In short
- CryptoPunks is an Ethereum-based NFT project from 2017, making it one of the earliest examples of crypto collectibles.
- Prices are skyrocketing as the broader NFT market expands in 2021, leading to many sales exceeding $1 million each.
CryptoPunks have been back in the news of late. Seedphrase, a DJ who owns the rarest CryptoPunks NFT out there (CryptoPunk #8348), announced this month that he has signed with talent agency WME for a new record release. And in June, Yuga Labs — which acquired CryptoPunks in May 2022 — announced that it intended to release a book of popular NFTs. So what, exactly, is this strangely named product with pixellated avatars?
The market for crypto collectibles is released as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) exploded in 2021, with $2.5 billion in transaction volume in the first six months as NFTs entered the mainstream.
The boom also saw NFT enthusiasts rediscover some of the earliest non-fungible tokens, pushing the value of these crypto collectibles to hitherto unknown highs.
One of these first NFT projects was CryptoPunks: a set of randomly generated pixel-based avatars. Some of the rarest, most desirable CryptoPunks have sold for millions of dollars. Seriously! By mid-2022, the tokens see over $2 billion in total sales volume.
Here’s what you need to know about one of the most popular NFT collections around.
What are CryptoPunks?
Created by development studio Larva Labs, CryptoPunks is a series of 10,000 images tokenized as NFTs in Ethereum blockchain. An NFT is effectively an act of ownership of a digital object, and in this case, holding a CryptoPunks NFT means you are the sole owner of a unique pixel avatar. . As mentioned above, ownership of CryptoPunks changed hands from Larva to Yuga Labs in May 2022. Yuga is the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT.
Each CryptoPunk is randomly generated from a list of several attributes, which means there are many designs: people, zombies, monkeys, and even aliens. Aliens and zombies are among the most popular avatars commanding some of the highest selling prices to date.
Where did CryptoPunks come from?
Believe it or not, CryptoPunks used to be released free back in 2017. Ethereum’s ERC-721 non-fungible token standard wasn’t even a thing at that point, and the two-man team at Larva Labs released them as an experiment. Ethereum wallet owners seized 9,000 CryptoPunks released to the public, while Larva Labs held the rest.
The amount of NFT gradually increased over the next three years, but it wasn’t until late 2020 and especially early 2021 that demand skyrocketed for this lack of digital collectibles. The secondary market value for CryptoPunks shot through the roof, leading to multi-million-dollar NFT sales, Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions, and many CryptoPunks being used as Twitter profile pictures.
What is special about them?
CryptoPunks has a few owners as well, such as rapper Jay-Z, YouTube personality Logan Paul and tennis champion Serena Williams.
Beyond that, there are clear differences that make some CryptoPunks more desirable and valuable to collectors. The alien avatars are the rarest of the randomized images, and as such, the alien CryptoPunks are among the most expensive NFTs sold so far. Monkey and zombie designs are also in demand.
Most of the CryptoPunks look like people with different parts and accessories, however, and the simpler ones look close to the market floor in terms of asking price in the NFT markets.
The future
What’s next for CryptoPunks? Well, they will likely continue to change hands in the secondary markets, which could provide great returns for investors who bought before the boom.
There’s no way to know if the current level of demand will continue, but the price of entry-level Punks continues to rise. Until July 14, 2023, the average CryptoPunk NFT will go for about 53 ETH (about $2000)
This story was originally published on January 10, 2022 and was updated on July 14, 2023.
