Top 20 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold [Updated 2023]
Looking for the most expensive NFTs ever sold? Then we’ve got you covered. The NFT Craze of 2021 saw an unprecedented sales explosion of around $12 billion, with artists like Beeple, Pak, Cryptopunk collection, and NFT art based on the Ethereum blockchain becoming an engrossing topic amongst crypto aficionados.
Last year, “Non-Fungible Tokens” was the most talked-about tech trend, which garnered mainstream attention, and Google searches for the term “NFT” saw an exponential spike. From celebrities to crypto enthusiasts, all want to jump on the bandwagon, as NFTs have had a rapid rise in popularity, both in pop culture and in the art world.
NFTs are now being explored by artists throughout the world as both the “digital art of old real-world artworks” and new exclusive NFT art pieces are attracting a crazy amount of revenue. Established artists, well-known art galleries, and auction houses are playing an important role in further propelling the staggering sales figures of NFTs.
Almost all the NFTs in this list are on the popular Ethereum blockchain, but NFTs on other blockchains like Solana, Polygon, and Cardano are catching up. For example, “Spacebudz”, the Top Cardano NFT collection, made history in October 2021, when Spacebudz#9936 NFT was sold for USD 1 million.
Similarly, many NFT Crypto art was sold in millions this past year and digital illustrators were intrigued about making and selling their own NFTs. And if you are still a little skeptical about the prices that can be earned by an NFT artwork, this Top 10 list of most expensive NFTs sold in 2021 will surely help to see the endless possibilities.
List of Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold in History-
1. The Merge NFT by Pak – $91.8 Million
Pak became the most expensive NFT creator when he sold a total of 312,686 units of mass of a dynamic NFT called “The Merge” to a total of 28,983 collectors. The auction took place between December 2 and December 4, 2021, via “Nifty Gateway”, an NFT Marketplace now acquired by “Gemini” of the Winklevoss twins. The auction sets a new record for a single artwork sold publicly by a living artist at $91.8 million USD.
- NFT Art Name: The Merge
- Digital NFT Artist: Murat Pak
- NFT Sold for: $91.8 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Nifty Gateway (a web3 tech company)
- NFT Buyer: 28,983 collectors
- Blockchain: Ethereum
2. Everydays: The First 5000 Days NFT By Beeple – $69.3 Million
From May 1, 2007 to January 7, 2021, digital artist Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, created and posted a new digital work of art online every day for 5,000 straight days. The 5000 pictures have been brought together to make a monumental digital collage called “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”. The auction took place on March 11, 2021, via Christie’s Auction House, and the NFT was sold online for $69,346,250 to Vignesh Sundaresan, also known as MetaKovan, the founder of Metapurse.
- NFT Art Name: Everydays: The First 5000 Days
- Digital NFT Artist: Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple
- NFT Sold for: $69.3 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Christie’s Auction House
- NFT Buyer: Vignesh Sundaresan aka Metakovan
- Blockchain: Ethereum
3. Human One NFT By Beeple – $28.9 Million
Human One is a kinetic video sculpture (the visuals change based on the time of day) with a corresponding dynamic NFT. It features a lone astronaut in a dystopian world via a towering, chromed-out monolith of slowly rotating LED screens. The auction took place on November 9, 2021, via Christie’s Auction House, and the non-fungible token was sold online for $28,985,000 to Ryan Zurrer, founder of Dialectic.
- NFT Art Name: Human One
- Digital NFT Artist: Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple
- NFT Sold for: $28.9 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Christie’s Auction House
- NFT Buyer: Ryan Zurrer
- Blockchain: Ethereum
4. CryptoPunk 7523 NFT by Larva Labs – $11.75 million
Matt Hall and John Watkinson, founders of New York-based software company Larva Labs, launched CryptoPunks on June 23, 2017. The CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 24×24, 8-bit-style pixel art images with no two that are exactly alike. The collection is composed of 6039 males, 3840 females, 88 zombies, 24 apes, and 9 aliens. CryptoPunk 7523 is one of the rare nine Alien and is known as the “Covid Alien” because it is the only one with a mask. The auction took place on June 10, 2021, via Sotheby’s Auction House, and the NFT was sold online for $11,754,000 million to Israeli entrepreneur Shalom Meckenzie, the largest shareholder in daily fantasy and sports-betting firm Draft Kings. Before the sale, a collector known as Sillytuna owned the token.
