I recently noticed an interesting trend in the world of digital art — people are willing to pay crazy amounts of money for NFTs. Seriously, some collections are sold for tens of millions. Let’s figure out what’s really happening in this market.

The most expensive NFT in history is The Merge by artist Pak. It was sold in December 2021 for $91.8 million. Wow! But there’s a catch: it’s not a single artwork bought by one collector. Instead, nearly 29,000 people purchased parts of this art. Each piece cost $575, and the more you buy, the higher your share in the artwork. An innovative approach, I must say.

Second place is held by Beeple with his Everydays: The First 5000 Days. Sold for $69 million at Christie’s auction in March 2021. The starting price was funny — only $100. But Beeple was already a star in the crypto community, so bids skyrocketed. It’s a collage of 5,000 individual works that the artist created every day over 5,000 days. It was bought by Singaporean programmer MetaKovan, who paid 42,329 ETH.

Third on the list is Clock, also by Pak, but in collaboration with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In February 2022, AssangeDAO (an organization of over 100,000 supporters) bought it for $52.7 million. The piece contains a timer counting down the days of Assange’s imprisonment and updates automatically. It’s not just art — it’s a political manifesto.

Fourth is Human One by Beeple. Sold for $29 million in November 2021. It’s not just an image but a kinetic sculpture over 2 meters tall. It features constantly changing video scenes on a 16K display. The most expensive NFT in this category is a piece that lives and evolves. Beeple can remotely update the content, turning it into a constantly evolving piece of art.

Now about CryptoPunks — this is a whole separate story. CryptoPunk #5822 (an alien with blue skin) sold for $23 million. There are only nine such Alien Punks in the entire collection. It’s one of the first NFT projects ever, launched in 2017 on Ethereum. Initially, all these pixel characters were given away for free.

CryptoPunk #7523 (an alien in a medical mask) — $11.75 million. Sold at Sotheby’s auction in June 2021. Rarity is off the charts: it’s the only Alien Punk with a mask.

There’s also TPunk #3442 — the most expensive NFT on the Tron blockchain. Tron CEO Justin Sun bought it in August 2021 for 120 million TRX, which is about $10.5 million. The character looks like the Joker, hence the nickname.

CryptoPunk #4156 (a monkey with a bandana) — $10.26 million. Interestingly, 10 months earlier, it was sold for $1.25 million. The price increased 8 times! The bandana is only worn by 5% of all Punks, plus it has a rare feature that only 2% possess.

CryptoPunk #5577 (another monkey) — $7.7 million in February 2022. It’s believed that it was bought by Robert Leshner, creator of the DeFi protocol Compound. This Punk wears a cowboy hat (only 1% of all characters have it).

Ringers #109 by Dmitry Chernyak — $6.93 million. This is generative art on the Art Blocks platform. The series includes 1,000 NFTs made of “threads and nails.” Even the cheapest Ringers now costs about $88,000.

A few more CryptoPunks in the top: #3100 за 7,67 миллиона, #7804 for $7.57 million, #8857 for $6.63 million. The latter is one of 88 Zombie Punks with exaggerated hairstyles and 3D glasses.

XCOPY sold his work Right-click and Save As Guy for $7 million. The title is a direct irony on those who think they can just right-click and download an NFT. It was bought by Kozomo de Medici, one of the most prestigious collectors in the NFT community.

Crossroads by Beeple — $6.6 million in February 2021. It’s a 10-second film created in response to the 2020 US presidential elections. Depending on the election results, a different ending is shown. The final version features a naked man on the street covered with offensive words.

In total sales volume, Axie Infinity ($4.27 billion) and Bored Ape Yacht Club ($3.16 billion) lead. These are collections where each NFT costs less, but there are many of them.

By the way, an interesting fact: 95% of all NFTs are practically valueless. Most are traded for cents. But those rare items that have uniqueness or cultural significance truly become investments. The market is incredibly volatile, but history shows that early collections like CryptoPunks maintain their value and even grow.

Pak and Beeple are clearly competing for the title of NFT market kings. Their works constantly appear among the most expensive. Each piece has its own story, reflects a moment in time, and has meaning. These are not just images — they are milestones in the development of digital art.

The market is now more mature than in 2021-2022. People have become more careful in their choices, but top collections still hold their value. If you’re interested in this topic, it’s worth following new projects on OpenSea and other platforms. Who knows, maybe the next most expensive NFT is already being created right now.