Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have changed the global outlook of art; though it is still in its evolving stage, it has proved very promising. Since the first NFT, Quantum, was minted in 2014, the market value of NFT skyrocketed, generating over $25 billion worth of trading volume in 2021, and this is a big deal. NFTs are digital assets that could be a photo, audio file, video, or digital paintings stored in blockchain.
The list below shows the priciest artworks that have been sold, together with background stories about the creators and creations:
The Merge: USD 91.8 million
The Merge is an artwork created by an anonymous living digital artist named Pak. On 2 December 2021, this piece officially became the most expensive NFT ever sold. The artist sold the fragmented art on NFT marketplace Niffy Gateway with 28, 983 collectors pitching together for it. They spent a whopping $91,806,519 to purchase 312,686 total units mass. Thus, the artwork is not owned by a single owner but by multiple owners.
Everydays-The First 5000 Days: USD 69.3 million
Another Beeple masterpiece is Everydays, a collage of 5000 individual pieces made one per day since 2007, showing Mike Winkelmann’s career development from 2007-2020. This piece is one of the most expensive single-piece artwork ever sold to a single buyer. This piece was auctioned at Christie’s with an initial bid of $100, which drastically increased to $1 million in an hour, with the final bid being $69.3 million.
Clock: USD 52.7 million
This is another high-tier NFT piece created by Pak and Julian Assange. This distinct NFT shows the total number of days since Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was imprisoned. AssangeDao purchased this piece- a collection of more than 10,000 persons to support Assange’s legal defense.
Beeple, Human One: USD 28.9 million
Another piece that marked a record in the digital art world is Beeple’s Human One. This piece was unveiled in late 2021; this is a generative sculpture combining physical and digital art, reflecting Beeple’s growing artistic skills. This piece shows an astronaut walking continuously forward. This NFT is the first human of the Metaverse space.
CryptoPunk #5822: USD 23.7 million
CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 tokens called ‘punks’. In one of the biggest sales on February 13, 2022, CryptoPunk #5822, an alien-style punk-which is one of the most rare in the series, was sold for a record-breaking 8,000 Eth. That is $23.7 million. The sale of this punk serves as the biggest CryptoPunks NFT purchase in history.
In conclusion, 2021 was the year that marked an exponential growth in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, with NFT being at the forefront of the crypto space. This proves that there is bound to be so much more growth in market capitalization in the coming years. Anything can be tokenized and turned into an NFT, and NFT is here to stay.
