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Why Are NFTs Valuable? Attempting to Explain Why Some Cost So Much

Posted on February 14, 2023February 11, 2023 by Andrew Amarosa

If you’ve seen headlines of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) selling for millions of dollars then you may be asking yourself: why are NFTs so valuable?

The following dialogue might ensue: Is this just a really rich people thing? Are they laundering money? Is this just fake news biting on click-worthy headlines?

The answer most people will give you is that they’re pieces of art, making them intrinsically valuable.

But, this doesn’t really give you the full picture of why someone would pay millions for essentially a .JPEG of a monkey.

While some NFT art pieces like Pak’s ‘The Merge’ have sold for a shockingly high $91.8m, this doesn’t accurately explicate the value of collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), both of which have sold for upwards of six figures since their initial release.

With that in mind, here’s why NFTs cost so much.

What Are NFTs?

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital image, video, or sound recorded on the blockchain and used to certify authenticity. These assets are 100% unique from one another and cannot be physically changed once minted. Ownership, however, can be seamlessly transferred when the token is sold.

There are many types of NFTs, including profile picture NFTs, such as those used by Cryptopunks, music NFTs that show proof of ownership of a music piece, and NFTs used for play-to-earn (P2E) gaming, which can be used for trading, gameplay, and passive income.

In 2022 over 101 million NFTs were sold on NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible, with collections covering a range of niches such as art, gaming, fashion, sports, music, domain names, and text-based NFT collections.

Why Do NFTs Curate Value?

NFTs can be both extremely valuable or completely worthless, with one in three collections “retiring”, with little to no trading activity.

What makes an NFT valuable is its ability to introduce scarcity to the digital marketplace. When buying an NFT you’re not just overpaying for a digital image, you’re buying a digital token recorded on a public ledger, known as a blockchain.

Ownership of the NFT is completely irrefutable, which limits the total supply and “inflates” its price, thus justifying its value. While this sounds like a great way to profit from what could essentially be digital junk, that’s not exactly how NFTs work. They need to have some kind of appeal to increase their value, which we’ll cover below.

Artistic Value

NFTs started as digital art, with the first NFT art piece “Quantum” being created by digital artists Jennifer and Kevin McCoy in 2014. The value of NFT art is similar to that of traditional art, in which artists sell their pieces for millions at art auction houses like Christie’s. The concept of such art is often difficult for everyday people to get their head around, particularly when it comes to art pieces like the “Banana art” which sold for $120,000 only to be eaten by a “hungry artist.”

Other pieces like the Untitled [Bolsena] collection by Cy Twombly, which sold for $38,685,000 in 2020, can also be a little difficult to process, considering it looks like a few scribbles on the page.

Cy Twombly, Untitled [Bolsena], 1969. Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2020.

What makes these particular pieces valuable is the fact that there is only one kind in existence and usually, the art piece has been created by one of the most artistic minds within a generation.

This can explain why the majority of expensive NFT sales have been one-of-works. Similar to Untitled [Bolsena], they are the only kinds to exist. For example, Clock, which sold for $52.7 million in February 2022 is a truly unique piece. This is because it functions as a digital counter for the days Assange (the activist who founded WikiLeaks) has been in London’s Belmarsh Prison for espionage.

NFT Utility

Another crucial factor that impacts the value of an NFT is its utility — essentially how beneficial or profitable it is. As NFTs develop, they’re being used to create new business models and revenue streams.

For example, a musician can sell NFTs that represent a stake in their new record. This would allow a musician to increase their initial revenue, while the NFT holder receives royalty every time the record sells. The value of the NFT will therefore rise based on the number of sales a record makes or the fame level of the musician. This potentially allows the NFT holder to make passive profits on their initial purchase or sell it for one lump sum.

The concept of utility is also important in the gaming space, in which play-to-earn gamers are using NFTs to generate passive income.

Within the world of gaming, players can make in-game purchases for skins, emotes and other unique features, however they don’t actually own them. With NFTs, these in-game purchases can be owned, which gives them greater value and the option to be resold. Considering the in-game purchase market is set to surpass $74.4 billion by 2025, NFTs could disrupt the entire market, allowing players to generate from in-game items instead of them being a liability.

