Explained: What are CryptoPunks and everything you need to know?

What are CryptoPunks? Crypto Punks are considered to be the first ever digital collectible and NFT that was created on the Ethereum blockchain network. The introduction of CryptoPunks fuelled the development of the ERC-721 tokens that run on the Ethereum blockchain. CryptoPunks are made up of 10,000 unique characters and features focusing on the 8-bit-style punks.

Who developed Cryptopunks?

CryptoPunks was launched by Larva Labs in the year 2017, from New York by Canadian software developers, namely Matt Hall and John Watkinson. Among the 10,000 digitally pixelated characters, 6,039 are male and 3,840 are female. The rest of the “punks” can be classified as either aliens or zombies that are not exactly dead or even apes. CryptoPunks has ensured that every one of these images remain unique, even though they might look similar to one another. They are sized at 24×24 pixels. Every Punk is created algorithmically, which means that a computer code determines the features and accessories of the character randomly, known as “attributes.”

Categorization of Punks

After its initial launch, 9000 of the CryptoPunks were given away, free of cost. The punks were gone in merely a few minutes, so at the moment, to own a crypto punk, it must be bought off the marketplace.

The remaining 1000 punks were with developers. CryptoPunks 1-1000 are thus called “Dev Punks” and generate a premium on the marketplace, whenever they are available.

What are the types of Cryptopunks?

Besides, the distinction between Dev Punks and the remaining 9000 crypto punks, there can be categorized into five different types of CryptoPunk:

Male (6039 available)
Female (3840 available)
Zombie (88 available)
Ape (24 available)
Alien (9 available)

Attributes of Cryptopunks

All the crypto punks can be distinctly identified, due to their different attributes. Attributes serve a major role in making these digital collectibles unique and special. A large number of permutations and combinations of these different attribute types aids in the creation of an unique digital item.

Note that punks can possess 0 or numerous attributes, at the same time. The list of punks below consist of 0 or multiple (the maximum is seven) attributes. Attributes can also be specific to gender. Beanies, for instance have been made exclusive to male CryptoPunks, whereas specific hairstyles such as the red mohawk are only found on female types.

How to buy Crypto Punks?

The user is required to hold an account on any preferred cryptocurrency exchange, then they should purchase ETH and transfer it to an Ethereum compatible wallet (such as MetaMask).
After transferring the sufficient amount of ETH funds to their MetaMask wallet, go to Larva Labs and link their MetaMask wallet to Crypto Punks.

After linking the wallet, the user can pick a punk and purchase it. Besides the ETH needed for the purchase, additional ETH will be required for trading a punk due to the gas fees levied on the transaction.

For buying a crypto, an user can choose from two methods:

They can either purchase the NFT, if they are willing to pay the quote set by the owner with a fixed price or they can choose to bid on it.

If you wish to place a bid, you can tap on the “Bid” button and enter the amount.

You can buy a Cryptopunk from Opensea or Larvalavs.com

How are CryptoPunks valued?

There are several factors involved in determining a NFT’s value or price. But, the major factors implemented for valuing crypto punks are:

Supply and Demand: As the supply of Crypto Punks are limited to 10,000, the demand is high. The value must be priced accordingly, as the value may constantly increase.
Type of NFT: There are multiple NFT types as in-game items, real-world tokenized items such as documents, virtual real estate, and virtual collectibles. As Crypto Punks are collectibles, they are easily one of the most popular ERC-721 tokens to exist at the moment, they have a prominent value.
Rarity: The rarity is dependent on the type such as an alien punk.
Value Estimators: Usage of online NFT value estimators are a great option.
Whale Owners: Whale Owners can disrupt a stable market easily, thus beware.

Cryptopunks Price history

We can clearly notice that the most common type of CryptoPunk is Male, and Alien is the rarest. This is reflected in the prices as well. Rarer the crypto punk, higher the price.

The Male Crypto Punk with an eye-patch, ranked #7984 was last sold for 49.99 ETH (equivalent to about $123,073 USD) and an Alien punk ranked #3100 was sold on March 21, 2021 for a humongous 4,200 ETH (worth $7.58 million USD).

The second highest sale was executed on the very same day for obtaining Punk #7804, which was sold for $7.57 million USD. The third highest sale of a CryptoPunk NFT took place on April 27, 2021 valued at an incredible $1.76 million USD for the acquisition of Punk #3011.

Visa has recently purchased a Punk #7610 for 150000 USD.

Conclusion

Crypto Punks are highly valued currently, due to their scarcity and being the first NFT collection. They serve as a symbol of status, ownership and pride. The rise of the NFT era has booted the worth of Crypto Punks as well. The hype around crypto punks might die down or may only rise, but it has definitely created a place in the history as a significant NFT to ever exist in the crypto space. The future of NFTs and Cryptopunks is going to be interesting.

Cryptopunks floor is now 400000 USD. Get yourself one, if you are interested.

Text source: Crypto Bulls Club

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