- NFT Art Name: CryptoPunk #7523
- Digital NFT Artist: Matt Hall and John Watkinson’s Larva Labs
- NFT Sold for: $11.75 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Sotheby’s Auction House
- NFT Buyer: Shalom Meckenzie
- Blockchain: Ethereum
5. CryptoPunk 4156 NFT by Larva Labs – $10.26 million
CryptoPunk 4156 is one of the 24 rare Ape Punks. On December 9, 2021, this NFT was sold for 2,500 ETH ($10,261,925.05 USD). The details about the buyer are yet to be revealed, but it was sold by Nouns NFT project’s co-founder Punk4156 (who has around 114k followers on his official Twitter account @punk4156). He purchased CryptoPunk #4156 for 650 ETH ($1.25 million) back on February 18th, 2021, before this sale. The CryptoPunk 4156 NFT was also featured by artist Beeple on his Twitter page.
- NFT Art Name: CryptoPunk #4156
- Digital NFT Artist: Matt Hall and John Watkinson’s Larva Labs
- NFT Sold for: $10.26 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: –
- NFT Buyer: Unrevealed
- Blockchain: Ethereum
6. CryptoPunk 3100 NFT by Larva Labs – $7.58 million
CryptoPunk 3100 is one of the rare 9 Alien Punks. On March 11, 2021, this Alien Punk NFT with headband accessory was sold for 4,200 ETH (about $7,584,485, at the time of the sale), slightly above Cryptopunk 7804 (next on the list). The details regarding the buyer and seller are yet to be revealed. But the previous transaction for this NFT was on July 6, 2017, for 8 ETH ($2,127 at the time of the sale).
- NFT Art Name: CryptoPunk #3100
- Digital NFT Artist: Matt Hall and John Watkinson’s Larva Labs
- NFT Sold for: $7.58 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: –
- NFT Buyer: Unrevealed
- Blockchain: Ethereum
7. CryptoPunk 7804 NFT by Larva Labs – $7.57 million
CryptoPunk 7804 is one of the rare 9 Alien Punks. On March 11, 2021, this pipe-smoking alien NFT was sold for 4,200 ETH (about $7,566,173 USD at the time of the sale). The details of the buyer are yet to be revealed, but it was sold by Dylan Field, the CEO & CO-Founder of Figma. On January the 10th, 2018, he purchased Cryptopunk #7804 for 12ETH ($14988 at that time).
- NFT Art Name: CryptoPunk #7804
- Digital NFT Artist: Matt Hall and John Watkinson’s Larva Labs
- NFT Sold for: $7.57 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: –
- NFT Buyer: Unrevealed
- Blockchain: Ethereum
8. Right-click and Save As guy NFT by XCOPY – $7 million
The famous NFT meme art “Right-click and Save As Guy” done by artist XCOPY (Twitter-@XCOPYART) was sold to rapper Snoop Dogg for 1600 ETH ($7,022,000 at the time of sale). The auction took place via SuperRare Labs, a digital art market on Ethereum. Snoop Dogg purchased the NFT art piece under his NFT alias “Cozomo de’ Medici” (Twitter-@CozomoMedici). This NFT piece by London-based crypto artist XCOPY sarcastically mocks people who do not believe in Crypto Art.
- NFT Art Name: Right-click and Save As guy
- Digital NFT Artist: XCOPY
- NFT Sold for: $7 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: SuperRare Labs
- NFT Buyer: Snoop Dogg aka Cozomo de’ Medici
- Blockchain: Ethereum
9. Ringers #109 NFT by Dmitri Cherniak – $6.92 million
On October 2, 2021, Narcissus Gallery co-founder (Twitter-@AkiraReloaded) sold “Ringers #109” NFT for 2,100 ETH ($6,922,881 USD at the time of sale) This “art block” (Twitter-@artblocks_io) curated NFT was made by artist Dmitri Cherniak. Details about the buyer are yet to be revealed, but @AkiraReloaded, who bought the NFT art in March 2021 for $550, made a whopping 1.25 million percent return.
