Résumé

CryptoPunks are crypto art collectibles, they are represented by NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. There are 10,000 copies of these little 8-bit punks, each with its own particularity. As a pioneer of NFTs, they have inspired many crypto artists and even the development of the ERC-721 standard. The project became popular in 2021, when some CryptoPunks sold for several million dollars, making them among the top most expensive NFTs.

Introduction

At first glance, these little pixelated faces look nothing special. Some smoke pipes. Others have hats. Some are even extraterrestrials. But looks can be deceiving when it comes to NFTs.

Owning one with a fun look will probably allow you to buy a small apartment or a large mansion. Limited to 10,000 copies, these 8bits CryptoPunks are representatives of a collection currently in high demand. They don't fight, they don't argue and just be little punks. CryptoPunks are also one of the first NFT projects to emerge.

Who created CryptoPunks?

CryptoPunks are the children of Larva Labs, a New York-based company founded by Matt Hall and John Watkinson. The project began in 2017 as an experiment on the value of NFTs and art and will popularize crypto art.

This is a different type of cryptocurrency than Bitcoin or BNB. Each of 10,000 punks and a unique NFT based on the Ethereum blockchain. 3840 are women, 6039 are men. Some are also monkeys, aliens or zombies.

A combination of different attributes ensures the uniqueness of these 10,000 characters.

Punks were originally distributed for free. All you had to do was pay the transaction fees.

Since then, the popularity of these characters and NFTs in general has exploded. Christie's auction house even bids on collections in the millions.

This pale-faced punk with a headband currently holds the record with a price of 4,200 ETH, or $7.58 million at the time of the sale in March 2021. In second place we have CryptoPunk#7804sold for same number of ETH (i.e. 7.57 million at the time of sale). This difference in position is due to the increase in the price of ETH.

On an NFT scale, these two are the second and third most expensive NFTs in the world, respectively. Beeple's work EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS takes first place with a price of $69,346,250!

How do CryptoPunks work?

At the time of their launch, the ERC-721 standard that we know and that NFTs use did not exist. Larva Labs had to work with the means at hand: ERC-20 tokens.

In punk style, the team managed to modify the code of the ERC-20 standard enough to create NFTs. This modification will serve as a basis for the reflection of the ERC-721 standard.

If we look at the token on Etherscan, we can see that the total maximum number of tokens in circulation is 10,000. Additionally, although the NFTs are ERC-20, they are not identical.

You can determine the authenticity of each CryptoPunk by hashing its reference image and comparing it to the hashed image contained in the token contract.

Since the images were too large to store on the blockchain, Larva Labs created a composite image containing all 10,000 punks. A hash of this image is present in the CryptoPunks token contract.

But how do you determine which tokens you own? Well, each token contains metadata referring to its position on the image. For example, CryptoPunk#7804is the 7804th Punk in the composite image.

Where can I buy CryptoPunks?

In addition to designing CryptoPunks themselves, Larva Labs also created its own marketplace on the CryptoPunks website. This is where users bid, buy and sell CryptoPunks. You can interact with the Marketplace by installing and connecting your MetaMask wallet.

CryptoPunks are also available on OpenSea, one of Ethereum's leading NFT marketplaces. These pixelated punks are a little different, though. These have been wrapped in ERC-721 in order to be tradable on NFT marketplaces.

A CryptoPunk ERC-721 can easily return to its original ERC-20 form. The wrapping and unwrapping process takes place on Wrapped PUNKS and can be done with a MetaMask wallet containing a CryptoPunk.

To conclude

Although they are no longer the only NFTs in existence, CryptoPunks were at one time the pioneers of art on the blockchain. Unlike CryptoKitties which feature gamification elements, each punk is nothing more than a simple image. However, their popularity is still visible through the many projects they have inspired.