A collectible NFT in the CryptoPunks series, alien punk #7804 to be precise, changed owners for a record sale of $7.560.000. That makes this NFT the most expensive one ever sold, even though it will be broken when the Beeple auction at Christie’s ends in a few hours.
It’s the second time in its 3 years of existence that punk 7804 got a new owner. It was claimed for free in June 2017, only to be sold for $15.000 in January 2018. The new owner is anonymous and used a new wallet to store their punk.
CryptoPunks have been quite the hype in recent months. In May 2020 there was a first uptick in trading activity, but the market really started moving in September. Prices for punks have been increasing ever since.
The ten biggest NFT sales all happened in the past two months, and seven of them are CryptoPunks. Earlier this year another alien punk sold for $762.000, which was a record at that time.
Why are CryptoPunks valuable?
CryptoPunks are on-chain NFTs, which means their existence, scarcity and ownership is completely stored on the blockchain. In addition these digital collectibles were one of the first ever NFTs ever created, giving them a chapter in the history of the Ethereum blockchain.
If Beeple’s art is the Mona Lisa of the NFT space, than CryptoPunks are like cave paintings. Not gorgeous or advanced, but of extreme historical significance. Read our extensive valuation report about CryptoPunks.
Where to buy NFTs?
There’s an abundance of NFT marketplaces across a variety of blockchains. For example, OPENSEA supports the Ethereum blockchain and soon Flow and Polygon as well. On the Wax blockchain there’s AtomicHub, while every other blockchain has their own marketplaces.
NFTs exist in every price category, ranging from a few cents for game items all the way up to millions of dollars for digital collectibles and art. Some NFTs serve no purpose aside from looking pretty, while others have utility inside video games, virtual worlds or DeFi protocols.