[Updated] Top 15 Most Expensive NFT 2022 And Market Overview

This post is intended for newcomers who are looking into the overview of the NFT market in 2022 and additional information about NFTs. Let’s take a tour through the brief history of NFTs, and then in this post, bePAY is going to introduce the updated top 15 most expensive NFTs of 2022. 

Since these tokens are selling for incredible sums of money, you shouldn’t wait any longer to take a look at the top most expensive NFT 2022 updated in terms of their sale values. bePAY has compiled this information, in addition to questions concerning NFTs, so you shouldn’t miss out on this opportunity.

NFT Market Overview 2022

A fresh study indicates that the number of unique addresses that have purchased and traded NFTs so far in 2022 has increased. According to the Q1 2022 Chainalysis State of Web3 Report, the number of unique addresses acquired or traded through NFT will increase to 950,000 from 627,000 in Q4 2021.

Since Q2 2020, the research indicates that the number of active NFT buyers and sellers has climbed every quarter. As of May 1, Q2 2022, 491,000 addresses had transacted with NFTs, indicating that the NFT market is on track to maintain its quarterly growth pattern in terms of participant count.

Since March 2021, the number of active NFT collections on OpenSea— that is, those with any transaction activity in a given week — has also increased steadily, and presently exceeds 4000.

According to the Chainalysis analysis, the current NFT market in 2022 will surpass the $40 billion in cryptocurrency submitted to smart contracts by NFT collectors in 2018, since collectors have already given over $37 billion in cryptocurrency to NFT-related smart contracts in 2022 as of May.

Market overview of NFT

The authors of the report explained, “However, since late summer 2021, NFT transaction growth has fluctuated, with activity largely remaining flat except for two large spikes: one in late August, which was most likely a result of the launch of the Mutant Ape Yacht Club collection, and one might also speculate that the spanning from late January to early February of 2022, which was likely driven by the launch of the LooksRare NFT marketplace”.

Beginning in mid-February, however, NFT transaction activity decreased considerably, falling from $3.9 billion the week of February 13 to $964 million the week of March 13 – the lowest amount since the week of August 1, 2021.

The authors noted, “The NFT market started to rebound in mid-April and is currently nearing the weekly volumes it reached earlier in the year thanks to the recent launch of Bored Ape Yacht Club’s metaverse initiative.”

>> Learn more about the NFT marketplace

A Brief History Of NFT

Some individuals are beginning to push the boundaries of Bitcoin’s capabilities after a time. If someone were to exchange Bitcoins, they would be able to transfer tangible products along with them by attaching real-world assets like stocks and homes, or even apples, eggs, and oranges (yep, they exist) as fractions of Bitcoins.

However, if just one party can’t agree on how many units should be handed over, then this procedure will fail since no transactions can take place.

Colored currencies might be traded on Counterparty, a platform created by three blockchain engineers in 2014. Because transactions did not need to be verified by miners before being executed on this network, the time it took to complete trades was reduced.

The history of NFTs

After the original release of Ethereum in 2015 came the introduction of a built-in method for trading unique assets known as NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The popularity of the ERC 721 standard began to rise in 2017, leading to the creation of collectibles like CryptoPunks and other standards.

On average, 15,000-50,000 NFTs were sold each week in late 2017, making them widely available. Since then, NFT data shows that two years after the first surge, sales had reverted to their typical range of 15k to 50k spots each week at 30,000-80K locations.

>> More information about what NFTs are?

Top 15 World’s Most Expensive NFT Sold To Date

#15: Bored Ape #8817 ($3.4 million)

At this time, sales of the most expensive NFT Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT ever continued to surpass records, establishing Bored Ape #8817 as the most expensive NFT Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT ever.

Bored Ape #8817 is maybe the drowsiest-looking Bored Ape, ringing a Spinner hat and a Party horn simultaneously. The winning price for the digital artwork at the famous auction house Ape Sotheby’s Metaverse marketplace was $3.4 million (852.39 ETH).

Most expensive NFT Bored Ape #8817

>> Read more info about the Bored Ape Yacht Club Collection

#14: Doge ($4 Million)

Auction winner “PleasrDAO” submitted a bid of 1,696.9 ETH, which is an amazing amount of cryptocurrency to spend on anything, much less a photo of one of the internet’s most well-known memes. The image was sold at the beginning of June 2021 and was reported on by NBC News.

Doge

#13: Replicator ($4.1 Million)

In April of 2021, Mad Dog Jones became Canada’s most expensive living artist. How? By selling his Replicator NFT via the Phillips auction house for a handsome $4,1 Million. There is much activity inside the NFT. The graphic depicts a photocopier that may be found in every office building. It looks like it is kept in a tiny flat. There is a cat and an elaborate rug on the floor, a drafting table, a stock ticker, and a nighttime view of a vast metropolis.

