Last Monday, a photo of a dog on a chain wearing a beanie sold for just over $4.3 million. The deal makes this Achi NFT the most expensive meme NFT ever. However, this isn’t the first time that high-priced meme NFTs have been the case. Over the years, the interweaving of the internet and crypto culture has given rise to a series of meme NFTs that have become household names.
Here is a list of the most sold meme NFTs in history.
Dogwifhat: $4.3 million
Last week, the Dogwifhat NFT traded for 1,210.759 ETH, worth $4,311,234 at the time of the transaction, a sky-high price that is largely due to the online popularity of the original Dogwifhat meme since late 2019. But perhaps the reason for the piece’s eye-popping fetch is due to the huge success of Solana’s meme coin, WIF, which has skyrocketed in value over the past few months.
Since its creation in December last year, the price of WIF has soared, with its market capitalization topping the $3 billion mark last week. Not long ago, several WIF community members raised nearly $700,000 to display Achi’s face on a giant spherical LED screen outside the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Doge: $4.2 million
Until last week, the record for the most expensive meme NFT in history was still held by Doge, the originator of all dog memes.
The record, which was made on June 11, 2021, caused a stir during the heyday of the NFT industry, and was sold for millions of dollars for the first time, with the original image being a photo of her Shiba Inu Kabosu taken by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato. This photo is also one of the inspirations for Doge meme.
The NFT was eventually sold for a higher ETH price than the Dogwifhat NFT: 1696.9 ETH. However, due to the low price of ETH at that time, it was equivalent to about $4.234 million. The Doge meme was not only an integral part of the internet culture at the time, but also formed the foundation of the crypto world, as it inspired the first meme coin, Dogecoin.
Pepe the Frog: $3.5 million
On October 5, 2021, the original Pepe the Frog Genesis NFT, created by Matt Furie, sold for a staggering 1,000 ETH, worth around $3.5 million at the time. This green amphibian, which has taken the internet by storm, was once exploited by the far right, but it is also loved by many.
Pepe is not only well-known in general internet circles, but has also long been closely intertwined with crypto culture. Last year, it inspired Pepecoin, a meme coin that was hugely successful on Ethereum.
Until last week, the record for the most expensive meme NFT in history was still held by Doge, the originator of all dog memes.
The record, which was made on June 11, 2021, caused a stir during the heyday of the NFT industry, and was sold for millions of dollars for the first time, with the original image being a photo of her Shiba Inu Kabosu taken by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato. This photo is also one of the inspirations for Doge meme.
The NFT was eventually sold for a higher ETH price than the Dogwifhat NFT: 1696.9 ETH. However, due to the low price of ETH at that time, it was equivalent to about $4.234 million. The Doge meme was not only an integral part of the internet culture at the time, but also formed the foundation of the crypto world, as it inspired the first meme coin, Dogecoin.
Pepe the Frog: $3.5 million
On October 5, 2021, the original Pepe the Frog Genesis NFT, created by Matt Furie, sold for a staggering 1,000 ETH, worth around $3.5 million at the time. This green amphibian, which has taken the internet by storm, was once exploited by the far right, but it is also loved by many.
Pepe is not only well-known in general internet circles, but has also long been closely intertwined with crypto culture. Last year, it inspired Pepecoin, a meme coin that was hugely successful on Ethereum.
The Pepe NFT represents the first multi-grid comic file depicting the character drawn by Furie in November 2006. The buyer is Starry Night Capital, an NFT fund formed in 2021 by crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and anonymous investor Vincent Van Dough.
Charlie bites my finger: $761,000
During the NFT boom of 2021, one of the classic videos on YouTube, “Charlie Bit My Finger,” also joined the blockchain world. This video captures the moment of affection between Charlie, the main character, who is teething, and his brother. At the time, Charlie and his brother’s parents, seeing the success of other meme NFTs, decided to convert this family video into an NFT to raise money to pay for their children’s college tuition.
The strategy was very successful: on May 22, 2021, the video’s NFT was sold to Dubai-based collector 3FMusic for $760,999. Initially, the family planned to remove the video from YouTube after the NFT was sold to enhance its uniqueness and value.
Nan Cat:59万美元
In 2011, Nyan Cat took the internet by storm with his pixel animation of a cat figure resembling a sandwich cookie, created by artist Chris Torres. Ten years later, Torres considered selling the iconic animation as an NFT. The interest sparked by this NFT far exceeded expectations and basically opened up the concept of meme NFT as an asset class.
On February 19, 2021, before the cultural power of NFTs reached their peak, Torres sold the Nyan Cat NFT to an anonymous crypto user for 300 ETH (worth $590,000 at the time). In the months that followed, many other creators of famous memes followed Torres’ lead and began auctioning off their iconic images as NFTs. This move allows them to finally earn meaningful rewards and clear ownership of the pieces of Internet history they have created.
Calamity Girl: $430,000
Zoe Roth was one of the first legendary meme creators to follow in Torres’ footsteps. As a child, she took a photo in front of a building that had caught fire, with a wicked smile on her face. This meme later became a classic meme on the internet that meant “schadenfreude”. This photograph, known as Disaster Girl, is one of the most influential foundational memes of the early 21st century.
In mid-2021, Roth auctioned off an NFT of the original photo of the meme on the NFT platform Foundation. The NFT was sold for 180 ETH on April 17, 2021, when it was worth about $430,000. The piece was eventually purchased by collector 3FMusic, who currently holds several NFTs on the list.
Overly Attached Girlfriend:41.1万美元
Spring 2021 was the heyday of Meme NFT auctions. With the exception of the winner, every piece on this list was sold in 2021, a few months after Nyan Cat’s groundbreaking sale.
Laina Morris was permanently named “Overly Attached Girlfriend” in a 2012 meme. Shortly after the Nyan Cat auction, Morris began exploring blockchain technology and auctioned off an NFT of the meme photo on Foundation.
The sale was a great success, with Morris receiving 200 ETH, which was worth about $411,000 at the time. The work was also acquired by NFT collector 3FMusic.