NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, made a massive dent in the pockets of unidentified buyers and celebrities during 2021. For instance, many NFTs from projects such as Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and HashMasks sold for millions this year alone. Interested in what took off this year? Read on to learn about the most expensive NFTs of 2021.
$69 Million Everyday: The First 5000 Days NFT
Michael Joseph Winkelmann, known on the internet as Beeple, is an American digital artist, graphic designer, and animator. His goal since 2007 was to produce and upload a new piece of graphic arts every day. The end outcome was 5,000 digital photographs. This project became “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” which is a collage of 5,000 artworks. After more than 180 bids, the NFT sold in an online auction for $69.3 million. Currently, this Beeple artwork remains one of the most expensive NFTs bought in 2021.
Thousands of Buyers pay $16 Million for Hashmasks NFTs
Photo from TheHashmasks.com
After spending $100,000 on Hashmasks, Crypto Cobain tweeted his distain about the purchase. However, he spent another $100,000 on Hashmasks immediately after. In less than a single week, Crypto Cobain’s impulse tweet inspired thousands of other buyers. All 16,384 artworks sold for a total of $16 million and grew his investment 113% in five days.
CryptoPunk #7804 NFT Sold for $7.5 Million
Dylan Field, the old owner of CryptoPunk #7804, referred to the NFT as the virtual Mona Lisa. In other words, its worth also stems from rarity and ability to grab attention. The pipe-smoking extraterrestrial with a hat and tiny sunglasses sold to Peruggia, the winning bidder in March of this year.
In short, it’s the combined characteristics of CryptoPunk #7804 that make it one of the most sought-after Cryptopunks. For instance, 378 CryptoPunks smoke pipes, 317 wear tiny sunglasses, and 254 wear forward-facing hats. These numbers are out of a total of 10,000, giving scarcity to its personality.
$6 Million Grimes Collection
Of course Grimes would have NFTs, but did you know they sold for $6 million? On February 28th, she released a series of 10 pieces on Nifty Gateway, with varying amounts of copies.
The highest-selling piece is worth $389,000. The one-of-a-kind video includes an original song by Grimes called “Death of the Old” that involves flying cherubs, a cross, a sword, and glowing light.
Unidentified Bidder Spent $5.4 Million on World Wide Web Source Code NFT
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web (WWW), unveiled a plan to sell off an NFT containing the source codes of the web. Many worried that selling the web’s source files to just anyone violated the web’s global character. Berners-Lee argued in the opposition. In the final week of June 2021, the NFT sold for $5,434,500 million to an unidentified bidder. After that, Scott Burke, a member of PleasrDAO, discovered an error in the video of the source code written up.
$3.4 Million Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT
A rare Bored Ape Yach Club NFT has sold at auction for a record $3.4 million with a previous NFT sale record of $2.25 million. The cheapest of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs is $231,000, although celebrities often buy the most expensive ones. In addition, the team behind the collection just signed a deal to collaborate with Adidas, and one ape from the Club last month graced the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club project is one of the most exciting and creative NFT collectibles since the launch of CryptoPunks, and has become a major force in pop culture.
Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s co-head of digital art said in a statement
$2.9 Million paid for First Tweet NFT
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, sold his first tweet for over $2.9 million as an NFT when bidding ended on the “Valuables” platform. There was a bidding war over the tweet between tech entrepreneur Justin Sun and Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi. In the end, Estavi bid over $2.9 million and became the owner of the historical NFT. Similarly, Estavi bid $1.1 million to own the NFT of a tweet by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
$1.6 Million Rick and Morty NFT Drop
Justin Roiland, the co-creator of Rick and Morty has also produced highly profitable NFT artwork. The animator released a collection called “The Best I Could Do” on Nifty Gateway, and it sold for over $1 million. The NFT auction house announced on Twitter that all proceeds were going towards relief for Los Angeles homeless encampments. Justin Roiland made over $1 Million on the drop. Making him the 3rd Nifty Gateway artist to do this.
More Crypto and NFT Content
GARY VAYNERCHUK ANNOUNCES VEECON 2022 AS THE WORLD’S FIRST NFT-TICKETED CONFERENCE
TOP 10 MUSIC NFT COLLECTIONS OF 2021
TOP 10 CANNABIS-RELATED NFT COLLECTIONS OF 2021
JAY-Z ENTERS THE OCEAN OF NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS (NFT) AS A BUYER, SELLER, AND INNOVATOR
POTPUNKS BRING CANNABIS TO THE WORLD OF NFTS IN UNIQUE WAY
