Top 10 Most Expensive NFT Sales So Far

$590,000
Nyan Cat sure has traveled far—and we’re not talking about its endless journey through the sky in one of those 10-hour looping videos. From its humble roots as a beloved meme, Nyan Cat has gone the NFT route to become a six figure work of art! First uploaded to YouTube almost a decade before its historic sale, Nyan Cat is a gif of, essentially a cat/Pop-Tart hybrid. With its distinct song, this internet icon has been delighting and annoying the masses for years now, but on February 19th, it brought home a major paycheck. A Nyan Cat NFT, sold by original creator Chris Torrez, fetched an impressive 300 Ethereums. At the time of sale, this worked out to roughly $590,000. Not bad for a meme!

$603,000
With the right collection, the NFT sky is the limit. Hashmasks is a series of digital works of art that, according to hashmasks.com, was created by over 70 artists from around the world. In total, the hashmasks collection includes an impressive 16,384 portraits. The value of each individual portrait varies widely, but it’s safe to assume that as more of them sell at increasingly high prices, the entire collection will benefit. Keeping track of Hashmasks, however, can be tricky for the uninitiated, however, as the name of hashmasks can be changed. Currently named the “God of War,” Hashmask #6718 sold for the early-2021 equivalent of $603,012 in cryptocurrency.

$608,000
A collaboration between Trevor Jones and José Delbo, “Genesis” is an art NFT collection of 5 animated PNG files of Batman. The sale happened back in October of 2020, before the NFT buying frenzy took off in early 2021. As such, the sale of 540.86 ETH was only worth about $200,000 at the time. However, it’s considered among the most lucrative sales in NFT history, as the value has subsequently risen closer to $608,000. In the Genesis PNG that’s been shared publicly, the animation begins with an impressive pencil sketch of Batman by comic book artist José Delbo. Right before your eyes, it transforms into a more elaborate painting of the Dark Knight. It’s a fascinating piece of moving digital art.

$844,000
As we were saying before, the Hashmasks have the potential for big money. Hashmask #9939 is a portrait of a figure sporting a demon mask and a halo. The title of the piece (which might well change, eventually) is simply “sex” but as they say… sex sells. In this particular case, it sold for 420 ETH on February 3rd, 2021. In dollars, that works out to approximately $844,000. “Sex” and the aforementioned “God of War” hashmasks are actually both currently owned by an account on the OpenSea marketplace by the name of DANNYSECURE. Considering the investment, it would seem that this user has a lot of faith in the Hashmasks and their future value.

$5.18 Million
While one-of-a-kind art NFTs have sold for impressive amounts, some artists have found arguably even greater success with collections and limited runs. Grimes, though best known for her music, was one of the first and biggest names to make headlines by selling limited edition NFT works of art. In late February of 2021, Grimes put a selection of NFT art up for sale, including two short videos entitled “Earth” and “Mars”. A few thousand copies of each were made available at $7,500 USD a piece. That might sound steep for something that’s not even one-of -a-kind, but Grimes reportedly sold hundreds of each, netting approximately $5.18 million for “Earth” and “Mars”.

$5.2 million
Like Hashmasks, Cryptopunk is another collection of NFTs that have taken the market by storm. A series of portraits, Cryptopunk NTFs consist of an 8-bit headshot of the Cryptopunk figure dressed up in different apparel. They look like sprites from a video game, but these fashionable little weirdos can fetch over $1 million. Cryptopunks was among the first NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. According to creators Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs, there are 10,000 of these collectable digital artworks—and that number will never expand. Cryptopunks can be human, zombie, ape or alien, with the latter three being the most rare. Between January and March 2021, Cryptopunks #6965, #4156, #2890 and #6487 sold for between roughly $1.1 and $1.6 million a piece.

$6.6 Million
Before Beeple made history at the Christie’s auction, he warmed up with this impressive sale on the Nifty Gateway. Nifty, an online NFT marketplace, has played host to a number of big sales, including Grimes’ various NFTs. But CROSSROADS represented an unprecedented moment in NFT history when it sold for the equivalent of $6.6 million in late February. At the time, it was the single most expensive digital artwork ever sold at auction. In terms of subject matter, the aptly-named CROSSROADS takes inspiration from the 2020 US presidential election. It… is pretty intense. And it clearly meant a lot to someone!

$9.5 Million
The world of NFTs is populated by a lot of obscure names and confusing concepts that can be hard to wrap your mind around. As such, it’s a bit surprising that one of the biggest winners of the NFT craze has been... the NBA. Getting in on the action early, the NBA put together its own NFT marketplace where fans can purchase “collectable moments” in the form of NFTs. The marketplace and collection, both known as NBA Top Shots, offers NFTs for as little as $10 to $15, but that’s for the most common ones. There are tons of moments going for a few hundred dollars a pop. At the top of the scale? A 2019-20 LeBron James that sold for a solid $200,000. When you add it all up, NBA Top Shots have already made nearly $10 million dollars.

$7.6 Million
Pioneers in the world of art NFTs, Larva Labs have some of the most valuable sales in the history of the technology. As we’ve already delved into, there are 10,000 cryptopunks total, but when it comes to aliens… there are only nine available. As the rarest of the cryptopunks, the aliens have done massive business when they go up for auction. Tied at $7.6 million dollars apiece are #3100 and #7804. The former is an alien rocking what appears to be a simple sweatband on its forehead. The latter is a bit more dressed up, sporting a cap and pair of shades while smoking a pipe. Because of the value of Ethereum at the time of sale, #3100 technically sold for more, but at $7.6 million, that’s splitting hairs.

$69 Million
There’s been a lot of debate surrounding NFTs. Is this a bold new frontier for the world of both art and investing or a passing trend? Beeple (real name Mike Winkelmann) is the artist behind Everydays: the First 5000 Days, and he’s publicly stated that he believes that NFTs are a bubble. Even if that proves true, we doubt that he’ll be complaining! Fetching almost 10 times that of the second most expensive art NFT, this unique work of art sold for a staggering $69 million. It also bears the distinction of being the first of its kind to be auctioned at the iconic Christie’s auction house. As if that’s not enough, it’s now in the history books as the third-most expensive artwork by a living artist.