CryptoPunks are 10,000 pixel-art characters released free on Ethereum in June 2017 by Larva Labs, and they predate the ERC-721 NFT standard. That age makes them mechanically odd: they trade through a marketplace built into their original contract, exist alongside an earlier “V1” contract and several wrapped versions, and since May 2025 their intellectual property has belonged to a nonprofit, the Infinite Node Foundation. For anyone looking at a cryptopunk, those quirks decide what you are actually buying. This guide covers the history, ownership, versions and safe buying steps, without price predictions.
- 10,000 unique 24×24 pixel punks, claimed free (plus gas) in June 2017 by creators Matt Hall and John Watkinson.
- The official punks live in the 2017 “V2” contract with its own marketplace, now run at cryptopunks.app by the NODE Foundation.
- V1 punks and wrapped punks are different tokens; know which one a listing is selling.
- Owning a punk is separate from owning the CryptoPunks IP, which NODE acquired from Yuga Labs in May 2025.
- Always confirm the contract address and punk number before paying.
What CryptoPunks are
Each punk is a small generated character, mostly male and female humans, plus rarer zombies, apes and aliens, with attributes such as hats, pipes and glasses. Every punk is numbered 0 to 9999 and appears in a single composite image whose hash was written into the contract at launch. In August 2021 Larva Labs went further and put the images and attributes themselves on-chain, so a punk can be rendered straight from Ethereum without any outside server.
Because CryptoPunks came before ERC-721, the original contract is not a standard NFT contract. It tracks who owns which punk number and includes its own functions to list a punk for sale, bid on one and accept a bid. The ERC-721 standard, finalised in early 2018, cites CryptoPunks as inspiration. Our overview of major NFT projects places punks alongside later collections.
A short history: Larva Labs to the Infinite Node Foundation
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 2017 | Larva Labs launches 10,000 punks, free to claim. A bug in the first contract’s marketplace prompts a replacement “V2” contract within days; V1 claimants receive V2 punks. |
| Early 2018 | ERC-721 standard published, citing CryptoPunks. |
| September 2020 | Community-built wrapper contract lets punks be traded as ERC-721 tokens on outside marketplaces. |
| August 2021 | Images and attributes moved on-chain. Visa buys Punk #2202, drawing mainstream attention. |
| Late 2021 – early 2022 | V1 punks are wrapped by the community and start trading; Larva Labs objects, then files takedowns. |
| March 2022 | Yuga Labs, creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, acquires the CryptoPunks and Meebits IP; holders are granted commercial rights to their punks in 2022. |
| May 2025 | Yuga sells the CryptoPunks IP to the nonprofit Infinite Node Foundation (NODE); the price was not disclosed but was reported at around $20 million. |
| January 2026 | NODE opens a permanent hub in Palo Alto with “10,000,” an exhibition of the full collection. |
NODE describes itself as a nonprofit dedicated to conserving digital art. It formed a Punks advisory board that includes Hall and Watkinson, Yuga co-founder Wylie Aronow and Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon, and says it develops and maintains the official marketplace at cryptopunks.app. Record sales and price history are covered on our most expensive NFTs page.
Who owns what: the punk vs the IP
Holding a punk gives you the token: the on-chain record that your address owns punk number X. It does not give you the CryptoPunks brand, the name or the copyright in the collection. Those belong to the IP holder, now NODE.
What holders may do with their punk’s image comes from the license. Yuga granted holders commercial rights to their individual punks in 2022, and NODE’s CryptoPunks page recounts that grant. We could not find a revised license published by NODE as of October 2026, so before any commercial use, read the terms currently posted on the official site rather than relying on summaries. The general rules on token vs license vs copyright are in our NFT copyright guide, and the comparable Yuga license history for apes is covered in our Bored Ape guide.
Also note what you do not get: no royalties flow to holders, no token airdrops are promised, and no organisation is obliged to support the price. The punk is a collectible artwork with a long history, and nothing more is guaranteed.