- NFT Art Name: Ringers #109
- Digital NFT Artist: Dmitri Cherniak
- NFT Sold for: $6.92 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Open Sea NFT Marketplace
- NFT Buyer: Unknown
- Blockchain: Ethereum
10. CrossRoad NFT by Beeple – $6.6 million
Beeple’s CrossRoad was part of his “First Drop collection” on NFT Marketplace “Nifty Gateway (NG)”, which is where it was sold for $66,666 to NFT Gateway user Pablo (Twitter-@pablorfraile). The NFT artwork consists of an encrypted 10-second video file accompanied by a digital signature, authenticated by blockchain technology. Beeple’s Crossroad was designed to change based on the outcome of the presidential election in 2020. In February 2021, Pablo resold the artwork to an anonymous NG user (@anonymous10) for $6,600,000.00 on the secondary market via Nifty Gateway’s art buying services. Anonymous10 then transferred their nifty to NG user Delphina Leucas (@babybeluga).
- NFT Art Name: Crossroad
- Digital NFT Artist: Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple
- NFT Sold for: $6.6 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Nifty Gateway (NFT Marketplace)
- NFT Buyer: Current owner-Nifty Gateway User (@babybeluga)
- Blockchain: Ethereum
11. CryptoPunk 8857 NFT by Larva Labs – $6.63 Million
On September 11, 2021, one of the rare 88 Zombie Punk NFTs called CryptoPunk #8857 was sold for 2000 ETH ($6.63 million at the time of sale) via the OpenSea NFT Marketplace. The identity of the buyer and seller is yet to be revealed, but the transaction and current owner details can be found here on OpenSea. The previous sale of CryptoPunk #8857 was in May 2018 when it was sold for 2.5 ETH ($1,715 at the time of sale).
- NFT Art Name: CryptoPunk #8857
- Digital NFT Artist: Matt Hall and John Watkinson’s Larva Labs
- NFT Sold for: $6.63 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Open Sea (NFT Marketplace)
- NFT Buyer: Unrevealed
- Blockchain: Ethereum
12. Perspective NFT by Ross Ulbricht – $6.2 million
“Perspective” is one of the 10 NFT art pieces in the “Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection“, the first and only NFT collection to include Ross Ulbricht’s original personal work. The artist and creator of an e-commerce website called Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, made this graphite pencil drawing from prison, with an accompanying short essay. The auction kicked off at “Art Basel Miami” through the NFT Marketplace SuperRare in December 2021. The NFT was put together by “FreeRossDAO” and was sold for 1446 ETH ($6.2 million at the time of the sale).
- NFT Art Name: Perspective
- Digital NFT Artist: Ross Ulbricht
- NFT Sold for: $6.2 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: SuperRare (NFT Marketplace)
- NFT Buyer: Unrevealed
- Blockchain: Ethereum
13. A Coin For the Ferryman NFT by XCOPY – $6.03 million
Back in 2018, XCopy’s A Coin for the Ferryman NFT was first sold to NFT Marketplace SuperRare user (@0xclipse) for 0.5 ETH ($139 at the time of sale). @0xclipse transferred the art piece to SuperRare user @electricmeat some two years ago. On November 4, 2021, user @electricmeat sold the NFT to another SuperRare user @jpeggy for 1330 ETH ($6,032,986.40 at the time of the sale).
- NFT Art Name: A Coin for the Ferryman
- Digital NFT Artist: XCOPY
- NFT Sold for: $6.03 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: SuperRare (NFT Marketplace)
- NFT Buyer: SuperRare User (@jpeggy)
- Blockchain: Ethereum
14. Ocean Front NFT by beeple – $6 million
The “Ocean Front” NFT by artist Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple is part of his “Everydays” series collection (day 4344–23 March 2019). The NFT is a minute-long video with an original resolution of 2400×3000, made using Cinema 4D, Octane Renders, and Photoshop tools. The auction took place on March 20, 2021, via Nifty Gateway, and the non-fungible token was sold online for $6,000,000 to Justin Sun, founder & CEO of TRON. He then donated the proceeds to the Open Earth Foundation charity.
- NFT Art Name: Ocean Front
- Digital NFT Artist: Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple
- NFT Sold for: $6 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Nifty Gateway
- NFT Buyer: Justin Sun
- Blockchain: Ethereum
15. CryptoPunk 5217 NFT by Larva Labs – $5.44 Million
CryptoPunk 5217 is one of the rare 24 Ape Punks, Originally Released by Larva Labs back in 2017. On July 30, 2021, CryptoPunk #5217 was bought for 2,250 ETH ($5,446,822.63 at the time of the sale).
