CryptoPunks is a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain. It consists of nearly 10,000 8-bit punk digital art. Each picture is unique. There are 3840 female and 6039 male characters in the collection. CryptoPunks, created by development studio Larva Labs, is a series of 10000 images tokenized as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. An NFT is effectively ownership of a digital item, in which case having a CryptoPunks NFT means that you are the sole owner of the unique pixelated avatar.
Types of "Cryptopunks"
Each CryptoPunk is randomly generated from a list of dozens of attributes, which means there are many designs: humans, zombies, monkeys, and even aliens. Aliens and zombies are some of the most popular avatars, with some of the highest prices to date. All the characters in the collection are divided into five categories: women, men, zombies, monkeys, aliens.
The value of CryptoPunks in the secondary market has skyrocketed, leading to multi-million dollars NFT sales, Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions, and multiple CryptoPunks being used as Twitter profile pictures.
The CryptoPunks project was one of the first NFT collections to reach popularity. Its success has inspired many digital artists to create their own. The creator of Cryptopunks was the New York company Larva Labs, which was founded by developers Matthew Hall and John Watkins. They started working on the project in 2017. To obtain unique images, the developers have created special software.
At the core of CryptoPunks is the idea of combining art with the power of non-fungible tokens. At the first stage, the developers gave away Cryptopunks for free. To receive NFT, it was enough for the user to pay a fee for its transfer in the Ethereum network.
Most Expensive CryptoPunks
Digital art from the CryptoPunks collection turned out to be one of the most expensive on the market. The jump from giving away to selling NFTs for big money came amid the growing popularity of non-fungible tokens. Here are a few "Cryptopunks" that sold at high prices:
- #7523. In June 2021, the buyer paid $11.8 million for the token.
- #3100. In March 2021, NFTs were sold for 4,200 ETH (about $7.58 million at the time of the deal).
- #7804. NFTs were sold in March 2021 for 4,200 ETH (about $7.57 million at the time of the deal).
- #6965. The token was sold in February 2021 for 800 ETH (about $1.54 million at the time of the deal).
- #2890. NFT was bought in January 2021 for 605 ETH (about $762k at the time of purchase).
As of the end of October 2021, the total sales of Cryptopunks exceeded $1.5 billion. The market capitalization of the project reached $4.26 billion, and the average price of CryptoPunks stopped at $81000. Among the buyers of CryptoPunks there are large companies. For example, in August 2021, Visa bought CryptoPunk #7610 for $150000. Representatives of the company explained their decision to acquire NFT with a desire to understand how the technology of non-fungible tokens works.
Celebrities are also showing interest in Cryptopunks. For example, rapper Snoop Dogg has tokens from the collection. He buys up NFTs under the name Cozomo de' Medici. The artist's collection contains about 10 tokens from the collection.
Where to buy CryptoPunks
You can buy tokens on the secondary market. They are sold by many large trading platforms, including the auction house Christie's and the OpenSea NFT marketplace. In some cases, sellers offer CryptoPunks mini-collections for sale, which consist of several tokens. You can also purchase "Cryptopunks" on the official website of the project.
In most cases, you will need Etherum coins in order to buy NFTs. You can profitably purchase cryptocurrency, for example, on the anonymous crypto exchange StormGain. The platform offers all beginners 25 USDT to replenish the deposit. The presence of a bonus program makes StormGain one of the most attractive platforms for buying cryptocurrencies.
Despite the fact that the Larva Labs project has already achieved popularity, the developers do not plan to stop there. In September 2021, the company partnered with Hollywood talent agency United Talent Agency (UTA) to promote Cryptopunks through movies, video games and other content.
