30 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold Online

29. PEPENOPOULOS, 2016: $3.6 Million

The ‘Rare Pepe’ NFT, dubbed PEPENOPOULOS, was sold for $3.6 million USD. It’s the most valuable NFT that was sold at the auction. There were many other NFTs sold. Sotheby’s collection is titled ‘Natively Digital 1.2: The Collectors’, and features an array of NFTs such as a ‘Chromie Squiggle’, a CryptoPunk, an extremely rare ‘Solid Gold’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT and an array of cat-based NFTs including Cool Cats. It was a week-long bidding war that finally sold for $3.6 million USD, one of the most expensive NFTs in the world (via Finance).

28. EtherRock #55: $3.8 Million

EtherRock sold for $3.8 million USD. It also goes by the name of EthRock. It’s a project depicting various colored rocks that dates back to 2017. It may come as a surprise that colored rocks sold as some of the most expensive NFTs in the world. Currently, there are 100 EtherRocks, and EtherRock #55 is the most expensive one. Perhaps EtherRock is an investment you should consider pouring time and energy into (via Wikipedia).

27. Some A**hole: $3.8 Million

NFT enthusiasts are loving Snoop Dog’s latest NFT, which is one of the most expensive NFTs in the world. ‘Some A**hole’ was purchased for $3.8 million USD. Snoop Dog is now setting records with his purchases. He also revealed that he is, actually, Cozomo de’ Medici, an avid collector in the NFT space. This makes the NFT community a bit more interesting as we learn more and more about who’s involved in these purchases (via Dappradar).

26. Once Upon A Time In Shaolin: $4 Million

A cryptocurrency group purchased Wu-Tang Clan’s album, ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’, for $4 million USD. The crypto collective led by Jamis Johnson purchased the lone copy. Previously, former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli owned it. He also happens to be a convicted felon (via NME).

25. Replicator: $4.1 Million

Replicator was only on the market for two weeks until it was sold for $4.1 million USD. In Philip’s history, it’s the first NFT offered. Eventually, it reached millions after an opening bid of $100. Replicator is not only one of the most expensive NFTs in the world but one of the most captivating, as it was created with the ability to generate new, unique NFTs from itself every 28 days. During the last 5 minutes of the sale, it achieved a final price of $4,144,000 and was sold to an anonymous collector (via Artealdia).

24. CryptoPunk #2338: $4.4 Million

Someone purchased CryptoPunk #2338 for $4.4 million USD. It’s pretty fascinating that a collection of CryptoPunks, with their many different looks and styles, can sell for so much money. It’s a collection that’s paving the way through the NFT world (via Twitter).

23. Doge (meme): $4.4 Million

We’ve all seen Doge, the iconic picture of a Shiba Inu. Now it’s one of the most expensive NFTs in the world, and one of the most expensive memes to sell as an NFT. Surely, none of us expected a meme to sell for this much money. It was sold in an auction for $4.4 million USD. The money goes to Atsuko Sato, a Japanese kindergarten teacher, who owns the actual Shuba Inu dog. It sold in just three days (via NY Post).

22. Save Thousands Of Lives: $5.2 Million

This NFT is one of the most remarkable NFTs on this list as it’s being auctioned to support work with underserved communities in South Asia. Noora Health, which is a public health nonprofit organization, trains patients’ families to take care of the patient once they leave the hospital. The program takes place in 165 countries in South Asia, primarily for mothers and their families. With this knowledge, they can help empower caregivers with the skills they need to further care for their loved ones.

This helps reduce and even prevent future complications and even death. ‘Save Thousands of Lives’ was sold for $5.2 million USD. The funds will support Noora Health’s work. With every $1,235 sold, they can save one life, and even improve several more. The higher the NFT sells for, the more lives they can save (via Open Sea).

21. This Changed Everything: $5.4 Million

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, sold one of the most expensive NFTs in the world at $5.4 million USD. A fine art auction house at Sotheby’s sold ‘This Changed Everything’. It portrays a time-stamped file of the source code with over 9,500 lines. It also shows a written 30-minute animation of the code. There’s also a letter written by Berners-Lee. Even though this NFT was sold for over $5 million USD, it’s still less than the $10 million USD some people expected it to sell for (via Coin Telegraph).

20. Stay Free: $5.4 Million

‘Stay Free’, Edward Snowden’s NFT, sold for $5.4 million, or 2,224 ETH. Moreover, this NFT in particular is quite remarkable and has another fascinating backstory. It’s an artwork that depicts an image of Snowden’s face. A US appeals court decision creates his face. This decision in particular ruled that the mass surveillance program Snowden previously exposed had violated US law (via The Verge).

