CryptoPunks Marketplace

CryptoPunks Marketplace Review

CryptoPunks is developed by Larva Labs. Larva Labs is based in New York City.

CryptoPunks was first launched in June 2017 and is probably one of the earliest non-fungible tokens. The website also claims that the CryptoPunks project is the inspiration for modern crypto art.

CryptoPunks is powered by the Ethereum blockchain network.

What is an NFT Marketplace?

An NFT Marketplace is a marketplace for NFT. So far so good. But what is an NFT?

NFT is an acronym for “Non-Fungible Tokens”. Something which is fungible is replaceable. For instance, one kilo of 24 karat gold is – at least in theory – replaceable with any other kilo of 24 karat gold. When something is non-fungible, it means that it is unique, and not replaceable with any other item out there.

Although NFTs are conceptually similar to cryptocurrencies, these digital assets might represent antiques & artworks, collectables like trading cards, and other items with unique features. These tokens are stored cryptographically in a blockchain network for authentication and validation. Even when transacting, each token is sold as a whole, unlike cryptocurrencies which are divisible into smaller units. NFTs lose their value when split into smaller portions, however, they can be duplicated by the artist and each additional copy can be sold separately (but the total number of duplicates will then always be known).

CryptoPunks Marketplace Focus

The CryptoPunks marketplace is a project consisting of 10,000 unique characters. These algorithmically-generated 24 x 24-pixel artworks mainly include guys and girls with a punk look. Other NFTs include Zombies, Apes and a few Alien characters.

In the early phases, these NFTs were freely claimable by anyone with an Ethereum wallet. Now, CryptoPunks enthusiasts can buy them from other CryptoPunks owners. The CryptoPunks Marketplace allows users to buy, bid on and sell the NFTs to others in the network.

The portal follows a colour coding mechanism to highlight the status of these CryptoPunks NFTs. The ones marked with a blue background denote the claimed NFTs, whereas the ones with a red background are put up for sale by the owners. The NFTs which have an active bid upon them are marked with a purple background.

All auctions are announced on the CryptoPunks Discord channel by a bot.

The most expensive CryptoPunk ever sold was a "CryptoPunk #3100", who sold for 4,200 Ethereum on 11 March 2021 (then corresponding to USD 7.6 million). Here's CryptoPunk #3100:

What would you be willing to pay for CryptoPunk #3100? More than USD 7.6 million, or slightly less...? :)

CryptoPunks Fees

When you make a trade at an NFT marketplace, they normally charge you with a commission. The commission is typically a percentage of the sale amount in the relevant trade.

Currently, there is no mention of any commission or transaction fees for trading in CryptoPunks on the Larva Labs website. We have asked the marketplace about this and we will update this review with the correct information as soon as we have received it.

Layout of CryptoPunks Marketplace

Different NFT Marketplaces present their NFTs, the latest bid and the remaining time of an auction etc. in different ways. What you are most comfortable with viewing and using is up to you and no one else. The following picture is a print screen from Larva Labs showing the latest CryptoPunks for sale:

The maximum number of male CryptoPunk characters are 6,039, and they have an average sale price of ETH 20.48. There are 3,840 female characters with an average price of ETH 25.41. There are 88 Zombie CryptoPunks (average price ETH 191.49) and 24 Apes (at an average price of ETH 548). Aliens are the rarest of them all with 9 characters at an average price of ETH 3,000.

CryptoPunks Marketplace Payment Methods

A few of the NFT Marketplaces out there accept deposits and payments via credit or debit card, and some even accept PayPal-deposits. However, CryptoPunks is not one of them.

These NFTs can be bought only through Ethereum using the MetaMask or Mist wallets.