Is Tiffany & Co.’s foray into the NFT space genius or ridiculous? They might be on to something, considering there are 10,000 CryptoPunks out there, and Tiffany & Co. is only trying to sell 250 digital passes. For 30 ETH, CryptoPunks holders will get a “custom designed pendant and a NFT digital artwork that resembles the final jewelry design.” Keep reading to learn more about these scarce but pricey pendants.
We’re taking NFTs to the next level. Exclusive to CryptoPunks holders, NFTiff transforms your NFT into a bespoke pendant handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. artisans. You’ll also receive an additional NFT version of the pendant. Learn more: https://t.co/FJwCAxw8TN #NFTiff #TiffanyAndCo pic.twitter.com/pyKlWejHv4
— Tiffany & Co. (@TiffanyAndCo) July 31, 2022
Starting on August 5th, through this website, a selected number of CryptoPunks holders will be able to mint their lazily-named NFTiffs. “The pendant will be designed and crafted by Tiffany & Co. artisans, and inspired by the Cryptopunk owner’s Punk NFT. Only 250 NFTiff passes will be available for purchase. Each customer may purchase a max of 3 NFTiffs.” So, there might not even be 250 pendant owners.
Tiffany & Co. Did Its Homework
From the jump, reading the related material, it’s obvious that the people behind this project know what they’re talking about. And that the project is very well though out. “Tiffany & Co. designers will interpret each CryptoPunk into custom-designed pendants – converting the 87 attributes and 159 colors that appear across the collection of 10,000 CryptoPunk NFTs to the most similar gemstone or enamel color.”
Maybe those stats are not as impressive, but check out what Tiffany & Co. says about the gold they plan to use.
“Pendant will be in 18k rose or yellow gold based on the color palette of the NFT. The rose and yellow gold will complement the base color of each punk type. The two lighter base colors and the alien will be 18R, and the two darker base colors, the zombie and the ape will be 18Y.”
These people know about the aliens, the zombies, and the apes. And have a plan to represent each one. In gold, among other precious metals and stones. “Each piece will use at least 30 gemstones and/or diamonds to create the custom designs with the highest fidelity to the original NFT art. Examples of gemstones include but are not limited to Sapphires, Amethyst, and Spinel.”
That does sound amazing, but, is CryptoPunks-inspired jewelry a good idea in the first place?
ETH price chart on Bitfinex | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
Other Pendant Characteristics
- First of all and most importantly, “clients will not have the ability to participate in the design process or provide feedback on the render.”
- “The pendant will be on a 18k gold adjustable chain between 18”-20”-22” of rectangular links.”
- Customers will receive the “physical good in early 2023,” but the NFT will be available “once the final rendering is completed.”
- For lucky individuals or celebrity customers, “Select custom pendants will include fancy stone shapes.”
- For keyboard warriors and the like, “all stones will meet Tiffany & Co.ʼs ethical and sustainability standards.”
imagine your boyfriend gives you a tiffany box and you open it up and it’s a cryptopunk
— Aubrey Strobel (@aubreystrobel) July 31, 2022
The whole project seems to be the work of Chain, a company that offers an NFT-as-a-Service product among other things. “Through an end-to-end service, we help leading brands launch their own customized and tailored NFT product that can be a digital and/or physical collectible powered by smart contracts and blockchain technology,” they promise. We’ll have to wait a few months to see if they and Tiffany & Co. deliver.
Featured Image: Pendant screenshot from the video | Charts by TradingView
The creators deployed the original CryptoPunks smart contract five years ago today. It’s a historic day for sure. Those pioneering NFT projects created a Billion-dollar industry. So, why is the crypto media so silent about the CryptoPunks NFT collection’s fifth anniversary? Because we’re talking about the legendary CryptoPunks V1. The creators, Larva Lab, celebrate the anniversary on June 22nd. The day when they deployed the V2 contract.
Which one is the real anniversary, though?
Related Reading | CryptoPunks v1 Delisted By OpenSea As Legal Battle Heats Up
Without taking sides, Bitcoinist is going to check out the twitterati’s opinion and stories on the subject. Despite the media silence, over at Twitter people are celebrating the CryptoPunks’ fifth anniversary. It’s only fair to hear them out… but first…
What Are The CryptoPunks V1, Exactly?
In a recent post, our sister site NewsBTC explained the situation:
“Back in 2017, prehistory for the NFT market, LarvaLabs distributed 10.000 CryptoPunks V1. However, there was a fatal mistake in the governing smart contract. After a transaction, it allowed the buyer, not the seller, to withdraw the money. The buyer could literally have its cake and eat it too, leaving the seller completely in the red.”
