What exactly are the top 10 most expensive NFTs in the world today? This is one of the questions that people, especially artists looking to start creating NFTs, often ask. If you also have an interest in getting an answer to this question, then this article is certainly for you.
This article was written by Jike Eric and originally published by Insider Paper.
NFT (or Non-fungible Token) is the latest trend in the cryptocurrency industry. The first project on this trending tech topic was in 2015. However, NFT didn’t become popular until 2017. Today, almost everybody is looking to start creating and selling non-fungible tokens because it’s a potential new way to earn money. In 2020, the market worth of NFTs was $82.5 million. According to experts, this figure increased to about $17 billion in 2021. It will predictably go even higher in the coming years.
Today, we’ve seen many people selling their NFTs for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Interestingly, a couple of artists have also sold their non-fungible tokens for millions of dollars. Yes, this is very possible depending on the amount of hype each of the projects has. That said, let’s have a quick look at the top 10 list of the most expensive NFTs below.
Here’s the list of the top 10 most expensive NFTs today
1. Pak’s “The Merge” (91.8 million USD)
Topping the list of the top 10 most expensive NFTs today is Pak’s ‘The Merge’ creation. In case you don’t know, Murat Pak is a pseudonymous artist that has been in the crypto media and digital art space for about two decades. He’s popular for his Artificial Intelligence creation, called Archillect (Archive & Intellect).
“The Merge” became the most expensive NFT in the world in December 2021. About 28,983 collectors snapped up a total of 312,686 NFT units to acquire parts of the piece, which sold at 91.8 million USD on Nifty Gateway. With that, it means ‘The Merge’ is one of the few most expensive NFTs to have multiple owners.
2. The First 5000 Days (69.3 million USD)
Occupying the second spot on the list of the top 10 most expensive NFTs in the world today is “The First 5000 Days.” Unlike ‘The Merge’, this NFT only belongs to a single owner. As such, you can safely say that “The First 5000 Days” is the most expensive NFT in the world for a single owner.
“The First 5000 Days” is an NFT created by Mike Winkelmann, known professionally as Beeple. It sold for 69.3 million USD in 2021 at Christie’s, a popular British auction house.
3. Clock (52.7 million USD)
Sold at 52.7 million USD, “Clock” occupies the third spot on the top 10 list of the most expensive NFTs in the world today. In case you don’t know, “Clock” is a single non-fungible token that represents a timer, which counts the number of days WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has spent in prison.
The NFT piece was curated as part of Murat Pak and Assange’s Censored collection. In 2022, the piece sold for 16,953 Ethereum (that’s roughly $52.7 million) to AssangeDAO. AssangeDAO is a collection of over 10,000 people that came together to raise funds for the WikiLeaks founder’s legal defence.
4. Human One (28.985 million USD)
Sitting in the fourth position on the top 10 list of the most expensive NFTs in the world today is the “Human One.” In case you don’t know, the “Human One” is a life-sized NFT sculpture created by the popular digital artist – Mike Winkelmann (Beeple). The “Human One” is a hybrid digital and physical artwork that was auctioned off at Christie’s in 2021.
5. CryptoPunk #5822 (23.7 million USD)
CryptoPunk #5822 sold for 23.7 million USD in Ethereum is the most expensive CryptoPunk piece in the world today. The creation of CryptoPunks started in 2017. So, if we’re talking about the OGs in the non-fungible token space, these pieces are certainly one of the few.
CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 algorithmically generated 24 by 24, 8-bit-style tokenized and pixelated images. This particular piece represents the number 5,822 of the images. It sold to Deepak Thapliyal, Chain’s CEO, for 8,000 ETH – that’s roughly about $23.7 million.
6. CryptoPunk #7523 (11.75 million USD)
CryptoPunk #5822 is not the only expensive piece from the 10,000 algorithmically generated CryptoPunk images. Another piece that made it to this top 10 list of the most expensive NFTs in the world today is CryptoPunk #7523.
This piece, dubbed “Covid Alien,” sold at Sotheby’s for over $11.7 million to Shalom Meckenzie, the largest shareholder of DraftKings. In case you don’t know, Meckenzie is one of the many richest billionaires across the world. According to Forbes, his net worth as of 2021 was $1.6 billion.
7. CryptoPunk #4156 (10.26 million USD)
Occupying the seventh spot on the list of the top 10 most expensive NFTs in the world today is CryptoPunk #4156. With a selling price of 10.26 million USD, this piece is the third most expensive art image in the CryptoPunk collection. The banana ape CryptoPunk piece sold in December 2021 for 2,500 ETH.
8. CryptoPunk #3100 (7.67 million USD)
Sitting on the eighth spot on the top 10 list of the most expensive NFTs in the world today is CryptoPunk #3100. This piece is another of Punk’s algorithmically generated art images. It sold for 4,200 ETH (that’s roughly 7.67 million USD) in March 2021.
9. CryptoPunk #7804 (7.6 million USD)
CryptoPunk #7804 is another of Punk’s algorithmically generated 24×24 pixel art images that made it to this list. The pipe-smoking alien CryptoPunk sold for 4,200 Ethereum in 2021.
10. Crossroad (6.6 million USD)
With a selling price of $6.6 million, Crossroad occupies the tenth position on this list. This piece, created by the popular digital artist Mike Winkelmann (Beeple), is an abstract, animated non-fungible token. It represents people walking past a body. So far, “Crossroad” is one of Nifty Gateway’s most expensive NFTs.
