An anonymous seller of a batch of 104 CryptoPunks NFTs pulled the lot from Sotheby’s auction at the last moment.
The auctions were scheduled for February 23. The auction house expected a sale price of $20-$30 million.
On February 8, announcing the auction, the owner of the collectible assets under the alias 0x650d wrote:
“Today I’m excited to announce my partnership with Sotheby’s to execute the most significant NFT sale of all time.”
Today, I’m excited to announce my partnership with @Sotheby’s to create the highest profile NFT sale of all time. https://t.co/woBaWIcrWZ
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 8, 2022
But before the sale began, the collector pulled the lot from sale and said:
“Don’t take it personally; I decided to hold back.”
nvm, decided to hodl https://t.co/WdQ5H7I0fl
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022
He then posted a series of memes, first hinting at reluctance to sell the assets amid price decline. Then 0x650d signaled that by pulling Sotheby’s auction he was bringing CryptoPunks into the mainstream.
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022
Part of the community lashed out at his actions.
“The last-minute withdrawal of the Punk It auction unfortunately had the opposite effect. A sad day for digital art collectors,” said Compound founder Robert Leshner.
The last-minute withdrawal of the Punk It auction unfortunately had the opposite effect. A sad day for digital art collectors. https://t.co/LXGjvBI2ok
— Robert Leshner (@rleshner) February 24, 2022
RugRadio founder, under the alias Farokh.eth, wrote that 0x650d had shown all industry participants in a foolish light.
“Even the press laughs at your attempts to hide guilt behind dumb memes,” he added.
Bro you suck stop acting like you rugged Sotheby’s lmao you made everyone look stupid. Even the press here is laughing at us because of you stop hiding the guilt behind dumb ass memes.
— Farokh.eth (🎙, 🎙) (@farokh) February 24, 2022
There were those who supported the failed seller. A user wrote that the NFT owner had avoided “the biggest mistake of his life,” since CryptoPunks are “the Warhol works of the 21st century.”
Digital artist Stuart Semple thought it was the right decision not to pay Sotheby’s bloated fees when assets can be sold without intermediaries.
As real reasons for the seller’s decision not to go ahead with the auction, users cited the fees and perhaps a low expected sale price that did not meet his expectations.
Back in December 2021, NFT CryptoPunk #4156 was sold for 2500 ETH (~$10.26m at the time of the deal).
In February, token #5577 from the collection was acquired for 2501 ETH (more than $7.8m). The buyer was presumably Robert Leshner.