Community

Some NFTs grant users access to exclusive clubs, similar to real-world clubs like Soho House. Within these clubs NFT holders can network with like-minded investors, as well as celebrities and business owners. A great example of this is BAYC. BAYC hosts thousands of investors and celebrities such as Mark Cuban, Eminem, Shaquille O’Neal, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, Madonna, and Jimmy Fallon, making it the most socially valuable NFT collection worldwide.

What Is the Future of NFTs?

There’s no way of denying it, blockchain technology is changing the future of digital assets. What were once just pictures on the internet have become unique tangible assets with the potential to generate revenue and create entirely new business models.

Early adopters of NFTs have slowly started to dabble in the technology, with Taco Bell selling an NFT collection in 2021, and Nike selling an NFT collection known as Cryptokicks in 2022. The NBA has also started to capitalize on NFTs to create a deeper fan connection with NBA Top Shot, which sold over $800 million in NFTs in 2021.

As blockchain technology continues to grow and evolve, NFT assets will only become more valuable, with early stage assets being more valuable due to being created early on in a new trend. In the future, it’s more than possible that you could own an NFT for your favorite movie, record or clothing, all being just as (or more) valuable than the real-world assets you currently own.

Otherside NFTs Explained (Read Before Buying)

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Anthony Georgiades

Otherside is a metaverse world designed around the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection.

“The Otherside” will offer a massive role-playing game where over 10,000 players can interact, complete missions, and voice chat simultaneously.

The Otherside NFTs were originally sold to BAYC holders and went on public sale on April 30, 2022. 55,000 land parcels were sold for over $300 million, though not without controversy. Due to high network usage, transaction fees were extremely high, and some transactions failed altogether.

In this article, we’ll look at what The Otherside is, how it works, its founders, how you can buy an Otherside NFT, and what happened during the land sale that caused a stir among Crypto Twitter.

What Is The Otherside?

The Otherside is a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) focusing on the BAYC community. It’s designed to help expand the utility of the BAYC project, combining the benefits of BAYC with a range of other NFT projects.

Like other Metaverse projects, players can explore an open world, venture out on quests, buy, own and sell land, and harvest resources to potentially generate passive income.

There are four unique resources in the game: Anima, Root, Shard, and Ore.

Players can also find and collect “artifacts,” rare in-game assets.

The Otherside ecosystem consists of a marketplace for materials called The Agora, a unique arcade machine, and The Codex, which works much like a book telling the tales of The Otherside. In its basic form, The Codex describes the Metaverse. However, it continues to change and can be added by players describing their in-game experience.

As of January 2023, The Otherside is only accessible to landholders who own Otherdeed NFTs. These can be purchased on OpenSea and have a floor price of around 1 ETH – 1.5 ETH.

How Does The Otherside Work?

The Otherside operates using several components:

Unique playable NFT characters
Otherside Land NFTs
Kodas

Here’s how each works.

NFT Characters

To create diversity in The Otherside, a wide range of NFTs can be used as playable characters as long as the owner holds an Otherdeed NFT. This increases the number of players, as BAYC NFTs would price out many holders.

Otherside Land NFTs

Otherside land NFTs, also known as Otherdeeds, come in a wide range of unique land types offering a diverse range of terrains for players to explore. Land types include castles surrounded by lava, bone-chilling glaciers, psychedelic realities, and thousands of other options.

Each piece of land will have unique sediment, including rainbow atmos, biogenic swamps, chemical goo, cosmic dreams, and an infinite expanse. There are 200,000 land parcels, each of which will have one or more resources (Anima, Root, Shard, and Ore.)

Alongside its sediment, each Otherdeed land parcel will also have a range of unique traits, such as:

Environment
Resources
Artifacts
Sediment tier
Environment Tier
Kodas

This makes each plot unique, with resources determining the value and rarity of the land NFT.

Kodas

Kodas are a new series of NFT characters and will play an important role in The Otherside Metaverse. Initially, there will be 10,000 Kodas for every 100,000 Otherside Land NFTs, meaning players will have a 10% chance of owning one.

As of January 2023, Kodas remains somewhat of a mystery. There is currently no information on how players will interact with them, and their storyline remains a secret. Nonetheless, many investors believe the value of Kodas will surge in the future.

Who Created The Otherside?

The pioneer of The Otherside is Yuga Labs, the company that created ApeCoin and BAYC. They are supported by three developers: Andreesen Horowitz, Animoca Brands, and Improbable.

