The Seven Most Expensive Meme NFTs in History

Last week, a photo of a dog wearing a knitted hat sold for over $4.3 million, becoming the most expensive meme NFT in history. This Shiba Inu, Achi, is not an ordinary dog; it is the star of the widely circulated "Dogwifhat" meme.

This astonishing transaction price has put Achi NFT at the top of the meme NFT sales history. However, it is not the first meme NFT to be sold at a high price. In recent years, the fusion of internet culture and the crypto space has given rise to a series of well-known memes being turned into NFTs.

Let's take a look at the most expensive meme NFT rankings in history.

Dogwifhat: 4.3 million USD

Last week, the Dogwifhat NFT was sold for 1,210.759 ETH, approximately 4.31 million USD. This astonishing price is largely attributed to the widespread dissemination of the original Dogwifhat meme since the end of 2019. However, a more critical driving factor may be the tremendous success of the Dogwifhat-inspired meme coin WIF in the Solana ecosystem. Over the past few months, the value of WIF has skyrocketed, with its market capitalization briefly surpassing 3 billion USD last week.

This NFT photo is said to have been casually taken by Achi's Korean owner in 2018. After deducting related fees, this auction will bring in approximately $4.1 million in revenue, far exceeding expectations. A well-known anonymous cryptocurrency trader won the photo through a digital art platform.

Doge: 4.2 million USD

Before the Dogwifhat NFT set a record, the title of the most expensive meme NFT was held by Doge. On June 11, 2021, at the peak of the NFT market, a photo of the Shiba Inu Kabosu taken by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Satō was sold for 1696.9 ETH, which was approximately 4.234 million dollars at the time.

The Doge meme is not only an indispensable part of internet culture but also laid the foundation for the crypto world, as it inspired the creation of the first meme coin, Dogecoin. Buyers split this NFT into billions of tokens, creating hundreds of millions of dollars in value and driving the formation of a complete ecosystem made up of Doge enthusiasts.

Pepe the Frog: $3.5 million

On October 5, 2021, the original Pepe the Frog Genesis NFT created by Matt Furie was sold for an astonishing price of 1000 ETH, which was approximately worth 3.5 million dollars at the time. This popular green frog image had once been co-opted by far-right groups.

Pepe is not only popular among ordinary internet users but has also been closely associated with crypto culture for a long time. Last year, it inspired the meme coin Pepecoin, which achieved great success on Ethereum.

This NFT represents the first multi-panel comic file depicting the character drawn by Furie in November 2006. The buyer is an NFT fund co-founded by a certain crypto hedge fund and an anonymous investor.

Charlie Bit My Finger: $761,000

On May 22, 2021, an NFT version of one of YouTube's most iconic early videos, "Charlie Bit My Finger," was sold for $760,999. In the video, Charlie, who is teething, and his brother's parents hope to raise funds for their children's college tuition in this way.

This strategy was quite successful: the NFT was purchased at a high price by a collector from the Middle East. Although the initial plan was to take the video down from YouTube after the sale to enhance the value of the NFT, the buyer did not mind whether the video remained, so it is still available for viewing on YouTube.

Nyan Cat: $590,000

Nyan Cat is a pixel animation of a cat that first gained popularity in 2011. Ten years later, its creator Chris Torres decided to sell it as an NFT. This auction sparked an unexpected level of attention, pioneering meme NFTs as a new asset class.

On February 19, 2021, Torres sold the Nyan Cat NFT for 300 ETH (approximately $590,000 at the time). This successful auction inspired many other well-known meme creators to follow suit, starting to auction their iconic images as NFTs, thus receiving the rewards they deserve.

Disaster Girl: $430,000

Zoe Roth is one of the earliest meme creators to follow in Torres' footsteps. A photo of her as a child in front of a burning building, due to her mischievous expression, has become a classic meme on the internet expressing "schadenfreude."

On April 17, 2021, Roth auctioned the NFT version of this original photo on an NFT platform for 180 ETH, which was worth about $430,000 at the time. This piece was ultimately acquired by a famous NFT collector.

Overly Attached Girlfriend: $411,000

Spring 2021 was the golden period for Meme NFT auctions. Laina Morris became the star of the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme in 2012 due to a video. Inspired by the successful auction of Nyan Cat, Morris decided to tokenize her meme photo as an NFT.

The auction achieved good results, with Morris obtaining 200 ETH, worth about $411,000 at the time. This piece was also collected by the aforementioned NFT collector.