Top 10 Most Expensive NFT Sales in History
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have changed the game for owning and selling digital content. Using blockchain tech, NFTs are unique files like images, animations, music, or even code.
What’s neat, however, is that every one of them is recorded on a ledger that shows who owned it and when it changed hands. It has made simple JPEGs into digital property of real value.
With the market growing, some NFTs are selling for millions. The question now being asked across social media, auctions, and investor groups is simple: What is the most expensive NFT ever sold?
Below are the ten biggest NFT sales recorded to date. Every piece is different. Anonymous artists sold some of them. Some had the backing of well-known names. Some of them were political. Some were odd, even. However, all of them were expensive.
Top 10 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold
1. The Merge by Pak - $91.8 million
To top the list is The Merge by an artist called Pak. This NFT was sold on Nifty Gateway in December 2021. This wasn’t a one-to-one deal, but a typical sale nonetheless. Instead, the NFT was divided into chunks called “mass.”
There was no commitment by each of the buyers to buy a certain number of units. The more someone bought, the more their NFT “grew.” Some 300,000 of units were purchased by nearly 29,000 collectors. The sales added up to $91.8 million.
That amount makes The Merge the most expensive NFT in the world, though some people still debate whether it should count as one piece or many. In either case, the record remains.
The identity of Pak is not known. Still, their work has become widely known in crypto art circles, and The Merge is now a core part of NFT history.
2. Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple - $69.3 million
In March 2021, Christie’s auctioned an NFT for the first time. That NFT was Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple, the name used by digital artist Mike Winkelmann.
A collage of 5,000 images, made one a day for 13 years, is the piece. All the images represent some part of culture, politics, or Beeple’s life at a different point in time. Some are abstract. There is also sharp commentary.
(Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple)
It started with $100. But by the end, it had sold for $69.3 million, all paid in Ethereum. Vignesh Sundaresan, who is also known as MetaKovan, is the buyer. Later, he said that the purchase was “to show the world that digital art matters.”
After this sale, traditional collectors took notice, and NFT art was no longer a niche market.
3. Clock by Pak and Julian Assange - $52.7 million
But clock is more than just art. It is a message, sort of. This work was created in a collaboration with Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, by Pak, who also created The Merge.
The simple timer that the piece presents is being described. And it counts how many days Assange has been in prison. Nothing else. No sound. No effects. Just numbers.
In February 2022, a crew known as AssangeDAO raised nearly $52.7 million to buy it. More than 10,000 contributors reached into their wallets to collect funds in the fundraiser. The money from the sale funded Assange’s legal efforts.
(Clock by Pak and Julian Assange)
Clock raised questions about what an NFT could be. It lacked visual appeal when designed. They weren’t collectible. It was bought anyway for one of the highest prices ever recorded.
4. Human One by Beeple - $29 million
This NFT is different from others on the list. It’s a physical sculpture and at the same time a digital work. It was sold again by Christie’s in November for $29 million and is called Human One.
It is a 3D video sculpture with a person walking through a changing landscape. He walks through deserts, forests, cities, and the man is wearing a helmet and silver suit.
The catch here is that Beeple can update the video remotely. Therefore, Human One is not finished. I have to admit, it is still changing and always will be.
The screens on four sides of the sculpture are tall enough, more than 7 feet tall. It blends art, technology, and movement in a way that most NFTs can’t. That’s why it got such a high price.
5. CryptoPunk #5822 - $23 million
CryptoPunk 5822 is another of the first CryptoPunk series made from the team Larva Labs. One Alien in the toy is wearing a blue bandana and there is a special one. Only nine Alien Punks are present in the entire collection of 10,000 units, hence, they are rare and very popular.
The NFT was purchased in February 2022 by Deepak Thapliyal, CEO of the blockchain firm Chain, for $23 million.
CryptoPunks were among the earliest NFT collections on Ethereum, launched in 2017. Because they appear pixelated and there are limited copies, NFTs have become important to the Web3 and crypto communities.
The high price of 5822 underscores the importance of rarity and provenance in determining NFT value.
6. CryptoPunk #7523 - $11.75 million
There is another alien who is really a Punk with a twist. The only mask in the entire series is a medical mask, and he wears it.
CryptoPunk 7523 is also being auctioned off, and the owner managed to sell it for $11.75 million during a Sotheby’s auction in June 2021. The event was Natively Digital, which treated digital art.
This gave the piece a much-needed strong link with current events. It was dubbed the “Covid Alien” by some. More than just pixel art, it turned into. It was a stamp in the history of the global pandemic.
7. TPunk #3442 - $10.5 million
TPunk 3442 is an NFT that comes from the TPunks series, which is based on the Tron world and CryptoPunks. Often called the “Joker TPunk” because of its resemblance to the iconic comic book character, the NFT sold for $10.5 million in August 2021.
Justin Sun, the creator of Tron Blockchain, carried out the transaction. He later donated the artwork to the APENFT Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting NFT art on Tron.
The sale marked the highest NFT purchase on Tron and showed that demand for rare digital assets extends beyond Ethereum. It also helped raise awareness of alternative blockchains in the NFT ecosystem.
8. CryptoPunk #4156 - $10.26 million
CryptoPunk 4156 is another Punk on the list, and its one of the 24 Apes in the 10,000 character collection. He also has a blue bandana.
This Punk was bought for $10.26 million in December of 2021 and had been sold before. The platform is only a few months old, but in February 2021, it fetched just over $1 million in a previous sale. Less than a year later, that means this is a 10x return.
Some of the most expensive NFT sales come from collectors trading rare traits, and Ape Punks are considered among the most valuable.
9. CryptoPunk #5577 - $7.7 million
In February of 2022, CryptoPunk 5577 was sold for $7.7 million. There is another Ape, but this one is wearing a cowboy hat. It is only seen in a few characters.
It is supposed that the buyer is the founder of the Compound DeFi platform, Robert Leshner.
It was an on-chain sale, and ETH was paid for the price. The cowboy hat, combined with the Ape trait, made this NFT a key asset for collectors chasing rarity.
10. CryptoPunk #3100 - $7.67 million
Another member of the Alien group finishes the list of CryptoPunks as CryptoPunk#3100. This one is wearing a white headband, which is very rare among Punks.
It was sold for $7.67 million in March 2021, during a hot period for NFT trading. Until now, it has never been on the market for sale.
NFT was resold on OpenSea after the first transaction for 35,000 ETH, which was equal to $90 million at that time, though it did not attract any buyers. Even so, the sales during its initial release are enough to make it one of the top 10 NFTs.
Conclusion
These ten NFTs tell a story, not just of art or collectibles, but of a shift in how digital content is valued. The rise in NFT prices shows that collectors are willing to pay top dollar for pieces that are rare, meaningful, or tied to key cultural moments.
CryptoPunks were in front of the trend, and they prospered. It showed the people like Beeple and Pak that ambitious artworks and new sales methods can be done. Works of art, such as Clock, dealt with art to address the world’s problems.
Today, people still ask, “What is the most expensive NFT right now?” The product you’re looking for might still be changing towards the outcome you’re looking for. Despite that, these sales are still historic, and the one at the top of the list for now is The Merge, which sold for $91.8 million.
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