NFTs have been getting a lot of attention lately. Everyone is talking about this new development in the crypto world and they are selling for large amounts.
More and more famous people are stepping into the world of NFTs and this ensures that even more value is attached. You have NFTs in all shapes and sizes, but also in all price ranges.
There are several multi-million dollar NFTs, but what are the 10 most expensive NFTs ever sold? We’re going to look at that today.
What are NFTs?
Do you already know what NFTs are? Then quickly scroll through. But if you don’t know yet, or not completely, then it is a good idea to read on first, since it is very useful to know what an NFT is.
NFT stands for non-fungible token. Fungible means replaceable and non-fungible means irreplaceable. A non-fungible token is therefore an irreplaceable token. However, that might not tell you much.
What might be clearer is to say that a non-fungible token is a token where there is only one of them, the token is unique. The token cannot be copied and there really is only one.
To paint a good picture, let’s look at examples:
- Bitcoin (BTC) is a fungible token. There are a total of 21 million Bitcoins, all of which are basically identical. If you sell 1 Bitcoin today and buy back 1 Bitcoin next week, you basically have exactly the same, while most likely you don’t have the exact same Bitcoin. There is also no way to check this as they are all the same.
- NFTs, such as the NFTs we will discuss in a moment, are unique. There is really only one such NFT. So when you sell this NFT today and buy it back next week, you know that you have exactly the same.
Currently, NFTs are often linked to digital art. This is not the only way NFTs can be used. For example, it can also be used to store the property rights of a house. This has even happened before. The ‘Mars house’, in Germany, sold for more than $500,000.
Today we’re just looking at the piece of NFTs in the form of digital art, as that’s what’s been getting the most attention to date.
What Are the Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold?
We mentioned earlier that NFTs nowadays sell for enormous amounts. While prices are still lower than some of the most expensive paintings, the most expensive NFT isn’t even that far off.
Apparently, people believe in NFTs so much that they are willing to pay fortunes for them. It’s definitely worth taking a good look at NFTs.
But what are the 10 most expensive NFTs ever sold? We’re going to look at that now.
10. Gunky’s Uprising (3LAU)
- Sold for: $1.333333 Million
The 10th most expensive NFT ever sold to date is an NFT of 3LAU. 3LAU is an American DJ and music producer and he decided it was a good idea to sell the music video for his song ‘Gunky’s Uprising’ from the album ‘Ultraviolet’ as NFT.
And he wasn’t the only one who thought it was a good idea. The NFT was part of a drop that yielded a total of $11 million. For this NFT specifically, the buyer deposited a total amount of $1,333,333.33. So a huge amount. This makes it the 10th most expensive NFT of all time.
3LAU is an artist who is always involved with NFTs, as well as other DJs such as the Dutch Don Diablo. 3LAU sold its first NFTs as early as October of the year 2020 and at that time it was still selling NFTs for amounts of several hundred dollars. He soon realized that he could charge a lot more for his NFTs and he did. He still sells NFTs for smaller amounts, such as $100.
9. Pixel (Pak)
- Sold for: $1.355555 million
The 9th most expensive NFT ever sold is ‘Pixel’ and was created by renowned NFT artist Pak. Pak started creating NFTs back in February 2020 and has since become one of the best-known artists out there.
It is striking that this particular NFT sold for such a huge amount. The NFT is simply a gray pixel. It’s really not more than that. Just a gray pixel.
Yet there was a huge demand for the NFT. Pixel was sold at an auction organized by Sotheby’s, who often organize NFT auctions. In an auction that lasted a total of 90 minutes, nearly 20,000 NFTs were sold for a total of just over $17 million. So, Pixel from Pak was eventually sold for $1,355,555.
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8. The Switch (Pak)
- Sold for: $1.444444 million
The 8th most expensive NFT ever sold was also made by Pak, this time ‘The Switch’. It was sold at the same auction as Pixel. This is Pak’s most expensive selling NFT ever and for good reason because this NFT has something very special about it.
The name, The Switch, is of course not for nothing. The NFT literally has a switch. The switch means the switch. The owner of the NFT can use this switch and he or she will then see new artwork.
However, he or she can only do this once and there is no turning back. Very exciting for the buyer, who deposited $1,444,444.00 for the NFT. Both are known, The Switch has not yet been activated.
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7. Quantum (Kevin McCoy)
- Sold for: $1.58 million
‘Quantum’ is the 7th most expensive NFT ever sold. The NFT was created and sold by Kevin McCoy and was released in 2014. It is therefore the first piece of NFT art ever.