V1, V2 and wrapped CryptoPunks
This is the part that trips up buyers. Several tokens can show the same punk image.
| Version | What it is | Where it trades | Buyer’s note |
|---|---|---|---|
| CryptoPunks (V2) | The 2017 contract recognised as official, with its built-in marketplace | cryptopunks.app and the contract itself; often shown on aggregators | This is what “a CryptoPunk” usually means. Contract: 0xb47e3cd837dDF8e4c57F05d70Ab865de6e193BBB |
| Wrapped CryptoPunks | A V2 punk deposited into an ERC-721 wrapper so standard marketplaces can trade it | General NFT marketplaces | Backed one-to-one by a real V2 punk, but you rely on the wrapper contract and must unwrap to hold the original |
| V1 punks (wrapped) | Tokens from the abandoned first contract, wrapped by the community | Some general marketplaces | A separate, distinct collection; not a V2 punk. Larva Labs’ historical stance on V1 was hostile, then ambivalent |
| Copycats and “derivatives” | Unrelated contracts reusing the art or name | Anywhere | No connection to the original; often scams |
The built-in marketplace works differently from OpenSea-style listings. A holder calls a function to offer the punk for sale at a price (optionally only to a specific address), and anyone can buy it at that price by sending ETH to the contract. Bidders lock ETH in the contract with their bid, which the holder can accept. Because listings are on-chain state, a forgotten low listing can be bought instantly by anyone; a holder has to cancel it on-chain. The original contract also has no royalty logic.
How to buy a CryptoPunk safely
As of October 2026 the primary venue for the original tokens is the official marketplace at cryptopunks.app (type the domain yourself; we do not link it). The process in outline:
- Use a secure wallet. A hardware wallet connected through a browser wallet is the norm for an asset of this value. Never connect your vault wallet to unfamiliar sites.
- Pick the exact punk by number. Check its attributes and full sale history on the punk’s page; all bids, offers and sales are public.
- Confirm you are dealing with the V2 contract. In your wallet’s transaction preview, the contract you interact with should be the CryptoPunks address above. If you are buying a wrapped punk on another marketplace, verify that the wrapper holds the specific punk number on-chain.
- Buy at the listed price or place a bid. Buying sends ETH to the contract and transfers the punk in the same transaction. A bid locks your ETH in the contract until it is accepted, outbid or withdrawn; withdraw stale bids you no longer want.
- Check the result on Etherscan. Search the punk number or your address to confirm the transfer.
- Record it for taxes. Paying in ETH is a taxable disposal of that ETH in many countries, including the US.
Prices are not discussed here; how floors are measured and why they mislead is covered in our NFT floor price explainer.
Risks and fakes
- Illiquidity. High-value NFTs can take a long time to sell, and bids can vanish in a falling market. Treat a punk as something you may not be able to sell quickly.
- Version confusion. A V1 punk or a copycat with the same image is not a V2 punk. Check the contract address, not the picture or the collection name.
- Lookalike marketplaces and drainers. Fake punk marketplaces and “claim” pages exist. Bookmark the official domain and read every transaction preview.
- Wrapper risk. Wrapped punks depend on a separate smart contract. It has operated since 2020, but it is still extra code between you and the original token.
- Forgotten listings. On the native marketplace a listing stays live until you cancel it on-chain, so an old listing priced below today’s market can be filled by anyone at any moment.
- Stewardship changes. The IP has changed hands twice. NODE’s nonprofit model is new, and its decisions on licensing or the marketplace could change how punks are used and traded.
- Market risk. NFT prices can fall sharply and stay down for years. There is no cash flow or redemption value.
For more collection guides and wallet safety, see our NFT guides hub.
FAQ
Who owns CryptoPunks now?
Individual punks belong to whoever holds the tokens. The CryptoPunks intellectual property has been owned since May 2025 by the Infinite Node Foundation, a nonprofit focused on preserving digital art, which bought it from Yuga Labs. Yuga had acquired it from creators Larva Labs in March 2022.
What is the CryptoPunks marketplace?
A trading system built into the original 2017 contract, letting holders list punks and bidders lock ETH in bids without any third party. The official interface is cryptopunks.app, which NODE says it now develops and maintains. Wrapped punks can also trade on general NFT marketplaces.
What are wrapped CryptoPunks?
Original V2 punks deposited into an ERC-721 wrapper contract so that standard NFT marketplaces can trade them. Each wrapped token is backed by one real punk held by the wrapper and can be unwrapped. They are not the same as V1 punks, which come from the earlier, abandoned contract.
Are CryptoPunk images stored on-chain?
Yes. Since August 2021 the images and attributes have been stored on Ethereum, so anyone can retrieve a punk’s pixels from the blockchain. Before that, the contract held only a hash of the composite image, which proved authenticity but did not store the art.
Crypto is volatile and risky; this is education, not financial advice. Do your own research.
