To put it simply, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital objects backed by blockchain technology which ensures that they cannot be replicated or counterfeited. This object can be a painting, a video, an audio snippet, a video game collectible item, a GIF, or almost anything else. Though they're not without fault, NFTs certainly seem to be a bastion for creativity in digital spaces.
In 2021, there was a marked increase in investors taking notice of the NFT market., and celebrities and artists have also hopped on the bandwagon. For instance, as per Crypto Briefing, Canadian singer The Weeknd raised $2 million selling previously unreleased music as NFT tokens priced at $490,000. Furthermore, established creatives such as Snoop Dogg and Justin Roiland have recently dabbled in the creation and collection of NFTs.
Updated on April 14th, 2022 by Tanner Fox: Much like the ebb and flow of the extremely volatile cryptocurrency market, the value of NFTs can fluctuate greatly depending on public interest. In 2021, demand for notable digital artworks was through the roof as trendy traders tripped over each other to get in on the next new thing. However, in 2022, interest in NFTs seems to have fallen a bit.
This may stem from environmental concerns relating to the surprising energy demands of NFT creation, or it could come from skepticism surrounding the Metaverse and the roles NFTs will play in it. That said, some popular creations remain as coveted as ever.
SMB #1355 ($2.1 Million)
Solana is a blockchain that gained popularity with NFT creators thanks to its relatively low mint cost. The blockchain also featured a flagship NFT series known as Solana Monkey Business or SMB. Of these, SMB #1355 became not only the priciest of the collection but, as of October 2021, it was the most expensive NFT on the Solana blockchain.
The main draw is the crown atop the pixelated monkey's head, something only .02% of pieces in the Solana Monkey Business collection have. As more attention is drawn to the Solana blockchain, the value of this NFT is likely to grow substantially.
Meebit #10761 ($2.78 Million)
The Meebit collection debuted in 2021 as the follow-up to Larva Labs' wildly successful CryptoPunks series. A suite of 20,000 3D voxel models, they seemed like a logical evolution from their previous pixelated series. While Meebit never quite caught on in the same way as CryptoPunks, several of them sold for well over one million dollars.
However, Meebit #10761 stood out from the rest; pulling in 2.7 million dollars, it became the most expensive of the Meebits line shortly after it dropped. One of a small number of "dissected" Meebit, its ghoulish appearance may have made it all the more interesting for some.
Bored Ape #8817 (3.14 Million)
While collections like CryptoPunks earned praise for their ingenuity in 2017, by 2021, similar collections began to draw ire from those outside of the NFT sphere, as many believed them to be garish and unimaginative.
These sentiments didn't stop NFT trades from cashing in, however. In October 2021, Bored Ape #8817 sold for 819 ETH, or roughly 3.14 million dollars. One of a select number of gold apes in the Bored Apes line, #8817 is a rare commodity that's likely the envy of all those invested in the crypto trading space.
Doge ($4 Million)
For newcomers and those not familiar with the ever-evolving crypto industry, the concept of an NFT often seems like a strange one, and the fact that buyers are allegedly paying as much as four million dollars for a meme doesn't help the situation. There are plenty of things most don't know about cryptocurrency, but, given how prevalent they are becoming, it may be worth learning the ins and outs of crypto.
Sold in early June 2021 and reported on by NBCNews, auction winner 'pleaserdao' placed a bid of 1,696.9 ETH, which is an incredible amount of cryptocurrency to spend on anything, let alone a picture of one of the internet's most well-known memes.
Replicator ($4.1 Million)
In April 2021, Mad Dog Jones became the most expensive living artist in all of Canada. How? By selling his Replicator NFT for a hefty $4.1 million through the Phillips auction house. There's a lot going on with the NFT. The image showcases a photocopier one would expect to find in any office building. It's housed in what appears to be a pretty small apartment. There's a cat and intricate rug on the floor, a drafting table, a stock ticker, and a view of an expansive city at night.
There's also a video version that accompanies all of this with 80s synth tones and shows the photocopier being used. The best part? This NFT automatically generates new NFTs every 28 days (hence the 'replicator' name). Mad Dog Jones says Replicator should produce between 180 and 220 unique NFTs, all of which can be kept or sold as the owner sees fit.
