Top 7 Most Expensive NFT Monkeys (Bored Ape) – Sold Ever

One JPEG. $3.4 million. Zero physical utility. In October 2021, Bored Ape #8817 hammered down at a Sotheby’s NFT auction and rewired how marketers thought about digital ownership. That gold fur ape didn’t just sell—it became a signal. Miss this moment, and you miss the NFT bull market peak.

Quick reset. Bored Ape Yacht Club, or BAYC, is a collection of 10,000 NFTs minted on Ethereum using the ERC-721 standard. Each ape carries randomized traits—fur, eyes, hats, mouths—creating extreme scarcity at the top end. This wasn’t art for art’s sake. It was engineered hype with community baked in.

Fast forward to 2026. The BAYC floor price sits near 5 ETH, down over 90% from the mania days. Most flippers vanished. Critics called it dead. Yet the most expensive BAYC sales still pull attention, screenshots, and debate across X and Discord.

Why? Because BAYC escaped pure speculation. Yuga Labs turned cartoon apes into an IP machine—Otherside metaverse, licensed merch, games, live events, and ApeCoin utility tying it together. Celeb owners like Eminem and Snoop Dogg kept it mainstream, even as prices cooled.

This is where nostalgia meets signal value. Rare Bored Ape NFT value now behaves like vintage sneakers or first-edition comics. Liquidity dropped. Status didn’t. For agencies, this is a playbook in scarcity, storytelling, and distribution.

In this guide, we break down the Top 7 Most Expensive Bored Ape NFTs Sold, including the Bored Ape #8817 price history and what those buys mean today.

You’ll see the most expensive BAYC sales, what they’re worth now, and the lessons marketers can steal for Meta ads, SaaS launches, and e-com drops.

History of the BAYC Boom: From 0.08 ETH to Internet Royalty

Bored Ape Yacht Club launched in April 2021 at 0.08 ETH. No celebrities. No hype. Just access. Buy an ape, enter a private club. That single move flipped the script.

Then the NFT bull market peak hit. Twitter became a flex arena. Profile pictures turned into status symbols. BAYC leaned into scarcity—airdrops, merch, IRL events. Each reward pushed demand higher.

By late 2021, the BAYC floor price exploded past 145 ETH. Celebrities amplified it. Eminem. Snoop Dogg. Justin Bieber. Every purchase became viral marketing. Free reach. Massive trust.

Auction houses joined next. Sotheby’s and Christie’s validated NFTs for traditional money. That’s when the most expensive BAYC sales happened. JPEGs crossed into blue-chip territory.

Yuga Labs didn’t stop at art. They built an ecosystem. ApeCoin launched. Otherside teased a metaverse. BAYC became an IP brand, not a collection.

Then reality hit. Prices crashed. Speculators left. Floors dropped over 90%. Expected. What stayed? Rare apes. Gold fur. Ultra-low supply traits. Status survived even when liquidity died.

For marketers, the lesson is simple. Community beats ads. Scarcity beats discounts. Timing beats budget. Next, we break down the exact apes that captured peak value—and why they still matter in 2026.

Top 7 Most Expensive NFT Monkeys (Bored Ape)

Alright, here’s where it gets wild.

Based on verified Etherscan transaction data cross-referenced with OpenSea historical sales and auction house records, these are the 7 highest-value BAYC sales in USD terms at the time of purchase.

1 – Bored Ape #8817: The $3.4 Million Gold Standard

• Sale Date: October 26, 2021 (Sotheby’s Metaverse auction)
• Price: 740.00 ETH
• USD Value at Sale: $3,408,000 (ETH @ $4,605)
• Buyer: Anonymous bidder (wallet: 0x28f0…)
• Rarity Rank: #1,149 out of 10,000
• 2026 Estimated Value: ~50-60 ETH ($150,000-$180,000 at $3,000 ETH)

This is the ape. The one that made headlines from Bloomberg to your uncle’s WhatsApp forwards.

Why $3.4M? Three words: gold fur. Only 46 apes out of 10,000 have it—that’s 0.46% rarity. In NFT collecting, gold fur is like pulling a holographic Charizard in a Pokémon booster pack. Instant grail status.

But #8817 didn’t stop there. It stacked laser eyes (1.6% rarity), a bored, unshaven mouth, and a seagreen background. Not the rarest combo overall (ranked #1,149), but the gold fur alone? Price multiplier.

The real kicker? Sotheby’s sold it. Not some anon Discord server. Not even OpenSea. A 277-year-old auction house that’s moved Picassos and Monets. When the gavel dropped at 740 ETH, it wasn’t just a sale—it was legitimization. Legacy finance bowing to Web3.

Timing was everything. October 2021 was peak mania. Facebook had just rebranded to Meta. Zuckerberg was promising a metaverse utopia. Every VC was scrambling for NFT exposure. BAYC floor was at 50+ ETH. And this gold-furred legend hit the block.