The easiest way to fix the mistake was to abandon that contract and deploy a new and improved one, and that’s what Larva Labs did. It seemed like an innocuous mistake, what could possibly go wrong? The V1 contract remained on the blockchain, collecting dust. Last year, on the CryptoPunks V2’s fourth anniversary blog post, Larva Labs reminisced:
“Four years ago today we spent $8 in transaction fees to start a small, weird but cool experiment in digital ownership on the blockchain. And for the first three years of this experiment that’s what it was, really cool and interesting – but small. In the fourth year, a good portion of the world suddenly decided owning digital items on the blockchain sounded like a good idea.”
It happened gradually, then suddenly. “For the first three years the Cryptopunks did $866K of sales volume. In year 4, they did $361.7M,” Larva Labs explains. Now that the CryptoPunks are historical artifacts of the utmost importance, someone found the old V1 contract and figured out how to wrap them in a new smart contract that doesn’t have the know vulnerabilities of the original contract.
Related Reading | Going Once…Twice…Nowhere: Sotheby’s Halt CryptoPunks Auction After Owner Pulls Out
The rest is history. And here it is, the rest of the story.
ETH price chart on Coinbase | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
Crypto Reacts: What Did Original Minters Say About The Anniversary?
- First of all, there’s an official town-hall meeting about the CryptoPunks V1 anniversary over at Twitter Spaces today:
Today the official celebrations begin!
CryptoPunks 5th birthday
https://t.co/WyhajHdC6C
— CryptoPunks V1 (@v1punks) June 9, 2022
- Observe the date, here’s an image of Larva Lab’s original Twitter announcement of the project.
Happy 5yr birthday CryptoPunks! pic.twitter.com/GzUzUL5L03
— VonMises (@VonMises14) June 9, 2022
- An original CryptoPunks minter reminisces, “Today is a very special day. Exactly 5 years ago, June 9th 2017, I sat down to claim 350 Cryptopunks. I was mesmerized by Larva Labs visionary ideas and their astonishing digital concept that opened new thought-worlds for me and our whole space. An experiment to change it all.”
After spending substantial amounts of time with blockchain matters since 2010 discovering the idea of non fungible tokenization was the biggest leap for me since BTC & ETH. I am incredibly proud how far we‘ve come. Happy Birthday to all CryptoPunks around the globe!
— mb | mabu.eth
(@mb__nft) June 9, 2022
- The self-proclaimed “#1 claimant of CryptoPunks in 2017” gives the collection its just dues. “Happy Birthday to CryptoPunks, the single most important and influential crypto art project. The project that defined what’s now known as ‘NFTs’. Without Punks our newly forming world would have never been the same.”
Punks have helped to change my life and the lives of countless others. Their impact so profound, the stories incredible. The Punks community are the who’s who of crypto. Web3 rockstars.
— hemba
Austin (Consensus) (@soldthebottom) June 9, 2022
- Yet another original minter reflects, “It’s been 5 years since I started exploring NFTs thanks to CryptoPunks. Minting and experiencing this interaction with the chain was enlightening. Here is to another 5 years of having fun in this space. Happy birthday Punks.”
It’s been 5 years since I started exploring NFTs thanks to CryptoPunks @v1punks @cryptopunksnfts . Minting and experiencing this interaction with the chain was enlightening. Here is to another 5 years of having fun in this space. Happy birthday Punks.
— Elypse.eth (@Elypse_Pink) June 9, 2022
- This artist finally says what you’ve all been thinking, “Today marks 5 years since cryptopunks came into existence. Can you imagine 5 years !!! Since this was dropped !!! And in a way is kinda paving every single person in this space”
Today marks 5 years since cryptopunks came into existence
Can you imagine 5 years !!! Since this was dropped !!! And in a way is kinda paving every single person in this space
— Rahim Mahtab (@Rahim_mahtab) June 9, 2022
Happy 5th Anniversary #CryptoPunks!
Congratulations @larvalabs!
V1 contract deployed Jun-09-2017 12:22:50 AM +UTC – https://t.co/LQXtX9GHD0@yugalabs #historicnfts #nfts #ethereum pic.twitter.com/ATfZ2dbcP4
— mrfahrenheit.eth ©god.eth (@BokkyPooBah) June 8, 2022
Love it or hate it, this is NFT history right here. Happy fifth anniversary to the V1s.
