CryptoPunks — one of the first NFT collections

CryptoPunks in plain words

CryptoPunks are 10,000 pixel characters, 24 by 24 dots each, that a program put together in 2017. Each of them is a separate unique token on the Ethereum network, a record that cannot be swapped for another one just like it (what is an NFT).

It helps to picture a punk as a collectible stamp. Stamps come in a limited print run, and anyone can take a photo of one, yet the stamp in the album is the only one, and that stamp is what collectors value. A punk works the same way. Its "album" is the shared ledger of the blockchain, where anyone who cares to look can see who owns which punk.

They were distributed free of charge, and they are believed to have inspired the common rules for NFTs (the ERC-721 standard) that many later collections are built on¹.

How CryptoPunks work

What you get when you buy a punk, and what you don't

What you get:

• a record in the blockchain showing that this number belongs to your address, the number of your "account" on the network;
• the ability to sell the punk or hand it over to anyone;
• a commercial license for your punk's image from the company Yuga Labs²; for the current terms, see
  where to check: license terms on cryptopunks.app
  ⚖️.

What you don't get:

• the only copy of the picture;
• rights to the CryptoPunks brand itself;
• any income or payouts;
• a price guarantee.

What exactly an NFT proves, and what it is not, is covered in more detail in what is an NFT.

How to avoid buying a copy instead of a punk

The real CryptoPunks are the second version of the collection (V2), which the creators released in June 2017 to replace the first one after a bug turned up in it³⁴. Tokens from the first version are sold as "early V1 punks", and the creators do not regard them as official CryptoPunks⁵.

To sell a punk on ordinary NFT marketplaces (websites where people buy and sell NFTs), owners put it into a "wrapper". The wrapper is a new token that can be swapped back for the original punk⁶.

Before you buy, check the contract address, that is, the address of the collection's program on the network. On a punk's page on a marketplace it usually sits in the "Contract address" line, and it must match the address on the official site cryptopunks.app. Copies, V1 punks and wrapped punks can have a different address, so work out what exactly you are being sold. How to avoid falling for a fake is explained in token standards and phishing and scams.

Which types of punks exist and why some cost more

The program built each character from a base type and a set of accessories, drawing on 87 accessories in total. The rarer the type, and the rarer its mix of traits, the more people want that punk.

Where the punks' images are stored

At first the blockchain held only a check value for the combined image (its digital fingerprint), and the picture itself was kept elsewhere. Since August 2021 the images and their traits have been written directly into the blockchain, so they no longer depend on anyone's server⁸. This sets CryptoPunks apart from many other NFTs, where the blockchain stores only a link to a picture that lives somewhere else (what is an NFT).

How a punk differs from a collectible stamp and a painting

Pros and cons of CryptoPunks, stamps and paintings as collectibles

CryptoPunks history in dates

1. In June 2017 anyone who wanted a punk could claim one free, and the creators kept 1,000 punks for themselves³⁹.
2. On 11 May 2021 nine punks were sold as a single lot at a Christie's auction in New York, which drew a lot of attention to the collection¹⁰.
3. In August 2021 the punks' images were moved into the blockchain itself⁸.
4. On 15 August 2022 punk owners received a commercial license for their images².

CryptoPunks risks and why the price depends on fashion

• The price rests on fashion and attention and has swung widely over the years, so put in only money you are ready to see lose value.
• Selling a unique item quickly and at the price you want does not always work, and an NFT is usually harder to sell than other cryptocurrency.
• Your wallet key (the secret code your wallet uses to approve your transfers) is your responsibility alone, and if you lose access to it, you lose the punk too (how to store crypto).

Where to check current CryptoPunks data

You can view all 10,000 punks and their attributes in the official gallery on cryptopunks.app

, while buying, selling, the lowest price and the sales history are on an NFT marketplace.

The collection's contract and any ownership record show up in a block explorer, a website where you can see every record tied to an address.

More detail on CryptoPunks versions, wrappers and rights

The first version of the contract (V1) came out on 9 June 2017³. Its built-in market, through which punks were sold right inside the contract, had a bug. The final version (V2) followed on 23 June, and whoever had claimed punks in V1 received them in V2⁹.

In 2022 the creators at Larva Labs stated that V1 tokens are not official CryptoPunks. Yuga Labs has taken no position on them⁵. CryptoPunks got their own contract before the common ERC-721 standard appeared, which is why wrappers follow that standard. The community made the first wrapper, and since December 2023 there has also been an official one from Yuga Labs⁶.

The rights to the images first belonged to the studio Larva Labs. Yuga Labs bought them on 11 March 2022, and in May 2025 the Infinite Node Foundation announced that it had acquired them from Yuga Labs¹¹¹².

On 12 February 2022 the collection saw its record sale up to that time: someone bought punk number 5822, an alien, the rarest type¹³.

Frequently asked questions