An ultra-rare “alien” CryptoPunk has sold for 605 Ether on January 23, worth over $750,000 at today’s prices.
It has been reported that CryptoPunks are widely considered to be the original NFT project, released even before CryptoKitties, the blockchain-based collectibles project that propelled NFTs to mainstream consciousness.
However, CryptoPunks developers Larva Labs report that Punks have accounted for $26 million in lifetime sales on their native marketplace, and the average sale price for Punks over the past year has been $6,199.
The report said that each Punk has unique attributes, such as background color, accessories, and even some ultra-rare features, such as an “alien” or “zombie” appearance. The Punk that sold, #2890, is one of nine alien Punks in existence.
Punk 2890 bought for 605 ETH ($761,888.57 USD) by 0x24c5eb from 0x6611fe. https://t.co/p5IvIq3MnB #cryptopunks #ethereum pic.twitter.com/xq8Cl2imKV — CryptoPunks Bot (@cryptopunksbot) January 23, 2021
The bidding for the Punk was competitive throughout the last 2 weeks, with DeFi megawallet-turn-Twitter personality 0x_b1 putting in a 500 ETH bid. The Punk was last sold in July of 2017 for 8 ETH, meaning the owner made a 75x return on their investment.
According to a Flamingo spokesperson, the new owners are a group of investors that include FlamingoDAO, a “NFT collective that supports and collects premium NFTS.”
You could buy a reasonably sized house for the kind of cash this ultra-rare CryptoPunk owner just raked in: the "alien" NFT sold for 605 $ETH, or over $750,000 at today's prices. Congrats on the buy, @FLAMINGODAO ! https://t.co/4mgJOpv0IP — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 23, 2021
The spokesperson said:
“It’s simple: Cryptopunks is a groundbreaking project; it pre-dated the ERC 721 standard and crypto kitties. Aliens are the rarest form of Cryptopunk and we believe that the acquired Alien will be prized by collectors over time and mature into an iconic digital art piece.”
Moreover, crypto art collector @gmoneyNFT, who himself dropped 140 ETH on a Punk earlier in the month, thinks that the alien is a fine investment despite the sky-high valuation.
He said:
“I think it was a great purchase. As the world moves more digital, the digital “flex” will be more and more important. It’s how humans operate in the physical world. It won’t change in the digital realm.”
According to the report, some critics have called into question the sky-high prices rare NFTs have been fetching by arguing that simple digital scarcity is a shaky foundation on which to justify a $750,000 sale.
Thus, @gmoneyNFT dismisses these criticisms by saying that there are plenty of real-world analogs that make just as much, or as little, sense:
“Why would someone pay millions of dollars for an original Andy Warhol screen print when you can buy the same one online for $20? Why would someone buy a pair of yeezy’s for $300 when you can buy a fake from the same factory, made with the same materials for much less? Humans like to feel special. The provenance has value.”
Source: Cointelegraph
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