Auction house Sotheby’s has sold a non-fungible token of a digital artwork known as “CryptoPunk, Alien #7523” for US$11.8 million, setting a new record for a single piece in the CryptoPunks series.
Fast facts:
- Created by Larva Labs in 2017, the CryptoPunks series consists of 10,000 24×24 pixel, 8-bit-style pixel art images generated by algorithms, most of which depict punky-looking people, with a few rarer types mixed in, such as apes, zombies and aliens. CryptoPunk, Alien #7523 is one of only nine alien CryptoPunks, and the only one in which the alien figure appears to be wearing a mask.
- Although anyone can view any one of the CryptoPunks works, only one person can officially own a CryptoPunk. The ownership of CryptoPunks is coded in a contract on the publicly accessible Ethereum blockchain.
- Since their release, CryptoPunks have become known as syntheses of a crypto aesthetic.
- Following on the heels of CryptoPunk, Alien #7523, Sotheby’s is launching another sale of five rare physical CryptoPunks artworks from June 24 to July 1.