After hitting a total trading volume of nearly $6 billion in January, the excitement waned and the total trading volume hovered near $1 billion in the third quarter, according to DappRadar.
But that doesn’t mean people stop buying NFTs. In fact, some of the most expensive ones ever sold in 2022 include:
1. Clock — Julian Assange and Pak
Sold for 16,593 ETH/$20.1 million on Dec. 21
Created by anonymous digital artist Pak, this NFT went on sale in February for AssangeDAO. It reflects the number of days Julian Assange has been detained at Belmarsh prison in London. Proceeds from sales have been donated to help the founder of WikiLeaks legal defense.
2. CryptoPunk #5822 — Larva Labs
Sold for 8,000 ETH/9.7 million on December 21
Deepak Thapliya, CEO of blockchain infrastructure company Chain, bought the most expensive CryptoPunk of the year in February. The NFT profile photo features an alien with blue skin and a dark blue bandana. Out of the 10,000 CryptoPunks in the collection, it is one of the only aliens. CryptoPunk NFT is one of the oldest and most expensive on the market, with an overall floor price of 63.5 ETH, or about $77,000.
3. CryptoPunk #5577 — Larva Lab
Sold for 2,501 ETH/3.03 million on December 21
The CryptoPunk collection once again appears among the five most expensive NFTs of the year with an avatar-style image of an ape wearing a cowboy hat. It was purchased in February by Robert Leshner, CEO of Compound Labs. A very small percentage of 0.24% of 10,000 CryptoPunks are apes, and only 1% of them wear cowboy hats.
4. Flag of Ukraine NFT — UkraineDAO
Sold for 2,250 ETH/$2.7 million on Dec 21
More than 3,000 people contributed about $6.75 million at the time to purchase an NFT with a Ukrainian flag in March, after the Russian invasion. The effort is led by UkraineDAO, an organization founded by Russian art collector Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, NFT studio Trippy Labs, and members of PleasrDAO. The decentralized organization donated the proceeds from the auction to Come Back Alive, a group that supports the Ukrainian military.
5. Tallest city of all time — XCOPY
Sold for 1,630 ETH/1.9 million on December 21
Bought by anonymous collector @rarecollector3000 in January, this NFT by XCOPY depicts a deadly figure Carrying a man across the River Styx.
Our new Weekly Impact Report looks at how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s executives. Sign up here.
