A few years back, when CryptoPunks first launched their project, no one knew what an extraordinary project it would become one day. Now, these are one of the biggest sensations within the NFT community. It’s important to state that these were the very first non-fungible tokens on the market. And now, they are sold for millions of dollars!
The most shocking news of all time is that a traditional auction house will feature a sample of this groundbreaking work. So, it’s slowly moving into real-life art industries as well. Here, Larva Labs will feature a batch of only 9 punks for auctioning. It’s definitely going to be one of the historical sales of all time.
The demand for non-fungible tokens in 2021 is all time high. But if you are new to the craze around NFTs, understanding their value might be difficult for you. Most people outside this community don’t even understand the concept behind these punks. Therefore, this guide will cover everything you need to know about CryptoPunks.
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What Are CryptoPunks?
Let’s start with explaining what CryptoPunks really are. Basically, these are 24×24 pixel images, which are considered art. Also, these are mostly punky-looking males and females with rare types mixed within. Some of the are types are Apes, Aliens and Zombies. In reality, the most interesting fact is that every single punk is unique, and that’s why these are so valuable in the NFT marketplace. It’s a new form of asset tokenization.
More so, you can check every single punk from their official website to see what characteristics or traits they have and how much their value is at the moment. Another unique trait about these CryptoPunks is there are only 10,000 in total. The developers won’t make any more or do not have any control over the circulation of these punks.
Only a single person owns a single punk on the Ethereum network. Before they become famous, the company gave away the punks for free. So, anyone with an Ethereum wallet could get the punk for themselves.
To buy CryptoPunks, now you’ll have to check their marketplace and other third-party NFT marketplaces when someone lists their punk for bidding.
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History Behind CryptoPunks
CryptoPunks was originally released back in 2017, and it was the first non-fungible token (NFT). More so, the platform actually uses Ethereum blockchain to fuel the creation and infrastructures of the CryptoPunks. John Watkinson and Matt Hall from Larva Labs are behind the development of this project. Frankly, this project started out as an experiment rather than anything serious in mind. However, over time, this project bloomed into something else entirely.
The full project came from an inspiration of London punk scenes, the novel Neuromancer, the cyberpunk movement, Daft Punk, and the movie Blade Runner. So, as you can see, it was a fun project which was meant to entertain people. In reality, the punks are close to the ERC-20 token, but they are inspired by the ERC-721 standard as among other ERC standards, this one is suited for NFT.
Want to learn the difference between ERC20 and ERC721? Read here for ERC20 Vs. ERC721 – Key Differences
What Is Dev Punk?
Well, when the company gave away the 10,000 punks, the blockchain developers of the company claimed the first 1000 punks. So, the other 9000 punks were claimed by random people. From time to time, the developers can buy or sell specific CryptoPunks. So, every single punk between 1-1000 is a Dev Punk.
At the moment, these CryptoPunks NFT are considered premium and can have high pricing. However, you can buy them. Now let’s see how many types are there in this CryptoPunks explained guide.
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Different Types of CryptoPunks NFT
Primarily there are 5 different types of CryptoPunks NFT. These are – male, female, ape, zombie and alien. All of these types of punks may have various attributes or accessories on them. However, despite the accessories, these punks can hold value based on the type they are. For example, there are 6039 male punks. So, these are not rare items compares to other types of punks.
On the other hand, there are only 9 alien punks, which makes them really rare. More so, punk number 3100 is an alien, and it was sold at a price of $10.67M! Other alien punks also have a very high-value point.
Anyhow, there are only 24 ape punks and 88 zombie punks. More so, there are 3840 female punks. So, a female CryptoPunks NFT with a rare accessory can also increase its value.
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CryptoPunks Attributes
There are specific attributes of every CryptoPunk. These CryptoPunks attributes are also responsible for making a CryptoPunk rare and increase the value depending on that. For example, only 44 punks have a beanie out of 10,000 punks. So, a punk with a beanie will obviously have more value compared to other attributes.
Some of the rarest attributes can determine the value of the CryptoPunks NFT. For example, the CryptoPunk 2964 is a male punk, which is not a rare gender. However, the fact that it only had a beanie, it was sold at a price of $660,121.
Check out some of the rare CryptoPunks attributes below –
| Attributes | Number of Punks with The Attribute |
|---|---|
| Beanie | 44 |
| Orange Side | 68 |
| Pilot Helmet | 54 |
| Welding Goggles | 86 |
| Pink With Hat | 95 |
| Choker | 48 |
| Pigtails | 94 |
| Tiara | 55 |
| Buck Teeth | 78 |
Other CryptoPunks attributes include the following –
Cigarette, Hot Lipstick, Purple Lipstick, Mole, Black Lipstick, Nerd Glasses, Big Shades, Horned Rim Glasses, Regular Shades, Shadow Beard, Classic Shades, Bandana, Stringy Hair, Eye Patch, Messy Hair, Wild Hair, Frumpy Hair, Mohawk Thin, Mohawk, Mohawk Dark, Knitted Cap, Crazy Hair, Headband, Clown Eyes Blue, Clown Eyes Green, Small Shades, Cap, VR, Pipe, Peak Spike, Muttonchops, Shaved Head, Do-rag, Goat, Eye Mask, Normal Beard, Normal Beard Black, Mustache, Luxurious Beard, 3D Glasses, Chinstrap, Front Beard, Vape, Green Eye Shadow, Blue Eye Shadow, Handlebars, Purple Eye Shadow, Frown, Front Beard Dark, Hoodie, Cap Forward, Smile, Clown Nose, Police Cap, Fedora, Tassle Hat, Medical Mask, Gold Chain, Purple Hair, Dark Hair, Silver Chain, Straight Hair, Straight Hair Dark, Clown Hair Green, Vampire Hair, Blonde Bob, Half Shaved, Red Mohawk, Big Beard, Straight Hair Blonde, Wild Blonde, Cowboy Hat, Wild White Hair, Blonde Short, Rosy Cheeks, Spots, and Top Hat.