A video version featuring 1980s synth tones and footage of the photocopier in operation is also available. The highlight? This NFT creates new NFTs automatically every 28 days (thus the name “replicator”). According to Mad Dog Jones, Replicator should generate between 180 and 220 distinct NFTs, all of which may be saved or sold at the owner’s discretion.

Replicator

#12: Save Thousands Of Lives ($4.5 Million)

Many find NFTs too abstract to invest in; would their attitudes change if they were distributed for a good cause? Save Thousands Of Lives is Noora Health’s mission.

On May 3, 2021, the NFT was developed and sold for $4.5 million. Noora Health uses all earnings to save and enhance lives. The charity teaches South Asian women and families how to care for babies after hospital discharge. Noora Health thinks it can save 9 newborns out of every 1000 births at $1,235 each. 

Save thousands of lives

#11: Stay Free ($5.4M)

In 2013, when he revealed sensitive NSA documents, Edward Snowden acquired both notoriety and notoriety. Snowden was once again in the public eye eight years after this event transpired when he sold the Stay Free NFT for around $5.4 million.

According to the website where the NFT was sold, “Stay Free” combines the entirety of a landmark court decision ruling the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance violated the law, with the iconic portrait of the whistleblower.” It is the only known NFT produced by Snowden, and all proceeds went to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to funding and supporting press freedom.

Stay Free NFT

#10: Ocean Front ($6 Million)

Alongside Larva Labs, Beeple is another prominent NFT company. Above is one of the record-breaking NFTs sold by Beeple, which is the Ocean Front NFT. Ocean Front was sold at auction for a tidy $6 million, yet it’s not even Beeple’s most valuable work.

Ocean Front is a wonderful work of art, even if it is not exactly the most prized Beeple invention of all time. It depicts a wooden building surrounded by shipping containers and campers/RVs in the midst of the ocean. At the summit, there is a huge tree and some enormous mushrooms.

Ocean Front

#9: Crossroad ($6.66 Million)

Crossroad was designed by the renowned digital artist Beeple. It has anti-Trump rhetoric and an oversized image resembling Donald Trump writhing in defeat with obscenities scribbled across his bare torso. The artwork was intended to change depending on the results of the 2020 presidential election. If Trump had won, the image would have shown him wearing a crown and marching through flames.

Crossroad

#8: Right-Click And Save As Guy ($7.09 Million)

Right-Click and Save As Guy highlights a frequent objection of NFT artwork—that anybody can simply download a copy of an image – with a pulsating, glitchy avatar that you can almost picture someone whining about NFTs on social media. It sold for roughly $7.1 million in December 2021, up from the previous selling price of $174,000 in February of the same year.

Right-Click and Save As Guy

#7: Ringers #109 ($7.12 Million)

Art Blocks, an Ethereum-based generative art project, had a speculative frenzy in the late summer and early autumn of 2021, with some pieces selling for millions of dollars apiece as individuals recognized the collection’s fine art potential.

Along with Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenza line, Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers has been one of the most valued ventures of the group. Early in October 2021, Ringers #109 was acquired for 2,100 ETH or $7.12 million, being the highest Art Blocks transaction yet. Starry Night Capital, a $100 million NFT investment vehicle co-founded by Three Arrows Capital and alias collector Vincent Van Dough, acquired the token.

Ringers #109

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#6: TPunk #3422 ($10.5 Million) 

Some people view TPunks as Tron’s version of CryptoPunks, with the same pixelated faces that hold varying rarities and qualities. One of the rarest is this joker-face TPunk #3442. In August of 2021, it was sold to Justin Sun, the CEO of Tron, for the price of 120 million TRX. This was the most costly NFT ever traded on the Tron blockchain. Sun didn’t retain the TPunk, however. He gave it to APENFT soon after the acquisition.

TPunk #3422

#5: CryptoPunk Collection ($7.5 – $23.7 Million )

Many of the artists on this list are members of the Cryptopunks Collection. There were 10,000 Ethereum-based avatars produced in 2017 by Larva Labs, a pair of Canadian engineers, and distributed for free. Until now, this collection has been traded for millions of dollars per piece and is amongst of most expensive NFT art collections. 

The fifth spot is occupied by a group of CryptoPunk with a price ranging from $7.5 million to $23.7 million.

CryptoPunk #3100 A piece of crypto art known as CryptoPunk #3100 was sold for USD 7.58 million on the same day that Beeple made history. Similar to #7523, #3100 is one of the nine Alien “punks.”