Andreesen Horowitz, also known as “a16z crypto,” is the venture-capital firm that led the first seed round for The Otherside. One of its partners, Chris Lyons, has since become part of Yuga Lab’s board for the project.

Animoca Brands is a venture capital and gaming software company. It already has prior success in the Metaverse, having helped build The Sandbox, and is now working on the funding and technology for The Otherside.

Improbable is a UK-based company pushing the boundaries of Metaverse technology. Using funding from Animoca, Improbable aims to create the largest, most secure, and most interactive platform across a range of virtual worlds.

How To Buy An Otherside NFT

You can buy Otherside NFTs on OpenSea.

Begin by creating an OpenSea account and connecting your wallet– MetaMask is the best option.

Once connected, search for Otherdeed for Otherside, ensuring the collection has a blue verification tick.

Search through NFTs based on traits and click “Buy Now” to make your purchase.

Land Sale Disaster

Despite being a highly anticipated project from a well-known NFT project, the initial Otherdeed NFT drop was a disaster for many investors. Before release, the majority of the 200,000 land plots available were reserved for the BAYC community, which immediately monopolized the market.

Only 55,000 land plots were sold publicly, with a mint value of over $300 million. This made the mint one of the most expensive of any Metaverse projects and immediately priced out many collectors.

Before the Otherdeeds sale, Yuga Labs announced they wouldn’t rely on a dutch auction, which is known for creating “gas wars” where fees are driven up until only the richest investors can buy into a project.

Instead, Yoga Labs planned to use a wave system to release their NFTs. Unfortunately, this was even less successful than a dutch auction. Upon release, thousands of investors swarmed the platform to buy an Otherdeed NFT. This resulted in extremely high minting fees, and several transactions failed as collectors couldn’t afford the gas fees. Consequently, investors who experienced failed transactions lost thousands of dollars.

By the end of the sale, only NFT investors with large amounts of capital could buy. Yoga Labs apologized for the incident and stated that in the future, they might need to move the BAYC ecosystem to another blockchain network to prevent similar problems.

Final Thoughts: Exploring Otherside’s Potential

The Otherside is an exciting spin-off of the BAYC brand and has the potential to take the community to new highs.

With many exciting features, interactive gameplay, and a storyline that will continue to develop, The Otherside could change how we interact with blockchain gaming.

However, despite its potential, The Otherside may be too expensive for everyday NFT gamers to get involved.

The fact that almost 75% of the total supply went to BAYC holders and investors were priced out of the remaining supply during The Otherside auction means that only a select few collectors can participate. If the project wants to thrive, it needs to consider the wider NFT community and create new ways for collectors to enjoy the Metaverse without a large initial investment.

Why NFTs Need a Scalable Storage Solution

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Anthony Georgiades

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a physical or digital asset recorded on the blockchain.

In 2022, an estimated four percent of Americans (9.3 million people) said they own NFTs– a 100% increase from 2021 shows that NFT ownership is rising.

As ownership continues to increase, so will the demand for scalable storage solutions. Many of the current storage solutions lack scalability, which limits how many NFTs people can own- particularly if they have larger collections.

In this article, we’ll cover four different storage solutions, which are the most scalable, and the benefits and challenges of each.

Let’s get started.

Software Wallets- MetaMask

MetaMask was launched in 2016 by Consensys, a blockchain software technology company based in New York City. It’s the most popular decentralized wallet in the world, with around 21 million monthly active users.

Although the wallet was created for cryptocurrency, MetaMask is also popular for buying and storing NFTs. It lets users store and manage their private and public keys, connect to decentralized exchanges such as UniSwap and PancakeSwap, and buy and sell NFTs.

MetaMask is relatively friendly for new investors and can be installed through the Google Store. MetaMask also has an in-depth FAQ Page for investors who want to learn more about the wallet, how to trade cryptocurrency, and how to store NFTs.

MetaMask is consistently connected to a decentralized ledger and, in theory, shouldn’t have any issues regarding scalability on the backend. As long as the blockchain is scalable, operations between the wallet and the blockchain should be scalable too.

The only area where MetaMask falls short is when it comes to security. MetaMask is constantly online and, as a result, can never be as secure as hardware wallets (which we’ll cover below.) Though MetaMask has never been hacked, its users have been prone to phishing scams, including one that cost a wallet holder $650,000 after believing they were giving their details to an Apple employee.

