The NFT CryptoPunks art collection has sold another record-breaking work titled CryptoPunk 635 on the Ethereum blockchain for $12.38 million ETH, the collection announced Thursday in a statement to X.
As one of only nine foreign punks, CryptoPunk 635 is an extremely rare entity. It was sold as the fourth highest-value piece in the entire collection.
According to Thursday’s statement, the artwork was previously owned by CryptoPunk’s parent company, Larva Labs, and was last sold at Christie’s contemporary art evening sale in May 2021.
The transaction between NFT Collection and the new owner of CryptoPunk 635, who chose to remain anonymous, was conducted by NFT’s high-end broker, Fountain.
“We are honored to have played a small role in this sale” – NFT Project said in a statement on Thursday. “Congratulations to the seller and the new owner!”
Launched in 2017 by Canadian software developers Matt Hall and John Watkinson, CryptoPunks is a collection of some 10,000 uniquely generated digital images inspired by the cyberpunk movement.
The project’s website reads: “No two are exactly alike, and each can be collected without trust by any person interacting with the Ethereum blockchain.”
While most of the project’s collectible items depict humans, there are a few select limited edition pieces in circulation that depict zombies, monkeys and aliens.
Other digital artwork related to CryptoPunk 635 sold through the project has reached a retail price of as much as $23.7 million. Just last month, another anonymous buyer purchased an alien CryptoPunk for $16.03 million, the second-largest recorded transaction in the project’s history.
Good news for the continued strength of NFT Art World?
In March 2022, CryptoPunks was acquired by parent company Yuga Labs, the highly successful NFT Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection, for an undisclosed sum.
“We have long admired CryptoPunks and the work of the project’s founders, Matt and John,” – wrote Yuga Labs in a post to X shortly after the announcement. “They have pushed NFT and the broader cryptocurrency world forward, and we are honored to support the brands they have built and the one we are building at Yuga.”
Those who missed the latest NFT project sale need not worry: CryptoPunk 5905, is currently on the market for $15.64 million. Although the price of NFT’s monthly art sales has been falling in recent years, the sale of CryptoPunk 635 and others could mean NFT’s staying power in the art industry as a whole.
