Seller 'rugs' $30M CryptoPunks collection minutes before Sotheby’s auction
NFT enthusiasts and fine art collectors have been left confused, after an auction for a collection of 104 CryptoPunks estimated to be worth around $30 million was canceled at the last-minute.
The event, hosted by famous fine-goods auctioneer Sotheby’s, was on track to be one of the largest NFT auctions in history — up until the pseudonymous owner of the ‘Punk It!’ collection suddenly withdrew from the auction.
The CryptoPunk hodler’s reasons behind the move remain unclear, however in the aftermath of the canceled auction, the anonymous owner who goes by ‘0x650d’ on Twitter sent out a seemingly nonchalant tweet to his 12 thousand followers noting “nvm, decided to hodl”
nvm, decided to hodl https://t.co/WdQ5H7I0fl
The collector went on to make light of the situation, posting a meme insinuating that they were "taking punks mainstream by rugging Sothebys.” While this wasn’t an actual “rug pull” where investors are illegally stripped of funds, it certainly left Sotheby’s and the community in the dark.
pic.twitter.com/M0l9wvH3T5
Haralobos Voulgaris, a quantitative researcher for the Dallas Mavericks, wcalled the collector a “clown”,
Salty that you're going to have to buy at retail now?
The NFT industry has witnessed near-exponential growth in 2021, with CryptoPunks, created by Larva Labs, generating over $2 billion in sales volume since inception.
Despite the fact that this would have been Sotheby’s first entirely NFT-focused event, the auction house has shown an aptitude for capitalizing on the lucrative NFT market, selling over $100 million worth in NFTs last year alone, $24 million of which occurred at a single auction.
Related: CryptoPunks community reacts to the ongoing copyright battle between v1 and v2
This recent clash
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