In October 2021, a 1991 cask of Macallan whisky was auctioned off for $2.3 million. This cask held about 600 bottles worth of 30-year-old whisky and is said to be the most expensive one sold so far. Interestingly, instead of the usual cask photo used for verification purposes, this sale included an NFT of an artwork by Trevor Jones, called “The Angel’s Share.†The artwork is an abstract, digital painting based on Jones’ own oil painting and shows a somewhat barrel-shaped image. (1, 2)
On 21 March 2006, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted his first tweet that said “Just setting up my twttr.” In 2021, fifteen years after it was posted, this tweet was sold as an NFT for about $2.9 million. It was sold to Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi, who made the purchase to emphasize the importance of NFTs. However, despite the sale, the tweet will continue to remain on Twitter and its NFT will be regarded as an autographed copy. (1, 2)
On 27 February 2021, RTFKT Studios, in collaboration with Seattle-based artist “Fewocious,” sold 621 pairs of virtual sneakers for about $3.1 million. These pairs were released digitally as non-fungible tokens and had three separate designs listed at $3,000, $5,000, and $10,000 respectively. But later, the design studio released physical versions of the virtual sneakers that buyers could claim in their sizes. (1, 2)
The legendary 2010 Doge meme was created out of a photograph that portrays a Shiba Inu dog named Kabosu. In June 2021, the original version of this meme was put up for sale online by its owner, Atsuko Sato. It was then purchased by a collective called PleasrDAO for about $4 million. This collective is now selling fractional ownership of the NFT for less than $1, and all such buyers will be allowed to make decisions regarding the NFT. (1, 2)
On 12 April 2021, the Phillips auction house announced that it was selling a digital artwork called REPLICATOR. This piece was created by Micah Dowbak, who also goes by the title of Mad Dog Jones. REPLICATOR depicts a photocopier machine and is unique because it can generate new NFTs from itself every 28 days. But much like a photocopier, REPLICATOR can also jam. When a “Jam Artwork†is produced, it will not replicate further. This artwork was later sold to an anonymous bidder for $4.1 million. (1, 2, 3)
5 The World Wide Web original source code: $5.4 million
English scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee is renowned for being the creator of the World Wide Web. In 2021, Sir Tim, in partnership with Sotheby’s, auctioned off the original source code of the web as an NFT. The online bidding began at $1,000 but closed at a whopping $5,434,500. Apart from the code, the NFT also included an animated video of the code being written, a letter, and a digital poster of the code designed by Sir Tim. (1, 2)
In April 2021, Edward Snowden, the infamous National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower, sold an NFT of his self-portrait. This iconic artwork, called “Stay Free,†shows Snowden’s likeness made from the pages of the landmark US court ruling that condemned NSA’s mass surveillance programs. It was sold for $5.5 million and this money was donated to the non-profit organization, Freedom of the Press Foundation, where Snowden serves as president. (1, 2)
“CryptoPunk†is a series of pixelated images containing 10,000 works of art, created by Larva Labs in 2017. Of these, CryptoPunk #7523 is one of the most expensive artworks, having been auctioned off at $11.8 million in 2021. This much sought-after Alien character has blue-green skin and even wears a medical mask. It was sold off by the Sotheby’s auction house as part of its online sales titled “Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale.†(1, 2)
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2Clock: $52.8 million
Image Credit: David G. Silvers, CancillerÃa del Ecuador/flickr via wikimedia.org , Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock.com
In February 2022, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sold a digital artwork called Clock which shows the number of days he has been imprisoned, in white text over a black background. Assange had teamed up with digital artist Pak to create a series of NFTs called “Censored.†Among these, Clock was the most popular piece that sold for a great $52.8 million. It was bought by a collective called AssangeDAO, made up of more than 10,000 supporters of the Wikileaks founder. (1, 2)
In March 2021, Mike Winkelmann, more popularly known as “Beeple,†sold one of his artworks called “Everydays: The First 5000 Days†as an NFT. This project began in 2007 when Winkelmann decided to create one piece of art a day and post it online. Thirteen years later, the artworks had grown to a sizable collection and he decided to put them all into a collage. Now, in partnership with the auction house Christie’s, Winkelmann has made history by selling this collage art for an astronomical $69 million. (1, 2)