19. CryptoPunk #5217: $5.6 Million

This is yet another CryptoPunk in the collection. Because there are quite a few of them, each one seems to relish in its own uniqueness and success. The artist of CryptoPunk has also made some serious gains and headway in the NFT world, as most of his creations are some of the most expensive NFTs out there. This one, in particular, CryptoPunk #5219, sold for $5.6 million USD (via Larva Labs).

18. OCEAN FRONT: $6 Million

Beeples makes the list again as one of the artists that sells the most expensive NFTs in the world. However, this NFT is a bit different and has a remarkable backstory. This time, he’s sold ‘Ocean Front’, which is related to the earth’s climate and climate change challenges. It was captioned “together we can solve this.” There were successive bids from three bidders. Originally, Ocean Front began at $2.77 million and was eventually sold to Justin Sun at exactly $6 million. Beeple mentioned he’s going to donate the proceeds to charity (via Coinspeaker). NFTs are doing something good for the world.

17. A Coin For The Ferryman: $6 Million

XCOPY sold an NFT on SuperRate this Thursday evening, which cost roughly $6 million USD. It was titled “A Coin For the Ferryman,” and is one of the artist’s earliest NFT creations, dating back to 2018. We’re sure this artist had no idea they’d sell this NFT for millions of dollars in just a few years though (via Crypto Briefing).

16. All Time High In The City: $6.2 Million

This unique, pulsing, animated image sold for nearly $6.2 million USD. ‘All Time High in the City’ is one of the most expensive NFTs on this list, and even sold for nearly 3x the original cost. Previously, it was sold for $2.9 million USD. It feels right at home in the crypto world as another pricey, but quirky NFT (via Decrypt).

15. CryptoPunk #8857: $6.63 Million

On the market, this is the fourth most expensive digital collectible sold. Someone purchased CryptoPunk #8857 for 2,000 ether, or $6.63 million USD. Because of this, it’s one of the CryptoPunk collectibles that are making a lot of headway in the NFT world (via Live Mint).

14. ROSSROAD: $6.6 Million

Mike Winkelmann, an artist who goes by the name of Beeple, sold ROSSROAD for $6.6 million at Nifty Gateway. If any of us is an artist, we probably wish we could sell our artwork for this much money. Instead, we hope more than only our families will see our artwork. According to Nifty Gateway, Beeple is the most expensive digital work ever auctioned. Now that’s saying something (via Art News).

13. Right-Click And Save As Guy: $7.09 Million

The Right-click and Save As Guy is the name of an NFT. Even though this is one of the most expensive NFTs on the list, it’s also an NFT that takes a hilarious spin on what people think of NFTs. It was created by the artist as a joke on those who think NFTs are worthless because they can be copied and downloaded from the internet. The artwork currently sports dystopian and death themes. Also, it features a character wearing large shades and a hoodie, who’s mumbling something under his breath (via Martechalliance).

12. Ringers #109: $7.12 Million

An unknown collector purchased The Ringers NFT for 2100 ETH. With this purchase, it became the ART Blocks project’s most expensive NFT. NarcissusGLRY co-founder, AKIRA, disclosed themselves as the seller on Twitter. The NFT was originally purchased for $230 in March. In just six months, it made a 3.2M% return. That’s something most of us will never achieve in this lifetime (via Crypto Times).

11. CryptoPunk #7804: $7.56 Million

This is one of the most unique, most expensive NFTs out there. It’s interesting because it’s a computer-generated avatar of a teal-colored, pipe-smoking alien who’s sporting a hat and sunglasses. It was sold for 4,200 Ethereum, which equates to roughly $7.56 million USD. It set the record for the highest amount paid for a punk. These punks are on the rise. If you have the funds to invest in one of them, now is your chance (via Forbes).

10. CryptoPunk #5577: $7.7 Million

It’s remarkable how much some of these NFTs are selling for. Cryptopunk NFT #5577 sold for $7.7 million. In regards to the CryptoPunk collection, it became the 2nd highest sale. Robert Leshner, the founder of Compound DeFi protocol, bought it. Each CryptoPunk NFT has its design and unique qualities, and this particular CryptoPunk NFT is a cowboy. After Leshner purchased the NFT, he tweeted out “Yeehaw.” It’s because it’s a cowboy. He was congratulated and even inspired many other Twitter users to show their own NFTs (via Tech Story).