CryptoPunk #7804 The uniqueness of CryptoPunk #7804 stems from the fact that it is one of just nine Alien CryptoPunks produced by Larva Labs. Aside from the common CryptoPunks, the uncommon ones consist of Aliens, Apes, and Zombies. The sale occurred around the same time as CryptoPunk #3100, which was $10,000 more than #7804’s sale.

CryptoPunk #5577 In February 2022, CryptoPunk #5577 was sold for 2,501 ETH (about $7.7 million). Many assume that the buyer was Robert Leshner, the CEO of Compound Finance, who tweeted “Yeehaw” following the acquisition.

CryptoPunk collection

CryptoPunk #4156 In February 2021, CryptoPunk #4156, an ape wearing a blue bandana, purchased the NFT for $1.25 million. However, he sold the NFT in December of the same year for $10.26 million.

CryptoPunk #7523 Sotheby’s auctioned off CryptoPunk #7523 for $11.7 million in June 2021, amid the COVID pandemic.

CryptoPunk #5822 In February 2022, CryptoPunk #5822 was sold for $23.7 million worth of ETH.

>> Did you know you can definitely make an NFT by yourself? Here are the steps.

#4: HUMAN ONE ($28.9 million)

HUMAN ONE is Beeple’s first piece of actual, most expensive NFT artwork, and it’s another record-breaking NFT. In November 2021, Christie’s auctioned it off for $28.9 million.

HUMAN ONE is a four-screen computerized moving sculpture in three dimensions. In an unending loop, an astronaut travels around the world at various times of the day. Beeple’s aspirations as an artist extend beyond the digital sphere in this hybrid piece of art.

Human One

#3: Clock (52.74 Million)

Dropped in February 2022, Pak and Julian Assange’s clock were the most expensive NFT sold. It was designed to help cover the legal expenses of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It’s no secret that Julian Assange’s incarceration in the United Kingdom has sparked discussion among individuals worried about privacy and censorship both online and offline.

The Clock is a simple counter that shows how many days Julian Assange has spent in custody. After selling for more than $50 million, it caused quite a stir among crypto enthusiasts, many of whom fervently supported the controversial figure.

Clock NFT

#2: Everydays: The First 5000 Days NFT ($69.3 Million)

Taking second place, it was Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days NFT sale in 2021 that garnered the greatest attention (and the most costly NFT sale). It wasn’t only that this was amongst the world’s most expensive NFT art sales ever; it also had a snowball effect in the mainstream media, spreading awareness of the phrase “NFT” across the globe.

Prior to Christie’s Online Auction, NFT minting, collecting, and trading was considered a fringe activity at best. Even Saturday Night Live could see that the era of NFTs had come when Beeple won the greatest prize in all of NFTs.

The First 5000 Days NFT

#1: The Merge ($91.8 Million)

The Merge, taking the number one spot as the world’s most expensive NFT sold, The Merge is the brainchild of acclaimed digital artist Pak. Another prominent name in the NFT realm is Pak, who has made some of the most famous artworks out there. The artist’s true identity remains a complete mystery, but that hasn’t prevented them from having a tremendous impact on the digital art scene.

The Merge

FAQs About NFT 2022

Why Is NFT So Expensive?

NFTs are valuable because they authenticate the ownership of a non-fungible asset. This makes these assets exceptional and distinctive. Picasso’s works are irreproducible. While it is possible for anybody to create replicas of their paintings, the original is irreplaceable and unique. NFTs make digital material irreplaceable, ergo valuable.

A further reason why NFT is so expensive is a phenomenon known to economists as a bubble. A market is said to be experiencing a bubble when investors purchase items with the intention of selling them soon afterward at a higher price. This causes a price increase. When a new technology is introduced, bubbles are common.

Why is NFT so expensive?

What Is The Largest NFT Marketplace?

NFT data suggests that Opensea Marketplace is now the biggest player in the market. Other marketplaces could be taken into consideration, like Rarible NFT Marketplace, Nifty Gateway, SuperRare, BakerySwap, VIV3, Axie Marketplace, Foundation, and NFT ShowRoom.

Must NFTs Be Original Works Of Art?

When minting an NFT, you must create original work. Therefore, you should never mint a piece that is in the public domain (unless you are utilizing just a portion of it). Also note that even if a work enters the public domain, later-taken images of the work may not be in the public domain.

Sum It Up

There is no question that NFTs are gaining more and more popularity, which is inevitably leading to ever-higher levels of sales. While the vast majority of NFTs are only artwork that may be collected, a growing number of NFTs are being developed with a range of applications in mind.

As the market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) matures, we may anticipate seeing a greater variety of applications and adoptions beyond just digital collectibles, and potentially even an increase in sales.