TechDigits

Tech news
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Death of the NFT? CryptoPunk bought for $1 million sells for $139,000 just 6 months later

Death of the NFT? CryptoPunk bought for $1 million sells for $139,000 just 6 months later

CryptoPunk #273 might not tell us definitively, but the recent massive loss from its sale is a useful data point in the broader picture.

Has the market for rudimentary pixelated cartoon heads already peaked?

Part of one of the earliest and best-known collections that sparked the hype around digital collectibles, this non-fungible token (NFT) was launched in mid-2017 by Larva Labs as part of a set of 10,000 generated by computer—largely at random. "Inspired by the London punk scenes, the cyberpunk movement, and electronic music artists Daft Punk," per the company, these NFTs typically fetch higher prices than many other copycats save for the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

According to CryptoPunks Bot, a Twitter account that reports on the latest bids and sales, however, the NFT changed hands on Sunday for a price of just under $139,000 after having previously sold for $1.03 million in October.


Staggering loss

Excluding the loss from a depreciation in the value of ether, the seller lost in constant currency terms nearly 80% of the value of the investment, accepting just 55 ether for an NFT the individual paid 265 ether for only seven months earlier—a staggering loss.

Now, CryptoPunk #273 may be just one example, and not indicative of more sought-after CryptoPunks. Their value is in part dictated by traits like clothing, hairstyle, and makeup. These individual features are tracked in aggregate to determine a specific CryptoPunk’s rarity within the broader collection.

Recently the creator of the Bored Apes, Yuga Labs, acquired the intellectual property rights to the collection along with Larva’s other project, the Meebits, for an undisclosed sum, promising to grant full commercial use of their likeness to owners.

Data points like CryptoPunk #273 suggest the company—backed by venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz and managed by CEO Nicole Muniz and partner Guy Oseary on behalf of two erstwhile anonymous men—may have more difficulty than expected to earn a return on its investment.


Selling a metaverse community

Critics have argued the only ones who really have benefited from NFTs are cryptocurrency holders who discovered that NFTs created a reason for more people to buy and spend crypto—and thereby could increase the value of their holdings in the process.

Recently speculation has emerged about whether interest in NFTs is on the decline after a year of hype in 2021. The number of active wallets has allegedly plummeted by 88%, according to analysis by NonFungible published in the Wall Street Journal.

Supporters of NFTs have attacked the story for spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) with inaccurate and unreliable primary source data.

Perhaps the most worrying sign for NFT boosters is the star-crossed resale of an NFT of the first tweet ever sent by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey. After purchasing it for the equivalent of $2.9 million in ether, blockchain entrepreneur Sina Estavi put it up for sale on the marketplace Opensea. The highest bid at the time of publication was the ether equivalent of $24,741.

These worrying signs hasn’t stopped crypto exchanges like Coinbase and now Kraken from opening a platform for trading NFTs, however.

Perhaps the most famous NFTs—thanks to celebrity endorsements from stars like Snoop Dogg—are the 10,000 Bored Apes, which became unique for granting the owner the right to commercialize their likeness. This allowed companies like Adidas to market products featuring the likeness of its Bored Ape #8774, which the sportswear maker calls Indigo Herz.

Promoters of NFTs do not attempt to appeal with the digital artwork alone, nor do they only rely on the fear of missing out (FOMO) by advertising the artificial scarcity of these collections. They also often claim that purchasing ownership grants the NFT holder rights to join an exclusive “Web3” community in the metaverse alongside A-listers like Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Jimmy Kimmel, and Eminem.

Newsletter

Related Articles

TechDigits
0:00
0:00
Close
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
Melinda French Gates Advocates for Increased Female Representation in AI to Prevent Bias
Snapchat+ gains 4 million paying subscribers in its first year
Apple Makes History as the First Public Company Valued at $3 Trillion
Elon Musk Implements Twitter Limits to Tackle Data Scraping, but Faces Criticism for Technical Misunderstanding
EU and UK's Slow Electric Vehicle Adoption Raises Questions About the Transition to Green Mobility
Top Companies Express Concerns Over Europe's Proposed AI Law, Citing Competitiveness and Investment Risks
Meta Unveils Insights on AI Usage in Facebook and Instagram, Amid Growing Calls for Transparency
Crypto Scams Against Seniors Soar by 78% in 2022, Experts Urge Vigilance
The End of an Era: National Geographic Dismisses Last of Its Staff Writers
Shield Your Wallet: The Perils of Wireless Credit Card Theft
Harvard Scientist Who Studies Honesty Accused Of Data Fraud, Put On Leave
Putting an End to the Subscription Snare: The Battle Against Unwitting Commitments
The Legal Perils of AI: Lawyer Faces Sanctions for Relying on Fictional Cases Generated by Chatbot
ChatGPT’s "Grandma Exploit": Ingenious Hack Exposes Loophole in AI, Generates Free Software Codes
The Disney Downturn: A Near Billion-Dollar Box Office Blow for the House of Mouse
A Digital Showdown: Canada Challenges Tech Giants with The Online News Act, Meta Strikes Back
Distress in the Depths: Submersible and Passengers Missing in Titanic Wreckage Expedition
Mark Zuckerberg stealing another idea: Twitter
European Union's AI Regulations Risk Self-Sabotage, Cautions smart and brave Venture Capitalist Joe Lonsdale
Nvidia GPUs are so hard to get that rich venture capitalists are buying them for the startups they invest in
Chinese car exports surge
Reddit Blackout: Thousands of Communities Protest "Ludicrous" Pricing Changes
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
×