The 4 most expensive NFTs

What are some of the most expensive NFTs ever sold? We all know that 2021 was easily the most important year of NFT history, with sales reaching almost $27 billion. Many creators have changed their lives thanks to the rise of NFTs. But what about the average artist?

Thanks to the way that NFTs have skyrocketed, the average NFT sale has changed dramatically. In February 2021, the average NFT sold for about $5,800 on Opensea. By April 2021, however, a brief lull in the NFT markets changed the average NFT sale to somewhere around $1,400. 

With more NFTs than ever before, the average NFT cost right now is about $900 on Mintable, $500 on Opensea, and $150 on Valuable. Now, let’s take a look at the most expensive NFTs ever sold. 

The NFT market has experience even further decline in 2023. There has been a steep devaluation of popular NFTs over the past year, evidenced by drops as much as 95%.

The Merge

Cost: $91.8 million dollars

First up on the list, we have The Merge. It’s not only the most expensive NFT ever sold, it’s also the biggest public sale of artwork by a living artist ever. The creator is Pak, a digital artist or team that has remained anonymous for over two decades. 

Pak is well-known as the creator of Archillect, an AI algorithm that combs the Internet to share images. The Merge is a unique situation because it has multiple owners, thanks to a token sale where “mass” tokens will be combined to create unique NFTs. 

Everydays: The first 5000 Days

Cost: $69 million

Depending on who you ask, Everydays: The first 5000 Days is the most expensive NFT ever sold (unlike The Merge, it has a single owner). The NFT was created by Beeple, and is a collage of all the images the artist has been posting daily since 2007.

This sale is widely credited with starting “NFT mania” as we know it today. The fact that the NFT was sold through Christie’s also added credibility to the sale, and helped garner more international attention. 

Clock

Cost: $53 million

The story is that Clock was created to crowdsource funds for Julian Assange’s (WikiLeaks founder) legal defense opposing possible extradition to the US. The NFT art featured a clock, displaying how long Assange had been imprisoned.

This NFT is considered by many to be more than mere digital art, but rather a demonstration of the potential social influence that can be exerted by an NFT.

Human One

Cost: $29 million

Beeple is easily the biggest NFT artist alive, which is probably why he also has nabbed the #3 spot on the most expensive NFTs ever sold. It’s not just an NFT either – it’s also a 3D video sculpture.

This NFT was also sold through Christie’s. It features an astronaut traversing through various other world-like landscapes.