Have you heard of “CryptoPunks”? It is one of the early collections of NFTs which got the credit of starting the NFT craze. But, what made CryptoPunks so famous? We know the question is tricky, but we researched it and finally published a post on Why Are CryptoPunks So Famous?
CryptoPunks was launched in June 2017 by Larva Labs. CryptoPunks is a collection of 10,000 unique characters generated by the algorithm. These NFTs were created on the Ethereum blockchain having 24*24 pixel heads. Each CryptoPunk can be owned by a single person on the blockchain as none of them are alike. This unique NFT collection was sold quickly, and its prices are sky-high.
You may be wondering why CryptoPunks are so famous? What is so special about these NFTs, that people are buying them for millions of dollars. Well, let us explore the reasons one by one.
What Are CryptoPunks?
CryptoPunks are digital artworks made algorithmically by two programmers, John Watkinsowillall. These artworks are 24*24 pixels resembling Punk heads. Every CryptoPunk is unique and has its features. CryptoPunks are both men and women, some smoking ciggies, some bearded, wearing PPE, pierced or with mohawks. Some CryptoPunks are rare, resembling non-human entities like zombies and apes. Larva Labs launched 10,000 CryptoPunks among them. Anyone on the Ethereum blockchain could own 9,000. The rest of 1,000 named Dev Punks were kept for themselves. Initially, they remained unsold, but then all were sold in 24 hours when Mashable published the concept and significance.
This digital art was inspired by the ERC-721 standard, by the Landon punk scene. Each CryptoPunk has its own profile page, which shows its attributes, ownership details, and specific numbers.
What Is The Current Status Of CryptoPunks?
| Current lowest Price punk available | 82.9 ETH = $228,561.94 USD |
| Number of sales in last 12 months | 12,154 |
| Total value of all sales | 678.62K = $2 billion USD |
| Value of Sales in 24 hours | 4.08 K = $10.7M |
| Value of Sales in Week | 25.01K = $62.55M |
| Value of Sales in 4 Weeks | 42.92K = $115.87M |
Why Are CryptoPunks So Famous?
As we know anything can go viral nowadays, so were these CryptoPunks. Here are some factors which made CryptoPunks so famous.
1. Celebrity influence
Once celebrities start doing anything, it becomes a craze. Here is a long list of celebrities who purchased CryptoPunks.
- Jay -Z Shawn Carter purchased 1st CryptoPunk #6095 for $120,000.
- Snoop Dog owns 9 CryptoPunks, including 2 Zombie punks valued at over $ 2 million each.
- Odell Beckhram Jr. purchased CryptoPunk #3365 recently.
- Serena Williams was gifted a CryptoPunk #2950.
- Steve Aoki purchase CryptoPunk #6473 for 65 ETH.
- Gary Vee has a big collection of 59 CryptoPunks.
- Zooko Wilcox has one the largest collection of CryptoPunks. He owns 263 punks.
- Sov. eth hold 147 CryptoPunks.
- Soby owns 3 CryptoPunks.
- Eric is also known as Snowfro owns 18 CryptoPunks.
If such a huge number of celebrities own these CryptoPunks, then it is for sure they will be famous and their prices will hike exponentially.
2. Unique Attributes
Out of the total 10,000 CryptoPunks, every CryptoPunk is unique and has different attributes which are listed in their profile. As all of 10,000 CryptoPunks are sold out, if you want to buy one now you have to buy it in resale which makes it expensive. Out of the total of 10,000 CryptoPunks
- Male punks, -6039
- Female Punks – 3840
- Have a headband – 406
- Smoking a cigarette – 961
3. Auctions
There are some auctions in which CryptoPunks were sold in millions, making the CryptoPunks famous. Here are the top three CryptoPunk auctions.
- CryptoPunk 3100 sold for $7.58M
- CryptoPunk 7804 sold for $7.5M
- CryptoPunk 6965 sold for $1.5M
4. Scarcity
This is one of the important factors which made CryptoPunks famous. As only 10,000 CryptoPunks were launched, no more CryptoPunks will be added to the collections. Once all the CryptoPunks were sold out, their value started to rise continuously and even today it is rising. This is because each CryptoPunk is a digital artwork that is just one piece in the whole world, so if you are selling your CryptoPunk NFT in an auction then a lot of people are willing to pay for this unique art piece which increased its price.
5. Gallery Show
CryptoPunks also participated in a gallery show named Perfect and Priceless- Value Systems on the Blockchain at the Kate Vass Galerie. These CryptoPunks were printed using Paper Wallet. You can also buy or sell the physical print. This also helped CryptoPunks to become more famous.
How To Buy CryptoPunk NFT?
There are many ways to buy CryptoPunks. Here are some Marketplaces
- Larvalabs.com
- OpenSea
- Rarible
- SuperRare and many more
Now, we are going to buy CryptoPunk from LarvaLabs. Here are a few points to keep in mind before buying CryptoPunks.
- Punks with blue backgrounds are not for sale. And have no current bids.
- Punks with red backgrounds are available for sale by their owners.
- Punks with purple backgrounds have an active bid on them.
- Currently, 1,288 punks are for sale.
- 572 are available for bids.
- 20,233 were sold out.
Steps To Follow For Buying CryptoPunks On LarvaLabs
- Download MetaMask or any other digital wallet as a chrome plugin. If you want to know more about setting up your want, check out the link here.
- You need some Ethers to do the purchase. If you have a new account, then you can purchase Ether from Coinbase.
- Go to larvalabs.com
- Once you are ready, this website will recognize your plugin and add buttons.
- These buttons will allow you to sell, buy or bid on punks directly.
- You can buy or bid directly from the website and complete the rest of the transactions.
Wrapping Up
We hope you got the idea behind CryptoPunks and what made them so famous. We have also gone through the steps of buying CryptoPunk NFTs. There are other collections as well which are gaining fame. If you want to invest in NFTs, then we would like to suggest you learn more about other famous NFT collections before investing. You can go through Why are Bored Ape NFTs so famous?
We hope you like reading our post. If you want to know more about NFTs, leave a comment below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What Is The Point Of CryptoPunk?
It started as an experimental project. This project started to use the Ethereum blockchain for creating digital artworks with provable ownership.
Q2. Why Are NFTs So Expensive?
NFTs themselves are not expensive. Some factors make it expensive, like ownership history, underlying value, perception of buyer, liquidity premium, and future value.
Q3. Are CryptoPunks A Good Investment?
The value of CryptoPunks is increasing day by day, ranking over $100 million in sales volume. Although it’s a good investment you have to invest in huge amounts. It’s always better to look at other options before investing.
