By Mattis Meichler, Decrypt
Compiled by: Felix, PANews
"I'm just a guy sitting behind a computer having fun, and what happened was beyond my imagination," said Dan Polko.
The Frenchman learned about CryptoPunks through an article he read a few days after they were first released in June 2017, and subsequently bought 100 of them. At their peak, these CryptoPunks were worth millions of dollars, but at the time of their release, no one cared about CryptoPunks.
As an early adopter of Bitcoin and a loyal follower of Ethereum, Polko’s interest was naturally drawn to NFTs.
For him, CryptoPunks is not just another digital art collection, but an ode to nostalgia and a love of cyberpunk, science fiction, and classic rock.
“The pop art aesthetic, funky colors, and pixel art reminded me of my childhood video games like Donkey Kong, Tetris, and Pac-Man.” After taking a two-month vacation away from computers, Polko decided to buy CryptoPunk.
"I used ETH that I bought for less than $10 and traded like I would a lithograph in an art gallery. By October-November, I started accumulating. I bought one, then two, three, four, and I couldn't stop." Over the next four to five months, Polko bought a total of 100 CryptoPunks.
“CryptoPunk is cheap, you can find great elements in it, but there are probably only three buyers on the planet and no one cares. There are five people on Discord, and everyone jokes that they will be as successful as Andy Warhol in 50 years. (Note: Andy Warhol, American artist, printer, and cinematographer, is one of the founders of the visual art movement Pop Art)”
Inspired by a legendary art collector
After two years away from the cryptocurrency and NFT fields, the COVID-19 lockdown brought Polko back to the computer and ignited his curiosity about CryptoPunks.
Around the same time, Polko discovered a vibrant community on SuperRare, which included artists such as XCOPY, Robbie Barrat, and Hackatao. However, liquidity constraints prevented Polko from investing in their artwork.
But the tide is about to turn.
“Twitter was the catalyst for the CryptoPunks explosion. I started using CryptoPunk as my profile picture. There were old-timers like Snowfro.”
When the price of CryptoPunks began to soar, Polko originally only expected to get a certain return, but found that his gains were far more than he imagined. "It's surreal. I grew up listening to idols like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, and now I see Snoop showing off CryptoPunk on his social platform."
However, when the market showed signs of weakness in mid-2022, Polko began to strategically divest. “The most expensive CryptoPunk I sold was worth 95 ETH. The buyer was the same person who bought the Punk for $24 million. He bought a few from me at prices between 80 and 95 ETH.”
Secure your profits
"I considered the possibility that the market would not rebound and decided to lock in the profits." Although Polko sold 42 CryptoPunks, he still has 58 in his collection.
After reaping huge rewards, Polko decided to stick to his old ways as a digital art collector. Polko successfully acquired works by XCOPY, Sarah Zucker and many other French artists.
“I am proud to be a major collector of Pascal Boyart’s work. I own a large part of the Obvious collection, as well as works by Agoria. It was important for me to bring it back to France, rather than having it be owned by an English-speaking country.”
New Crypto Art
Polko is passionate about being part of a movement and a community of artists and collectors.
“I find it interesting to be involved in new things. I always go back to Impressionism, which was the beginning of modern art, when artists, collectors and art dealers came together in Paris. Now, with social networks, the Impressionists no longer gather in Montmartre cafes, but on Twitter or other social networks. It’s global.”
The relationships Polko has built have sometimes led to transactions. After becoming friends with artist Justin Aversano, Polko sold him a CryptoPunk, with part of the payment being one of Aversano’s Twin Flames NFTs.
In addition, Polko is a patron of the new crypto art movement, helping artists organize exhibitions.
“It’s amazing. In France, we have had success with artists like Benoît Couty, Jean-Michel Pailhon, Obvious, Agoria and Pascal Boyart. Personally, I’ve been working to elevate the French style, taking inspiration from artists like Daft Punk and making the connection between CryptoPunk and the essence of French culture.”
Polko highlighted the key role of Paris’ NFT Factory and IHAM Gallery, art centers dedicated to NFT exhibitions and education. “A vibrant French community has gathered around this new digital movement. We have been competing with cities like New York, but I believe Paris is now ahead.”
Polko envisions a future dedicated to traveling and collecting more digital art, and he is optimistic about the future of this field.
Polko’s belief was strengthened by the fact that the Centre Pompidou recently added the CryptoPunk donated by Yuga Labs to its collection.
But Polko also stressed the value of patience.
“Pollock and Rothko’s careers only started to explode after their works were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, while the Pompidou Center’s NFT collection only happened six months ago.”
But, he added, “We could see the growth of NFT art accelerating.”
Polko once again cited the legendary story of Paul Guillaume and Ambroise Vollard. (Note: Both are famous French art collectors and publishers)
“They supported artists like Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, giving rise to entire art movements. Our goal is to lead a similar renaissance, but this time in digital art.”