This is a list of the highest known prices possibly paid for
non-fungible token
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the b ...
s (NFTs) representing digital assets.
Background
Monetization of digital assets as NFTs became possible with the release of Etheria, on the
Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (Abbreviation: ETH; sign: Ξ) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capita ...
blockchain, in 2015. From late 2017, the NFT market grew quickly. In the first three months of 2021, NFTs worth US$200 million were traded.
One of the earliest NFT projects,
CryptoPunks
''CryptoPunks'' is a non-fungible token (NFT) collection on the Ethereum blockchain. The project was launched in June 2017 by the Larva Labs studio, a two-person team consisting of Canadian software developers Matt Hall and John Watkinson. The ex ...
,
has provided several of the most expensive NFTs.
There were some NFT-like projects or "proto NFTs" that pre-date CryptoPunks;
Rare Pepes, for example, was released on Counterparty in 2014.
List of highest prices paid
This list is ordered by
consumer price index
A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time.
Overview
A CPI is a statistica ...
inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of
United States dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
s in .
[The Wikipedia template uses a yearly average inflation. Using monthly averages gives slightly different numbers, most significantly for paintings sold early or late in a year with significant inflation.] Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the
exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
at the time the NFT was sold. The inflation adjustment may change, as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange-rate fluctuations. NFTs are listed only once, i.e. for the highest price sold. To maintain a manageable size, only NFTs that were sold for an adjusted price of $2 million and above are listed.
See also
*
List of most expensive artworks by living artists
The highest known price paid for an artwork by a living artist was for Jasper Johns's 1958 painting ''Flag''. Its 2010 private sale price was estimated to be about US$110 million ($ million in dollars).
All-time
This is a list of high ...
*
List of most expensive paintings
This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The current record price is approximately US$450.3 million (which includes commission), paid for Leonardo da Vinci's ''Salvator Mundi'' (). The painting was sold in November 2017, t ...
*
List of most expensive photographs
This is a list of the 30 highest prices paid for photographs (in United States dollar, US dollars unless otherwise stated). All prices include the buyer's premium, which is the auction house fee for handling the work.
List
Disputed claim
# In D ...
*
List of most expensive sculptures
This is a list of the highest known prices paid for sculptures.
Most valuable sculpture
Alberto Giacometti's ''L'Homme au doigt'' was auctioned for $141.3m at Christie's in May 2015, the highest price for any sculpture at auction.
Giacometti's '' ...
*
List of most expensive books and manuscripts
This is a list of printed books, manuscripts, letters, music scores, comic books, maps and other documents which have sold for more than US$1 million. The dates of composition of the books range from the 7th-century Quran leaf palimpsest and the ...
Notes
References
{{Art world
non-fungible tokens
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
non-fungible tokens
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
non-fungible tokens
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
Ethereum
Most expensive