Demystifying CryptoPunks - The Conceptual Leap in Non-Fungible Tokens

To say that CryptoPunks instituted a conceptual change in 2017 is an understatement. It means - any NFT project must emulate CryptoPunks like NFT to taste success. 

CryptoPunks is on course for something special, and it changes the way we perceive NFTs. With more high-profile buyers joining the club, the NFT art movement will get its due acceleration. 

Breeding NFTs like Pixelated Avatars

CryptoPunks are Ethereum-linked uniquely generated characters that are 10,000 in number. It was nothing but a stroke of brilliance when the two Canadian software developers, Matt Hall and John Watkinson, came together. Why because - they prioritized what most of us overlook/disregard - the conceptualization. 

It is closely related to the ‘concept art,’ which indicates the idea and intention behind the art/design. London punk scene and Cyberpunk franchise - from where CryptoPunks drew their inspiration. 

To be clear, these are mostly computer-generated artpunks - not actual artworks. Bidders/buyers can use them in their virtual worlds and gaming environments. For instance, the celebrities who bought their favorite art punks are flaunting them as display pictures (DP) on their social media accounts. Wonder who they are? Look at them here.

CryptoPunks’ stellar sales collided with the burgeoning NFT art market, where anything from physical art to digital art, and even a hand-drawn, can churn out millions of dollars. The pixelated art punks listed on Christie’s (the British Auction house) were sold for some millions of dollars. I didn’t mention the sales figure because CryptoPunks are more than just pixelated art. The four-year-old punk community sees them as an investment and, most importantly, a status symbol.

CryptoPunks is Trailblazing The Pixelated Art Movement

While many claim CryptoPunks as a project, I don’t like doing so! Instead, it pioneers a market with art punks taking center stage. It is a subset of NFTs that serve a purpose other than aesthetic appeal. The digital art NFTs that are popular right now are sure to be used in a variety of ways in the future.

CryptoPunks is reaching the point where individual punks are becoming brands themselves. Buyers create value each day in the NFT space and embed their categorical punks to that value. The NFT ties itself to its owner's brand, whether it's an individual, a group, or a company. I believe that the apes that become the most well-known and valuable brands will become some of the world's most recognizable and useful NFTs.

Unlike Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Larva Labs Studio does not offer intellectual property (IP) rights to CryptoPunks’ owners. As a result, the rip-off bored apes are all over the web. Even though Larva Labs do not offer ownership rights, CryptoPunks’s owners can commercialize the merchandise of their punks and earn considerable profit every year. The agreement, however, is not to modify punk’s art or commercialize (along with third-party products). 

5 Things To Learn from CryptoPunks

1. Sustainability

When NFT projects strive hard to sustain, CryptoPunks like NFT has thrived in the ever-evolving NFT space for four years. I don't think it's good to miss out on the chance! The project over the years, since its inception, embodied what was necessary to stay long-term. 

There are numerous conversations in which people promise that NFTs will do this or that. You don't even need a digital token that looks like an NFT to accomplish this. It's similar to generative art, for example.

2. Engaging Community

A large and engaged community is vital for a new project to accelerate the sale of thousands of NFTs. The number of members you can expect will vary depending on when you join a new project's Discord and the size of the collection. Thousands of members will almost certainly be required, but numbers can be deceiving. It's critical to evaluate the members' actions.

An engaging community involves the traction of collectors and connoisseurs from across the globe. They converge to spread knowledge and take the NFT space forward. 

3. Democratizing the market, not just for collectors but for developers & designers, too!

The NFT art market isn’t just for artists and collectors. The developers and designers can also monetize their skills, thanks largely to the CryptoPunks collection. Even when the artists have to tokenize their artworks, they would have to sit with designers. This, in turn, creates a collaborative tech ecosystem where technical people (of all grades) would converge to make NFT a better space.

4. Future Teeming with Art Punks

With the trading value on the CryptoPunks like NFT marketplace valued at nearly $7 billion, the NFT market is already quite strong. Earlier this year, a digital art NFT is sold for $69 million. All of the action is currently taking place in the realm of digital art. However, while it may expand in this area, it will not remain there.

CryptoPunks is already a legacy project in the NFT space, despite being only a few years old. For a long time, all necessary information about the project has been available to the public. Punks were born on the Ethereum blockchain and will continue to live there in perpetuity, so it's safe to assume they won't change.

5. NFTs Do Have Technical Limitations

Apart from minting, an NFT's only function is transfer. NFTs can mint and transfer, as well as delegate a transfer. Delegating a transfer is the process of handing it over to the marketplace, which then decides whether or not to honor the royalty.

The Closing Thoughts

Experimental - NFT insiders always use this term to describe the CryptoPunks project. The makers had a just-like-that intention and never knew where it would end up while crafting this project. But then, I'm damn sure little did they know that it would capture an industry (around itself).