CryptoPunk NFT sold for $56.3 million

A record-breaking $56.3 million was recently paid for a CryptoPunk NFT 1563. The world has mostly moved on from NFTs, with interest in cryptocurrency products adorned with humorous images now focused on meme-coins.

Lately, the NFT market posted an impression of a price recovery, supported by the most recent record sale. BAYC, CryptoPunk, and Pudgy Penguins collections have seen upticks in floor prices and overall sales volumes.

The Punk 1563—a pixelated picture of a woman with dark hair and blue eyes—fetched 24,000 ether (ETH) in the transaction.

NFTs have observed different strange things related to sales in the past.

In 2021, a different CryptoPunk purportedly sold for $532 million; however, blockchain records unambiguously indicate that the same individual was involved in both transactions.

According to a closer examination of the on-chain data, the alleged “buyer” of Punk 1563 actually obtained a 24,000 ETH flash loan from the automated market maker protocol Balancer to purchase the punk.

The “seller” wallet then sent the 24,000 ETH straight back to Balancer after completing the sale—an odd arrangement for a purported NFT purchase.

Particularly, Punk 1563—a pixelated picture of a woman with dark hair and blue eyes—fetched 24,000 ether (ETH) in the transaction, and currently holds the record for market capitalization in the NFT sector. It was available for purchase as late as September for less than 30 ETH, so the most recent transaction represented a significant premium over previous rates.

While the NFT changed hands and 24,000 ETH was sent from one contract address to another, in the end, the buyer only had to part with a total of $54 to cover gas and contract execution costs. In 2021, an investor took out a $532 million flash loan to purchase CryptoPunk 9998 and quickly repaid the balance to the AMM.

While the enormous dollar amount attracted attention and made headlines, Larva Labs, the company behind CryptoPunks, quickly followed suit by declaring that it would not consider the sale valid. Punk 1563, which features a pixelated woman with dark hair and blue eyes and fetches 24,000 ether (ETH) in a transaction, has seen a sharp increase in quotations on CryptoPunk, which holds the market capitalization record in the NFT sector.

It was sold for less than 30 ETH in September, so the most recent transaction represented a significant premium over the going rate.