ARE PUNKS THE NEXT PUNKS?: Jalil.Eth Found A Fix For The Original CryptoPunks V1 Contract, Sparking Debate Around Provenance, Culture, And Artistic Intent!

Are Punks the next Punks? A piece of NFT history is suddenly back in the spotlight after notable developers Jalil found a way to fix and trade the original V1 CryptoPunks contract.

Questions surrounding provenance, culture, and artistic intent have since taken over the timeline as collectors debate whether these once broken NFTs deserve a larger place in CryptoPunk history.

 

“found a lego smart contract fix for safely trading the broken C̱̀̏́̒̕r͛̏͘͜ỷ̶̲̮̃͜pt͖̪̔̎oP̧͈̯̐̀̇̍ú͐n̷̮͔ͫ̀k̼͓͉̫͛̋ṣ̀̚͘ without them having to be wrapped,” Jaili tweeted in a thread. “introducing C̩ͤ̊̄ͦͅry̸̢̯̍ͨ́̍p̛̞̘̊ͪ̕t̝o̩͗̈́͜P̹̗u̗ͬnḳ͚̫̋sMarket.sol.”

The ability to trade these “V1” CryptoPunks is a massive development in the NFT space and is already having an impact both onchain and across CryptoTwitter.

For those unfamiliar, Larva Labs originally launched CryptoPunks on Ethereum as a free claim on June 9, 2017.

 

Shortly after launch, Larva Labs discovered a flaw in the contract’s sales mechanism that allowed buyers to potentially withdraw their ETH after purchasing a Punk. These broken originals eventually became known as the “V1” CryptoPunks.

Because of the bug, Larva Labs abandoned the original contract and, two weeks later on June 23, 2017, airdropped holders an updated version of the collection that would go on to become the now-iconic V2 CryptoPunks that made art history, appeared in museums, and helped define NFT culture.

Over the years, the V1 collection developed a cult following among collectors who viewed the assets as an important piece of Ethereum and NFT history. However, trading the original Punks required holders to wrap them in a separate smart contract.

Now, thanks to Jalil’s new fix, V1 holders can unwrap their CryptoPunks and trade them as originally intended without the old exploit.

“this V1 workaround is actually an incredibly cool fix imo,” Jalil tweeted. “Since the bugged punks currently don't have a way to trade on their original marketplace, i decided to extract this standalone market contract. it is a pure lego block extension of the bugged (v1) CryptoPunks.sol contract deployed by LarvaLabs on June 9th, 2017, and enables bug free trading without ever wrapping the original asset. all sales settle through the original CryptoPunks.sol contract, and the entire orderbook is onchain.”

 

Following this week’s fix, the floor price of V1 CryptoPunks has roughly doubled to around 4 Eth, or $8,600 USD. Major sales have also happened with a  V1 Zombie and a V1 Ape selling for 35 Eth and 56.81 Eth respectively, and Beeple even made the collection the subject of his latest Everydays artwork.

Tonight, NFT collectors everywhere are sounding off on which CryptoPunks are the “real” CryptoPunks, with V1 supporters pointing to provenance, history, and the collection’s anti-establishment ideas.

 

“I get the argument between V1 and V2 punks,” Bored Ape Yacht Club member Carson tweeted. “Obviously the artist made both but view V2 as their final creation and want that to be the creation that lives on, but what’s more punk than doing what you want and bucking the system regardless of what that system might be? Are V1 punk’s actually more punk?

 

 

 

Alongside Larva Labs’ artistic intent, V2 supporters argue that the community that actually made CryptoPunks culturally significant was built around the V2 collection itself.

“The community that made punks what they are, and birthed the entire culture around NFTs... was around the trading and collecting of v2s. what exactly is punk about collecting a v1? bucking what system? you mean disrespecting the builder/artists opinion? they are the system?”

 

While this week’s development is cool and leading to many interesting conversations, CanonPunks Founder and notable CryptoPunk Dealer Eli Scheinman noted that no one is actually using the new unwrap.

 

“One irony of V1 Punk discussion about no longer needing the wrapper is that all but 1 of the 100+ sales in the last day were wrapped,” he said. “Only a single sale took place with this new functionality.”

 

 

But notable Punk collector Sean Bonner argued that Jalil’s fix should not simply be dismissed as a marketing gimmick or an attempt to pump bags, but instead recognized as a genuinely innovative onchain solution to an age old problem!

“The “new functionality” is a technical achievement solving a technical puzzle, not a sales strategy,” Bonner wrote. “But others project that onto it and judge it based on that. Similarly every comment anyone makes is viewed through the lens projecting that assumed motivation, which is why you see so many people accusing Jalil of trying to pump his bags without knowing he doesn’t even own a V1 to pump. This is part of the larger situation which makes the v1 conversation so interesting/frustrating - it’s hard to objectively talk about them because people on all sides have deeply held beliefs and narratives they aren’t willing to thoughtfully reexamine right now.”

 

The Gazette will continue to follow the growing V1 versus V2 CryptoPunks debate and is working to bring you interviews with proponents from both sides. Stay tuned for updates!