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Attribute Counts
The number of attributes of the CryptoPunks is also responsible for determining the value of a specific Punk. As every punk is different, the number of attributes in a specific type of punk is also different. In reality, a punk can have up to 7 attributes max. More so, a punk can even not have any attributes at all, and this character will also make it more valuable.
For example, there is only one punk with 7 attributes, and that is punk number 8348. So, it’s one of the rarest punks among all of the CryptoPunks.
Also, there are only 8 punks with no attribute at all. For example, punk number 6487 is a female punk with no attributes. More so, it was sold at a price of $1.05M! So, as you can see, the number of attributes is equally responsible for determining the value of the CryptoPunks. Check out the number of attribute counts below –
| Number of Attributes | Number of Punks |
|---|---|
| No Attribute | 8 |
| 1 | 333 |
| 2 | 3560 |
| 3 | 4501 |
| 4 | 1420 |
| 5 | 166 |
| 6 | 11 |
| 7 | 1 |
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Gender-Specific Traits
Some traits are specifically for certain punks. For example, a beanie or hoodie is for male punks only. More so, the red mohawk or Orange side is for female punks only. In reality, there are shared attributes among the genders, but some may look different in males and females. Now let’s see the trading process in this CryptoPunks explained guide.
Trading CryptoPunks
You can trade CryptoPunks in two places at the moment. These are – Larva Labs and OpenSea. However, to ensure that you can buy and sell these punks in OpenSea, you first have to wrap the punks. It’s because OpenSea only works with ERC-721 tokens so, it can’t process the ERC-20 token. Therefore, by wrapping them, you can trade on OpenSea. You may also find wrapped punks in other NFT marketplaces, but they are not maintained well, and you may end up buying a fake punk.
What Is Wrapping?
The wrapping process is slightly complicated to understand. They offer specific contracts and wallet support to help you wrap your punks. First of all, you have to send your punk to wrapped contract. Here, it will stay in escrow. For doing this, you will get an ERC 721 token, which will specify your CryptoPunk.
You can use this token to sell or trade your punk. More so, you can unwrap the token anytime you want, and when you do that, you will get your punk back that was in escrow. This is actually a good method as it offers various decentralized finance applications to use these punks as a form of liquidity or token. Now let’s check out how to buy these punks in this CryptoPunks explained guide.
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How to Buy a CryptoPunk?
The process of buying CryptoPunks is quite easy. It only includes a few steps if you know how blockchain works. Follow the step-by-step methods from below to understand how it works.
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Step-1: Buy Ether
First of all, you will need Ether to buy a punk. So, you can use a cryptocurrency exchange to turn your cash into Ether and send it to your wallet. Make sure to get your Ether from trusted and big crypto exchanges only.
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Step-2: Transfer your Ether to your Wallet
Obviously, you will need a blockchain wallet that can store your Ether. In reality, MetaMask is quite popular in NFT marketplaces, and CryptoPunks actually supports MetaMask. So, you’ll need to create an account in MetaMask as well.
Once you have enough Ether in your wallet, you can proceed to the next step.
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Step-3: Connect to Larva Labs
Now you have your Ether, and it’s time to go to a marketplace. You can buy and sell NFTs from the primary market, Larva Labs. On the other hand, you can also buy it from OpenSea. Anyhow, once you are on their website, you will find a link to connect your wallet to their platform.
So, use that link to connect your wallet. Now, you can buy a punk whenever you want.
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Step-4: Choose the CryptoPunk and Buy It
Well, not all punks are always available for sale all the time. So, take your time to go through the available options, study their attributes and then choose a punk. Once you find a punk, just go ahead and place bidding on that punk. If you win the bid, the punk is yours! In case you want to sell it, you’ll need to buy Ethereum gas for that.
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Concluding Thoughts
CryptoPunks is a revolutionary addition to the NFT spectrum. Even the creators of this project were not sure of how this project will turn out. But as it stands out, people are embarrassing this new form of blockchain-based collectibles and turning it into an industry. We still do not know how this project will turn out in the future, but we know that these punks are here to stay, and it’s going to stay for a long time. If you want to understand how these punks work or how the underlying technology blockchain works, then we would suggest starting with our blockchain courses right now!
*Disclaimer: The article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide any investment advice. Claims made in this article do not constitute investment advice and should not be taken as such. 101 Blockchains shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article. Do your own research!
