What is CryptoPunk? Why are they so expensive?

• What is CryptoPunk?
• CryptoPunk . Classification
• Why is CryptoPunk priced so high?
• CryptoPunk - The Oldest NFT Collection
• The scarcity of the CryptoPunk . collection
• The Most Expensive CryptoPunks Ever Sold
• Conclusion and comments on the future of CryptoPunk

In 2021, NFTs created a new wave that attracted many investors to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on collectible NFT works. In early 2022, the demand for unique and scarce NFT works continues to soar. 

Artists, celebrities and creators have been penetrating this fertile "land". They started to come up with plans to launch various NFT projects to meet a large amount of demand from millions of investors.

On the other hand, there are still thousands of NFTs in the market, but CryptoPunk has created an NFT fever with millions of investors throughout 2021 and continues to the present. 

CryptoPunk has become the most popular and expensive NFT collection in the world, selling for tens of millions of dollars per photo. So what are CryptoPunks and why are they so popular and expensive? Let TraderH4 explain those mysteries in this article.

What is CryptoPunk?

CryptoPunk is a pioneer project in the NFT space, this collection is developed on Ethereum. This is the intellectual work released in 2017 by Larva Labs – a New York-based software development company. 

CryptoPunk is also a crypto-asset but completely different from BTC, ETH, BNB… They are non-fungible tokens also known as NFTs. This collection includes 10,000 24×24 pixel digital art images with various characters. 

CryptoPunk . Classification

In 10,000 works, there are 6,039 male characters, 3,840 female characters, 9 aliens, 24 apes and 88 zombies. Of which, 1,000 works will be allocated to the developers of CryptoPunk, the initial 8 works are not much different.

Each NFT will have unique features such as 3D glasses, braids, crooked teeth, lipstick, beanie… and is unique, which means no two CryptoPunk will be exactly the same.

The more distinguishing features CryptoPunk works have, the more valuable they will be. For example, CryptoPunk #8334 has 7 characteristics, so it is an expensive work of art and receives a lot of attention from investors.

With this unique combination, CryptoPunk has become one of the most sought-after NFT collections at the moment.

In fact, CryptoPunk is just a test product developed by Matt Hall and John Watkinson – the two founders of Larva Labs, from the London Punk movement of the 1970s. They have built a software program that has can generate thousands of different pixel images. Although only a product of the experiment, CryptoPunk has become the pioneer project in the world of NFT today.

From day one of its launch, CryptoPunk was released for free and any Ethereum wallet owner could access this collection. Thus, up to 9,000 works have been claimed for free and the remaining 1,000 works will be distributed to developers.

Until 2022, the NFT market begins to receive the attention of many investors. Millions of users started searching and hunting for works that represent their ownership on the blockchain and CryptoPunk was their top choice.

On secondary NFT markets like OpenSea, the value of CryptoPunks is constantly skyrocketing, with some CryptoPunks even costing millions of dollars. Some CryptoPunk are auctioned at leading auction centers around the world such as Christie's, Sotheby's and received the attention of Jay-Z, Gary Vaynerchuk… As of January 2022, the total trading volume of CryptoPunk on OpenSea has reached more than 2.5 billion US dollars.

Why is CryptoPunk priced so high?

CryptoPunk – The Oldest NFT Collection

CryptoPunk was born in 2017, after nearly 5 years, this collection has become one of the oldest NFT projects. They are considered by critics to be on par with a famous painting called “Femme nue couchée au collier” by Picasso in 1932 that was acquired by Justin Sun and codified into NFT. 

Therefore, CryptoPunk is always sought after by investors simply because these are digital art (NFT) works with the longest history and still exist until now.

The scarcity of the CryptoPunk . collection

Much of the value of NFTs depends on how scarce they are and the need for ownership by users. The value of CryptoPunk is constantly increasing in part because the supply of this collection is limited to 10,000 works. 

CryptoPunk works with many unique and rare features will be more expensive than normal CryptoPunks. For example, the alien CryptoPunk has only 9 works, so this is a super rare type, so it has a very high price.

Besides, the value of CryptoPunk was pushed to millions of US dollars partly thanks to the network effect from famous KOLs and artists like Jay-Z, Serana Williams… They used CryptoPunk as their avatar. on social networking platforms and make a lot of impressions for the crypto investor community.

The Most Expensive CryptoPunks Ever Sold

CryptoPunk #5822 priced at 8,000 ETH, equivalent to US$23.7 million, was sold on February 13, 2022. This is the highest value CryptoPunk ever.

CryptoPunk #7523 is 1 of 9 super rare aliens of this collection. This work was bought by Shalom Meckenzie for US$11.75 million at Sotheby's in London.

CryptoPunk #4156 is 1 of 24 apes in this collection. This work was acquired by an anonymous investor for US$10.26 million in December 2021.

Conclusion and comments on the future of CryptoPunk

Overall, CryptoPunk has had a solid position in the hearts of NFT investors with nearly 5 years since its launch in the Crypto market. Their value has gone from zero to several million US dollars. At the same time, this collection also leads in the current NFT trend.

Although, we don't know how investors' need to own CryptoPunk and NFT will change in the future. But even if demand changes, CryptoPunk will always remain an integral part of the NFT space. 

Besides, Larva Labs is working hard to discover new applications to improve the utility of CryptoPunk instead of just collecting. They revealed that they have placed all of the CryptoPunk attributes and images on the Ethereum blockchain , helping the collection to stand the test of time.

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