CryptoPunk NFTs to Go Under the Hammer at Sotheby’s

While NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea take the lions share of NFT trading activity, auction houses such as Christies and Sotheby’s also have their place in the NFT market. For years, major art works have continued to fall into the hands of the world’s most well-known auction houses. This trend has continued into the virtual world and the NFT art market.

Auction Houses Sell World’s Most Expensive NFTs

In early 2021, globally renowned auction house Christies and NFTs united. Christies sold an NFT titled EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS for a whopping $69.3m. The creator of the NFT Beeple, created a new digital image each day for 5,000 consecutive days running from 2007 to the 5,000^th day in January 2021.

Beeple’s first NFT remains the most expensive NFT every sold. Beeple also created the second most expensive NFT ever sold. The piece, titled Human One, fetched $28.9m at a Christies auction in 2021.

Looking at NFT marketplaces, the most expensive NFT sold was CryptoPunk 4156, which went for 2,500 ETH, equivalent to $10.2m at the time of sale.

It comes as no surprise, therefore that auction houses are likely to continue to have their place in the NFT market.

Sotheby’s Goes CryptoPunk

This week, Sotheby’s took to Twitter, announcing the sale of ‘Punk It! 104 CryptoPunks’. According to the Tweet, the live auction is set to take place on 23^rd February. Reaction to the news was mixed, with there being some uncertainty over whether the NFTs are the original version 1 or version 2 CryptoPunks.

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

A live exhibition of the ‘Punk It! 104 CryptoPunks’ is set to take place from 18^th to 23^rd February. There will also be a VIP Punk dinner and an auction party. Originally, Ethereum wallet holders were able to claim from 10,000 uniquely generated characters for free.

Sotheby’s is also no newcomer to NFT auctions. Back in June 2021, Sotheby’s sold Punk 7523 for $11.58m. The sale was part of a Sotheby’s #NativelyDigital NFT auction.

Moments ago in our #London saleroom, an extremely rare “Alien” CryptoPunk #7523 from the collection of @sillytuna sold for $11.8M as part of our #NativelyDigital NFT auction – setting a new world auction record for a single CryptoPunk. pic.twitter.com/PDVUSttI3o

— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 10, 2021

Larva Labs launched CryptoPunks, an NFT collection on the Ethereum (ETH) back in 2017. The NFT world considers the collection to be the foundations of the NFT market as we know it today.