- A Collection of 5000 Digital Arts. Yes, this is how many artworks Beeple has compiled into this one artwork alone.
- Visible Artwork Diversity. You can clearly see the varying styles, medium, and type of content Beeple was able to create throughout those 13 years!
- The Auction Environment. It was sold during one of the MOST FAMOUS auction houses' first digital art auction... you would've wanted to feel that kind of energy, too.
It also helped that Beeple already has a LARGE FANBASE to begin with, amassing over 2 million followers across social media.
Clearly, the reputation of non-fungible tokens clearly reached new heights with Everydays.
With the artwork’s value banking on its worth as a COLLECTIVE, there really is no denying Everydays: the First 5000 Days’s power as THE most expensive NFT ever sold.
What Are Other Expensive NFTs?
The digital world is CRAZY for NFTs.
Just how crazy, you might ask? Well, see for yourself!
CryptoPunks
In a nutshell, CryptoPunks are just some pixelated faces on the internet… but they are the ULTIMATE status symbols in the NFT world with ONLY 10,000 of them being produced back in 2017.
It was developed by Hall and Watkinson under the American studio Larva Labs.
Riding on their early entry into this niche market, CryptoPunks are among the most expensive NFTs ever sold: 5/10 in the list of most expensive NFTs are CryptoPunks.
1. CryptoPunk #7523: For $11.8 million
Have we mentioned that Punks are ONE OF THE FIRST NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS in the Ethereum blockchain?
This explains why #7523 ranks SECOND among the MOST EXPENSIVE NFTs just behind Everydays.
Specifically, Why Is #7523 So Famous?
CryptoPunk #7523 is part of the Alien variety of the NFT art by Larva Labs.
And with only 9 Alien punks in EXISTENCE, do you now understand its rarity? That’s 9 out of 10,000 punks in total!
But more than rarity, #7523 has attributes that are both of AESTHETIC and SYMBOLIC value:
- One of 9 Aliens
- One of 2 Aliens With An Orange Beanie
- One of 175 Punks With A Face Mask
- One of 2459 Punks With An Earring
The #7523 wears a FACE MASK that can only be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s aesthetic and a symbolic commemoration of history!
Meckenzie, the new owner of the MOST COVETED CryptoPunk in existence, confirmed this by stating its appeal as a reminder of the pandemic and the popularization of NFTs.
2. CryptoPunk #3100: For $7.58 million
The #3100 the SECOND CryptoPunk on this list of the most expensive NFTS ever sold, making it the top 3 overall.
It was sold at a whooping amount of $7 million to its current owner last March 2021.
Why Is It So Famous?
CryptoPunk #3100 is also one of nine Alien Punks… so yes, it’s RARE.
But more than this, its rarity is also amplified tenfold by its ACCESSORIES.
- One of 9 Aliens
- One of 333 Punks With A Single Accessory
- One of 406 Punks With A Headband
Think about it: #3100 has one of the MOST SIMPLE ACCESSORIES among Punks, emphasizes it by wearing it as a LONE STATEMENT, and is an Alien Punk!
This is one UNIQUE and EXPENSIVE CryptoPunk Alien.
Interestingly enough, the #3100 was only sold for around $2,127 in 2017.
Now in 2021, it was bought at $7 million AND is being eyed to be resold at $91.64 MILLION IN VALUE.
This is proof that value in NFTs is dependent on the community.
3. CryptoPunk #7804: For $7.57 million
The #7804 ranks 4th among the most expensive NFTs ever sold.
It was sold to an anonymous buyer with Twitter username Peruggia.
As ANOTHER Alien Punk, the #7804 has the following attributes that account for its rarity:
- One of 9 Aliens
- One of 254 Punks With A Cap Forward
- One of 317 Punks With A Pipe
- One of 378 Punks With Small Shades
You can say that CryptoPunk #7804 has quite a basic set of Punk attributes… but it has THREE of these, adding to its rarity!
This just goes to show how collectors worldwide are WILLING TO SPEND on some small shades and expensive artworks.
To be more specific: on the rarest of them all, the Alien CryptoPunks.
4. CryptoPunk #5217: For $5.44 million
CryptoPunk #5217 is the 7th most expensive NFT overall.
It is also the highest-ranking NON-ALIEN CRYPTOPUNK.
As an Ape Punk, the #5217 stands to be part of the SECOND RAREST PUNK TYPE… a little just behind the Aliens:
- One of 24 Apes
- One of 169 Punks With A Gold Chain
- One of 419 Punks With A Knitted Cap
Together, the Alien and Ape Punks make up for just 0.33% of ALL CryptoPunks by Larva Labs!
5. CryptoPunk #7252: For $5.3 million
The #7252 is the 10th most expensive NFT overall.
It is also the highest-ranking ZOMBIE CRYPTOPUNK, just third to Aliens and Apes.
It has THREE attributes, making it one of the rare Zombies:
- One of 88 Zombies
- One of 282 Punks With A Chinstrap
- One of 414 Punks With Crazy Hair
- One of 2459 Punks With An Earring
Despite already being the third most rare types, Zombies are still part of the upper 1.21%.
