Alien Punk Sale

The biggest NFT week ever! It will be hard to top this one.

Around 2 weeks ago, some ‘’random’’ DMs from Sillytuna  appeared on my screen, asking questions about Alien Punks. After a small conversation, the answer to the question, ‘which is the most desirable Alien Punk?’, was ‘maybe the COVID Alien Punk.’ Then we moved on, discussed some crypto art and I didn’t make much of it.

…...A few days later...

Wednesday evening, there is some confidential information reaching the impenetrable Gazette editing newsroom. The news of course being that our very own beloved subscriber @sillytuna just purchased the COVID Alien Punk !!! As if this wasn’t exciting enough, he refused to consider mainstream press just to give us the exclusive! TRUE MVP!

2 hours later another bomb! Alien Punk sold for 4200 ETH! While we are still drunk from excitement and watch the floor being evaporated on LL discord…..Another Alien punk gets sold for another 4200ETH

But as promised let’s hear it from the man himself Sillytuna!

When did you decide you were going for an Alien Punk?
I worked on a drop for Nota Person and a buyer did a private purchase. I noticed the Alien among their NFTs. That was just over a week ago. A number of things came into place unexpectedly that allowed me to pull the trigger, including support from my family.

My hypothesis is what I tweeted earlier - these are avatars first and foremost. They're about identity and identity is about social value and social value, in our world, has monetary and utility value. That punks are simple, so you can use anywhere but esp on phones/social media, and on an open network, so not just controlled by sony etc, and limited, like bitcoin -> $$$

That aside, there is the usual stuff around first NFTs ofc

How did it play out?
Honestly, it genuinely played out as it appeared. I put a deal together -very- quickly as I wanted it done before Beeple finished. Agreed a price, spent the night thinking about it - especially with the anti-NFT shit kicking off, then that probably tipped me into buying it because fuck those guys

Sat around for the evening eating pizza waiting to see if it all came together, which fortunately it did.

Why the hesitation?
I felt I was paying quite a premium so I had to be really sure I was prepared to take the risk. However, my business head saw it as asset diversification and once you see it like that you realise that holding different cryptocurrencies is little different. That plus Punks aren't going away, they're only going to get more useful

How did you guys reach a deal?
At first we were miles away on price so I needed to sleep on it.

Then we found something which could start a discussion, and then we have a long call to arrive at a final deal

I opted to do this OTC for my own reasons, but the seller did do checks on the funding source before anyone starts talking about money laundering. I've been in the crypto space since 2012 and was in the ethereum crowd sale so I'm very much OG.

As for the price, that will remain private. The follow-up sale did derisk my purchase, however.

And I'm sorry that I can't disclose but not even the gazette get that.

Why is the price a secret?
I felt it very difficult to determine market price and wanted to keep all options open for after the purchase. I'm not saying it'll be secret forever and I will disclose it was under 4200 ether. It was not cheap though, to say the least.

Do you think the move of your Alien spearheaded the 2 subsequent buys?
Both took me by surprise but I think it probably did push others over the edge. The Beeple auction likely precipitated all 3 sales. I felt I had to get mine done the day before that finished but I expected that to hit $20m not $60m+. The very top end NFTs are going to be a hot prospect now, one which will make them pull significantly away from every other NFT.

As for the other sales

Well you broke that to me

Is the covid Alien the best Alien?
Undoubtedly for 2021. It's special because it fits into a world where some are treating mask wearers as aliens.

What are you planning to do with the Alien?
Shall I offer it to Justin Sun for $69m?

Game NFTs struggled for a long time because they rely on utility. Axie are managing to make that work so far, but even the top Axies are limited by the game itself. They'll always retain some value, but it's a limiting factor while a game establishes itself, as I discovered with Baus. A successful game will still have super valuable NFTs because of earning potential though. So I'm bullish on Axie if the game continues to grow.

Punk NFTs don't have that risk.

Fixed supply, old school, increasing utility both socially and as an asset class, first major NFTs - of their type certainly.

Put it this way.

The 9 Aliens could become the top 9 avatars in the world. A status symbol like a Ferrari 250.

How many billionaires with kids are there? Not all of them will want a Punk but I'm willing to bet more than 9 will.

An exclusive club of 9 people which is also globally shareable.

That's what I realised. Whilst it'll be more complicated than that, it's also a super simple concept and simple things tend to win(edited).

The reliance is on retaining/increasing social value as that will lead to utility.