CryptoPunks: Identity in 24 Pixels
June 2017
Ten thousand characters helped establish a language for digital ownership.
Origins
Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs explored what it would mean to collect uniquely identifiable digital characters. The project predated the standardized NFT interfaces now familiar to collectors.
The moment
CryptoPunks launched in June 2017 with 10,000 algorithmically generated characters. Ownership could be recorded and transferred on Ethereum. The images and contract together gave collectors a way to distinguish one character from another.
The aftermath
Punks became a reference for subsequent profile-picture collections. That influence is different from a claim that they were the first digital collectibles. This record connects them to Bored Ape Yacht Club through the shared format of a limited collection used for online identity.