Featured Image: The original announcement tweet. | Charts by TradingView
Crypto Flipsider News – DoJ Seizes $3.6 Billion from Bitfinex Hack, Bitfinex Surges 60%, Shiba Inu Enters Metaverse, LEASH Gains 45%, Russia to Regulate Crypto, OpenSea Delists CryptoPunks, Sotheby’s to Auction CryptoPunksRead in the Digest:
- Department of Justice seizes $3.6 billion stolen from Bitfinex hack, Bitfinex surges 60%.
- enters metaverse with ‘Shiba Lands,’ LEASH jumps 45%.
- Russia set to regulate crypto, donations to Ukraine NGOs soar.
- OpenSea delists CryptoPunks v1, Sotheby’s to auction 104 CryptoPunks.
Department of Justice Seizes $3.6 Billion Stolen from Bitfinex Hack, Bitfinex Surges 60%
In August 2016, Bitfinex suffered one of the biggest crypto exchange hacks to date when 119,754 Bitcoin was stolen, worth approximately $5.2 billion at current prices. On February 8th, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the recovery of a significant portion of the stolen funds.
The DoJ reported that it had arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan, who together conspired to launder funds stolen from the Bitfinex hack. In addition to this, the DoJ lawfully seized and recovered more than 94,000 bitcoins, worth over $3.6 billion.
Following the announcement, the Hong Kong-based crypto exchange announced that it would work “with the DOJ and follow the appropriate legal processes to establish our rights to a return of the stolen bitcoin.”
The value of Unus Sed Leo (LEO), a token launched by Bitfinex, has jumped by more than 60% since the announcement was made. Initially opening for trade at $4.87, LEO has since skyrocketed to a new all-time high of $8.04.
The 48 hour price chart for Unus Sed Leo (LEO). Source: Tradingview
Flipsider:
- Bitfinex promised to burn an amount equal to 80% of the recovered funds in order to repurchase and burn outstanding LEO tokens within 18 months of the recovery.
Why You Should Care
After almost six years, the victims of the Bitfinex hack can perhaps finally expect to recover their lost funds.
Shiba Inu Enters Metaverse with ‘Shiba Lands,’ LEASH Jumps 45%
Two weeks after revealing its metaverse project dubbed ‘The Shiberse,’ the developers of popular meme coin Shiba Inu have announced that its community can now obtain and own virtual pieces of land in the Shiba Inu Metaverse.
The Shiba Inu team announced that it would be introducing land, a queue system, and more in the virtual reality as part of its ecosystem expansion. The Shiba Army can now purchase land in order to get a front-row seat in the dog themed metaverse as per the announcement.
As part of the reveal, the Shiba Inu Team stated that $LEASH holders will be the first to gain access to Shiba Inu metaverse Lands. The proclamation caused the price of LEASH to jump by more than 45%.
Over the last 24 hours, Doge killer (LEASH) has gained in value by 46%, making it one of the day’s best performers. After grazing an interday high of $1,886.19, LEASH is now trading at $1,766.1, with a market cap of $190 million as of this writing.
The 24 hour price chart for Doge Killer (LEASH). Source: Tradingview
Flipsider:
- Though it remains one of the Shiba army’s most anticipated events, a listing for SHIB on Robinhood (NASDAQ:) continues to elude the project.
Why You Should Care
With its metaverse and other upgrades coming in 2022, Shiba Inu is aiming to change the face of the meme coin for the better and battle for a top spot.
Russia Set to Regulate Crypto, Bitcoin Donations to Ukraine NGOs Soar
After weeks of uncertainty following the proposal that tabled a blanket ban on crypto transactions, trading, and mining operations, Russia is set to propose a regulatory framework for the industry on Friday, February 11th.
According to a statement released on Tuesday, the Russian government and the country’s central bank have agreed to draft legislation and amend existing laws recognizing crypto as a form of currency.
Early reports suggest that the framework could integrate digital currencies into the nation’s financial systems. In addition to this, Russia is aiming to “minimize the threat to the financial system’s stability and reduce the use of cryptocurrencies for illegal purposes.”
Flipsider:
- Responding to the rising tensions in Ukraine, volunteer groups have been crowdfunding bitcoin to support the country’s military.
- NGOs and volunteer groups received more than $550,000 in 2021, and have already amassed $6,000 in 2022 as Russian troops occupy Ukraine’s borders.
Why You Should Care
The report represents a significant turn from last month’s proposed ban on all crypto activities, and eliminates the possibility of a repeat of China.