2 – Bored Ape #3749: The All-Gold Figma Flex

• Sale Date: October 14, 2021
• Price: 740.00 ETH
• USD Value at Sale: $2,907,000 (ETH @ $3,928)
• Buyer: Dylan Field (Figma CEO, public purchase)
• Rarity Rank: #202 out of 10,000
• 2026 Estimated Value: ~55-65 ETH ($165,000-$195,000)

Meet the ape that Silicon Valley couldn’t resist.

Dylan Field—CEO of Figma, the design tool Adobe would later buy for $20 billion—publicly dropped 740 ETH on #3749. Not through a burner wallet. Full doxxed flex.

What made it worth $2.9M? The all-gold aesthetic. Solid gold fur + golden brown background = monochromatic perfection. Collectors call these “themed” apes—when multiple traits align visually. Add X eyes (the dead/zombie look, 2.43% rarity) and a clean, accessory-free design? Chef’s kiss.

But the real value? Celebrity tech founder ownership. When Dylan tweeted his purchase, it signaled to every SaaS founder and VC that NFTs weren’t just crypto-bro gambling. This was portfolio diversification. Cultural capital. A $3M business card.

3 – Bored Ape #232: The Triple-Gold Sotheby’s Stunner

• Sale Date: September 30, 2021
• Price: 650 ETH
• USD Value at Sale: $2,850,000 (ETH @ $4,385)
• Buyer: Anonymous
• Rarity Rank: #298
• 2026 Estimated Value: ~45-55 ETH ($135,000-$165,000)

This ape’s claim to fame? Triple gold.

Gold fur. Gold hoop earring. Dagger accessory. Only 49 apes have gold accessories—less than 0.5%. When you stack three ultra-rare gold traits? You’re not buying an NFT. You’re buying a flex so loud it echoes across Discord servers.

Throw in blue beams eyes (3.22% rarity) and a new punk blue background, and you’ve got a visually striking piece that screams “I won crypto.”

#232 sold during Sotheby’s “Ape In!” curated auction—101 handpicked apes from the collection. Getting selected for that auction was like MoMA adding your art to a permanent exhibit. Instant prestige bump.

Here’s what’s crazy: The buyer stayed anonymous. No Twitter flex. No Instagram story. Just a quiet $2.85M purchase and radio silence. That’s old money behavior in a new money market.

4 – Bored Ape #544: The Wall Street Ape in a Tweed Suit

• Sale Date: October 25, 2021
• Price: 600 ETH
• USD Value at Sale: $2,700,000 (ETH @ $4,500)
• Buyer: Anonymous
• Rarity Rank: #1,880
• 2026 Estimated Value: ~40-50 ETH ($120,000-$150,000)

Here’s where rarity rankings get messy.

#544 ranks #1,880—nowhere near top 500. Yet it sold for $2.7 million. Why? Vibe.

This ape is dressed for Goldman Sachs: brown tweed suit (0.36% rarity), bone necklace, angry eyes (2.7% rarity), and tan fur (1% rarity). The suit alone is rarer than gold fur. Only 36 apes wear one.

During the 2021 bull run, finance bros were eating this up. They didn’t care about algorithmic rarity scores. They wanted the ape that looked like them—or who they aspired to be. Suited. Serious. Ready to close deals.

Collector psychology 101: Emotional connection > mathematical rarity. It’s why sneakerheads pay $5,000 for Travis Scott Jordans over technically rarer samples. Story beats stats.

For e-commerce brands? This is product photography 101. Don’t just show features. Show aspiration. That Shopify store selling minimalist wallets? Stop shooting on white backgrounds. Show it in a tailored suit pocket at a rooftop bar. Sell the lifestyle.

5 – Bored Ape #7090: The Pirate Captain with a Gold Compass

• Sale Date: November 2, 2021
• Price: 550 ETH
• USD Value at Sale: $2,250,000 (ETH @ $4,091)
• Buyer: Anonymous
• Rarity Rank: #412
• 2026 Estimated Value: ~48-58 ETH ($144,000-$174,000)

Solid gold fur. Captain’s hat (0.36% rarity). Cyborg eyes. Gold stud earring.

If #544 was Wall Street, #7090 is Pirates of the Caribbean meets cyberpunk. The thematic coherence here is chef’s kiss—it literally embodies the “Yacht Club” branding.

The captain’s hat is one of the rarest accessories in the entire collection. Only 36 apes wear it. Pair that with gold fur and you’ve got a recipe for collector FOMO.

Sold in early November 2021—right as BAYC was hitting mainstream consciousness. Fallon’s Tonight Show feature was weeks away. Meta rebrand buzz was peaking. This was the “I need to get in NOW” purchase.

6 – Bored Ape #2087: The Punk Rock Noise Rebel

• Sale Date: September 16, 2021
• Price: 769 ETH
• USD Value at Sale: $2,300,000 (ETH @ $2,990)
• Buyer: Anonymous
• Rarity Rank: #1,234
• 2026 Estimated Value: ~35-45 ETH ($105,000-$135,000)

This one’s interesting. 769 ETH—the highest ETH price on this list—but only $2.3M USD.

Why? It sold in mid-September 2021 when ETH was still $2,990. A month later, ETH would hit $4,600. Timing’s everything.

