As you know, NFTs are all the rage these days. Although anything can be sold as an NFT, it may be a physical or a digital asset, digital art is currently dominating this realm. There have been countless NFT collections that have been sold on Ethereum and other blockchains. However, the CryptoPunk NFT collection is one of the original collections that sparked this revolution in digital art. Let us see today what CryptoPunks are and how they have changed the crypto landscape.
As mentioned, CryptoPunk NFT is a collection of Non-Fungible Tokens embedded on Ethereum blockchain. This collection contains 10,000 unique digital collectibles called Punks. Interestingly, each punk is a 24×24 pixel art image created using an algorithm by Larva Labs. Hence, you can say that Larva Labs is behind one of the most influential NFT collections to date.
The collection contains five main types of CryptoPunks: Male, Female, Zombie, Ape, and Alien. The latter three are rarer than the former two, and as you might have guessed, rarity affects the prices of these Non-Fungible Tokens. Apart from these five classes, the collection is further divided into various attributes including, Beanie, Choker, Pigtails, etc.
As discussed, the CryptoPunk NFT collection contains 10,000 unique tokens. It means no two characters are exactly alike. Originally, Larva Labs distributed all the characters for free. However, the users who claimed these NFTs back then are now offering them for sale. The only way to get a Punk now is by buying from the current owners.
You can check the Larva Labs website to see if an owner is offering their punks for sale.
We will further get into the details of how to buy one of these punks, so keep reading.
Unlike Bitcoin, which is only used for storing and transacting Bitcoin cryptocurrency, Ethereum is more robust. Ethereum blockchain has contracts and smart contracts (also known as deeds) that allow transparency on the blockchain. When you perform a transaction, meaning if you buy or sell a CryptoPunk, a code is executed on the blockchain. Larva Labs created and embedded this code on Ethereum, but they no longer have any control over its execution. That is why nobody can alter Non-Fungible Tokens.
You can skip this paragraph if you are not one for technical details. But read along if you want to know how technology keeps your money safe. When a transaction occurs, it is tracked using a simple or a smart contract. This transaction follows some protocols, including ERC-721. These protocols and contracts make sure that you know nobody can steal your money or your punks.
When you buy a Punk, a code is executed on Ethereum. That is why, in addition to the price of NFT, you also have to pay gas fees as the execution requires computer resources. Mostly, these transactions require cryptocurrency, such as Ether (Eth).
Technically, CryptoPunk #9998 sold for $532 million. This number is jaw-dropping, even by the standard of the crypto market. However, one caveat is that the buyer was also the seller. So, there are some reservations regarding this sale.
Officially, at the time of writing, CryptoPunk #4156, sold for $10.2 Million, is currently the most expensive CryptoPunk NFT sale ever. Also, you should know that this is not a rare case. Many of the rare assets in this selection go for millions. For instance, #3100 was priced at $7.58 million.
According to Larva Labs, the lowest price of a CryptoPunk is 63.99 Eth (USD 245,606.41). And they also mention the total sales value of this collection, which is $1.79 Billion (USD).
The first step to buying this pixel art NFT is to create a digital wallet. You can choose from many wallets, but MetaMask is a common choice. You can download a plugin in your browser to use this wallet. Then, you can buy Ether (Eth) from Coinbase directly from your wallet.
The next step is to connect your wallet with the website of Larva Labs. Although they maintain this market of punks, they do not charge any extra fees for the transaction. Then, you can easily check if a current owner is offering the CryptoPunks for sale. There will be buttons inside the plugin to buy or sell your CryptoPunk NFT.
Sometimes the seller can either offer the token for a fixed amount or sell via an auction. Just like a traditional auction, the highest bid gets the token.
If you have any confusion regarding the creation of wallets or buying crypto, you can check our other guides. We have covered these topics in detail to make the process easy for you.
As you are aware, the CryptoPunk NFT and other NFT markets are the best investment these days. For this reason, we have started this blog to educate you on how to do a safe investment in this realm. The collection we discussed today is based on the Ethereum blockchain. We will be discussing a few more prominent collections in the coming days. For instance, the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection is also quite a popular one in the news. Stay tuned if you want to learn more about the Bored Ape collection.
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