blockworks.co
With bitcoin nearing its all-time high, eye-watering $NFT sales appear to be cropping back up. A CryptoPunk just sold for 4,500 ether, worth over $16 million at current prices.
That’s the second largest sale ever for the blue-chip $NFT collection, trailing only a $23.7 million CryptoPunk purchase made in Feb. 2022.
CryptoPunk 3100, the one that sold Monday morning, sold for $2,127 in 2017 before changing hands again for $7.58 million in 2021.
Read more: Got your eye on a CryptoPunk? It might be time to buy one
There are 10,000 unique CryptoPunks. Each punk has randomly generated attributes, like differing glasses or hairstyles. Punk 3100 is one of nine so-called alien punks that have blueish skin. The rareness of this attribute has made alien punks the most sought-after CryptoPunks.
Two other alien punks are currently on sale for $17.8 and $19.6 million.
CryptoPunks were minted in 2017 by Larva Labs, which then sold the intellectual property to Yuga Labs, developer of the Bored Apes $NFT collection, in 2022.
Many crypto X users responded to the purchase of CryptoPunk 3100 as a sign that the “bull market” has returned.
Read more: Yuga Labs’ intensifying IP takedowns spur CryptoPunk backlash
At the time of writing, the $NFT collection currently has a 24-hour trading volume of $17.16 million and a market cap of 570,000 $ETH (~$2.03 billion), making it the most popular $NFT collection today.
Other popular $NFT collections, like Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins, have a market cap of 192,500 $ETH ($683 million) and 143,097 $ETH ($507 million), respectively.
CryptoPunk 3100 is not the most expensive $NFT to have been sold to date. During the $NFT craze between 2021 and 2022, an $NFT piece called “the Merge” by Pak sold for $91.8 million, making it one of the most expensive pieces sold to date.