Do you know that phenomenon of the most expensive NFTs in history that everyone talks about? Well, the numbers are truly absurd. I’ve been following this market for a long time, and I’m impressed by how some pieces reach sky-high values.

Let’s start with the all-time record. The Merge, created by Pak, became the most expensive NFT ever sold for 91.8 million dollars in December 2021. What makes this interesting is that it’s not a single piece. In fact, 28,893 collectors bought 312,686 units, each costing 575 dollars. The more quantities you buy, the larger your share in the artwork. Pak is that anonymous artist who’s been making his mark on the digital scene for decades, creating things like Archillect, a very creative AI program.

Then there’s Beeple. This guy really dominated the market for expensive NFTs. Everydays: The First 5000 Days was sold for 69 million at Christie's in 2021. It started with an initial bid of just 100 dollars, but the values went through the roof. It’s a collage of 5,000 works created over 5,000 consecutive days. Vignesh Sundaresan, known as MetaKovan, was the one who bought it, paying with 42,329 ETH.

The Clock is another fascinating work, a collaboration between Pak and Julian Assange. It’s a timer that records how many days Assange was imprisoned, updating automatically. AssangeDAO, a group with more than 100,000 supporters, bought it for 52.7 million in February 2022. The funds went toward legal defense.

Beeple also has Human One, a kinetic sculpture over 2 meters tall that combines physical and digital. Sold for 29 million at Christie's in 2021. It has a 16K display that runs 24/7, showing content that changes as the day goes by. Beeple can update it remotely, so it’s like a living artwork.

The CryptoPunks also have a strong presence on this list. #5822, um alien punk azul (apenas 9 existem), foi vendido por 23 milhões para Deepak.eth, CEO da Chain. Depois tem o #7523, another alien with a medical mask, sold for 11.75 million at Sotheby's in 2021. #4156 is a monkey (—only 24 exist)—that reached 10.26 million in December.

TPunk #3442, known as “The Joker,” was bought by Justin Sun, CEO of Tron, for 10.5 million in 2021. It’s derived from CryptoPunk but on the Tron blockchain.

XCOPY, an anonymous crypto artist, sold “Right-click and Save As Guy” for 7 million to Cozomo de' Medici, one of the most prestigious collectors. It’s a joke about the idea that people think they can download NFTs by right-clicking.

Ringers #109 by Dmitri Cherniak sold for 6.93 million. It’s generative art from the Art Blocks platform, a series with 1,000 NFTs.

Beeple’s Crossroad, sold for 6.6 million in 2021, is a 10-second short responding to the 2020 election with two different endings depending on the outcome.

All this activity shows how the digital art market has evolved. Artists like Pak and Beeple truly led the charge. Each of these works has a unique story, its own creator, and represents a milestone in the development of NFTs as a legitimate form of digital art and collectible. It’s fascinating to see how this category, which many people ignored, has become a benchmark of value in the creative market.