Take the crypto world, mix in a little punk and you have yourself a recipe for success. Just this week, Punk #561 has been sold for 375 ETH ($1,041,344.97 USD).
So what makes this punk so special？ Only 115 of the 10,000 collections have top hats and this is one of them and only 286 have 3D glasses. These small accessories are becoming massive factors when punks are up for auction. Minor visual details paired with the larger punk movement are propelling CryptoPunks into mainstream collectibles.
If Punk came to symbolize rebellion and a confrontation to music industry norms then it could be said that crypto as a movement is doing something similar to institutional finance. Anti-authoritarianism, anti-corporate greed, and a visual demonstration of anti-capitalism are three ways, to sum up, both punk and cryptocurrencies.
From hairstyles to fashion to sex, hardcore punk was an artistic movement that gave people a way to culturally express their frustration with economic inequality and neglect of working-class people. With the introduction of NFTs the punk movement had a new way to express its ideologies.
What makes CryptoPunks so special？
The CryptoPunks were launched by Larva Labs in 2017 and many of the first-ever punks were given away for free. This was one of the first series of non-fungible tokens. There are 10,000 unique cryptopunk characters and no two are the same.
The collectible nature of these characters has made them high-value property, with one selling at auction earlier this year for over $11.7 million. Many believe that the NFT scene is still in its early days.
However, Cryptopunks is well established amongst its collectors and the market has remained hot for these alternative avatars throughout the last three years.
Buying CryptoPunks has now become an actionable way to associate with the disruption and fight against the status quo offered by crypto. Furthermore, the type of punk being auctioned may directly appeal to the individual represented by accessories, clothing, glasses, and tattoos.
If we take a leaf out of Patti Smith‘s book we can begin to understand the type of people that gravitate towards Cryptopunks and more acutely towards punk and crypto “To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It’s freedom.”
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