Crypto Academy

CryptoPunks – Why Are CryptoPunks So Expensive?

The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) space has been around for years. Since 2014, digital creators have been trying to create a bridge between art and blockchain technology. What is thought to be the first-ever NFT was minted in 2014 by digital creator Anil Dash. “Quantum” was not called an NFT when it was first minted because such a term did not exist until a few years later. Because of that, people tend to often doubt whether “Quantum” is the first-ever NFT.

In 2021, the NFT space got the cryptocurrency market by storm. The most-traded collection for 2021 was CryptoPunks – an NFT collection launched by LarvaLabs. This collection got so famous that people such as Jay Z, Gary Vee, Snoop Dogg, Logan Paul, and FaZe Banks bought at least one of them. But why all the hype around this collection? What is special about them?

One of the main reasons that CryptoPunks are so famous is that they are considered the OG collection in the NFT space. The CryptoPunks collection was the first-ever NFT collection of its kind as it was minted in 2017. They introduced the market with collections of 10,000 unique NFTs. That being said, each CryptoPunk is unique. This makes them 1/1 editions, making them extremely scarce.

Today, owning a CryptoPunk gives you status. People use CryptoPunks to represent themselves online. It gives you a unique online identity that you and only you can have. Or as Gary Vee best put it, “the value of NFTs is in the human desire for self-expression”. So, since CryptoPunks are the OG NFTs, people are willing to pay millions for one of them.

Most Expensive CryptoPunk

At the time of writing, nobody can purchase a CryptoPunk. This is because people are literally HODLing onto their CryptoPunks. Although they can sell them for millions of dollars, none of them is willing to give up their “online identity”. 

Until today, the CryptoPunks collection has accumulated more than Ξ765,700 in traded volume. When converted to $$$, that is more than $3 billion with the current price of Ethereum being $4,080. This makes it the most traded NFT collection in history. 

As mentioned before, CryptoPunks are known for being sold for millions. The floor price of CryptoPunks is Ξ55 (~$220,000), while the highest last sale of a CryptoPunk is Ξ4,200 (~$16 million). Recently, CryptoPunk #9998 sold for Ξ124,457 (~$496 million). However, though, this trade was an internal trade, meaning that the owner simply sold this CryptoPunk to himself. Therefore, this sale is not considered the highest sale in the collection.

CryptoPunks - Why Are CryptoPunks So Expensive?
CryptoPunk #7804 & CryptoPunk #3100 That Sold For Ξ4,200.

Takeaways

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