In 2017, 9,000 CryptoPunks NFTs were free for anyone with an Ethereum wallet. Flash forward four years: Nine of these CryptoPunks sold at Christie’s for $17 million. Even in the volatile cryptocurrency market, that kind of return on investment (ROI) is impressive.

So, what are CryptoPunks, and why have they become such a valuable NFT collection? Learn all of the highlights and history behind the CryptoPunks NFT collection.

On the surface, CryptoPunks are 2D 24x24 pixelated portraits of punk rock-inspired people, zombies, apes, or aliens. In the crypto community, however, these tokenized avatars have become the equivalent of fine art.

CryptoPunks have origins in 2017, when programmers Matt Hall and John Watkinson gave away 9,000 of these NFTs to anyone with an Ethereum wallet. Although every CryptoPunk NFT has a unique set of attributes, they all have a similar aesthetic with their 8-bit design and cypherpunk-influenced features. Like other NFTs, ownership rights of CryptoPunks are easily verifiable on the Ethereum blockchain.

Although the CryptoPunks gained some attention during the 2017 crypto bull run, it wasn’t until the 2021 NFT craze that the punks gained mainstream popularity. Celebrities like Steve Aoki, Jay-Z, and Serena Williams scooped up CryptoPunk avatars to claim a piece of crypto history and express their Web3 identity. The floor price for CryptoPunks NFTs continued to rise as the demand for these PFP NFTs exploded.

In early 2022, Hall and Watkinson’s company Larva Labs sold the IP for CryptoPunks to the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) founder Yuga Labs. As its first order of business, Yuga Labs formally gave NFT holders the IP rights to their CryptoPunk avatars.

There are 10,000 CryptoPunks NFTs in the following five categories:

Men: 6,039 NFTs Women: 3,840 NFTs Zombies: 88 NFTs Apes: 24 NFTs Aliens: 9 NFTs

There are also 88 possible accessories (including nothing) in the CryptoPunks collection, and each NFT can have as many as seven traits.

The average prices of CryptoPunks fluctuate depending on market demand, but they tend to cost a premium compared with other NFTs. As of writing, the lowest price for a CryptoPunk NFT is more than $100,000.

A great place to find the current average price for CryptoPunks NFTs is on Larva Labs’ official CryptoPunks portal. Collectors can also research the historical averages for CryptoPunks NFTs on secondary NFT markets like OpenSea and NFT.com.

Typically, people who buy a CryptoPunk NFT are most interested in this collection’s cultural and historical value. Since CryptoPunks were the first 10K NFT PFP collection and the inspiration for the ERC-721 NFT token standard, they’ll always hold a special place in the history of cryptocurrency. Plus, many crypto enthusiasts identify with the rebellious cypherpunk aesthetics in the CryptoPunks project.

CryptoPunks are among the few NFT collections with an undeniable “blue-chip status.” As long as NFTs are around, it’s safe to assume the original CryptoPunks will have some market value due to their historical significance. While this doesn’t mean CryptoPunks will always be worth $100K per token, it helps explain why some investors feel comfortable spending high amounts to put them in their wallets.

To buy a CryptoPunk NFT, you need an Ethereum-compatible wallet (e.g., MetaMask) and a lot of Ether (ETH). You could buy ETH on a centralized crypto exchange like Coinbase and send it to your MetaMask or purchase ETH through your wallet. Just be sure you have extra ETH in your account to handle gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain.

As for where to buy CryptoPunks NFTs, you can visit Larva Labs’ official CryptoPunks portal and link your MetaMask. Larva Labs arranges all 10K of its CryptoPunks with different backgrounds signifying whether they’re on sale, have a bid, or are off the market.

Zoom in to these CryptoPunk avatars and click “Details” by an NFT whose transaction history you want to see, and place a bid.

Only CryptoPunks with a red background are available for sale by the NFT’s owner. However, you can still make an offer on any CryptoPunk, even if it’s not officially for sale.

Aside from Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks page, you can find the CryptoPunks on many secondary NFT markets like OpenSea, NFT.com, and Rarible.

Just be sure the CryptoPunks collection you’re looking at has the official “check” mark to avoid purchasing a copy of the original project.

Chain Protocol’s CEO Deepak Thapliyal spent more than $23 million for CryptoPunk #5822, making this NFT the most expensive in the CryptoPunks collection. CryptoPunk #5822 scores well on NFT rarity rankings because it’s one of only nine NFTs in the “alien” category. As a bonus, CryptoPunk #5822 has just one attribute (i.e., a bandana), which doesn’t happen all that often in the CryptoPunks collection.

If you’re curious about how to check NFT rarity rankings, use NFT scanning websites to scan the collection you’re interested in. Examples of NFT rarity sites include Rarity Sniper, rarity.tools, and icy.tools.

NFT derivatives are basically “copycat” collections. Due to the success of the original CryptoPunks, countless NFT projects openly mimic attributes of this historic collection. For instance, some CryptoPunks derivatives put a fresh spin on the aesthetics of the original NFTs by adding 3D graphics, neon borders, or a Picasso-like painting style. It’s also common to see a new set of “Punks” appear on non-Ethereum blockchains (e.g., Solana’s SolPunks, Bitcoin’s Ordinals Punks, etc.).

Since derivative NFT projects are cheaper than the original, they help more collectors to enter the CryptoPunks community. Just be sure to practice basic Web3 safety when researching CryptoPunks knockoffs.

There’s no way to “make” an original CryptoPunks NFT, but plenty of artists use programs to create CryptoPunks derivatives. Indeed, you could use any art form you feel most comfortable with to recreate the original CryptoPunks. For instance, if you’re into photography, you could make a CryptoPunk-inspired photo collection. It’s also common for artists to use tools like Photoshop to mimic the CrypotPunks’ 8-bit pixel design style.

As long as you have a digital copy of your CryptoPunk image, you could upload it to an NFT market like OpenSea and mint it as an NFT. You could even add NFT royalties to your CryptoPunk derivative to potentially earn compensation for every secondary market sale.

The time to “get in early” on collections like CryptoPunks is long gone, but there are still many opportunities in the NFT market. While it’s not easy to spot the next hit NFT collection, crypto collectors use a few tried-and-true strategies to assess promising new projects. Be sure to add a few NFT shopping tips to your checklist if you’re unsure how to know what NFTs to buy, and when.