What is CryptoPunks (“cryptopunks”) | CryptoNewsHerald explains

What is CryptoPunks?

CryptoPunks is the first popular collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Consists of 10,000 NFTs issued in 2017 on the Ethereum blockchain.

The excitement around CryptoPunks has become one of the reasons for the growing popularity of the NFT sphere.

Each piece is made in the style of pixel art and represents a portrait of a person, a monkey, a zombie or an alien.

As of early May 2022, one NFT from the collection is worth at least 61 ETH (about $173,000), and the total trading volume of CryptoPunks tokens has reached $1.96 billion.

Who created CryptoPunks?

The author of the collection is Larva Labs, founded by Matthew Hall and John Watkins. Initially, the authors of the NFT project worked on a program for automatically generating avatars. In the summer of 2017, they spontaneously decided to use it to create digital objects on the blockchain.

CryptoPunks was inspired by the aesthetics of the British punk movement of the 70s and works in the cyberpunk genre, such as the film Blade Runner and the novel Neuromancer.

These were not the first NFTs, but they became a cultural phenomenon and gained real popularity. After the launch of the project, the company opened a marketplace for trading tokens on its website and added analytical tools to the collection.

How they created CryptoPunks?

At the time of the creation of the collection, there was not yet the ERC-721 token standard that is popular today for creating digital items. Therefore, the developers modified the ERC-20 standard by issuing non-identical tokens.

Initially, the developers did not plan to store images on the blockchain, since graphic files take up a lot of space. Larva Labs has placed on its website composite imageA containing all avatars.

The authenticity of the NFT can be verified after it has been processed. The received data must match the hash contained in the smart contract of the non-fungible token.

Each portrait has its own serial number, corresponding to its position in the overall “picture”, which has 100 avatars in length and 100 in width. For example, avatar #7610 is the 10th image on the 76th line.

When minting the collection, the developers actually distributed 9,000 out of 10,000 tokens – to issue an NFT, they only had to pay a commission on the Ethereum network, which covered the costs of issuing it.

How are the images different CryptoPunks?

All portraits are divided into several types. The first includes images of people of both sexes. This is the largest group, which has several thousand tokens. Much less portraits of zombies, monkeys and aliens. In total, these three groups include only about a hundred images.

When generating portraits, the developers used dozens of different traits, which made it possible to make the characters unique. Almost each of them has a unique combination of attributes. There are 87 properties and accessories in total: hairstyles, beards, hats, glasses, smoking pipes and other features.

A character can have no more than seven attributes. The maximum number of distinguishing features has only one portrait under number 8348. Most images have two or three properties. Avatars that do not have unique attributes are called Genesis Punks.

The CryptoPunks catalog with detailed information about each image and its attributes, as well as a list of transactions of tokens associated with them, has been published. on the Larva Labs website.

Why is the price of NFT CryptoPunks so high?

The most expensive “cryptopunk” was sold in February 2022: then avatar #5822 purchased for 8000 ETH (more than $23 million at the time of the transaction). Deepak Thaplyal, CEO of Chain, became the owner of NFT.

At the beginning of May 2022, the cheapest token from the CryptoPunks collection is worth over $170,000. There are several main factors that determine the high value of these NFTs.

First, the historical significance: this collection has become a real cultural phenomenon, is at the origins of digital art, and its objects have become “classics”.

Secondly, the possession of CryptoPunks is prestigious: each NFT is a recognized and unique art object, which means that it gives a wealthy person an opportunity to stand out.

In addition, tokens provide some privileges – in particular, invitations to private groups and chats. Also among NFT holders, CryptoPunks airdropped tokens from the Meebits collection, also released by Larva Labs.

The value of CryptoPunks is influenced by recognition from leading auction houses. In May 2021, nine tokens from the collection were sold at Christie’s auction.

The project is also attracting the attention of large investors – in August 2021, one of the avatars was acquired by Visa. CryptoPunks is owned by celebrities such as musician Jay-Z and tennis player Serena Williams.

What determines the price of an individual CryptoPunks NFT?

The value of each avatar is determined by its type and attributes.

The most rare, and therefore expensive – images of aliens. The average price of such an NFT is more than 100 times the price of a male human avatar. Due to the small number, portraits of monkeys and zombies are also highly valued.

The cost of characters also depends on the number of attributes. Avatars with no distinguishing features at all, or with the maximum number of them (six or seven) have the highest value. The price is also affected by the “accessories” of the characters, since among them there are also rare “items”.

Where can you buy “cryptopunks”?

You can trade items from the CryptoPunks collection on the Larva Labs marketplace. Transactions require a Web3 wallet that supports Ethereum, such as MetaMask. It also provides analytical information about each character and all related transactions.

Secondary trading in “wrapped” versions of CryptoPunks of the ERC-721 standard is also lead on the OpenSea platform.

Is it possible to download CryptoPunks portraits?

Any image of CryptoPunks can be downloaded to your device for free, and for this you do not need the “Save as …” option – just use the request through a special smart contract on Etherscan. Users can upload a raw set of pixels or an SVG image from the blockchain. Requests are “browsing features” and do not require payment.

How is CryptoPunks developing?

In August 2021, at the request of collectors who want to increase the security of NFTs, Larva Labs placed images from the CryptoPunks collection on the Ethereum blockchain.

In the spring of 2021, Larva Labs released a new collection of 20,000 NFTs called Meebits. The images were also generated automatically, using the program, and made in the style of pixel art, but this time they were already made up of voxels (volumetric pixels). Meebits tokens are issued on the Ethereum network and have the ERC-721 standard.

In March 2022, the rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits were acquired by Yuga Labs, which created another popular collection of digital items – Bored Ape Yacht Club. As part of the deal, she received 423 cryptopunks.

Art projects based on the legendary collection appear. For example, FlamingoDAO has developed CryptoPunks 3D character models and plans to use them in the metaverse.