What Are CryptoPunks?

What Is a CryptoPunk?

Created as an experimental proto-NFT project by a secretive duo in 2017, CryptoPunks is a digital art collection that was inspired by the cyberpunk movement and electronic music group Daft Punk. The project has transformed into a landmark non-fungible token (NFT) release. It has also gone on to become a watershed proof of concept of how NFT tech can function in the open market — illustrating the incredible demand for crypto art and digital collectibles throughout the world.

CryptoPunks were created to run on the Ethereum blockchain, because it provided a verifiable, public record of ownership with every NFT asset. You can prove you own a CryptoPunk, for example, by looking at the hash in a CryptoPunks smart contract. A hash function is a one-way function that’s easy to calculate in one direction using input data — but nearly impossible to reverse engineer to calculate the input data. This hash effectively acts like a unique digital key that helps confirm you are the rightful owner. You could also think of it as an essentially unforgeable digital title or proof of ownership. If you have the hash, you have the CryptoPunk — no further questions needed.

While widely considered NFTs, CryptoPunks technically predate Ethereum’s ERC-721 NFT token standard, which is used for many other popular NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club. You can think of an NFT as a unique digital collectible, and NFT ownership can be verified using the blockchain. This allows you to buy, sell, and trade digital NFTs in the same way you can trade physical collectibles.

Encountering a CryptoPunk for the first time may remind you of early Nintendo, or even Atari  video games. A throwback to a bygone era of emergent tech and culture, CryptoPunks are 24-by-24 pixel images that show mostly people dressed in a punk aesthetic. However, rarer variations include non-human Ape, Zombie, and Alien CryptoPunks.

How Many CryptoPunks Are There?

There are a total of 10,000 CryptoPunks. These CryptoPunk NFTs were algorithmically generated, meaning that they were created by a computer program in lieu of a human creator or artist. They were all created at the same moment in 2017 when the project began. The project in its entirety was launched for the sum of USD 8 in Ethereum gas fees. Believe it or not, many CryptoPunks were even given out for free. 9,000 CryptoPunks were distributed to enthusiasts via the Ethereum blockchain. The remaining 1,000 were kept by the team behind CryptoPunks.

One reason CryptoPunks have become so popular is that they were one of the very first NFT-type projects to reach the mainstream. Well-known rappers, musicians, and professional athletes have purchased CryptoPunks. It quickly became a status symbol to post your CryptoPunk NFT as your Twitter account avatar, leading to the trend of PFP (profile picture) NFTs reaching mainstream adoption with official Twitter integration of NFTs in 2022.

How To Buy CryptoPunks and NFTs

To start, you generally cannot purchase a CryptoPunk with USD — you usually need crypto. However, you normally can’t buy them with just any cryptocurrency, or even bitcoin (BTC). The simplest way is to use ether (ETH), which is Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency. The steps to purchase a CryptoPunk are as follows:

You need to download MetaMask, a popular Ethereum-focused crypto wallet.

1. Send ETH to your crypto wallet. If you don’t have any ETH, you can purchase some on a crypto exchange.

2. Once you have ETH in your MetaMask wallet, you can bid, buy, and sell CryptoPunks using the CryptoPunks marketplace.

CryptoPunks are also offered by owners on other NFT marketplaces, and a number have even been sold at Sotheby’s, a globally renowned fine art auction house. As you can imagine, the era of free CryptoPunks is long gone. On February 15, 2022, the lowest priced Punk available was on the market for 70.95 ETH — or approximately USD 221,000 at the time. CryptoPunks can sell for millions — or tens of millions — of U.S. dollars. In the project’s first five years, the total value of all sales was 693,500 ETH, which in late February 2022 equated to over USD 2 billion.

Why Are CryptoPunks So Expensive?

Since CryptoPunks was one of the earliest NFT collections to prove the concept of NFTs and capture the media zeitgeist, some within the crypto community understand CryptoPunks to be historical artifacts that combine digital art and blockchain technology.

While there remains extreme demand for CryptoPunks, there will never be another minted. As seen with rare sneakers or baseball cards, scarcity can sometimes contribute to driving up market value. Given the high prices they have demonstrated, traditional auction houses have started to participate in NFT auctions for popular NFTs such as CryptoPunks. Sotheby’s auctioned off a collection of five CryptoPunks in June 2021. As of February 2022, these are the most expensive CryptoPunks ever purchased:

1. CryptoPunk #5882: Purchased for 8,000 ETH on February 12, 2022, this CryptoPunk was bought for the equivalent of USD 23.7 million. It is one of only nine Alien CryptoPunks.

2. CryptoPunk #4156: Purchased for 2,500 ETH on December 9, 2021, this equated to a value of USD 10.26 million at the time of sale. This CryptoPunk is one of only 24 CryptoPunk Apes.

3. CryptoPunk #5577: On February 9, 2022, this CryptoPunk Ape also sold for 2,500 ETH, which equated to a USD 7.7 million purchase price.

The Most Expensive CryptoPunks Have Rare “Attributes”

While all CryptoPunks sell for large sums of ETH, the ones with more rare Attributes can be even more valuable. These Attributes are also called Traits and refer to accessories and physical features of CryptoPunks. There are a total of 87 Attributes, with each CryptoPunk having 0–7 attributes; examples of these Attributes include: blue eye shadow, mustache, red mohawk, cowboy hat, welding goggles, pigtails, and rosy cheeks.

While anyone can theoretically screenshot a CryptoPunk — or even create a replica using a 24-by-24 grid — it’s the original version that tends to hold all the value. In much the same way that you could create a digital (or physical) copy of the Mona Lisa, art collectors are primarily interested in owning the original — not an imitation or copy. While you could create a physical printout of a CryptoPunk, CryptoPunk collectors tend to assign value to the uniqueness of individual CryptoPunk NFTs and how they merge digital cypherpunk art and blockchain technology.