What is Cryptopunks?

Cryptopunks (“Cryptopan”) is the first popular collection of non -replaceable tokens (NFT). Consists of 10,000 NFT, released in 2017 on the Ethereum blockchain.

The excitement around Cryptopunks has become one of the reasons for the growth of the popularity of the NFT sphere.

Each work is made in the style of pixel art and is a portrait of a person, monkey, zombies or alien.

As of the beginning of May 2022, one NFT from the collection costs at least 61 ETH (about $ 173,000), and the total trading of Cryptopunks tokens 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 the program to automatically generate avatars. In the summer of 2017, they spontaneously decided to use it to create digital objects in the blockchain.

The inspiration for Cryptopunks was the aesthetics of the British punk movement of the 70s and works in the cyberpunk genre, such as the film “Running Blade of the Rnish” and the novel “Neuromant”.

These were not the first NFT, but it was they who became a cultural phenomenon and gained real popularity. After starting the project, the company opened on its website marketplace to trade tokens and added analytical tools for the collection.

How to create Cryptopunks?

At the time of the creation of the collection, there was no standard of ERC-721 tokens, popular today to create digital items. Therefore, the developers modified the ERC-20 standard by releasing not identical tokens to each other.

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

NFT authenticity can be checked after processing it. The data obtained must coincide with the hash contained in the smart contract of the incorrect token.

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

During the mining of the collection, the developers actually distributed 9,000 out of 10,000 tokens – for the release of NFT it was only necessary to pay the commission on the Ethereum network, which covered the costs of releasing it.

What is the difference between images Cryptopunks?

All portraits are divided into several types. The first includes images of people of both sexes What is a Bonfire . This is the largest group that has several thousand tokens. Much fewer 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 features, 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 tubes and other features.

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

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

Why the price of NFT Cryptopunks is so high?

The most expensive “cryptopank” was sold in February 2022: then Avatar #5822 was purchased for 8000 ETH (more than $ 23 million at the time of the transaction). The owner of the NFT was the head of Chain Dipak Thapliyal.

In early May 2022, the cheapest token from the Cryptopunks collection costs over $ 170,000. There are several main factors that determine the high value of these NFT.

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

Secondly, the possession of Cryptopunks is prestigious: each NFT is a recognized and unique art object, which means that it makes it possible to stand out for a wealthy person.

In addition, tokens provide some privileges – in particular, invitations to closed groups and chats. Also among the owners of NFT Cryptopunks conducted AIRDROP TOKENOV from the MeeBits collection, also released by Larva Labs.

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

The project also attracts the attention of large investors – in August 2021, one of the avatars was acquired by VISA. Cryptopunks owners are celebrities, for example, musician Jay-Z and tennis player Serena Williams.

What depends on the price of a separate NFT Cryptopunks?

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

The rarest, and therefore expensive – images of aliens. The average price of such NFT is more than 100 times higher than the price of an avatar with the image of a man-male. Due to a small amount, portraits of monkeys and zombies are also highly appreciated.

The cost of the characters also depends on the number of attributes. Avatars are the highest cost either without distinguishing features, or with their maximum number (six or seven). The “accessories” of characters also affect the price, since rare “objects” are also found among them.

Where you can buy “cryptan packs”?

You can trade items from the Cryptopunks collection on the Larva Labs marketplace. For transactions you need a Web3 wallet that supports Ethereum, for example Metamask. There is also analytical information about each character and all related transactions.

Secondary trade in “wrapped” versions of Cryptopunks of the ERC-721 standard are also conducted on the Opensea platform.

Is it possible to download portraits Cryptopunks?

Any image of Cryptopunks can be downloaded for free to your device, and for this you do not need the option “Save as …”-it is enough to use the request through a special smart contract for Etherscan. Users can load a unprocessed pixel set or an image in SVG format from blockchain. Requests relate to “viewing functions” and do not require payment.

How CRYPTOPUNKS develops?

In August 2021, at the request of collectors who want to increase the degree of safety of NFT, Larva Labs placed images from the Cryptopunks collection in Ethereum blockchain.

In the spring of 2021, Larva Labs has released a new collection of 20,000 NFT called Meebits. The images also generated automatically, using the program, and completed them in the pixel art style, but this time they were already made up of voxels (volumetric pixels). Meebits tokens are released on Ethereum 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 transaction, she received 423 “Cryptopanka”.

Art projects are based on the legendary collection. For example, Flamingodao has developed volumetric models of Cryptopunks characters and plans to use them in metav.