- NFT Art Name: CryptoPunk 5217
- Digital NFT Artist: Matt Hall and John Watkinson’s Larva Labs
- NFT Sold for: $5.44 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: –
- NFT Buyer: Unidentified
- Blockchain: Ethereum
16. NFT of Source Code for the WWW by Sir Tim Berners-Lee – $5.43 Million
On June 30, 2021, the NFT of the “original source code of the world wide web” by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the modern-day internet, was sold via Sotheby’s auction house for $5,434,500. The NFT includes an original archive of the source code, a 30-minute, 25-second animated virtualization of the code being written, an SVG rep of the full code, and a letter written by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in June 2021.
- NFT Art Name: Source Code for WWW
- Digital NFT Artist: Sir Tim Berners-Lee
- NFT Sold for: $5.43 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Sotheby’s Auction House
- NFT Buyer: Unidentified
- Blockchain: Ethereum
17. Stay Free NFT by Edward Snowden – $5.40 Million
On April 16, 2021, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s first-ever NFT named “Stay Free” was sold for 2,224 ETH (around $5.40 million at the time of sale). The signed crypto art piece features Snowden’s Platon portrait over the entirety of a landmark 2013 court decision ruling the NSA’s mass surveillance violated the law. Twitter user (@PleasrDAO) won the auction, and the proceeds will go to the “Freedom of the Press Foundation.”
- NFT Art Name: Stay Free
- Digital NFT Artist: Edward Snowden
- NFT Sold for: $5.40 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: –
- NFT Buyer: @PleasrDAO
- Blockchain: Ethereum
18. Save Thousands of Lives NFT by Noora Health – $4.57 Million
Nonprofit group “Noora Health’s” co-founder and CEO Edith Elliott put an NFT called “Save Thousands of Lives” for auction at the Open Sea NFT Marketplace. On May 8, 2021, the non-fungible token was sold for 1337 ETH ($4,573,957 at the time of sale) to Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator and Hacker News. Noora Health runs programmes in 165 hospitals throughout South Asia and is going to issue a public report tracking how the money raised via this NFT is spent, estimating the number of lives saved as a result.
- NFT Art Name: Save Thousands of Lives
- Digital NFT Artist: Non Profit organization Noora Health
- NFT Sold for: $4.57 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Open Sea (NFT Marketplace)
- NFT Buyer: Paul Graham
- Blockchain: Ethereum
19. REPLICATOR NFT by Mad Dog Jones – $4.14 million
The Canadian digital artist Michah Dowbak, aka Mad Dog Jones ([email protected]), became the most expensive living Canadian artist on April 23, 2021, when his crypto art NFT titled “Replicator” was sold for $4,144,000 via the British auction house Phillips. “REPLICATOR” can generate new unique NFTs every 28 days, and on May 7, 2021, the multi-generational NFT produced its first offspring (the Generation 2 work was titled “CLEANING CREW).
- NFT Art Name: Replicator
- Digital NFT Artist: Michah Dowbak aka Mad Dog Jones
- NFT Sold for: $4.14 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Phillips auction house
- NFT Buyer: Unidentified
- Blockchain: Ethereum
20. Doge Meme NFT by Atsuko Sato – $4 million
The original photo of the Shiba Inu breed dog “Kabosu”, which was taken by her owner “Atsuko Sato” on February 13th, 2010, is one of the most iconic memes in internet history. Atsuko Sato put the Doge Meme NFT on the auction site “Zora,” curated by “Know Your Meme,” the online community of memes and internet culture. On June 11, 2021, PleasrDAO (Twitter- @PleasrDAO), a decentralised autonomous organization, bought the NFT for 1,696.9 ETH ($4 million at the time of sale).
- NFT Art Name: Doge Meme NFT
- Digital NFT Artist: Atsuko Sato
- NFT Sold for: $4 Million USD
- NFT Sold Via: Zora (NFT marketplace protocol)
- NFT Buyer: @pleasrdao
- Blockchain: Ethereum
I hope you like this edition of the most expensive NFTs ever sold in history. We hope you were inspired to enter the amazing world of NFT and Crypto Art. We’ll update this exhaustive list semi-annually but request our readers to mention any pricey NFTs they come across in 2023 in the comment section.
