CryptoPunks Sells For $4.5 Million

The ongoing crypto market winter has cast doubt on many aspects of the blockchain industry, including NFTs. Naysayers have been quick to doubt whether or not the NFT sector can still thrive or if it is done for. Luckily, many collections, especially the top ones, continue to show that the industry has life left in it.

Case in point, an NFT from the acclaimed CryptoPunks collection has sold for the ETH equivalent of $4.5 million. This makes it the fourth-highest CryptoPunks sale in history and shows that there is still demand for the collection and for others like it. The highest-ever sale of a CryptoPunks asset, however, was when Deepak Thapliyal, the CEO of a blockchain startup, paid around $24 million in ETH for CryptoPunks #5822 earlier this year.

CryptoPunks Makes a Splash 

The NFT in question was CryptoPunks NFT #2924 and the sale was recorded on September 28, 2022. It was sold by a well-known NFT collector who goes by the name Seedphrase to an unnamed buyer. The last time this NFT changed hands was in 2020 for under $100,000 in ETH.

Clearly, its value has grown significantly since that time. First, there is the fact that it is one of only 24 ‘ape’ NFTs that exist within the 10,000-piece collection, which makes it quite rare. Then there is the fact that CryptoPunks as a project has gotten a lot more public visibility over the last two years. 

Since the NFT was last sold, CryptoPunks has solidified itself as one of the top NFT projects in the world and has also branched out into more mainstream ventures. The most prominent of these has perhaps been the partnership inked with Tiffany & Co. that saw CryptoPunks owners get jewel-encrusted pendants of their assets. 

This comes after Yuga Labs, which bought the rights to CryptoPunks earlier this year, released their IP rights to their owners. This officially allowed those who owned the assets to launch commercial ventures with them. Needless to say, these commercial ventures have increased the public visibility of an already popular collection. 

With all these in mind, you can see why one of the rarest  NFTs in the collection would command such a high price. We do not, however, know what the buyer intends to do with the NFT and whether their plans will involve any commercial ventures. What we do know, for now, is that are NFTs still raking in the big bucks, even on the secondary market. 

The Worth of a CryptoPunk 

Given the CryptoPunks’ status as a legacy collection (it was one of the first big NFT collections), its popularity within the market, and its newfound visibility, it is no surprise that its assets do well in the market. But what does that say about the rest of the NFT space?

It mostly indicates that the market is still alive and well and despite the challenges being faced by the blockchain sector, sales records can still be set and broken.