By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 22nd, 2024
Christie’s auction house is selling nine CryptoPunk non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The auction house announced this on Thursday, further confirming these will star in the 21st century evening sale in New York this May.
Cryptopunk NFTs have become popular in the last few years. They have been going for as much as $7 million in recent months. CryptoPunks are digital characters and were some of the very first digital mints back in 2017. Larva Labs, the first developers, boasts of creating 10,000 of these unique collectible characters.
CryptoPunk NFTs
Nine of the rarest collection of Cryptopunk NFTs by Larva Lab will be sold by Christie’s auction house. The physical auction house is responsible for the record $69 million “Everyday” artwork by Beeple. Since it got involved with NFTs, the auction house has not only been central to the current NFT craze but has proven that NFTs are not a fad but a new development in the art world.
The nine CryptoPunks are from Larva Labs early collections. They are mints below 1,000 hence some of the early mints at the launch of the project. Some mint numbers include 2, 532, 58, 30, 635, 602, 768, 603 and 757. Additionally, there will be a rare alien piece, confirmed by the 255-year-old auction house.
9 rare CryptoPunks from @LarvaLabs own collection to star in our 21st Century Evening Sale this May in NY.
All mint numbers under 1k and yes there is a rare Alien! Punks 2, 532, 58, 30, 635, 602, 768, 603, 757 #CryptoPunks
More at: https://t.co/o41OzqP1UB pic.twitter.com/N0blESQdR1
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 8, 2021
Since the announcement, there have been reports that Punk sellers are pulling their collection from the marketplace in anticipation of demand. The collection is likely to trigger hype around the collectibles, pushing prices higher. According to Twitter user DeGenData, Crypto Punks floor price stands at 5 ETH- around $10,000.
Fears of NFT Bubble
This announcement comes at a crucial time. NFT prices have tumbled in recent days with some suggesting that the bubble has burst. Could the CryptoPunk NFTs offer a lifeline?
After topping at an average price of $1,400 in February, NFTs have recently crashed by as much as 70%. While some believe that the crash proves that the market was in a fad, some have argued NFTs are here to say. In February, the craze was highlighted by a single whale buying 34 NFTs for roughly $1 million in minutes. The month clearly set itself as a peak that was followed by a retracement.
As we have been reporting, we have seen continued interest from established firms, musicians, top businessmen and athletes. Yesterday we reported that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is participating with plans to auction 3 electronic songs created in collaboration with DJ DAVI.
With new markets, there will be some manias and irrational spending, but the concept shall prevail.