Last Monday, a photo of a dog wearing a knitted hat sold for just over $4.3 million on the blockchain. It might sound unbelievable, but this photo is no ordinary dog (although it might not look much different), it’s Achi: the Shiba Inu from the iconic internet meme “Dogwifhat”. The sale of this Achi NFT for over $4.3 million makes it the most expensive meme NFT in history. However, this is not the first high-priced meme NFT. Over the years, the intersection of the internet and crypto culture has led to a series of well-known meme NFTs. Here is a list of the highest-priced meme NFTs in history.
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“Dogwifhat” NFT sells for $4.3 million, setting a record for the most expensive meme NFT, and Achi’s owner also profits
Dogwifhat: $4.3 million
Last week, the Dogwifhat NFT sold for 1,210.759 ETH, which was valued at $4,311,234 at the time of sale. The popularity of the original Dogwifhat meme on the internet since the end of 2019 played a significant role in this high price. But perhaps the even greater success of the meme coin WIF on Solana in recent months contributed to the astounding price. WIF, inspired by Dogwifhat, has seen a surge in value, and its market cap recently surpassed $3 billion. Earlier, several members of the WIF community raised nearly $700,000 to display Achi’s face on a giant LED screen outside the Las Vegas Sphere. The auctioneer, Path, stated that the NFT photo was randomly taken by Achi’s Korean owner in 2018. After deducting fees, the auction is expected to earn approximately $4.1 million, far exceeding expectations. The well-known anonymous cryptocurrency trader GCR acquired this photo NFT through the digital art platform Foundation.
Doge: $4.2 million
Until last week, the record for the most expensive meme NFT was held by the original dog meme, Doge. This sale took place on June 11, 2021, during the peak of the NFT craze, and it caused quite a stir as it reached a price in the millions of dollars for the first time. The original image was a photo of Kabosu, a Shiba Inu owned by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato. This photo also served as the inspiration for the Doge meme. The NFT was eventually sold for a price higher than the Dogwifhat NFT in terms of ETH: 1696.9 ETH. However, due to the lower price of ETH at the time, it was approximately equivalent to $4.234 million. The Doge meme was not only an integral part of internet culture at the time but also laid the foundation for the crypto world as it inspired the creation of the first meme coin, Dogecoin. “Doge is probably one of the most important memes in internet culture,” said Santiago Santos, a member of PleasrDAO, the investment collective that purchased the Doge NFT. Subsequently, PleasrDAO split the Doge NFT into billions of fractionalized tokens, creating hundreds of millions of dollars in value and driving a complete ecosystem made up of crypto users who love Doge.
Pepe the Frog: $3.5 million
On October 5, 2021, the original Pepe the Frog Genesis NFT, created by Matt Furie, sold for an astonishing 1000 ETH, valued at approximately $3.5 million at the time. This green amphibian, which became popular on the internet, was once exploited by the far right. Pepe not only gained fame in the general internet community but has also been closely intertwined with crypto culture for a long time. Last year, it inspired Pepecoin, a meme coin that achieved great success on the Ethereum network. The Pepe NFT represents the first multi-panel comic file depicting the character, which Furie created in November 2006. The buyer was the NFT fund Starry Night Capital, composed of cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and anonymous investor Vincent Van Dough. In 2022, after Three Arrows Capital went bankrupt, the liquidator confiscated the NFTs held by the company and began selling them to repay debts. As part of the liquidation, the Pepe NFT was sold this week with the help of Sotheby’s to Andrew Kang, an executive in the crypto industry. The transaction amount was not disclosed.
Charlie Bit My Finger: $761,000
During the NFT boom in 2021, one of YouTube’s most iconic early videos, “Charlie Bit My Finger,” also made its way onto the blockchain. The parents of Charlie and his brother, who were featured in the video where Charlie bites his brother’s finger, saw the success of other meme NFTs and hoped to turn their children’s viral moment into funds to pay for their college education. The strategy was quite effective, and on May 22, 2021, the NFT of the video sold for $761,000 to Dubai-based collector 3FMusic. Initially, the family planned to remove the video from YouTube after the sale to increase the importance of the NFT. However, it was reported that 3FMusic didn’t mind if the video remained on YouTube, so it is still available on the platform.
Nyan Cat: $590,000
Nyan Cat is a pixelated animation of a cat that first became popular on the internet in 2011. The cat’s body resembles a Pop-Tart. Ten years later, its creator, artist Chris Torres, considered selling the animation as an NFT. The interest generated by this NFT far exceeded expectations and essentially introduced the concept of meme NFTs as an asset class. On February 19, 2021, before the NFT cultural explosion, Torres sold the Nyan Cat NFT for 300 ETH, valued at $590,000 at the time, to an anonymous crypto user. In the following months, many other famous meme creators followed Torres’ lead and began auctioning their iconic images as NFTs. This allowed them to finally receive meaningful returns for the internet history they created and establish ownership.
“This has become a trend, not just for me but for many meme artists who have been creating all sorts of things since then. Before that, we were all struggling,” said Torres in 2021.
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Disaster Girl: $430,000
Zoe Roth is one of the legendary meme creators who followed in Torres’ footsteps. She took a photo in front of a burning building when she was young, with a mischievous smile on her face. This meme, known as Disaster Girl, became an expression of “schadenfreude” on the internet. It is one of the foundational memes of the early 21st century. In the mid-2021, Roth auctioned off the original photo of the meme on the NFT platform Foundation. On April 17, 2021, the NFT sold for 180 ETH, valued at approximately $430,000 at the time. This artwork eventually ended up in the hands of 3FMusic, the collector who currently owns multiple NFTs on this list.
Overly Attached Girlfriend: $411,000
Spring 2021 was the peak period for meme NFT auctions. Apart from the champion, Dogwifhat, every artwork on this list was sold in 2021, just a few months after the groundbreaking sale of Nyan Cat. Laina Morris became immortalized as “Overly Attached Girlfriend” in a meme in 2012. Shortly after the Nyan Cat auction, Morris began exploring blockchain technology and auctioned off the NFT of the meme photo on Foundation. The sale was a success, and Morris received 200 ETH, valued at $411,000 at the time. This artwork was also acquired by NFT collector 3FMusic.
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