CryptoPunks are a fixed set of 10,000 pixel portraits launched on Ethereum in 2017 by Larva Labs, long before most people had heard of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). They helped shape the later ERC-721 world and, in 2022, Yuga Labs acquired the brand. Official collection pages still list floors in the tens of ETH for even ordinary Punks — eye-watering for a tiny bitmap, ordinary if you treat them as scarce cultural trophies rather than “digital art for beginners”.
Price sits on history, fixed supply and status, not on brushwork. Alien, Ape and Zombie traits are rarer; auction-house headlines and celebrity wallets keep the myth warm. Floors move with ether and with fashion: a dollar quote can look calm while the ETH quote slides, or the reverse. That is a liquid collectible market with thin patience for latecomers who buy the story second-hand.
Scam desks borrow the aura. Telegram “NFT tutors” promise CryptoPunk-style upside after a small mint, a bot trade, or a tax to “release” a win. Secondary lookalike collections and phishing “claim” sites ride the same name. Before you connect a wallet, open the official project site or a major marketplace listing you typed yourself, check the contract, and treat any stranger who needs your seed or an unlimited token approval as hostile. Related pattern notes: NFT scams, rug pulls and phishing.
If this sounds familiar, start at Get help. If someone is already selling a paid “fix”, read Fake recovery before you send another fee.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.