OpenSea Delists CryptoPunks v1, Sotheby’s to Auction 104 CryptoPunks
CyptoPunks v1 – a collection of 10,000 uniquely generated characters – has been delisted by the largest NFT marketplace in the space, OpenSea. The NFT platform delisted CryptoPunks v1 after being served a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice by Larva Labs, creator of the original CryptoPunks – one of the oldest NFT collections in the industry.
According to reports, the CryptoPunks v1 collection was created due to a smart contract bug through which Larva Labs attempted to create CryptoPunks v2, a sequel to the original set.
Sotheby’s, the auction house famous in the cryptoverse for Beeple’s $69 million NFT sale, has announced it will be auctioning off 104 NFTs from the original 2017 CryptoPunks collection. The collection will be sold as a single lot on February 23rd. The collection was originally purchased in the legendary “Punk Sweep” of July 2021.
Initially bought for $7 million in 2021 by anonymous collector “0x650d,” the auction, titled “Punk It!” is estimated by Sotheby’s to fetch between $20 million & $30 million.
Flipsider:
- Despite being delisted from OpenSea, CryptoPunks v1 recently debuted on competing for NFT platforms such as LooksRare.
Why You Should Care
The newest upcoming Sotheby’s auction is a true indication of just how much the digital art sector has grown since its inception.
EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Join to get the flipside of crypto
Upgrade your inbox and get our DailyCoin editors’ picks 1x a week delivered straight to your inbox.
[contact-form-7]
You can always unsubscribe with just 1 click.
Are the CryptoPunks V1 the original CryptoPunks? Technically, yes. According to LarvaLabs, the company behind the collection, the V1s “are not official Cryptopunks,” though. How will the market react now that they’re making a resurgence? This might be the first, but it’s not the last time you’ll hear about the CryptoPunks V1. Let’s explore their history and the controversy around them.
Related Reading | Snoop Dogg Joins The Bored Ape Yacht Club And The Sandbox. Read All About It
What Are The CryptoPunks V1?
Back in 2017, prehistory for the NFT market, LarvaLabs distributed 10.000 CryptoPunks V1. However, there was a fatal mistake in the governing smart contract. After a transaction, it allowed the buyer, not the seller, to withdraw the money. The buyer could literally have its cake and eat it too, leaving the seller completely in the red.
Here’s a thread explaining the technical details of the faulty contract:
Explaining the V1 CryptoPunks exploit…this one is incredibly tricky so want to share what I learned!
TL;DR – when a buyer purchased a punk, the ETH deposited in the contract could be withdrawn only by the *buyer*, not by the seller. So buy(), withdraw(), repeat. pic.twitter.com/apGwackvMz
— foobar (@0xfoobar) March 24, 2021
What did LarvaLabs do? They disowned the original series and started again. They gave away another set of 10.000 CryptoPunks, the V2, and the rest is history. The almost free collectibles gained traction little by little and became the behemoth they’re today. All of the CryptoPunks in circulation were V2s, until now…
A Rebel Marketplace Arises
The CryptoPunks V1s still exist, but they had no marketplace to commerce in because Open Sea banned them. However, a new platform came into town and allowed them to reappear. This time, they’re called Classic Punks or Wrapped CryptoPunks V1, because to be able to sell them you have to wrap them in a new smart contract that doesn’t have the know vulnerabilities of the original contract.
The rebel marketplace is LooksRare.org and, so far, these up-and-coming NFTs have made 307.44 ETH in sales. Not bad, considering there are only 116 holders and LarvaLabs owns at least 1000. In LooksRare, only 23 owners are selling 269 items, so they’re pretty rare. The marketplace describes them as:
“A wrapped CryptoPunk from the initial exploited V1 contract version. Buyer beware – if you don’t understand the preceding sentence, this is not the CryptoPunk you’re looking for.”
Another buyer beware has to be, that low number of holders means that a few people have control of the market and can potentially manipulate it as they see fit. So, tread lightly.
ETH price chart for 02/04/2022 on Kraken | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
LarvaLabs Disowns The CryptoPunks V1
Through their public channels, the only thing LarvaLabs said was: “PSA: “V1 Punks” are not official Cryptopunks. We don’t like them, and we’ve got 1,000 of them… so draw your own conclusions. Any proceeds will be used to purchase real Cryptopunks!”
PSA: “V1 Punks” are not official Cryptopunks. We don’t like them, and we’ve got 1,000 of them… so draw your own conclusions. Any proceeds will be used to purchase real Cryptopunks!
