A Look at the Seven Most Expensive Meme NFTs in History

Recently, a photo of a dog wearing a knitted hat was sold for an astonishing price of $4.3 million, making it the most expensive meme NFT in history. This photo is not just any ordinary dog, but rather 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 world has given rise to several well-known meme NFTs. Let us take a look back at the highest selling meme NFTs in history.

Dogwifhat: 4.3 million USD

Last week, the Dogwifhat NFT was sold for 1,210.759 ETH (approximately 4.31 million USD). This high price is largely attributed to the widespread circulation of the original Dogwifhat meme on the internet since the end of 2019, as well as the recent huge success of the meme coin WIF launched on Solana.

This NFT photo was randomly taken by Achi's Korean owner in 2018. After deducting related fees, the seller expects to earn about $4.1 million. A well-known anonymous cryptocurrency trader purchased this photo through a digital art platform.

Doge: 4.2 million USD

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

Doge is not only one of the most important memes in internet culture, but also a significant part of the crypto world, inspiring the birth of the first meme coin, Dogecoin. The buyer later split this NFT into billions of tokens, creating hundreds of millions of dollars in value.

Frog Pepe: $3.5 million

On October 5, 2021, the original Pepe the Frog Genesis NFT created by Matt Furie was sold for 1000 ETH (approximately 3.5 million USD). This green amphibious character is widely popular on the internet and is also closely associated with crypto culture.

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.

Charlie Bit My Finger: $761,000

On May 22, 2021, one of YouTube's earliest iconic videos, "Charlie Bit My Finger," was sold as an NFT for $760,999. The parents of the two children in the video hoped to raise funds for their kids' college tuition through the NFT sale.

Although it was initially planned to take the video down from YouTube after the sale, the buyer didn't care, so the video is still available on YouTube to this day.

Nyan Cat: $590,000

On February 19, 2021, artist Chris Torres sold the Nyan Cat animation NFT for 300 ETH (approximately $590,000 at the time). This auction essentially pioneered meme NFTs as an asset class, and many other well-known meme creators followed suit.

Disaster Girl: $430,000

On April 17, 2021, Zoe Roth sold an NFT of her childhood photo showing a mischievous smile in front of a burning building for 180 ETH (approximately $430,000). This meme, known as "Disaster Girl," is one of the most iconic memes of the early 21st century.

Overly Attached Girlfriend: $411,000

In the spring of 2021, Laina Morris sold her "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme photo NFT, which went viral in 2012, for 200 ETH (approximately $411,000).

It is worth noting that, apart from the latest Dogwifhat NFT, all other works on this list were sold in 2021, highlighting the heated state of the meme NFT market that year.