Kevin McCoy created the NFT in collaboration with Anil Dash. Together they coded the NFT all by themselves. They are actually the founders of the NFTs and have really started a revolution in the crypto world.
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6. Death Dip (XCOPY)
- Sold for $1.8 million
‘Death Dip’ is an NFT created by London artist XCOPY. He has been active in the world of NFTs since 2018 and he has created many NFTs. This NFT was sold through SuperRare and it is the most expensive NFT ever sold through that platform.
XCOPY also has a 10% royalty on the NFT. As a result, he will receive no less than 10% of the purchase price with each subsequent sale of the NFT. So, if the NFT were to be resold for the same amount or more, XCOPY would earn at least another $180,000.
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5. Replicator (Mad Dog Jones)
- Sold for: $4.1 million
The 5th most expensive NFT ever sold is Mad Dog Jones’ Replicator. Mad Dog Jones is currently the most expensive Canadian artist alive, although he didn’t sell his first piece of art until 2021.
In Replicator, you will see a printer. It is there for a reason. This NFT creates a new NFT every 28 days. Ultimately, between 180 and 220 different NFTs will come out of the printer and the buyer can simply resell it. It is therefore possible that the buyer will simply earn back his purchase amount from these sales.
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4. Stay Free (Edward Snowden)
- Sold for: $5.4 million
The 4th most expensive NFT ever made is Edward Snowden’s ‘Stay Free’. This NFT has a special meaning. The NFT shows court documents stating that the National Security Agency’s Mass Surveillance Practice had broken the law.
The proceeds of this NFT went to the Freedom of the Press Foundation. This is an organization that works for press freedom in the United States.
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3. Ocean Front (Beeple)
- Sold for: $6 Million
Finally, we’ve arrived at Beeple‘s NFTs. Beeple, whose real name is Michael Joseph Winkelmann, is the world’s greatest NFT artist of all time. He has been active as an artist for a long time but started selling NFT art in November 2020.
This NFT, the 3rd most expensive ever sold, is called Ocean Front. The NFT was bought by Justin Sun for a whopping $6 million. Ocean Front is one of the artworks from Beeple’s Everyday series, but more about that later.
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2. Crossroads (Beeple)
- Sold for: $6.6 million
The 2nd most expensive NFT ever sold is again from the American Beeple. This time it concerns his work ‘Crossroads’. The first buyer originally bought this artwork for $66,666.66. At the time, however, he did not know what he would buy.
He knew that there would be two options. The outcome would depend on the election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. After Donald Trump lost, it became known what the NFT would look like.
The ex-president is lying on the floor, with everything written on him, such as ‘loser’. In front of it are people who don’t even look at him.
You’re probably wondering why it says this NFT sold for $6.6 million when the buyer bought it for $66,666.66. This is because the original buyer resold the NFT for the huge amount mentioned earlier. A real top investment for this buyer!
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1. Everydays – The First 5000 Days (Beeple)
- Sold for: $69 million
We’ve been talking about Beeple for quite a while now, but what we haven’t told you yet is that he’s been working on a game since May 1, 2007. very big project. This project is called ‘Everydays’ and in this project, he makes a work of art every day. He still does this and has already made a work of art for more than 5000 days in a row.
The day he reached the 5000-day milestone was a very special day for him. He, therefore, decided to compile the first 5000 days into one NFT. So what you see in this NFT is a collage of all the artworks he made in the first 5000 days of this project, hence the name.
Not only Beeple thought it was special, the NFT soon received a lot of attention. At a Christie’s auction, the NFT was eventually sold for a whopping $69 million.
The transaction took place in March of the year 2021 and to date, the amount has still not been exceeded, in fact, no other NFT sale has ever come close to this amount. However, with crypto, you never know. It could just be that there will soon be a completely different NFT in this first place.
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Conclusion
NFTs are therefore one of the many new developments in the crypto world and it is certainly a technology that may be of great significance in the future, but of course, you never know for sure.
The technology is currently mainly used to link to digital artworks but could be used for much more in the future. For example, you can think of the property rights of a house, or maybe even a car.
Huge amounts are being deposited for digital artworks in the form of non-fungible tokens. For example, the most expensive NFT of all time was sold for a whopping $69 million.
These are, of course, enormous amounts and it could just be that trading in NFTs becomes comparable to trading in, for example, paintings. Who knows, time will tell. In any case, it is very interesting and certainly worth taking a closer look at NFTs.
