Description
CryptoPunks is an interactive digital art project on the Ethereum blockchain comprising 10,000 unique, algorithmically generated 24x24 pixel characters (humans, apes, zombies, and aliens), permanently inscribed on-chain. Launched in June 2017 by Larva Labs before the term 'NFT' existed, it was distributed for free via a built-in smart-contract marketplace to anyone with an Ethereum wallet, and is credited as the prototype that helped shape the ERC-721 NFT standard. Collectors adopted Punks as profile pictures and status symbols, developing a shared vocabulary around traits and rarity; individual Punks have sold for millions at auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's and entered institutional collections including MoMA, ICA Miami, Centre Pompidou, and LACMA. The project's intellectual property was acquired by Yuga Labs in 2022 and passed to the nonprofit Infinite Node Foundation in 2025, which now operates the official CryptoPunks site and market (cryptopunks.app) and maintains the collection and its community.