Key Takeaways
- At least 300 CryptoPunks could be lost forever, a new Twitter thread has revealed.
- According to one user, several wallets holding Punks have been inactive for the past three years.
- The estimated value of the “lost” punks is $100 million.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – Cryptopunks is undoubtedly one of the most coveted nonfungible token (NFT) projects ever.
The 10,000 24/24 pixelated Punks created by Larva Labs shot to prominence in the secondary market. Inspired by the punk rock scene, Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs founded the collection in 2017 and distributed them for free.
A few years down the line, the NFT revolution kicked in. Platforms like the OpenSea emerged, and CryptoPunks got to ride the new wave. As the craze caught on, the punks started fetching millions of dollars. One Punk sold for over $10 million, with at least 60 Punks selling for millions.
Currently, the cheapest Punk is priced at 66 ETH, around $254,000 while writing.
However, although CryptoPunks has quite literally been a jackpot for owners, some people have managed to lose them. This means there currently could be fewer available punks than the original 10,000. As many as 300 CryptoPunks could be lost, dormant wallets confirm. Shocking, right?
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Tweeter thread reveals worrying Cryptopunks data
Through a series of tweets, punk9863 revealed that several rare CryptoPunk NFTs could be lost forever. The wallets that hold these rare collectibles have been inactive in the past 1000 days (almost three years).
“What do all these CryptoPunks have in common? They are rare. And… they could be lost. There hasn’t been any activity on their owner’s wallet for the past 1,000 days. A thread on lost punks,”
he wrote.
The Twitter user revealed that more than 50 wallets have remained inactive for close to three years. These wallets have not only held on to their punks but have also not done any transaction outside the Punk marketplace.
Cumulatively, these wallets hold over 300 CryptoPunks NFTs, including one zombie, 26 hoodies, 12 3D, and 5 Tiara. One inactive wallet alone holds 141 Punks.
It could be safe to assume that the wallet owner has lost their private key and can’t access his Punks anymore.
“Are these 300 punks really lost? It’s impossible to say but their owners have not transacted for 3+ years although they had economic interest to at least claim their meebits. Nevertheless, we can only assume that those punks are lost,”
he claimed.
Meetbits is the latest collection coming from Larva Labs. It allowed CryptoPunks owners to use their collectibles to claim a free Meebit while still keeping their Punk.
According to a Twitter thread, at least 300 CryptoPunks NFTs could be lost forever, judging by wallets that have been inactive for three years.
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At least 5 CryptoPunks confirmed missing
While it is still unknown if all 300 punks are lost or the owners are just inactive, there are at least five known “burned” punks.
ArtOnBlockchain accidentally burned 1 “alien” punk, someone sent two punks to the token contract, and another two punks ended up in a malformed address.
However, users suggest that someone has also burnt a 6th Punk.
“for those interested, the Punk #2317 burn video is available as NFT on the Tezos blockchain for 50 tezos or about .05 ETH,”
one user commented.
The 300 ‘lost’ CryptoPunks are worth 20,000 ETH, around $80 million at current prices. However, since many of these punks have reserve prices, they may be worth as high as $100 million.
Since the Twitter thread was only about wallets that have not been active in the past three years, there could be up to 500 lost Punks.
If you feel bad, imagine how the erstwhile owners of those CryptoPunks must feel.
