Picture this: in 2022, someone spent $23.7 million on a pixelated cartoon alien with a blue hoodie. That’s enough to buy a private island, a fleet of Lamborghinis, or literally 23.7 million avocado toasts. Yet CryptoPunks #5822 became a symbol of NFT mania-a digital status sticker that split opinions between “revolutionary art” and “what in the blockchain is happening here?”

Quit

@0xQuit

And so the era of CryptoPunks at Yuga Labs has come to an end.

It's bittersweet -- I enjoyed working on punks perhaps more than anything the past couple of years. Their quirks, their history, their community, they all add up to some weird charm that you can't find anywhere else.

CryptoPunks

@cryptopunksnfts

We are excited to announce CryptoPunks have found a permanent home at The Infinite Node Foundation.

@nodefnd is a non-profit committed to the preservation and expansion of contemporary digital art.

@larvalabs founders & artists Matt Hall & John Watkinson are returning to join

Fast-forward to 2025, and the plot thickened. Yuga Labs-the same folks behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club-handed CryptoPunks’ reins to the Infinite Node Foundation (NODE), a non-profit promising to treat these pixelated rebels like Renaissance masterpieces. Cue mixed reactions: some cheered the move as NFTs “growing up,” while OG collectors muttered, “First they ignore you, then they institutionalize you.” Let’s unpack how a coding experiment became a cultural lightning rod… and what it means for the future of digital ownership.

How to Explain NFTs to Your Dog:

Feeling lost when explaining NFTs to your friends, family, or even your dog? You’re not alone. The “right-click-save” meme has become the shorthand for public confusion: “Why pay millions for a JPEG I can screenshot?” The NFT community has responded with self-deprecating humour and memes, embracing the absurdity.

Start with: “NFTs are digital trading cards on the blockchain.”
If your dog tilts its head, try: “Imagine your favourite chew toy, but you can prove it’s yours-even if everyone else has a copy.”
If your dog still looks confused, just show them a meme.
For more, enjoy:
Reddit: NFTs Explained in Simple Terms
NFTevening: Right-Click-Save Memes

Because in the world of NFTs, if you can’t laugh at yourself, someone else will do it for you.

I. When Two Dudes Accidentally Invented Digital Scarcity

A. The “Hold My Beer” Moment of 2017

Before CryptoPunks, “owning” digital art was like claiming you “owned” a meme-everyone could right-click-save it. Enter Matt Hall and John Watkinson, two developers who threw together an algorithm over a weekend to generate 10,000 unique 24x24 pixel characters. They called them “punks,” gave them traits like “pipe-smoking zombie” or “3D glasses ape,” and let anyone claim them for free.

The catch? Only 10,000 would ever exist. Ever. This wasn’t just novelty-it was the first time code proved digital scarcity. As Matt later admitted: “We thought maybe 100 people would care. Turns out, scarcity matters.”

B. From Garage Band to Mainstream Headliners

For months, Punks gathered dust. Then crypto Twitter noticed. By 2021, even Jay-Z swapped his Twitter avatar for a Punk, and Visa bought one as a “cultural artefact.” Suddenly, Punks weren’t just JPEGs-they were flexes, investments, and storytelling tools. As one collector joked: “My Punk isn’t just a zombie… it’s a philosophy.”

The ERC-721 standard (born in 2018) turned this experiment into an industry. Suddenly, every artist, musician, and meme lord could mint provably unique tokens. But with great power came great absurdity: think “NFTs of NFTs” and a $580,000 rock meme.

The Ape Index: Why 24×24 Pixel Apes Outsold Zombies 10:1

CryptoPunks aren’t just digital avatars-they’re a masterclass in rarity economics. Of the 10,000 Punks, only 24 are Apes, making them rarer than Zombies (88) and even more exclusive than the 6,000+ Male Punks. This scarcity, combined with the NFT world’s obsession with apes (see: Bored Ape Yacht Club), has sent Ape Punk prices to the stratosphere. In September 2024, a single Ape Punk (#4464) sold for 1,011 ETH (over $2.18 million), while Zombie Punks, though coveted, typically fetch less per unit1 5. The top ten most expensive CryptoPunks ever sold are dominated by Apes, Zombies, and the ultra-rare Aliens, but Apes consistently command the highest multiples over floor price.

