Leading auction house Sotheby’s is continuing its trend of giving rare and highly valuable non-fungible tokens the premier auction treatment. Here are the details on a lot of 104 CryptoPunks.
What Happened: Sotheby’s announced it will auction 104 CryptoPunks in one lot at a live auction on Feb. 23.
“CrytoPunks get the Sotheby’s treatment. Our next #SothebysMetaverse sale ‘Punk It! 104 CyrptoPunks. 1 Lot.’ Will be a landmark live evening auction on February 23. A truly historic sale for an undeniably historic NFT project,” Sotheby’s tweeted.
The auction will be preceded by a live panel discussing the history of NFTs and CryptoPunks, which will be livestreamed. The panel will discuss the role CryptoPunks played in NFTs and the numerous celebrities who own them.
Launched in 2017, CryptoPunks were one of the first NFTs to ever launch on the Ethereum ETH/USD blockchain and are considered one of the rarest and most valuable collections. The complete collection has 10,000 NFTs but given the early release, many are thought to be held in inaccessible crypto wallets.
“CryptoPunks are the original PFP series that created the template for other NFT projects that have followed, and which helped propel NFTs to the global stage as one of the most recognizable visual styles that have become synonymous with the digital art movement,” Sotheby’s said.
The auction features 104 CryptoPunks that were acquired together by collector “0x650d” in a single blockchain transaction.
Sotheby’s will accept payment for the auction in the form of Ethereum, Bitcoin BTC/USD, USD Coin USDC/USD or in fiat currencies.
Related Link: How To Buy NFTs
Why It’s Important: Sotheby’s is estimating the auction to bring in $20 million to $30 million, making it the highest valued estimate for a NFT lot at a live auction from the company.
Sotheby’s hit $100 million in auction sales from NFTs in 2021.
The record price paid for one CryptoPunk was set in June 2021 at a Sotheby’s auction with Punk #7523 going for $11.8 million. CryptoPunk #7523 is one of only nine alien Punks, the rarest trait in the collection.
The floor price of CryptoPunks at the time of writing is 67.5 ETH. The lot could have a value of $21.5 million based on the floor price and a current price of $3,060.42 for Ethereum at the time of writing.
A large lot of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs sold for $24.4 million in September 2021. The lot of 101 Bored Apes included two of the 52 rarest NFTs in the collection with the gold fur trait that is only featured on 46 of the 10,000 Apes.
Sotheby’s, which auctioned the lot of Bored Apes, estimated the lot to go for $12 million to $18 million. The average price for the Apes in the lot was 68.3 ETH versus a floor price of 40.8 ETH at the time.
The Punks in this auction's lot are all basic with varying traits but no super rare traits. Given that fact, the auction will likely stay in the $20 to $30 million range.
Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's
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