Other popular hardware wallets for NFTs include Math Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, and Trust Wallet, which Binance owns. However, for decentralized NFT storage, MetaMask remains the best option.

Hardware Wallets

Hardware wallets are the most secure option for NFT storage as all digital assets are stored offline- making them impossible to hack. This makes hardware wallets a great option for collectors who want to store their NFTs for the long run.

The most popular hardware wallets are Ledger and Trezor, which will cost anywhere from $80 to $300+ for the latest models. Once an NFT has been stored in the wallet and the wallet unplugged, nobody can transfer the data to or from the hardware wallet. When you buy a hardware wallet, you’ll also be provided with a secret phrase of 12 words and can set additional passwords if you want even more security.

However, there are two downsides to hardware wallets. Firstly, if you lose your wallet, you lose your assets. For example, in 2013, James Howells threw away a wallet with 7500 Bitcoins (around $56 million.) He was refused access to the landfill where it was and, as a result, lost his millions. As of September 2022, Howells hasn’t managed to retrieve his wallet.

The other downside to Hardware Wallets is that they’re not scalable. They’re limited to the spec of the wallet you’ve purchased, which could impact NFT storage as NFT files begin to demand more storage space.

Nonetheless, hardware wallets are the perfect option for collectors planning to make long-term NFT investments.

InterPlanetary File System

InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a relatively new way to store NFTs. It’s an open-source project founded by Protocol Labs and was originally designed for storing and accessing websites, apps, files, and other data.

With IPFS, users’ NFTs are stored off-chain through platforms like Pinata, significantly reducing the likelihood of their assets being stolen. It also uses content identifiers (CIDs), which are broken down aspects of your data linked directly to your NFT. Instead of your NFT data being stored through an HTTP link, your data is broken down across several storage solutions; this way, if one fails, a different solution backs up your data.

IPFS solutions are also highly scalable. Additional nodes can always be added to deal with additional data, which means users will never have any problems with storage.

The only downside is the technology is still somewhat in its early phase and technically wasn’t created for NFTs. This means that although it has a lot of potential, it hasn’t been in the market long enough to be tested.

BitKeep

BitKeep is Asia’s most popular NFT storage method, with over 6 million users, 70 mainnets, and 220,000 supported crypto assets. Much like MetaMask, you can download the BitKeep wallet through the Google Store and use it to store NFTs.

However, unlike MetaMask, BitKeep has its own NFT store. The store has launched projects such as Kaju Legends and OutSad, and lets users buy other collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC.)

BitKeep also has a comprehensive education center, where new collectors can learn how to trade NFTs, sell them, and use the BitKeep wallet. BitKeep is connected to a decentralized ledger and shouldn’t have any problems with scalability. It’s only limited by the scalability of the blockchain.

Final Thoughts: Are Scalable Storage Solutions a Must Have?

As the NFT market grows in popularity, scalable storage solutions will become important for larger collections. However, for the average NFT investor, hardware wallets should be more than enough for a small NFT collection.

These wallets are a great way for collectors to store their NFTs if they have no plans to sell them. Both software wallets and IPFS are also great ways for collectors to get involved in the industry and offer scalable storage options for larger collections.

The best option for you will depend entirely on your preferences.

How to Display NFT Art (In Real Life & Online)

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Anthony Georgiades

NFTs are digital art pieces stored on the blockchain. They can be bought and sold online in NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea or minted directly from a project’s contract.

Throughout 2021 the NFT market took off, with total sales reaching over $14 billion and art pieces such as The Merge selling for $91.8 million.

Many of these art pieces were showcased on social media profiles, with some art making it to decentralized metaverses such as Decentraland.

NFTs have now made it to the real world, showcased in museums such as the Picasso museum in Barcelona and in real-world homes through innovative digital frames.

This article will cover displaying your NFT art, including real-life and online display methods.

How To Display NFTs in Real Life

Although NFTs are primarily an online technology, there are several ways you can showcase your digital art without needing the internet. Here are four of the most popular options.

Digital Frames

Photo frames have always been used to showcase family photos and art. Now digital frames are changing the way we display NFTs. Innovative new frames are used to bring NFTs to life in your home.

For example, the Infinite Objects “Video Print” frame features video NFTs on loop in your home. They’re available as 5” and 7” displays and don’t require any apps or additional software to work.