CryptoPunk #2338 ($4.32 Million)
Out of all the NFTs that have popped up, one collection that's proven particularly popular is CryptoPunk from Larva Labs. Starting in June 2017, the software company creates 24x24 pixel characters that each have their own unique appearance. CryptoPunk #2338 is one of the most valuable of the bunch, having sold in August 2021 for $4.32 million.
CryptoPunk #2338 is one of 88 designs in Larva Lab's Zombie series. It shows an avatar with a classic green zombie skin tone, bloodshot eyes, and a single tuft of hair sticking up in the middle of its head. Since CryptoPunk #2338 was created in June 2017, its value has increased by nearly 10,000 percent.
Save Thousands Of Lives ($4.5 Million)
For many, the concept of an NFT is too abstract to risk investing in, but would investor's opinions soften if NFTs were distributed with a virtuous purpose? That's exactly what Noora Health is trying to do with its aptly named Save Thousands Of Lives.
The NFT was created on May 3, 2021, and sold a few days later for more than $4.5 million. Noora Health is using 100 percent of the proceeds to save and improve thousands of people's lives. The organization primarily focuses on training new mothers and their families in South Asia about how to properly care for newborns when returning from the hospital. Noora Health estimates it can save 9 babies out of 1000 births, with an average cost of around $1,235 per life saved. In other words, that $4.5 million can do a lot of good.
This Changed Everything ($5.4 Million)
It's safe to say that the creation of the Internet changed the world forever. What's the best way to memorialize its creation? Through NFTs, of course. Bidding for This Changed Everything began in June 2021 for $1,000. Once all was said and done, it sold to an anonymous buyer for roughly $5.4 million.
What did the buyer get for that price? They received an artistic take on the source code used for one of the earliest versions of the World Wide Web. This Changed Everything also came with a digital poster of code written by Tim Berners-Lee—commonly held to be the "father of the internet"—a letter written by him and time-stamped documents spelling out the history of the Internet.
Stay Free ($5.4 Million)
Edward Snowden became equally famous and infamous in 2013 when he leaked classified information from the NSA. Eight years after that drama unfolded, Snowden found himself in the spotlight again when he sold the Stay Free NFT for around $5.4 million.
Per the Foundation website where the NFT was sold, Stay Free "combines the entirety of a landmark court decision ruling the National Security Agency's mass surveillance violated the law, with the iconic portrait of the whistleblower." It's the only known NFT ever produced by Snowden, and 100 percent of the proceeds went towards the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to funding and supporting freedom of the press.
CryptoPunk #5217 ($5.45 Million)
Going back to Larva Labs, the company's CryptoPunk #5217 has also made history as one of the most expensive NFTs in its collection. The NFT first sold in 2018 for a little over $1800. In July 2021, it sold for a whopping $5.45 million.
Aside from the incredible price tag, CryptoPunk #5217 is notable for a few unique design attributes. It's one of 169 designs with a gold chain around its neck, and one of 419 with a knitted cap. Most importantly, it's one of a mere 24 apes in the CryptoPunk series.
Ocean Front ($6 Million)
Along with Larva Labs, another big name in the NFT world is Beeple. Beeple's sold a number of record-breaking NFTs, one of which is the Ocean Front NFT shown above. Ocean Front sold at auction for a clean $6 million, and it isn't even the most valuable Beeple creation out there.
While it may not technically be the most coveted Beeple creation of all time, Ocean Front is a really gorgeous piece of art. It shows a wooden structure in the middle of an ocean with a variety of shipping containers and campers/RVs on top of it. At the very top rests a large tree and a couple of large mushrooms.
Ringers #109 (6.93 Million)
Ringers is a collection of randomly-generated digital artworks created by Dimitri Cherniak, and many pieces of the collection have gone for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet, none are pricier than Ringers #109, which managed to pull in just under seven million dollars.
The Ringers collection is somewhat unique in that it makes use of the Art Blocks platform wherein artists create algorithms that create art instead of the art itself. Those buying into the Ringers series and others like it seem to be getting in on the ground floor of a notable new NFT movement.
