Top Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold

Top 8 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold [Updated 2022]


Deepak Joshi
By Deepak Joshi | Last Updated on April 6th, 2024 11:59 am | 4-min read

NFTs first came to prominence with the advent of the blockchain technology and the launch of Ethereum. The first application of NFTs on Ethereum was the game CryptoKitties in which users could buy, sell, and trade digital cats. Since then, the popularity of non-fungible tokens is growing rapidly with the number of developers, users, and projects that are either currently or planning to get onboard the NFT train. In a short time, NFT market has shown quite impressive growth in comparison to the rest of the crypto market. The combined market cap of all NFTs is currently over $1.5 billion, which is a small fraction of the overall crypto market cap but a significant portion of the overall blockchain industry.

Here is the list of top 8 most expensive NFTs ever sold

  1. The Merge
  2. The First 5000 Days
  3. Clock
  4. Beeple’s Human One
  5. CryptoPunks #5822
  6. CryptoPunks #7523
  7. CryptoPunks #4156
  8. Right-Click and Save As Guy
In this article, we’ll discuss what NFTs are, how to create your own NFT collection, and the top 8 most expensive NFTs ever sold.

What are NFTs?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that can be used to represent certain assets. They have similar functionality to ERC20 tokens in that they can be used as payment on a blockchain network or traded against other cryptocurrencies on exchanges, but they are designed to represent a single asset or item instead of being interchangeable like a currency.
This lesson is a part of a more elaborate NFT course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here. For example, one NFT could represent a digital token created from a specific photo or piece of artwork, another could represent ownership of a cryptocurrency or a specific amount of cryptocurrency, and another might represent ownership of a certain type of physical asset like a car or house. When you buy an NFT, you are purchasing ownership rights to that specific asset. This means that no two NFTs will ever be exactly alike because they each represent something unique while also being completely exchangeable with other NFTs. This exchangeability makes them completely different from physical assets like cars and houses, which can only be owned by one person at a time legally.

How to Create NFTs?

Using Appy Pie NFT Generator, you can create an NFT collection of 1000+ NFTs in just a few minutes, that too without any hassle of coding or designing. Follow the steps below to create your own NFT collection easily and efficiently.
  1. Signup with Appy Pie NFT GeneratorUpload your NFT artwork or select an NFT template from our library
  2. Edit the NFT art the way you wantCreate an NFT collection in no time without any coding or designing skills
  3. Connect your wallet and mint NFTsUpload your NFTs to OpenSea NFT marketplace and earn money selling them

Top 8 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold

Since the launch of CryptoKitties, NFTs have become a craze that has spread to every domain of blockchain industry and has been an unprecedented phenomenon. Discussed here are some of the top most expensive NFTs ever sold in the history.
  1. The Merge — $91.8 Million

    The first NFT to top our list of most expensive NFTs is The Merge, a digital artwork created by an anonymous digital artist nicknamed Pak. The Merge was sold in December 2021 on the NFT decentralized marketplace Nifty Gateway for a whopping $91.8 Million, making it officially the most expensive NFT ever sold.
  2. The First 5000 Days — $69.3 Million

    The First 5000 Days is the second most expensive NFT ever sold. It is created by Michael Winkelmann, a digital artist known as Beeple. Initially, The First 5000 Days was put on auction at Christie’s for a starting bid of roughly $100 from traditional buyers. However, when the crypto enthusiasts started showing their interest, the price sky-rocketed to more than $1 million in a short while and finally the deal was closed at a massive $69.3 Million by MetaKovan —the pseudonymous founder of Metapurse, an NFT investment fund.
  3. Clock — $52.7 Million

    Created by Pak and Julian Assange, Clock is third on our list of top most expensive NFTs ever sold. This cool NFT works literally as a real clock, counting days since WikiLeaks founder Assange has been imprisoned. Clock NFT has been purchased for $52.7 Million by AssangeDAO — a collection of over 10000 people, with an aim to support Assange and raise funds for his legal defense.
  4. Beeple’s Human One — $29.98 Million

    The fourth on our list of top most expensive NFTs ever sold is The Human One, a dynamic life-generative sculpture created by Beeple. The Human One is an amazing NFT artwork that shows an astronaut wandering across different terrains and shifting environments. This amazing NFT was sold to Ryan Zurrer for $29,985,000 in December 2021 at Christie’s.
  5. CryptoPunks #5822 — $23.7 Million

    CryptoPunks #5822 is the fifth most expensive NFT ever sold. This NFT art was sold for a whopping $23.7 Million in February 2022 to Deepak Thapliyal, the chief executive officer of blockchain startup – Chain. CryptoPunks are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain. Each of the 10,000+ CryptoPunks have unique attributes and come with their own special traits and characteristics.
  6. CryptoPunks #7523 — $11.75 Million

    CryptoPunks #7523 is yet another CryptoPunks NFT that has made it to our list of top most expensive NFTs ever sold. The third rarest NFT in CryptoPunks collection, #7523 was sold at Sotheby’s in June 2021 for an amazing price value of $11.75 million to the Israeli entrepreneur Shalom Meckenzie.
  7. CryptoPunks #4156 — $10.26 Million

    The seventh on our list of top most expensive NFTs ever sold is again a CryptoPunks NFT, CryptoPunks #4156. This rare ape NFT from CryptoPunks was sold in December 2021 for a whopping $10.26 million, making it the largest on-chain sale for Larva Labs, the creators of Cryptopunks.
  8. Right-Click and Save As Guy — $7.09 Million

    Created as a meme by a famous artist XCOPY, Right-Click and Save As Guy is last on our list of top most expensive NFTs ever sold. This unique NFT was created to mock the people who do not believe in the worth of crypto art, and is purchased by none other than hip hop legend Snoop Dogg.

Conclusion

Non-fungible tokens have been around for over three years and have seen their popularity grow exponentially since they were first released. As we move forward, there will undoubtedly be new developments and use cases for these unique assets that will bring in new interest to the space. The main use case that is most likely to take off would be digital collectibles as they have a very unique factor that would make them much more attractive than other concepts such as digital art. No matter what happens in the next few years, we can be certain that NFTs will continue to grow and become more prevalent in our everyday lives.

Related Articles

Deepak Joshi

Content Marketing Specialist at Appy Pie