# What are CryptoPunks?

CryptoPunks, released June 9 2017, are widely considered the most influential NFT collection ever produced.

Artists Matt Hall & John Watkinson, through their company Larva Labs, created 10,000 uniquely generated characters inspired by the London punk scene, cypherpunk movement and Daft Punk.

An experiment in artificial rarity & ownership recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, CryptoPunks would inspire the ERC-721 token standard and help birth the industry we know today.

The impact of their work has changed the lives of many in our space & seen artists all over the world benefit from a new, direct, means to earn a living from their trade, via NFTs. Early claimants and collectors worldwide have seen their lives completely transformed by Punks & many of the most influential and accomplished in our space now choose to use a Punk as their online identity.

To date CryptoPunks have featured in multi-million dollar auctions by both Christie's and Sotheby's and been donated to museums across the world including ICA Miami, LACMA and Centre Pompidou. In 2024, a first-of-its-kind feature-length documentary film is set to be released chronicling the CryptoPunks story.

Watch our video here:\
[https://x.com/v1punks/status/1707405162346659922](https://x.com/v1punks/status/1707405162346659922?s=20)


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