Beeple’s $69.3 Million Collage and 14 Other Pricey NFTs

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are taking the art and tech worlds by storm — and some of the top works are raking in sales prices rivaling established living artists like Jeff Koons and David Hockney. Last week, an NFT by the digital artist Beeple, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” sold for a record $69.3 million and is now the third highest-valued artwork sold by a living artist. Meanwhile, characters from Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks NFT collective — a set of 10,000 unique characters, known as Punks, created by a pixel-art character generator and tied to the Ethereum blockchain — have dominated the list of highest-selling NFTs under Beeple’s work, with the top-selling Punk recently going for nearly $8 million. In other words, crypto art and NFTs are making big-money moves and the momentum only continues to grow as more pieces are minted and sold. Below is a list of the 15 highest-selling NFTs, as of Wednesday. (Still have no clue what NFTs are? No worries. Check out TheWrap’s explainer here.) Note: Due to the rapidly moving NFT market, some of the pieces included in this list may have undergone another sale following the publication of this article. As of Wednesday, one Ether was worth about $1,793, according to Coindesk.

1. Beeple, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” — $69.3 million

“Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold for a record $69.3 million at Christie’s and was the first purely digital artwork sold by a major auction house. The NFT is a collage of pieces that Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist who goes by Beeple, created every single day for over 13-and-a-half years. “The First 5000 Days” is now the third most expensive artwork sold by a living artist, right under Jeff Koon’s Rabbit ($91.1 million) and David Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist ($90.3 million). The piece was minted on Feb. 16 and sold to Metakovan, the pseudonymous founder and financier of the NFT fund Metapurse, for $69,346,250, or about 42329.453 ETH, on March 11. According to Christie’s, the NFT had 33 active bidders. Fifty-five percent of the bidders were from the Americas and 58% identified as Millennials.

2. “CryptoPunk 7804” — $7.8 million

“CryptoPunk 7804” was purchased on March 11 for 4,200 ETH. At the time of the sale, 4,200 ETH was worth $7,820,520.27 million, according to Cryptoslam.io, which tracks NFT sales. So-called “alien” Punks, recognizable by their bluish color, are considered one of the rarest CryptoPunks given that there are only nine in existence. The pipe, shades and hat also add to the Punk’s rarity, since there are only 317 characters with pipes, 378 characters with small shades and 254 with this kind of hat.

3. “CryptoPunk 3100” — $7.6 million

“CryptoPunk 3100,” another “alien” Punk, also sold for 4,200 ETH on March 11, but at the time of the sale, it was worth $7,574,383.86.

4. “CryptoPunk 6965” — $1.5 million

“Ape” Punks are the second-rarest type of CryptoPunk, given that there are a total of 24 in existence. “CryptoPunk 6965” sold for 800 ETH, or $1,545,929.22, on Feb. 19.

5. “CryptoPunk 4156” — $1.2 million

CrytpoPunk 4156, an ape with a blue bandana, sold for about 650 ETH, or $1,199,406.15, on Feb. 18.

6. “CryptoPunk 2140” — $1.06 million

“CryptoPunk 2140,” an ape with shades and a knitted cap, sold for 750 ETH on March 2. At the time of the sale, it was worth $1,069,039.40.

7. “CryptoPunk 6487” — $1.05 million

“CryptoPunk 6487,” a female Punk with no accessories, went for 550 ETH, or $1,052,041.39, on Feb. 22. There are a total of 3,840 female Punks and 6,039 male Punks in existence, making the female Punks rarer than the male Punks.

7. “CryptoPunk 3393” — $884,252

This zombie Punk sold for 500 ETH on March 13, which cost $884,252.82 at the time of the sale. With just 88 in existence, zombie Punks are the third-rarest type of Punk after apes and aliens. The Punk’s frown and red hair, called “crazy hair,” also add to this Punk’s rarity since there are only 261 Punks with frowns and 414 with “crazy hair.”

8. “CryptoPunk 2890” — $747,400

“CryptoPunk 2890,” an alien with a cap, sold for 605 ETH, or $747,400.29, on Jan. 23.

9. CryptoPunk 3011 — $721,370

“CryptoPunk 3011” — a man with “vampire hair,” small shades, a pipe and an earring — sold for 400 ETH, or $721,370.80, on March 12. “Vampire hair” is another rare attribute, as there are only 147 characters with this type of hair.

10. “CryptoPunk 1839” — $649,233

Rounding out the top 10 is yet another CryptoPunk, this time a man with “nerd glasses,” an earring, a cigarette and a knitted cap. The NFT sold for 360 ETH, or $649,233.82, on March 12.

11. “Hashmask 9939 (‘sex’)” — $640,151

I know what you’re thinking: “Finally, a non-CryptoPunk sale!” “Hashmask 9939,” with the custom name “sex,” sold for 420 ETH, or $640,151.67, on Feb. 2. Like CryptoPunks, there are a finite number — 16,384 — of unique Hashmasks in existence. The pieces, created out of the Zurich-based Suum Cuique Labs and heavily inspired by the late graffiti-inspired artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work in the ’80s, are portraits created through a combination of art made by over 70 artists. Each portrait contains six unique attributes: a character, mask, eye color, skin tone, item and background. The rarity of a Hashmask portrait is determined in part by its attributes and by the collectors purchasing the Hashmasks, who get to name the work they purchase.

12. “CryptoPunk 3609” — $584,521

This earringed zombie sold for 369 ETH, or $584,521.72, on March 5.

13. “CryptoPunk 5234” — $554,423

Yet another zombie CryptoPunk, this one with “crazy hair” and big shades, sold for 350 ETH, or $554,423.45, on March 4.

14. “CryptoPunk 2681” — $535,278

…And another zombie. “CryptoPunk 2681” sold for 277 ETH, or $535,278.99, on Feb. 19.

15. “Hashmask 6718 (‘God of War’)” — $497,856

“Hashmask 6718,” with the custom name “God of War,” sold on Feb. 4 for 300 ETH, or $497,856.02.