Sotheby’s to auction 104 CryptoPunks NFTs for an estimated $20-$30 million

Prestigious auction house Sotheby’s is putting up a sale of 104 CryptoPunks NFTs in New York City. The official statement issued by Sotheby’s stated that the auction house is all set to sell 104 CryptoPunks NFTs in a single lot which is expected to fetch nearly $20-30 million.   

Sotheby’s to auction 104 Cryptopunk NFTs 

According to Sotheby’s, the sale of this single lot of CryptoPunk NFTs “marks the highest valued estimate for an NFT or digital art ever offered at auction.”

CryptoPunks get the Sotheby’s treatment. Our next #SothebysMetaverse sale ‘Punk It! 104 CryptoPunks. 1 Lot.’ will be a landmark LIVE Evening Auction on February 23. A truly historic sale for an undeniably historic NFT project. pic.twitter.com/LAu6j8Atu3

— Sotheby’s (@Sothebys) February 8, 2022

The single lot of 104 CryptoPunks NFTs that are set to auction this week was previously acquired by an anonymous collector known as “0x650d.” The auction house further states that the lot of NFTs going up for sale next week comes from a single wallet that represents 1 percent of the entire CryptoPunks collection, which makes the auction more unique and special. 

As per the official statement: 

“The present group of 104 CryptoPunks, which since their launch in 2017 have become the standard-bearer and leading visual symbol for the global NFT movement, were acquired together with a single transaction registered on the blockchain, and therefore all 104 Punks have the exact same provenance and making this collection unique.”

Moreover, Sotheby’s will also be accepting payments in cryptocurrencies from the bidders during the event. The auction house clarified that they will be accepting payments in Bitcoin and Ethereum along with fiat currency payments for the single lot sale of 104 CryptoPunks NFTs. 

The 104 CryptoPunks NFTs previously owned by anonymous “0x650d” also acknowledged the following auction as “one of the most significant and high profile sales of contemporary and modern art in history.”

“I simply could not pass up the opportunity to elevate CryptoPunks in the international art community. And with this sale, the CryptoPunk collection will be solidified in the broader art world.” The anonymous collector added 

This live, single-lot evening auction represents a chance to showcase CryptoPunks on the same level as some of the most significant and high-profile sales of Contemporary and Modern Art in history.

— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 8, 2022

CryptoPunks NFTs, originally launched in 2017 by Larva Labs, gained tremendous popularity due to their unique characteristic features and attributes. Each CryptoPunks NFT was algorithmically created through a computer code by adding a flair of uniqueness to each CryptoPunks NFT.