When you look at the history of the most expensive NFTs, it quickly becomes clear: the art world has fundamentally changed. I am still fascinated by how digital works change hands for nine-figure amounts.

You have to start with Pak's The Merge. $91.8 million – in December 2021. That is still the most expensive NFT ever. But here’s the thing: it wasn’t a single buyer, but nearly 29,000 collectors who each purchased units for around $575. The concept was brilliant – the more units you bought, the larger your share of the overall work. A total of 312,686 units were sold. This shows how innovative Pak was back then.

Beeple soon followed with Everydays: The First 5000 Days. $69 million at Christie's in March 2021. The starting price was only $100 – then the price skyrocketed. The collage of 5,000 individual artworks he created daily over years became an icon of the NFT movement. MetaKovan paid for it in ETH.

Then came The Clock – also by Pak, this time in collaboration with Julian Assange. $52.7 million in February 2022. A timer counting down Assange’s days in custody. Political art, digital activism. AssangeDAO mobilized over 100,000 supporters. That was more than just an expensive NFT – it was a statement.

Beeple’s Human One followed, selling for $29 million. A kinetic sculpture that constantly changes. 16K video, polished aluminum, mahogany frame. Beeple was able to update the artwork remotely. A living, evolving piece.

The CryptoPunks dominate the other top spots. CryptoPunk #5822 – ein seltener Alien mit blauer Haut – brachte 23 Millionen Dollar. Es gibt nur neun Alien Punks in der ganzen Serie. CryptoPunk #7523 with a medical mask: $11.75 million. #4156, ein Affe mit Bandana: 10,26 Millionen Dollar. #5577, also a monkey: $7.7 million. The list goes on.

Justin Sun bought TPunk #3442 – "The Joker" – for 120 million TRX, then about $10.5 million. A CryptoPunk variant on the Tron blockchain.

XCOPY’s "Right-Click and Save As Guy" for $7 million – the title itself is a joke about the criticism of NFTs. Cozomo de' Medici, one of the biggest collectors, bought it.

Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers #109 on Art Blocks: $6.93 million. Generative art, 1,000 works in the series, each now costing at least $88,000.

Beeple’s Crossroad from February 2021 – $6.6 million – was groundbreaking at the time. A 10-second film in response to the 2020 US election. Two different endings depending on the outcome. It was sold out before the election even took place.

What fascinates me most? The market for the most expensive NFT isn’t just speculation. It’s about artists inventing new media. It’s about innovation – whether Pak’s concept of units or Beeple’s idea of constantly evolving artworks.

Axie Infinity and Bored Ape Yacht Club later dominated by total sales – $4.27 billion and $3.16 billion respectively. But when it comes to individual works, to the purest expensive NFT piece, then The Merge is the answer.

Today, in May 2026, many of these works are classics. The artists are legendary. And the NFT market? It has evolved, become more volatile, but the core idea remains: digital art can be just as valuable as physical artworks. Sometimes even more valuable.