A few years ago, the world of NFTs experienced moments of madness with prices that seemed straight out of a science fiction movie. I am still amazed to see how some of these digital assets reached astronomical valuations.

If we talk about the most expensive NFT of all time, we have to mention The Merge by Pak, which sold for $91.8 million in December 2021. The interesting thing about this piece is that it was not purchased by a single person, but by more than 28,000 collectors who bought different quantities. Each unit was sold at $575, but the concept was innovative: the more units you bought, the greater your stake in the final work.

Pak is an artist who chose to remain anonymous for over two decades in the digital space. Known for creating Archillect, an AI program that selects visually impactful content. After the success of The Merge, Sotheby's partnered with Nifty Gateway to auction another of his collections called The Fungible Collection, which reached $16.8 million.

But before The Merge, the record was held by Beeple with Everydays: The First 5000 Days. This digital artist, whose real name is Michael Winkelmann, created a piece over 5,000 consecutive days starting in May 2007. He compiled it into a massive collage that sold at Christie's for $69 million in March 2021. The fascinating part is that it started with an initial price of just $100, but the bids skyrocketed thanks to Beeple's reputation in the crypto and art worlds.

Another expensive NFT that stands out is Clock, also by Pak but in collaboration with Julian Assange. This piece contains a stopwatch that records the days Assange spent in prison, updating automatically. It was purchased by AssangeDAO, a group of over 100,000 supporters, for $52.7 million in February 2022. The funds were allocated to Assange's legal defense. It’s a perfect example of how NFTs transcended purely artistic value to become tools for activism.

Beeple reappeared on the list with Human One, a kinetic sculpture over 2 meters tall that merges physical and digital technology. It sold for nearly $29 million in November 2021 at Christie's. What makes it special is that it constantly evolves because Beeple can update it remotely, turning it into a living work of art.

Then there are CryptoPunks, one of the earliest NFT projects launched on Ethereum in 2017. Punk #5822, a rare blue-skinned Alien Punk, sold for $23 million. Being one of only nine existing Alien Punks, its rarity justified the price. Others in the series, like #4156 ($10.26 million) and #5577 ($7.7 million), also rank among the most expensive ever sold.

Tpunk #3442, known as 'The Jester,' was bought by Justin Sun, CEO of Tron, for 120 million TRX (approximately $10.5 million in 2021). It is the most expensive NFT ever sold on the Tron blockchain.

XCOPY, an anonymous artist known for his dystopian works, sold Right-click and Save As Guy for $7 million to Cozomo de' Medici. The name is ironic considering many people mistakenly believe that NFTs can be downloaded with a right-click. It was created in December 2018 and initially sold for 1 ETH (about $90).

Dmitri Cherniak created the Ringers series on Art Blocks, generative art composed of strings and nails. Ringer #109 sold for $6.93 million, making it the most expensive NFT on that platform.

Finally, Crossroad by Beeple, a 10-second short film responding to the 2020 presidential elections, sold for $6.6 million in February 2021. It showed two different endings depending on the election result.

What fascinates me about these numbers is that they reflect how digital art found value in the authenticity and scarcity provided by NFTs. Each piece has its own story, its unique creator, its context. Axie Infinity as a collection reached $4.27 billion in total sales, while Bored Ape Yacht Club hit $3.16 billion. The market has been volatile, of course, but these milestones demonstrate that there was a time when the world saw something genuinely revolutionary in digital assets.