NFT Mania Is Back? Maybe Not, but a CryptoPunk Just Sold for a Record $56.3M
A hallmark of the last cryptocurrency bull market was the remarkably high sale prices for various non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The world has largely moved on from NFTs, with enthusiasm for crypto products embellished with quirky images now directed toward memecoins – so, so many memecoins.
Yet, on Thursday, a sign of bull markets past returned: A CryptoPunk NFT just sold for a record price of $56.3 million. The prior all-time high of $23.7 million was set in February 2022, months before the crypto winter got truly dark.
Punk 1563, depicting a pixelated woman with dark hair and blue eyes, fetched 24,000 ether (ETH) in the transaction. As recently as September, it was offered for sale for less than 30 ETH – meaning the latest deal represented a huge markup versus recent pricing.
NFTs have historically seen all manner of weirdness around sales. There was the time in 2021 when another CryptoPunk technically sold for $532 million, though blockchain data clearly show the same person was on both sides of the trade.
And there have been allegations that NFTs were used for money laundering.
It’s not clear what the motivations were for Punk 1563, though.
Edited by Aoyon Ashraf.
Disclosure
Please note that our
privacy policy,
terms of use,
cookies,
and
do not sell my personal information
have been updated
.
CoinDesk is an
award-winning
media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of
editorial policies.
CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.
Nick Baker is CoinDesk’s deputy editor-in-chief and a Loeb Award winner. He owns more than $1,000 of BTC and SOL.
Follow @inkbacker on Twitter