NFT is here to stay
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are currently one of the most expensive and sought-after items in the crypto space. It boasts a booming market where millions of dollars are pumped in regularly. Its breakthrough was in 2021, and it brought a massive change in the way we view art. In 2021 alone, it amassed $25 billion in trading volume, and it doesn’t look like it’s resting on its oars anytime soon as it’s still assembling crazy figures.
We compiled a list of the most expensive NFT’s ever sold, from an array of CryptoPunks avatars to Beeple’s single edition pieces and many others. Trust me; some prices will have your eyes almost popping out from its socket!
Everyday: The first 5000 days: Topping our list for the most expensive NFT ever sold is the Everyday: the first 5000 days NFT. It doubled as one of the most expensive artworks of all time and went for a whopping $69.3 million! Created by famous digital artist Mike “Beeple” Winkleman, the artwork was sold at Christie’s. It was the first time a purely digital artwork was sold at the venerable auction house.
What was this NFT all about, you might ask. It contained a collage of Mike’s previous works, amounting to 5000 in all. It depicted his development over the years and showed how far he had come in his career. The buyer of the artwork was anonymous at first but later turned out to be Vignesh “Metakovan” Sundaresan. In an interview, Vignesh explained that buying the artwork was to show to Indians and people of colour that crypto was an equalizing power between the West and the rest and that they too could be patrons.
Clock: Created by artist Pak, this dynamic NFT was used to show the number of days since the imprisonment of the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange. It was purchased by AsangeDAO, created to raise money for the legal defence of Asange, who bid and bought it for $52.7 million.
Human One: Mike “Beeple” already has his artwork topping this list, but he showed that he wasn’t a one-season wonder when in late 2021, he unveiled his latest significant creation called Human One. The digital/physical hybrid artwork was a sculpture with digital screens gracing all sides. It depicted a person dressed up in a spacesuit and walking through an ever-changing environment. It was sold for $28.9 million.
CryptoPunk: In 2017, these pixelated face NFTs were minted in bulk and given away for free by Larva Labs, a pair of developers based in Canada. They are Ethereum-based and make up a large chunk of this list. In 2022, one of them, named CryptoPunk #5822, was sold for 23.7 million worth of Ethereum to Deepak Thapliyal, CEO of Chain(Chain is a cloud blockchain infrastructure firm). The CryptoPunk NFTs have slowly become the OG of NFT profile picture projects after a very inauspicious start. They are the inspiration behind an entire industry of followers, including the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
CryptoPunk#7523: This NFT occupied a higher position before it was knocked off its perch by the above CryptoPunk#5822. Just like #5822, it is a rare alien and had a medical mask attribute that gave off a sense of unique topicality in this Covid-19 wave, and this played a significant role in its purchase. “This particular CryptoPunk has always been my target. Being the only alien with a mask, I find it symbolic of the covid-19 pandemic and the popularisation of NFTs.” buyer Shalom MecKenzie said. It was sold for $11.8 million.
TPunk: Almost every blockchain platform that deals with NFT has its version of Punks, and Tron is not left out. While TPunks(TronPunks) typically do not generate some crazy profit, this particular one was sold to Tron co-founder Justin Sun for a jaw-dropping figure of $10.5 million. Did he have to spend so much on this NFT? The answer is no, but then, he wanted to make a statement in the surging NFT market, achieving his aim. Sun later donated the NFT to APENFT, a Tron-based project tokenizing artwork on the blockchain.
