An anonymous individual purchased a CryptoPunks NFT for over $16 million worth of cryptocurrency on Monday, in the second-largest transaction for a CryptoPunk ever recorded. 

For a whopping 4,500 ETH—worth $16.03 million at the time of sale—an Ethereum user whose identity has yet to be revealed purchased CryptoPunk #3100 just after 9:30 am EST this morning. The user’s wallet was created only four days ago, and used exclusively to purchase the NFT. 

CryptoPunk #3100 is one of only nine Alien Punks in the entire 10,000-piece CryptoPunks collection. Due to that rarity, Alien Punks have garnered some of the highest bids ever recorded for individuals CryptoPunks. The most expensive CryptoPunk ever sold, #5822, was an Alien Punk purchased at the NFT market’s height in early 2022 for nearly $24 million. 

The anonymous purchaser of CryptoPunk #3100 had been attempting to nab the coveted NFT for days. On Thursday, they submitted a bid of 4,250 ETH, worth $14.78 million at the time, to the NFT’s then-owner. The king’s ransom was apparently not sufficient to seal the deal; on Friday, the individual withdrew the bid, eventually submitting the more handsome 4,500 ETH offer this morning.

Punk 3100 bought for 4,500 ETH ($16,032,959.47 USD) by 0x705876 from 0x7b8961. https://t.co/YMzLi5i8se #cryptopunks #ethereum pic.twitter.com/FcdGF83uNc

— CryptoPunks Bot (@cryptopunksbot) March 4, 2024

On Twitter, crypto users heralded the eye-popping purchase as an unambiguous sign that the bull market had returned. 

The encouraging signal of crypto’s potential return to the absurd highs of the 2021/2022 bull run comes days after last week’s stupendous Bitcoin rally, which saw the world’s top cryptocurrency consistently climb thousands of dollars in value day after day, and reinforced a mood of delirious optimism among crypto enthusiasts. That momentum also pushed Ethereum above $3,500 for the first time since the beginning of 2022. 

While CryptoPunk #3100 is the second-most expensive profile picture (PFP) NFT ever sold, after its Alien brother CryptoPunk #5822, neither approaches the price tag of the single most expensive NFT ever sold, a virtual artwork by digital artist Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann. That piece, "Everydays: The First 5,000 Days," sold for an historic $69.3 million at a Christie’s auction in March 2021.

Originally created by Larva Labs in 2017 and purchased by Bored Ape Yacht Club creator in 2022, CryptoPunks is an influential collection that inspired the later surge in NFT profile pictures. The collection has yielded over $2.75 billion worth of trading volume to date following a free mint, with prices currently starting above $200,000 worth of ETH.

Edited by Andrew Hayward