The once-hot NFTs witnessed a significant downturn during the crypto winter. But this sector again appears to have bounced back following the widespread rebound of digital assets.
One of nine Alien Punks was sold for 4,850 ETH – the second-largest CryptoPunks sale ever – just days after a similar recent transaction of Alien Punk #3100.
Blue-Skinned Punk Fetches $16.42M
Punk #7804, part of the exclusive Ethereum NFT collection featuring only nine Alien Punks, exchanged hands for a staggering 4,850 ETH on March 20th. This is equivalent to approximately $16.42 million at the time of the sale and marks the second-largest transaction in CryptoPunks history, both in terms of ETH and USD.
This exchange closely follows another similar sale of Alien Punk #3100, which fetched 4,500 ETH, valued at $16.03 million, earlier this month. The piece, which is among the nine Alien Punks in the CryptoPunks collection, is one of the rarest and most expensive sets and features blue skin and a bandana.
Punk 7804 bought for 4,850 ETH ($16,421,614.53 USD) by 0x9bc2d5 from 0xf4b4a5. https://t.co/PhIbbqdu5B #cryptopunks #ethereum pic.twitter.com/n7QsO74UtY
— CryptoPunks Bot (@cryptopunksbot) March 20, 2024
The identity of the purchaser remains undisclosed, mirroring the anonymity of the previous buyer. However, the individual who sold Punk #7804, having acquired it in 2021 for 4,200 ETH, for over $7.50 million at the time, expressed regret on Twitter for not “elevating” the profile of the Punk during their ownership. The tweet in question read,
“End of an era. I’ve long since felt like an imposter. Holding punks, and potentially NFTs a whole hostage by not elevating 7804 in the way he deserves. After over a year of looking around I feel I’ve found the right buyer with the right vision to appropriately elevate this asset.”
CryptoPunks Journey So Far
CryptoPunks was launched in June 2017 by the Larva Labs studio. The right to the NFT collection was later acquired by Yuga Labs, the creators behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) project, for an undisclosed sum. To mark the sixth anniversary in June 2023, Yuga Labs teamed up with Zak Group to produce a book containing official documentation of the NFT collection.
According to data from CryptoSlam, CryptoPunks clocked in more than $55.24 million in sales throughout March. It boasted 71 unique sellers and 49 unique buyers for the same period.
This article first appeared at CryptoPotato