9. CryptoPunk #3100: $7.67 Million

CryptoPunk #3100 is the seventh most rare CryptoPunk out there. It sold for $7.67 Million. On March 11th, 2021, it became even more expensive than its brethren. It’s another Alien punk, but this time, sporting just a headband. Interestingly enough, #3100 is the seventh most rare CryptoPunk out there. We’re probably all wishing we had the creativity to create a punk like this and make millions (via Dexerto).

8. CryptoPunk #4156: $10.26 Million

A popular influencer and investor, only known as Punk4156, sold his CryptoPunk for $10.26 million USD on one of the most expensive NFTs on the internet. First, he purchased CryptoPunk #4156 for $1.25 million on February 18th and then sold it for 10x the amount. This probably makes us wonder why we’re still sitting at our desk jobs, making a set amount per hour, hoping to save enough for our next two-week holiday (via NFT Now). It’s inspiring, to say the least.

7. TPunk #3442: $10.5 Million

TPunk #3442 was purchased by Justin Sun, the CEO of Tron, for $10.5 million USD. CryptoPunk is a pixelated digital avatar that seems very attractive to people with a whole lot of cash to spend. In a Tweet, Sun said, “I just bought Tpunk #3442 for 120 million #TRX equivalent to $10.5 million and donated it to @apenftorg as a collection. Excited for my new punk avatar and #TRON #NFT community strength!” (via Rich Picks Daily).

6. CryptoPunk #7523: $11.8 Million

As one of nine Alien Cryptopunks, CryptoPunk #7523 is the only one with a mask. That’s relatable to the world’s current events considering we spent nearly two years wearing a mask. It sold for $11.8 million USD. This NFT, like many others, offers a new cultural experience to the world. We’re moving into a fascinating digital world (via Sotheby’s).

5. CryptoPunk #5822: $23.7 Million

CryptoPunks are making some headway in the NFT world. You might’ve heard about CryptoPunks already. These NFTs are selling for millions of dollars. We should’ve taken advantage of it when we first heard about it. Of course, hindsight is 20-20. With the sale of CryptoPunk #5822, it served as the biggest CryptoPunks NFT purchase in history. CEO of Chain, Deepak Thapliyal, purchased CryptoPunk, one of the most expensive NFTs. It was a staggering 8,000 ETH transaction. Previously, the record sale was “COVID Alien” CryptoPunk #7523, which it surpassed (via Hypebeast).

4. Human ONE: $28.9 Million

Human ONE is Beeple’s latest NFT. Beeple is one of the most popular NFT artists in the world. Also, this is one of the most beautifully constructed NFTs. Human ONE is a life-sized NFT sculpture. The NFT sold for nearly $29 Million USD. Additionally, throughout the rest of his existence, the artist will update the NFT. What a lifetime achievement (via Bitcoin.com).

3. Clock: $52.7 Million

NFTs with a bit of background makes them that much more fascinating, like the Clock. AssangeDAO purchased the Assange and Pak’s Clock NFT for $52.7 ,illion USD. Interestingly enough, AssangeDAO is an organization whose mission is to fight for the freedom of Julian Assange. The NFT depicts a timer, which counts the number of days Assange has spent in prison. The Clock is one of the most expensive artworks out there. Secondly, to Beeple’s EVERYDAYS, it ranks as the second most expensive NFTs to ever exist (via NFT Now).

2. Everydays: The First 5000 Days: $69.3 Million

Vignesh Sundaresan bought one of the most expensive NFTs out there at $69.3 million USD. He’s not very possessive about it, though. In an interview with Bloomberg News, he said, “the beauty of an NFT is that everyone gets to enjoy it,” and that everyone should download a copy of “Everyday: the First 5000 Days (via Bloomberg).

1. The Merge: $91.8 Million

The Merge broke the record for an artwork sold publicly by a living artist. That’s pretty remarkable. It seems that the days of galleries and art museums are slowly disappearing, and we’re moving into a digital age. The Merge is digital artist Pak’s most recent creation. As one of the most expensive NFTs on this list, it has fetched $91.8 million USD. Over 28,000 collectors snapped up 312,686 total units of mass. In a news release, Duncan Cock Foster, co-founder of Nifty Gateway, said, “this is an incredible moment for NFTs with one of the top digital artists setting this record at Art Basel. This is further validation for NFTs as a medium of art and innovation that could only be integrated through blockchain technology” (via Barrons).