II. Yuga Labs: The Corporate Sugar Daddy Era

A. When the Rebels Sold Out (Or Did They?)

In 2022, Yuga Labs bought CryptoPunks from Larva Labs. Cue outrage: “You can’t sell punk ethos!” But Yuga had plans. They granted owners commercial rights, leading to Punk-themed merch, comics, and even a (very cringe) pop-punk band. Critics called it “selling out”; supporters argued it was “democratizing IP.”

The real drama? The “721 Wrapper.” Yuga upgraded Punks to ERC-721 compatibility, letting owners trade them on modern platforms. Purists groaned: “You’re wrapping a Mona Lisa in duct tape!” But traders loved it-volume soared, even as OG collectors side-eyed the “corporate vibes.”

Cringe Hall of Fame: The Worst CryptoPunk Merch (Spoiler: Scented Candles)

With great IP comes… questionable merchandise. Once commercial rights were granted to Punk owners, the floodgates opened: think socks, mugs, and even scented candles featuring pixelated punk faces. While some collaborations (like Punk Comics) earned genuine collector interest, others veered into the absurd. The NFT community has poked fun at everything from Punk-branded fanny packs to “exclusive” air fresheners. The line between ironic and cringe is thin-NFT memes and Twitter threads regularly roast the most egregious examples7. For a taste of the best (and worst) NFT merch memes, check out:

NFTevening: Funniest NFT Memes
12 Tomatoes: Comedian Explains NFTs

B. The Great NFT Cooling of 2024
By 2024, the NFT market wasn’t dead… just napping. Prices stabilized, speculative flippers fled, and Yuga shifted focus to their metaverse project, Otherside. As one exec quipped: “Punks are like your dad’s vintage band tee-cool, but not paying the bills anymore.”

Enter NODE.

III. NODE’s Playbook: Museums, Memes, and Infinite Stashes

A. Non-profit Stewardship (Or: How to Babysit a Pixel)

NODE’s plan? Treat Punks like the Louvre treats the Mona Lisa. They partnered with museums, launched educational programs, and teased “The Stash”-rumoured to be a vault where owners can “lock” Punks for display in galleries. One curator admitted: “Explaining blockchain provenance to art snobs is like teaching your grandma Tiktok. But we’re trying!”

B. Toledo’s Infinite Images Exhibit: A Case Study

In 2025, Toledo Museum of Art displayed 50 Punks alongside Warhols and Picassos. Visitors got QR codes to verify ownership on-chain. Reviews were mixed: “It’s like a digital zoo” vs. “Finally, art that doesn’t take itself seriously.”

The kicker? A punk-owning donor funded the exhibit. As NODE’s director noted: “We’re not just preserving art-we’re preserving context. Even the cringe parts.”

IV. The Future: Punks, Protocols, and Philosophical Headaches

A. Will NFTs Outlive the Hype?
NODE’s experiment asks: Can NFTs thrive without speculation? Early signs are… weird. The Louvre is exploring NFT guides, while Sotheby’s auctions “vintage” Punks with academic essays. Meanwhile, artists are pushing “fully on-chain” projects-think generative art that evolves after you buy it.

B. The Legal Swamp
Who owns a Punk’s IP if NODE dissolves? Can DAOs manage cultural heritage? And what if someone wants to delete their NFT from the blockchain? (Spoiler: You can’t. Thanks, immutability!)

V. Conclusion: An Ode to the Bittersweet

CryptoPunks’ journey-from cheeky experiment to institutional darling-mirrors blockchain’s own growing pains. As @0xQuit mused in 2025: “It’s bittersweet. We’re building cathedrals, but I miss the chaos.”

Maybe that’s the point. NFTs aren’t just assets or art-they’re time capsules of internet culture. And whether they end up in museums or meme compilations, one thing’s clear: the punks started a rebellion even Satoshi wouldn’t have seen coming.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to right-click-save this essay… just in case.

Written with a mix of reverence and irreverence-because if you can’t laugh at a $23 million jpeg, what can you laugh at?