— Larva Labs (@larvalabs) January 25, 2022
However, in the company’s official Discord channel, they are threatening legal action. They also admitted that they sold a bunch of CryptoPunks V1 because they thought that by “selling some of the tokens we would signal our distaste for it.” According to LarvaLabs, they’ve been using the 210 ETH that they received to buy V2 CryptoPunks. And they matched that amount and made a donation to the Rainforest Foundation.
Here’s trader extraordinaire and crypto influencer Cobie explaining the situation:
wtf is larva labs doing tbh pic.twitter.com/KmgMlBwBGW
— Cobie (@cobie) February 2, 2022
As he puts it, “they dumped on people and now they’re trying to make what they dumped as worthless as possible.” Real people paid those 210 ETH. Why do they have to suffer? However, they might end up with the upper hand. LarvaLabs can use all the legal tricks that they want, but they can’t destroy the CryptoPunks V1 contract.
The Intricacies Of The V1 Contract
As this pseudonymous Twitter user puts it, “my understanding is the contract code is permanent – you can only update a contract post deployment by calling the selfdestruct() function, if there is one. A function which neither of the two Crytopunk contracts have!”
@larvalabs cannot do that with v1 punks because, both their v1 and v2 contracts point to the same file!
You’ll find this identical imageHash in both contracts:
ac39af4793119ee46bbff351d8cb6b5f23da60222126add4268e261199a2921b pic.twitter.com/cg0AFQR7Tt
— Stroudonian (@0xStroudonian) January 29, 2022
Not only that, there’s another way to destroy a contract, and here’s where the big reveal comes. “Because of ETH’s extortionate storage costs, most use external forms of storage (punks are off-chain art!). In layman’s, contracts essentially include a link to specific reference point, which contains the image. LarvaLabs cannot do that with v1 punks because, both their v1 and v2 contracts point to the same file!”
Oh, what a tangled web we weave!
And that’s the story of the CryptoPunks V1.
Related Reading | Will NFTs Kill Traditional Art? Famed Collector Cozomo de’ Medici Makes The Case
The CryptoPunks V2 Market
According to NFT Stats, “The total sales volume for CryptoPunks was $41.42M. The average price of one CryptoPunks NFT was $232.7k. There are 3.373 CryptoPunks owners, owning a total supply of 9,999 tokens.” Let’s check in a few years to see if the CryptoPunks V1 make a dent on that.
Featured Image: Screenshot of CryptoPunks V1 from LooksRare | Charts by TradingView
The non-fungible token market continues to heat up with strong sales volume on OpenSea, an NFT marketplace for buying and selling items.
A waitlist for the highly anticipated Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) NFT marketplace has more than two million people signed up, which could increase the valuation and demand for NFT projects.
Every week, Benzinga takes a look at the top ten NFT projects by sales volume. This week’s list featured three of the most popular projects of all time topping the list. An NFT based on a popular cryptocurrency also joined the top ten list.
Here is a look at the top 10 NFT projects by sales volume from the past week, as reported by CryptoSlam.
Axie Infinity: $113.2 million, -4.3%
CryptoPunks: $37.1 million, +2.9%
Bored Ape Yacht Club: $21.1 million, -21.1%
Farming Tales: $17.8 million, +181.5%
Farmers World: $14.8 million, +26.9%
Art Blocks: $10.5 million, -9.9%
The Shiboshis: $9.7 million, +125.2%
NBA Top Shot: $8.8 million, -13.0%
Doodles: $8.3 million, -81.5%
Mutant Ape Yacht Club: $8.1 million, +8.6%
Related Link: 11 NFTs With A Halloween Theme To Watch Ahead Of The Holiday
What Happened: Axie Infinity topped the list once again and remains the weekly leader over the last two months. The popular play to earn NFT game has a sales volume of over $2.7 billion in its lifetime and over $500 million in the last 30 days.
CryptoPunks saw a slight increase in sales volume, helped by a record breaking controversial sale for 124,457 Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).
Farming Tales and Farmers World saw big gains this week. Both NFT projects trade on the WAX Blockchain and aren’t as well-known as top Ethereum based projects.
The other big gainer this week was Shiboshis, a 10,000 NFT project celebrating the Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) cryptocurrency. The Shibs have traits like laser yes and party hats and will be used in an upcoming Shiboshi Game. The NFTs can be purchased at ShibaSwap. Shiboshis have a floor price of 1.7 Ethereum on OpenSea at the time of writing.
NBA Top Shot remained in the top ten again with the NBA season fully underway and new pack drops happening for the popular sports based NFT project.
Photo: Courtesy of boredapeyachtclub.com