Right Click Save As Guy (7.09 Million)
"Right Click Save As" became something of a joke among NFT detractors, the idea behind it being that NFT ownership seems superfluous when digital art can easily be copied and distributed at virtually no cost. Of course, NFTs could more accurately be thought of as receipts associated with art that cannot be replicated rather than the art itself, though the sentiment remains popular regardless of inaccuracy.
Interestingly enough, this piece was purchased by rapper and actor Snoop Dogg in December 2021 for just over seven million dollars. Snoop Dogg has been making waves in the NFT space by purchasing NFTs, real-estate space in the metaverse, and making NFT-related music.
CryptoPunk #7804 ($7.57 Million)
CryptoPunk #7804's rarity comes from the fact that it is one of the only nine Alien CryptoPunks by Larva Labs. Apart from the usual CryptoPunks, the rare ones include Aliens, Apes, and Zombies.
This particular Alien character sports three accessories: a pair of small shades, a smoking pipe with a few clouds of smoke rising out of it, and a front-facing cap. The sale took place around the same time as CryptoPunk #3100 which overtook #7804's sale by $10,000.
CryptoPunk #3100 ($7.58 Million)
In the same vein as CryptoPunk #7804, one of the most expensive CryptoPunks is also one of the nine Alien Punks. The Alien also wears a blue-and-white headband, though nearly 406 of the 10,000 characters have these. Sold on March 11, 2021, the Punk started its journey from $76 in a 2017 bid, continuing to be priced at $2 million and eventually its current price of $7.58 million.
Much like buying bitcoin in 2011 or investing in Apple in the 1970s, avid traders likely fantasize about getting in on unlikely trends such as these well in advance.
CryptoPunk #7523 ($11.7 Million)
A digital avatar selling for over $7 million is undoubtedly impressive, but what about one that fetched a sale price of nearly $12 million? That's what happened with CryptoPunk $7523, which was purchased by DraftKings' shareholder Shalom Meckenzie for $11.7 million.
CryptoPunk #7523 is also part of the Alien series, though it has a few different accessories compared to its #7804 and #3100 siblings. This NFT has a red beanie, a gold earring, and a face mask. Combined with the rare Alien skin, it makes CryptoPunk #7523 one of the most iconic—and expensive—digital creations out there.
Human One ($28.9 Million)
This is yet another NFT from Beeple, and, while it's not the artist's most expensive creation, it may just be their most unique. Unlike most NFTs which are exclusively digital, Human One is a hybrid design that also combines physical elements. It's a human-sized sculpture made out of polished aluminum, mahogany wood and four video screens creating a combined total resolution of 16K.
The coolest part? Those screens display a virtual avatar that'll keep changing for years to come. Beeple also plans on continually updating the avatar as time goes on. If someone's going to spend nearly $29 million on an NFT, they might as well get one as cool as this.
Clock (52.74 Million)
Dropped in February 2022, Clock was developed by Pak and Julian Assange to assist with the controversial WikiLeaks founder's legal fees. Assange has been imprisoned in the UK for several years, and his situation is hotly debated among those concerned with privacy and censorship both online and off.
Clock is a simple counter which displays the number of days Assange has spent imprisoned. Having sold for north of fifty million dollars, it made waves among crypto advocates, many of whom earnestly support the polemical figure.
The First 5000 Days ($69 Million)
In its first-ever digital art auction, the auction house Christie's sold a massive compilation of artworks by Beeple for a record-breaking sum of 69 million. Beeple has been making artworks every day since May 2007, not missing a single day.
These art pieces, dubbed as "Everydays," vary in terms of styles, medium, and content and often rely on dystopian or satirical settings. As per Artnet, Beeple happens to be the "third most expensive living artist" in terms of auction prices, following the likes of Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
The Merge ($91.8 Million)
Taking the number one spot as the most expensive NFT ever sold, The Merge is the creation of famed digital artist Pak. Pak is another big name in the NFT space, having created some of the most iconic artworks out there. The artist's actual identity remains a total mystery, but that hasn't stopped them from having a massive presence in the digital art space.
Of all the NFTs Pak has created, The Merge is their most creative. Rather than creating and selling a static piece of art, The Merge was a collection of 'masses' that people could buy. The more folks spent, the larger their 'mass' became. All of these masses are lumped under the same creation, and, with total sales coming out to $91.8 million, it makes The Merge the most expensive NFT sale by a mile.