So if one were to be curious about the prices of CryptoPunks, a GREAT crash course would be that: the PRICES are dependent on the Punk Types and their corresponding attributes.
6. Crossroads: For $6.6 million
Crossroads is another NFT made by digital artist Beeple!
At the forefront of NFT sales, the purchase was made on Nifty Gateway just DAYS before Everydays.
Yes, Beeple is the same creator of the MOST EXPENSIVE NFT EVER SOLD: Everydays.
And as you can see, the Crossroads is one of the most entertaining non-fungible tokens in the market:
- It features an ENLARGED Donald Trump-like figure
- It features a NAKEDLY enlarged Donald Trump-like figure
- It features A BUNCH OF PROFANITIES written across a nakedly enlarged Donald Trump-like figure
If it hasn’t been obvious enough, it’s a satirical anti-Trump art piece.
Beeple intended to adjust the Trump-like figure’s naked body depending on the outcome of the 2020 US Election: should he have won, the artwork would’ve depicted him wearing a convenient crown while burning in FLAMES.
7. Ocean Front: For $6 million
Beeple truly is one of the best digital artists of this generation.
Ocean Front is his THIRD TOP 10 ENTRY into the list of most expensive NFTs ever sold. It’s at RANK 6 OVERALL.
There are two aspects that make the story of this NFT memorable:
- Dystopian Sustainability Design. The new digital artwork features dilapidated container trucks, trains, and manmade products for living, situated on water roads. An
- iconic image of a tree precedes all of these and hints at CLIMATE CHANGE
- Profits for the Open Earth Foundation. The profits for the auction that took place were actually donated to the environmental cause of... yes, CLIMATE CHANGE.
Some still criticize this purchase as somewhat of performative activism.
Regardless, this purchase contributed to the global progress on the Paris Agreement.
Ocean Front was purchased for millions of dollars by Tron Founder Justin Sun in March 2021.
8. This Changed Everything WWW Source Code: For $5.43 million
Anything can be made into an NFT as an artistic representation of something else.
Such is the case for This Changed Everything. It shows the literal SOURCE CODE of the Internet through a short video clip.
It may be the most abstract one we’ve discussed among ALL the expensive NFTs sold so far, but simply imagine it to be having these attributes:
- Timestamp of the creation of the Internet
- Letter written by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web
- Digital poster of the full code
It was purchased by an anonymous buyer through an auction by Sotheby’slast June 2021.
9. Stay Free: For $5.27 million
Stay Free has the 9th highest price among NFTs ever sold. This digital artwork was CREATED and auctioned off by Edward Snowden.
Yes, precisely the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Snowden.
As such, the artwork has the following distinct features:
- Snowden juxtaposed against the text of some US appeals court documents
- A symbolic representation of the Patriot Act not permitting the surveillance of
- American phone records
Proceeds went to the non-profit organization advocating for free speech, the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
FAQs
• What Is An NFT?
You can think of NFTs as digital certificates of ownership that are linked to UNIQUE digital assets.
This is powered by blockchain technology to guarantee an art or asset’s authenticity… remember: no two NFTs are alike.
- Creators can set their ORIGINAL PRICE
- Owners are free to attribute their OWN RESALE VALUE to a variety of NFTs
- Owners can resell their purchases for more than their ORIGINAL sale price
The rule of thumb is that: people will pay for NFTs because of their VALUE depending on uniqueness and scarcity.
• What Are Examples of NFTs?
There are a number of popular use cases of NFTs. These include:
- Digital art
- Digital music
- Event tickets
- In-game purchases
- Blockchain domain names
Anything can be an NFT! You just have to do your research.
• Where Can I Buy NFTs?
You can buy NFTs through NFT marketplaces like:
- OpenSea
- Nifty Gateway
- Rarible
As an alternative, you can also look for a fitting auction house. They have also been getting their hands into the NFT industry lately:
- Christie's
- Sotheby's
- Phillips
You can also generate your content through platforms like Art Blocks.
• What Other Unique NFTs Are There?
Some famous ones on the market have been purchased for over MILLIONS OF DOLLARS too
- First Tweet Twitter. Purchased at $2.9 million, this NFT shows the first tweet published on Twitter back in 2006.
- Save Thousands of Lives. Purchased at $5.23 million, this NFT was created to RAISE FUNDS for new mothers and families in South Asia.
• Who Is Beeple?
Beeple is the pseudonym of artist Mike Winkelmann.
Winkelmann hails from Charleston, USA and involves himself in a variety of digital artwork.
He’s the man behind Everydays: the First 5000 Days, the MOST EXPENSIVE NFT EVER SOLD.
Conclusion
The evolution of the digital economy has paved the way for an appraisal of assets.
Specifically, NFTs have made it easier for an unbiased group of people to own EXPENSIVE artworks.
Among these expensive NFTs are notable top works such as:
- Everydays: the First 5000 Days by Beeple which sold for $69.3 million
- CryptoPunks by Larva Labs which DOMINATE the overall top 10 list of most expensive NFTs ever sold (with CryptoPunk #7523 selling for $11.8 million)
For every NFT sold is one step closer to record-breaking sales.
The rise of NFT has so far proven itself to be UNSTOPPABLE.
What do you think about these NFTs? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