Another example is NetGear’s Meural Canvas, available as a 13.5” x 7.5” frame and a gallery-sized 19” x 29” canvas. Owners can download Netlink’s proprietary Meural app for iOS or Android, add their NFT images or videos to the frame, and showcase them around their homes.

Physical Prints with QR Codes

Collector Andrew Coathup first used this innovative NFT concept. It’s when a collector prints off the image of the NFT alongside a custom art label- similar to many of the art pieces in modern art museums.

Labels include everything from the title of the NFT, the collection from when it was purchased, and a QR code that opens an information page about the NFT on OpenSea (or the platform the NFT was purchased from.)

This solution is cheaper than digital frames and appeals to collectors who want to combine classical displays with modern art.

Looking Glass Holograms

Looking Glass Holograms are an exciting new way to showcase 3D NFTs. These holograms are futuristic for displaying NFTs, letting users show holographic videos and 3D characters. Options include the Looking Glass Portrait, Looking Glass 4K Gen2, and Looking Glass 8K Gen2, with prices starting at $399.

TV Display

This option is for collectors who want to combine their NFTs with their love for TV. With the Samsung QLED 4K Smart TV, you can showcase your NFTs when the TV is off. When the TV is on, it works like any other TV, but when switched off, it works as a digital frame for your NFTs.

The TV resembles a sizeable digital frame and works perfectly with the rest of your decor. It has an “Art Mode,” which uses motion sensors to showcase art when someone is in the room. It then turns off when nobody is around to save energy.

How To Display NFTs Online

With NFTs primarily being online pieces of art, most display options are currently online. Here are three of the primary options for displaying your NFTs online.

NFT Galleries

The most popular option for displaying NFT art is through online galleries. Galleries and marketplaces such as OpenSea and Lazy let NFT owners put their NFTs on display without charging them. These displays work similarly to an Instagram page and usually include social media features for owners to share their collections with a broader audience.

The Metaverse

Despite being in its early phase, the Metaverse has quickly become a popular option for NFT collectors to showcase their collections. Virtual worlds such as Decentraland let users create huge digital art galleries displaying their own and other collectors’ NFTs.

Another famous virtual world is Cryptovoxels. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Cryptovoxels is a simpler version of Decentraland that loads faster and is more accessible to NFT collectors with less advanced computers. Despite being less popular than Decentraland, Cryptovoxels has become home to many NFT collections, with exhibits throughout the digital world.

Social Media

If you own a Twitter account, you can almost guarantee that you’ve seen an NFT used as a profile picture. Twitter is a popular social media platform to flex NFTs and is commonly used by collectors to network with people who own an NFT in the same collection.

Social media has been used by celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, and Eminem, who have used NFTs as their profile pictures on both Twitter and Instagram. Meta has also announced that it will soon release a feature where users can showcase and sell their NFTs through Instagram, creating a new digital art marketplace.

In addition to the classic social media platforms, new platforms are being designed to showcase NFTs. For example, Showtime has slowly become the first NFT-driven social network. Users can connect their crypto wallets to the site, and Showtime will automatically generate a profile featuring all the NFTs you hold.

Closing Thoughts: Have NFTs Become The New Modern Art?

As NFTs continue to grow in popularity, we may start seeing them in homes worldwide. But do they have the power to replace modern art?

When showcasing your NFTs, you have several options for displaying them in your home. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will. NFTs remain somewhat niche, with only hardcore collectors showing them around the house. Most people still don’t know what an NFT is or how it works, so it may be a while before we see them replace modern art.

Despite this, NFTs have become a popular part of creating your online avatar, and as use cases grow, the number of ways you can display NFT art both in real life and online will grow too.

The Story of Cryptopunk #9998: Did It Really Sell for $532 Million?

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Anthony Georgiades

CryptoPunk #9998 is part of the CryptoPunks NFT collection with wild white hair, green clown eyes, and black lipstick. Its features make it one of the rarest Cryptopunks available.

The collection was originally launched in June 2017 by Larva Labs, and was free to collect for anyone interested with an ETH wallet. There are 10,000 Punks in total, each with its distinct characteristics, with no two being the same.

Though initially free, the collection became one of the most popular in the NFT space, with an all-time trading volume of 515,220.24 ETH and half of the top 10 NFTs sold as Punks.

