The Merge NFT is a unique dynamic NFT collection created by a digital artist named Murat Pak and featured on leading NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway in December 2021.
The collection that commemorates Ethereum’s transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism netted more than $91.8 million during the short 48-hour sales period. This makes The Merge not only the most expensive NFT collection ever sold, but also the most expensive work of art sold at public sale by a living artist.
The artwork associated with The Merge NFT will appear on Nifty Gateway. Image source: niftygateway.com
What is The Merge NFT and how does it work?
The Merge is a unique and dynamic Ethereum-based non-fungible token (NFT) collection that made headlines and broke sales records in December 2021. After the sale was completed, Nifty Gateway minted all 312,686 purchased tokens, also known as “mass” units.
We start hitting mass tonight. Anyone who bought in bulk should see their NFT within a few hours. We’ll also temporarily stop moving mass out of your accounts to make the secondary market fair for everyone ⚫️ @muratpak pic.twitter.com/bkdXu4uFFU
– Convenient gateway? (@niftygateway) December 7, 2021
The artwork of The Merge NFTs is very simple, as each token is represented by a simple white or yellow circle on a black background. The images are generated entirely on-chain based on the formulas included in the smart contracts and are not hosted off-chain as is the case with many other NFT collections.
What sets The Merge apart from all other NFT collections is the concept behind the collection, which uses a unique mechanism that ensures the collection changes and evolves over time. The collection’s smart contract prevents one address from containing multiple NFTs from the merge collections. Once two NFTs from the collection are held in the same wallet, the masses of the two tokens will be merged. The result is one newly minted NFT with the combined mass of both pre-existing NFTs, represented by a larger circle on a black background.
The number of Merge NFTs in circulation decreases as they are transferred between wallets (more precisely, purchased by someone who already has an NFT from the collection in the wallet), and their average mass increases. However, the total mass remains constant.
An illustrative work of art showing the merging of two mass tokens on the left and an equation explaining how the merging principle works on the right. Image source: niftygateway.com
What is the Ethereum Merger?
As previously mentioned, the Merge NFT Collection commemorates the Ethereum Merge, a historic event in Ethereum history that completed the network’s transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
The transition process began with the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, also known as the Serenity upgrade, on December 1, 2021, when the proof-of-stake Beacon Chain (the chain that currently serves as the central coordination layer for the entire Ethereum 2.0 network ) was activated. While deposits using ETH 2.0 were enabled shortly afterwards, the PoS and PoW networks continued to operate simultaneously until September 15, 2022, when the transition concluded with the Merge event. Since then, the Ethereum network has been secured solely by staking.
The move to proof-of-stake allowed Ethereum to address its scalability issues, which often caused extraordinary spikes in gas prices while the network still relied on PoW. Furthermore, the network had become more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable, as energy consumption was reduced by more than 99% when the PoW chain was outdated.
How much did The Merge NFT sell for in December 2021?
The Merge NFTs were sold from December 2 to December 4, 2021 in an open edition style (the opposite of a limited edition sale). The starting price for the public sale of The Merge tokens was set at $575 per unit, with the price increasing by $25 every 6 hours, so those who bought the tokens in the last few hours of the sale had to cash out $750 per token. The number of tokens each participant could acquire was unlimited.
The Merge NFT sale saw the participation of 29,983 unique address owners, who purchased a total of 312,686 tokens. The Merge NFT sale ultimately raised an exceptional amount of $91.8 million. This crowns The Merge NFT as the most expensive work of art ever publicly sold by a living artist.
Yet this record is a bit controversial, because it is only valid if we consider the entire collection as one work of art. While many argue that The Merge is actually a collection of works of art, one day if all NFTs are merged into one wallet, it could become one NFT and therefore one unique work of art.
How much is The Merge NFT worth now?
Since the initial sale, the price of The Merge NFTs has dropped significantly. At the time of writing, one mass unit has a floor price of $125, which is approximately 0.0428 ETH. Using this floor price brings the total market cap of the NFTs in circulation to just under 803 ETH (worth approximately $2.3 million).
Still, quite a few tokens are being sold above the floor price, meaning the total value of the entire collection will likely be higher in the end. In addition, the price of an NFT from The Merge collection also depends on the mass. There are currently 8,210 unique addresses containing The Merge NFT, meaning there are only a limited number of distinctive NFTs in circulation and many of them have masses greater than 1.
Top 4 The highest mass aggregated NFTs currently selling on the Nifty Gateway NFT marketplace and their respectful asking prices. Image source: niftygateway.com
The Merger: Regenesis NFTs by ConsenSys
Pak’s Merge collection isn’t the only NFT collection paying tribute to the Ethereum merger. Ethereum development studio ConsenSys has released a collection called The Merge: Regenesis, which is also designed to celebrate Ethereum’s transition to Proof-of-Stake.
The collection was available for production over a 72-hour period and includes three types of artwork, each commemorating one aspect of Ethereum’s move to PoS: scalability, security and sustainability.
Due to the sheer volume of minted NFTs, this collection has a very low reserve price of only about 0.0007 ETH ($2.05 at the time of writing).
The bottom line: The Merge is the most expensive NFT collection ever sold
While the Merge NFT Collection is not as valuable as it used to be when it was first dropped on the Nifty Gateway marketplace, the sale of this uniquely dynamic NFT collection still represents a record-breaking event in the history of digital art and art in in general. . The Merge NFT collection sold for $91.8 million, surpassing Jeff Koons’ sculpture titled “Rabbit,” which sold by a hair’s breadth for $91.1 million and became perhaps the most expensive work of art publicly released by a living artist was sold.
Furthermore, The Merge NFT tops the list of the most expensive NFT collections. Still, The Merge tokens haven’t yet made it onto the list of the most expensive single NFTs ever sold. For example, interesting and unique NFTs from collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club tend to rise much higher when it comes to the price of a single non-fungible token.
We’ll end this article with a harsh look back at reality, as those of us without millions of dollars worth of ETH holdings in our digital wallets would likely find an article on finding and participating in free NFT drops much more useful.