CryptoPunks Seller Cancels Sotheby’s NFT Auction Last-Minute

A single-lot of 104 CryptoPunks nonfungible tokens (NFTs) valued at up to $30 million owned by a single collector was withdrawn 23 minutes after bidding was scheduled to begin on a Sotheby’s auction. “Following discussions with the consignor, tonight’s Punk It sale has been withdrawn. Thank you to our panelists, guests and viewers for joining us,” said a message from Sotheby’s metaverse Twitter account on Wednesday. “Nvm, Decided to Hodl” In the aftermath of the canceled auction anonymous collector who goes by the username ‘0x650d’ tweeted to his 12,000 followers, ‘nvm, decided to hodl’. The collector then posted a meme implying that they were “taking punks mainstream by rugging Sothebys.” nvm, decided to hodl https://t.co/WdQ5H7I0fl — 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022 The consignor acquired all 104 Punks together in a single blockchain transaction and is one of the largest such groups held by a single wallet which represents more than one percent of all Punks. The auction, hosted by Sotheby’s, was on track to be one of the largest NFT auctions in history. Larva Labs created CryptoPunks, a generative creation of 10,000 pixelated characters, in 2017. Since then, it has gone on to generate over $2 billion in sales volume. Currently, the project has a floor price of $154,102. Sotheby’s NFT Sale Reached $100M in 2021 This was the second time Sotheby’s was supposed to sell a major NFT lot, with the first being a $24.4 million coll...