Abstract

"CryptoPunks" are collectible digital currency artworks, presented as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. There are a total of 10,000 8-bit pixel style punk villains in the entire series. Each villain is unique and unique in his or her own way. As one of the first notable NFT projects, they inspired many digital currency artists and even drove the development of the ERC-721 token standard for digital collectibles. The project gained even more popularity in 2021 after parts of the CryptoPunk image were sold for millions of dollars, making it the most expensive NFT.

Introduction

At first glance, there’s nothing special about these pixelated little square faces. Some figures are smoking pipes, others are wearing hats, and there are even aliens. However, in the field of NFT, you cannot "judge a thing by its cover".

There may be huge value behind these funny-looking punks - maybe it will make your dream of buying a small apartment or a large mansion come true. There are only 10,000 of these 8-bit pixel style CryptoPunks, making them a collection of NFT collectibles that are currently in huge demand. They're just quiet punks who can't fight, pledge, or do anything else. “CryptoPunks” also happens to be one of the pioneers of NFT projects.

Who is the creator of "CryptoPunks"?

"CryptoPunks" is the creative work of Larva Labs in New York. The laboratory was co-founded by Matt Hall and John Watkinson. The project started in 2017 as a bold experiment to highlight the value of NFTs and artworks, and ultimately had a positive promotion effect on the digital currency artworks that are now well known.

They are also a type of digital currency, but are quite different from Bitcoin or Binance Coin. These 10,000 punk villains are all unique NFTs in the Ethereum blockchain. These include 3,840 male figures and 6,039 female figures, as well as some apes, aliens and zombies.

The creator organically combined different attributes, and 10,000 punk villains who were different from each other and each with their own characteristics came into being.

At first, these punk villains were distributed to the public for free and were also allowed to be collected for free. Pay the relevant Ethereum transaction fees to get a minifigure.

Since then, the popularity of these artworks and the entire NFT market has soared, becoming a hot star. Christie's auction house has even sold collections estimated at millions of dollars.

This pale alien punk villain with a headband sold for 4,200 Ethereums (approximately $7.58 million) in March 2021, setting a CryptoPunk sales record that has not yet been broken. . This was closely followed by CryptoPunk #7804, which sold for the same price (approximately $7.57 million at the time). The price difference between the two is caused by the increase in the price of Ethereum.

Looking at the entire NFT field, the above two CryptoPunks are respectively the runner-up and third runner-up in the list of non-fungible token sales records. Beeple's "EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS" currently takes the top spot, selling for a whopping $69.34625 million.

How does "CryptoPunks" work?

When the project was launched, the ERC-721 token protocol currently used by NFTs had not even come out. Larva Labs can only decide to use ERC-20 based on "local materials" based on actual conditions.

In the end, the R&D team chose a punk approach and modified the ERC-20 code. Although it could only barely create non-fungible items, it inspired the development of ERC-721 in the near future.

Data in Etherscan shows that the maximum total supply of this token is 10,000. Although the data shows that these punk villains are ERC-20 tokens, they are not exactly the same token.

You can hash its reference image and compare it to a specific image hash in the token contract, Thereby verifying the authenticity of each CryptoPunk.  

Since the image was too large to be stored on the blockchain, Larva Labs created a composite image in which 10,000 punk villains all appeared. The corresponding hash value is noted in the CryptoPunks token contract.

So, how do I determine which villain I have? Each punk villain's token contains metadata indicating its position in the composite image. For example, CryptoPunk #7804 is the 7804th punk villain in a large composite image.

Where can I buy CryptoPunks?

In addition to designing CryptoPunks itself, Larva Labs also launched an exclusive market on the CryptoPunks website. Users can bid, buy and sell CryptoPunks here. By installing and linking MetaMask you can also interact with the market.

"CryptoPunks" is also available on OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain. However, these pixelated punk villains are slightly different. After packaging, they have become ERC-721 tokens and can be traded in the NFT market.

ERC-721 CryptoPunk can be easily converted back to the original ERC-20 format. Both the wrapping and unfolding process takes place in the wrapped PUNKS, which can be done through the MetaMask wallet in which CrypTopunk is stored.

Summary

In the rapidly developing NFT market, "CryptoPunks 》It can no longer stand out. However, it was a pioneer in demonstrating pure artistic value and left a strong mark on the blockchain. Unlike CryptoKitties, which has game elements, the punk villains are just simple images. Nowadays, rising stars inspired by "CryptoPunks" are constantly coming out, which is enough to reflect its strong popularity in the market.