CryptoPunk #9998 is one of many Punks to make headlines, though its story isn’t all it appeared to be. Initial headlines stated that the NFT sold for half a billion dollars, though the money from the trade ended up where it started.

Here’s the story of CryptoPunk #9998.

What Happened To CryptoPunk #9998?

We need to go back to the initial transaction to understand the story. CryptoPunk #9998 was initially transferred from a cryptocurrency wallet starting with 0xef76 to a wallet starting with 0x8e39.

The transfer was made for 124,457 ETH, equal to around half a billion USD at the time, making it the most expensive artwork in all historical records. Before this, the most expensive CryptoPunk was CryptoPunk #7523, which sold for $11.8 million.

The transaction quickly made headlines; however, the Punk was soon sent from 0x8e39 to a wallet address starting with 0x9b5a- which headlines didn’t pick up on.

When looking at the transactions, it was clear that the transaction was an example of wash trading- when an investor simultaneously sells and buys the same financial instruments to create misleading activity in the marketplace. The initial transaction was made with a loan sent to a smart contract and transferred to the seller. The seller then sent 124,457 ETH to the buyer, who repaid the loans. After the transaction, an NFT collector made an offer of 250,000 ETH for the NFT.

Despite the transaction being legit, they were made to create hype around the NFT market and further drive the price of CryptoPunks. CryptoPunk #9998 was technically never sold; a mix of transactions were just made between addresses. Larva Labs later made a statement about the transaction, stating that notifications would be removed for them in the future.

As of September 2022, nobody can bid on the asset, which means CryptoPunk #9998 technically isn’t the most expensive NFT ever sold, nor the most expensive Punk, which is CryptoPunk #5822, selling for $23.7 million.

How Is Wash Trading Used In The NFT Market?

Wash trading is when a trader buys and sells an NFT to create hype and false information about a particular project or market. Though this type of trading occurs in traditional markets, the NFT market is particularly prone to such techniques, with projects such as Shiba Inu being created on hype alone.

Wash trading frequently creates fear of missing out (FOMO), which pressures new and inexperienced NFT collectors to buy from projects that are either a scam or have little to no potential to bring a return on their investment. In the NFT market, the definition includes the purchase of an NFT for external reasons (such as an influencer buying to hype up a project, only to sell when the value increases.)

Although there are no exact figures, wash trading has hugely impacted the industry, creating a sense of skepticism for new investors prone to scams. However, this is also having a somewhat beneficial impact.

With so many scams and fake information in the market, NFT projects are forced to be transparent with the owners. To maintain a good reputation, they need to clearly state their real transactions, provide utility for investors, and have a long-term roadmap to show investors what they’re getting for their money. If they fail to do so, their projects will fail in a more educated NFT market.

A report by blockchain analyst firm, Nansen, found that a similar practice is occurring with the release of new cryptocurrencies. The founders of many new projects hold a large percentage of their tokens while hyping the project. Once the project increases in value, they sell their stake and take their profits. This process is also known as a rug pull. As of September 2022, an estimated $25 billion has been lost to cryptocurrency, and NFT rug pulls and scams.

CryptoPunks Continue To Break Records

Despite the somewhat confusing sale of CryptoPunk #9998, CryptoPunks continue to break NFT records. The collection has a market cap of around $2 billion, with a floor price of 61.95 ETH ($108,487.46), making it the most valuable worldwide.

As of September 2022, the most expensive CryptoPunk is CryptoPunk #5822, which sold for $23.7 million in February 2022 to Deepak Thapiyal. It’s one of nine alien Punks.

Despite the market for NFTs slowing throughout 2022, CryptoPunks has remained the most popular collection, with owners having a somewhat celebrity status amongst NFT holders.

Final Thoughts: Can Wash Trading Impact CryptoPunks?

The story of Cryptopunk #9998 was a clear example of how the NFT market can be manipulated by headlines and hype. Despite being frowned upon by Larva Labs, similar stories have been used by other NFT collections to falsely promote projects with little to no utility.

Although this will impact the crypto market as a whole, newer projects will suffer as a result. Projects such as CryptoPunks already have the reputation to thrive and are less likely to be influenced by the skepticism caused by wash trading.

Nonetheless, stories such as Cryptopunk #9998 are a great way to spread awareness of wash trading, using their leverage to educate new cryptocurrency and NFT investors and reduce the risk and impact of scams.

Tag: NFT Creators