Thread by @nftstrategies

Nelson and I talked when he minted the Satoshi 1/1 @the_cryptocards. He was ready for the release and won. I thought it was a big gamble to spend 3 ETH to get a wrapped card from a 2018 project. He just sold it for 51 ETH and a toad. Pay attention to the signs. #V1Punks 1/🧵

https://twitter.com/Nelmooniam/status/1481329319410503681

So, Larva Labs launched Cryptopunks with a V1 contract that had an oversight. Once minted, the punk you owned could be stolen. The buyer would pay your price, but the ETH was stored for the *buyer* to collect later, not you. Larva Labs patched it and released v2. 2/

v2 is the CryptoPunks™️ we know. This is what Larva Labs recognized as the official collection. V1 was out there in wallets, on the blockchain. At a time when these new things traded for a few dollars, why would you collect the un-tradable, broken first prints? 3/

The USA 1918 24¢ “Inverted Jenny.” Sold for $1.6M (495 ETH) in November 2018. 4/

The #v1punks were disavowed by Larva Labs. It was their artistic and legal right. If you thought right click savers were annoying now, imagine 2017. Virtually everyone was. Punks weren’t famous, but at least they were provably scarce and owned. LL wanted to protect them. 5/

What are we buying? Attention. If you meditate all day, you don’t need NFTs. Your attention is occupied. But if you want to own digital art, and games, and rare collectibles, and you get there before others who want them too, your attention is rewarded with ETH. Some NFTs pay. 6/

Before attention, Punks had scarcity as their primary value. Friends and observers asked what they were; this pixel head on Twitter. “It’s a picture I own. It has a contract. It’s mint. There are only 10k. No one can have it the way I do, where every (node) agrees. 10k only.”7/

1955 DDO Lincoln Cent - stamped twice inn error - $32,500 (10 ETH) March, 2020. 8/

The #V1punks were too dangerous to trade, an imperfect test-run. Tests aren’t certified products. But they have historical significance. They’re PFP firsts, and flawed. Now corrected through the invention of Wrappers. Classicpunks.com 9/

This first V1 Punks wrapper was banned by OpenSea, under pressure by Larva Labs. Now there is a new wrapper. 10/

Larva Labs was founded to make apps for a cellphone that no one uses anymore. Then they designed something unique and brought the idea to life before it’s time. They’ve spanned entire product life cycles. They’re OGs. 10/

Larva Labs also used the traditional means of rights enforcement to perserve their scarcity. Take down requests, violation notices, legal threats. In Web 2 you don’t have network consensus. Token-gated sites. Airdrops. Decentralization. Attention. 11/

Now my NFTs take me places. Get me verified. Give me stuff. Have market liquidity. The attention has grow and if we don’t like a derivative, we powerful tool: economic cancellation. FUD. Attention deficit. 12/

Now there is abundance. And volatility. Speculation and snake oil. Have you ever wondered why gold-rush prospectors were so prone to snake oil scams? High risk tolerance. They were dreamers with new money. Like a BAYC with a seed phrase. It’s dangerous out west. 13/

Newcomers and the new rich alike are rediscovering the past. #CryptoSkulls, #rarepepe, Twitter eggs, Sarutobi, Test, and others represent provenance, creative innovation, and great scarcity. It’s breakfast on the first day of NFTs and we’re attending the renaissance festival. 14/

The moment has arrived for #V1punks. Among so many projects, these are historically unique. The first Larva Labs cryptopunks on the blockchain. Kicked off OpenSea for not being born right. Now brought to focus on @LooksRareNFT and @rarible. 15/

No, they’re not the Punks that went on-chain thanks to @ArtOnBlockchain and @_deafbeef. They’re not the punks that @pixelvault_ illustrated. But they are Larva Lab Cryptopunks. And for now they’re safe to buy and sell. #Looksrare 16/

I’m more excited about the technology than the asset class. NFTs will win. Which will stand the test of time? The *first*. The erroneous. So I unstaked my $looks and spent them on wrapped v1 cryptopunks. The token play feeds itself. Meet V1 Crytopunk #6176. 17/

The original Punk 6176 languishes in a vault. Last sold for $16 USD worth of ETH. Bought at time when v1 and v2 were essentially the same price on secondary in the grand scheme of the project. Like brothers in Gattica, one was born perfect, the other bastardized. 18/

I paid 5 ETH for what I believe is one of the most important historic NFTs out there. Whether or not it is supported by its creator, enough people exist who recognize its importance as an special NFT over its sovereignty as a PFP. NFA. 19/

What we are buying is attention, in the form of a story. The buyers #V1Punks aren’t challenging the power of Larva Labs, we raided their dumpster and found precious treasure. This real, indelible token has one of the best stories of all NFTs and true historic provenance. 20/

To me, and more collectors everyday, this is what being a punk really means. We’re showing you how deep the rabbit hole goes. How historic NFT purchases celebrate the tech, and teach us. Join us on discord to learn more: discord.gg/4eaYRvSf 21/

Thanks to @0xfoobar, @Nelmooniam, @FrankPoncelet @_Psyborg_ @LeonidasNFT @WRabbit1111 @adamamcbride and @punk6529 for the deep thinking that led me here.

Version 1.0, Larva Labs Cryptopunk #6176 - $16,500, January 2022.

22/end🪡