What is the Most Expensive NFT Art in the World?
The most expensive NFT art ever sold so far is Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days (2021), which was auctioned off for the highest bid of $69.34 million on March 11, 2021. Beeple’s Everydays NFT broke his own previous record for the most expensive NFT art, Crossroads (2020), which sold for $6.60 million in the previous year.
Pak’s Clock (2022) is the second most expensive NFT art at $52.70 million. The sale of Clock on February 9, 2022 edged out Mad Dog Jones’ REPLICATOR (2021), formerly the 10th most expensive NFT art. Clock also outranked the $28.98 million video sculpture, HUMAN ONE (2021) by Beeple.
However, there is a significant price gap even among the most expensive NFT art, with the top three NFT art pieces surpassing the rest by more than 4 times the price. This points to possible inefficiencies in NFT art valuation, given that the NFT art market is still nascent. In other words, NFT artworks may potentially experience price corrections, as NFT art buyers and valuation methods become more sophisticated.
Aside from the pricing outliers, the other top 10 most expensive NFT art were sold at prices between $5.59 million to $7.09 million each.
When was NFT Art Most Expensive?
NFT art sold in 2021 currently accounts for 7 of the 10 most expensive NFT artworks. The 7 most expensive pieces of NFT art sold in 2021 have an average price of $18.50 million: Beeple’s Everydays, HUMAN ONE and Ocean Front (2019), XCOPY’s Right-click and Save As Guy (2018) and A Coin For the Ferryman (2018), Ross Ulbricht’s Perspective (2020), and Edward Snowden’s Stay Free (2021).
NFT fine art prices rose in 2021 after Beeple’s Everydays success brought mainstream attention to the niche. Demand for NFT art was further fueled by the broader NFTs and crypto bull market.
Notably, two of the most expensive NFT art pieces were sold when overall NFT trading volume peaked and began to fall. Clock and XCOPY’s All Time High in the City (2018) were sold in early 2022, and since then, no NFT art sales have made it into the top 10 most expensive rankings.
Artists Who Created the Most Expensive NFT Art
Beeple and XCOPY dominate the rankings for the most expensive NFT art, accounting for 7 of the 10 most expensive NFT artworks ever sold.
Beeple, real name Mike Winkelmann, created 4 of the 10 most expensive NFT art. The high demand for Beeple’s art is a testament to his status as a pioneer in the space, and as arguably the most famous NFT artist in the world.
XCOPY is also a best-selling NFT artist, having created 3 out of the 10 most expensive NFT art pieces. As compared to Beeple’s more mainstream popularity, the anonymous artist is more crypto native – XCOPY’s highest priced works were sold through NFT art marketplace SuperRare, whereas Beeple’s most expensive artworks were auctioned at Christie’s. This might help explain the relatively lower or more accessible prices of XCOPY’s top NFT art.
Another top NFT artist is Pak, who created the second most expensive NFT art. Pak is also known for the highly successful Merge (2021) NFT art project that generated $91.80 million in sales to 28,983 buyers.
Top 10 Most Expensive NFT Art Ever Sold
| Rank | NFT Artwork | Sale Price (US$) | NFT Artist | Year Sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everydays: The First 5000 Days (2021) | $69,346,250 | Beeple | 2021 |
| 2 | Clock (2022) | $52,700,000 | Pak | 2022 |
| 3 | HUMAN ONE (2021) | $28,985,000 | Beeple | 2021 |
| 4 | Right-click and Save As Guy (2018) | $7,090,464 | XCOPY | 2021 |
| 5 | Crossroads (2020) | $6,600,000 | Beeple | 2020 |
| 6 | Perspective (2020) | $6,408,007 | Ross Ulbricht | 2021 |
| 7 | All Time High in the City (2018) | $6,161,922 | XCOPY | 2022 |
| 8 | A Coin For the Ferryman (2018) | $6,128,241 | XCOPY | 2021 |
| 9 | Ocean Front (2019) | $6,000,000 | Beeple | 2021 |
| 10 | Stay Free (2021) | $5,591,514 | Edward Snowden | 2021 |
What is NFT Art?
NFT art is defined here as fine art that is represented as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While ‘NFT art’ tends to be used interchangeably with ‘NFTs’, this can be confusing. Instead, NFT art should be considered as a subset of NFTs. NFT art differentiates itself from other types of NFTs, which primarily serve as profile pictures (PFPs), membership passes etc. For example, CryptoPunks were excluded from the most expensive NFT art rankings, since it is a collection focused on building community and digital identity.
NFT art is also a subset of fine art. Fine art refers to art created primarily for aesthetic or creative expression and is appreciated for those qualities, as well as for its intellectual content. While the criteria for fine art has always been contentious, NFT art typically means unique or 1/1 NFTs, or NFTs sold on art-focused marketplaces or auction houses.
Interestingly, 3 of the 10 most expensive NFT art are explicitly about high-profile controversies. The controversies share a common theme around censorship and Internet freedom: Clock was created for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s legal case, Perspective was created by the imprisoned founder of darknet market Silk Road, and Stay Free was a collaborative piece with government whistleblower Edward Snowden. This highlights that NFT art, like in traditional fine art, plays an important role in enabling social commentary.
Is NFT Art a Good Investment?
NFT art has the potential to become much more expensive in the long term, considering the significant price difference between the most expensive paintings and the most expensive NFT art. The most expensive painting ever sold is worth 6.8 times the price of the most expensive NFT art, with Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (1500) valued at $475 million, an order of magnitude more expensive than Beeple’s Everydays. Pak’s Clock is similarly comparable to Interchange (1955) by Willem de Kooning, with the painting valued at 6.2 times of the NFT art.
The price gap subsequently widens when comparing the remaining most expensive paintings and NFT art. Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players (1892) sits at $288 million, or 9.9 times the price of Beeple’s HUMAN ONE. Meanwhile, Paul Gauguin’s When Will You Marry? (1892) is worth an even higher 32.3 times of XCOPY’s Right-click and Save As Guy, and Jackson Pollock’s Number 17A (1948) worth 33.0 times of Beeple’s Crossroads.
That said, NFT art’s potential for growth does not necessarily make it a good investment.
Most Expensive Paintings vs Most Expensive NFT Art
| Rank | Painting | Sale Price (US$) | NFT Art | Sale Price (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salvator Mundi (1500) | $475 million | Everydays: The First 5000 Days (2021) | $69 million |
| 2 | Interchange (1955) | $328 million | Clock (2022) | $52 million |
| 3 | The Card Players (1892) | $288 million | HUMAN ONE (2021) | $28 million |
| 4 | When Will You Marry? (1892) | $229 million | Right-click and Save As Guy (2018) | $7 million |
| 5 | Number 17A (1948) | $218 million | Crossroads (2020) | $6 million |
Methodology
The study examined NFT artworks based on Cryptoart.io data and public coverage of sales, as of June 8, 2023. For the NFT artworks that were sold in ETH, sale prices were converted to USD according to CoinGecko price data on the date sold.
Data for the most expensive paintings was based on an April 5, 2023 study by artincontext.org, which stated prices adjusted for inflation.
This study is for illustrative and informational purposes only, and is not financial advice. Always do your own research and be careful when putting your money into any crypto or financial asset.
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Curious to find out more about our previous research studies? Check out this one we did on move-to-earn profits.
Yuqian is a crypto research analyst at CoinGecko, covering a range of topics from NFTs to ETFs, crypto adoption and interest, and beyond. She's especially fascinated by the philosophical and socioeconomic aspects of crypto. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honors from the National University of Singapore. Follow the author on Twitter @solosbrqt
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