Yuga Labs Is Writing the Book on CryptoPunks—Literally

Six years after launching, kick-starting the NFT artwork motion, and setting the template for numerous profile image (PFP) initiatives to observe, CryptoPunks is getting its personal official e-book.

CryptoPunks IP proprietor Yuga Labs introduced the mission at the moment in partnership with Zak Group, the design studio behind the e-book “Icons” from Nike and the late designer, Virgil Abloh. The e-book, due out within the winter, will “element each Punk, pixel by pixel,” highlighting the art work of the ten,000 Ethereum avatars and the sizable affect they’ve had since launch.

“CryptoPunks is a collision between artwork, design, and the web within the twenty first century,” mentioned Zak Group Artistic Director, Zak Kyes. “This e-book is a chance to provide form to tradition in real-time. Along with Yuga Labs, now we have invited artists, technologists, curators—and naturally the Punks themselves—to create an all-in-one DIY consumer handbook, archive, and catalogue raisonnè.”

The unique creators of the CryptoPunks, Matt Corridor and John Watkinson of Larva Labs, will contribute to the e-book, as nicely notable digital artists and neighborhood members—together with Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann, Artwork Blocks founder Erick “Snowfro” Calderon, pseudonymous collector 6529, and entrepreneur gmoney.

Moreover, Yuga Labs mentioned that it’ll share the method of making the e-book alongside the way in which, and embrace direct neighborhood enter within the completed product. The e-book will characteristic “untold tales” across the mission, per Yuga, and embrace content material pulled from the official CryptoPunks Discord and Twitter, too.

CryptoPunks launched as a free mint on Ethereum in 2017, and the pixel PFPs surged in worth in early 2021 because the broader NFT market noticed explosive demand.

To this point, the mission has generated over $2.1 billion value of buying and selling quantity, per knowledge from CryptoSlam, and a single CryptoPunk offered for $23.7 million final 12 months. Presently, the Ethereum NFTs begin at simply over $89,000 value of ETH on secondary markets—down considerably from a peak “ground worth” above $417,000 in November 2021.

Larva Labs offered the CryptoPunks IP to Yuga—creator of the favored Bored Ape Yacht Membership mission—in March 2021 for an undisclosed worth, alongside Larva’s Meebits IP. Yuga Labs has since granted CryptoPunks holders commercialization rights for his or her owned art work, and emphasised the mission’s historic worth, together with by way of NFT donations to artwork museums.