#2087 rocks noise fur (1.35% rarity)—a glitchy, static-like pattern that collectors obsess over. Add laser eyes, a bubblegum bubble, and a faux hawk, and you’ve got a punk-rock aesthetic that screams 2000s MySpace energy.

The buyer paid 769 ETH when 100-200 ETH was normal for rare apes. That’s a statement. Early mega-whale signaling “I believe BAYC is going to 1,000 ETH floor.”

7 – Bored Ape #4580: The DMT Cowboy

• Sale Date: October 16, 2021
• Price: 425 ETH
• USD Value at Sale: $1,900,000 (ETH @ $4,470)
• Buyer: Anonymous
• Rarity Rank: #580
• 2026 Estimated Value: ~42-52 ETH ($126,000-$156,000)

Rounding out the top 7: the psychedelic cowboy.

DMT fur (0.77% rarity)—a trippy, multi-color pattern that looks like a Grateful Dead poster. Heart eyes. Gold hoop earring. Cowboy hat (0.55% rarity).

DMT fur is a collector favorite because it’s visually insane. Even non-NFT people see it and go “whoa, that’s different.” It photographs well. Stands out in Twitter timelines. Perfect PFP material.

The cowboy hat sealed it. Western Americana + psychedelic vibes = cultural remix that resonates across demographics. Crypto cowboys were a whole 2021 aesthetic.

At $1.9M, this was “affordable” compared to #8817’s $3.4M. Relative bargain hunting in a market gone mad.

Why Is Bored Ape So Expensive?

Bored Apes didn’t get expensive by accident. Price came from design, timing, and psychology—stacked perfectly.

First, scarcity. There are only 10,000 apes. That’s it. No inflation. No reprints. Within that supply, some traits are brutally rare. Gold fur shows up in less than 1% of the collection. Laser eyes? Even fewer. Rarity creates ranking. Ranking creates obsession. Obsession creates bids.

Second, access beats art. BAYC never sold itself as pretty pictures. Holding an ape meant entry into a private club. Discord access. Events. Airdrops. Real perks. In 2021, this felt new. People weren’t buying JPEGs. They were buying belongings.

Third, perfect timing. BAYC launched just before the NFT bull market peak. ETH was pumping. Stimulus money was floating around. Twitter rewarded loud moves. Apes became social proof. If you had one, you were “early.” That narrative matters more than fundamentals during mania.

Fourth, celebrity amplification. When Eminem and Snoop Dogg used apes as profile pictures, it flipped perception. This wasn’t niche crypto anymore. It was culture. Each celeb buy reduced doubt for the next buyer. Classic trust transfer.

Fifth, institutional validation. Sotheby’s auctions changed the room. Once a Bored Ape sold for millions in a traditional auction house, pricing logic shifted. If it sits next to fine art, buyers treat it like one.

Then there’s Yuga Labs execution. Mutant Ape drops. ApeCoin utility. Otherside metaverse plans. Every step rewarded holders and kept attention alive. The brand kept moving while others stalled.

Now zoom out to 2026. Floor prices crashed. Speculators left. But the rarest apes stayed expensive. Why? Status doesn’t disappear with a bear market. It just gets quieter.

For marketers, this is the takeaway: scarcity + community + narrative beats features. That’s why Bored Apes were expensive. And why the best ones still are.

Also read – NFT Fashion Marketplace Development

How Many Monkey NFTs Are There?

Bored Ape Yacht Club consists of exactly 10,000 unique monkey NFTs minted on Ethereum as ERC-721 tokens. No new apes can be created. No supply expansion.

Each ape has different traits—fur, eyes, hats, and clothes. Some traits are common. Some are extremely rare. That’s why not all apes are priced the same.

Yuga Labs kept the original supply untouched. Instead of adding more apes, they built extra products around it—Mutant Apes, ApeCoin, and Otherside land. The core collection stayed scarce.

That fixed supply is why BAYC held status even after prices crashed. Scarcity doesn’t change. Demand does.

Simple math. Limited supply. Variable demand.

Also read – How Much Does NFT Marketplace Development Really Cost?

What Are Those Monkey NFTs Worth Now?

As of 2026:

• BAYC floor price: ~5 ETH
• Down over 90% from the 2021–2022 peak
• Common apes: close to floor value
• Rare apes (gold fur, laser eyes): 20-100+ ETH, sometimes more

Most Bored Ape NFTs are worth far less than during the hype phase. The market cooled. Speculators exited. Prices normalized.

The top-tier apes still hold strong value. Ultra-rare traits, early provenance, and cultural status keep demand alive. These pieces trade more like collectibles than investments.

Conclusion

Bored Ape Yacht Club is no longer a hype story. It’s a case study. The top sales show what happens when scarcity, culture, timing, and distribution collide at scale. Most apes lost value after the boom.

That was inevitable. But the rarest ones still matter because they carry status, history, and brand weight. For marketers, the lesson is clear: community-first launches, controlled supply, and strong narratives outperform short-term performance tricks.

And as NFTs move into utility-driven use cases, NFT marketplace development becomes the real opportunity—platforms that support creators, brands, and commerce beyond speculation. The next winners won’t sell hype. They’ll build infrastructure.