A Look at the 7 Most Expensive Meme NFTs in History

Recently, a photo of a dog wearing a beanie was sold for a staggering $4.3 million, setting a new price record for Meme NFTs. This photo is not an ordinary dog, but Achi, a Shiba Inu from the famous internet meme "Dogwifhat."

This high-priced transaction is not an isolated case. Over the years, the fusion of internet culture and the crypto space has given rise to a series of well-known Meme NFTs. Let's take a look back at the most expensive Meme NFTs in history.

1. Dogwifhat: 4.3 million USD

Last week, the Dogwifhat NFT was sold for 1,210.759 ETH (approximately $4.31 million). This astonishing price is largely attributed to the widespread dissemination of the original Dogwifhat Meme on the internet since the end of 2019, as well as the recent success of the WIF token on Solana.

WIF is a Meme coin inspired by Dogwifhat, and since its launch last December, its price has skyrocketed, with a market cap exceeding $3 billion last week. Not long ago, WIF community members also raised nearly $700,000 to display the image of Achi on the giant LED screen at the Las Vegas Sphere.

This NFT photo was randomly taken by Achi's Korean owner in 2018. After fees, the seller expects to receive about $4.1 million in revenue. The well-known cryptocurrency trader GCR won this photo through a digital art platform.

2. Doge: 4.2 million USD

Before Dogwifhat, Doge held the record for the most expensive Meme NFT. On June 11, 2021, during the peak of the NFT market, a photo of the Shiba Inu Kabosu taken by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato was sold for 1696.9 ETH (approximately $4.234 million).

The Doge Meme is not only an important part of internet culture but also one of the cornerstones of the crypto world, inspiring the birth of the first meme coin, Dogecoin. The buyer PleasrDAO stated: "Doge may be one of the most important memes in internet culture." Subsequently, PleasrDAO split the Doge NFT into billions of tokens, creating hundreds of millions of dollars in value.

3. Frog Pepe: 3.5 million USD

On October 5, 2021, the original Pepe the Frog Genesis NFT created by Matt Furie was sold for 1000 ETH (approximately $3.5 million). This green amphibian character is widely popular on the internet and is closely associated with crypto culture, having inspired the successful meme coin Pepecoin on Ethereum last year.

This NFT represents the first comic strip file depicting the character drawn by Furie in November 2006. The buyer is an NFT fund formed by a cryptocurrency hedge fund and anonymous investors. Subsequently, due to the fund's bankruptcy, the NFT was liquidated and was recently acquired by a crypto industry executive, with the transaction amount undisclosed.

4. Charlie Bit My Finger: $761,000

On May 22, 2021, one of the most iconic early YouTube videos "Charlie Bit My Finger" was sold as an NFT for $760,999. In the video, Charlie, who is teething, and his brother's parents hope to raise college tuition for their children through the NFT.

This strategy has been quite successful. The collector 3FMusic from Dubai purchased this NFT at a high price. Although there was an initial plan to remove the video from YouTube to enhance the value of the NFT, the buyer did not mind, so the video remains on YouTube to this day.

5. Nyan Cat: $590,000

Nyan Cat is a pixel animation of a cat that became popular in 2011. Ten years later, its creator Chris Torres decided to sell it as an NFT. This auction generated immense interest and pioneered the Meme NFT as an asset class.

On February 19, 2021, Torres sold the Nyan Cat NFT for 300 ETH (approximately $590,000 at the time) to an anonymous crypto user. Since then, many well-known meme creators have followed suit, starting to auction their iconic images as NFTs to receive the rewards they deserve.

6. Disaster Girl: $430,000

A photo of Zoe Roth as a child with a mischievous smile in front of a burning building became the famous "Disaster Girl" meme. On April 17, 2021, Roth auctioned the NFT of the original photo of this meme on an NFT platform, selling it for 180 ETH (about $430,000). This piece was eventually collected by 3FMusic.

7. Overly Attached Girlfriend: $411,000

In 2012, Laina Morris became known as the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" due to a meme. In early 2021, Morris began exploring blockchain technology and auctioned the NFT of that meme photo on an NFT platform. The auction was successful, and Morris earned 200 ETH (approximately $411,000 at the time). The piece was also collected by the NFT collector 3FMusic.

The spring of 2021 was the golden period for Meme NFT auctions. Apart from the latest Dogwifhat, the other works in this list were all sold during that time, reflecting the fervor of the NFT market at that moment.