Phaidon is set to release ‘CryptoPunks: Free to Claim’, the first and only thorough book that encompasses all 10,000 Punks ever produced, along with an in-depth exploration of how these digital collectibles emerged as a cultural phenomenon.
In a press release dated Oct. 16, crypto.news received an announcement from global publishing company Phaidon about the forthcoming launch of “CryptoPunks: Free to Claim”, a work authored and assembled by creative director Zak Kyes, web3 lifestyle and media entity Yuga Labs, and conceptualized by Zak Group.
Pre-orders for the book will commence in December, priced at $100 USD, $135 CAD, £49.95 GBP, and €89.95 EUR. A limited edition will be accessible for CryptoPunk holders, featuring the word “HOLDER” inscribed at its edge.
This book will be a pioneer in presenting all 10,000 unique CryptoPunk non-fungible token characters in print, highlighting each Punk’s category, attributes, pixel colors, and on-chain data represented as Image Hash.
Artist Simon Denny has arranged each Punk as miniature icons on pages crafted from tear-out blotter paper. The book includes a detailed timeline, enriched with excerpts from community contributions and timestamped tweets.
“CryptoPunks: Free to Claim” also features interviews with pivotal figures who played a crucial role in the ascent of CryptoPunks, including founders Matt Hall and John Watkinson, along with artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrich.
The glossary encompasses over one hundred web3 terminologies, contributed by industry pioneers like Beeple, Emily Segal, and Venkatesh Rao.
Numerous leading personalities and specialists from the realms of digital art, design, and fashion have contributed texts or crafted visuals for this volume, such as Anika Meier, Gmoney, Mindy Seu, Chris Lyons (a16z), Salome Asega or NEW INC, New Models, Shumon Basar, Martina Tiefenthaler, Michael Connor or Rhizome, Jack Butcher, and 6529.
This book strives to encapsulate the rich narrative of these digital icons through a blend of written works, interviews, and visual essays that depict the extensive cultural influence of CryptoPunks on Crypto Art and its enduring relevance for the years to come.
First introduced on June 23, 2017, CryptoPunks, or Punks, comprises a collection of 10,000 uniquely generated 24 x 24 pixel avatars, influenced by the London punk scene of the 1980s and the cyberpunk aesthetics of the 1990s.
Initially offered as free-to-claim NFTs—hence the title of the book—CryptoPunks rapidly transformed into sought-after digital collectibles, with sales prices varying from thousands to millions of dollars for individual pieces. To date, the Punks have amassed over $2.3 billion in total sales.
Some CryptoPunks have fetched multimillion-dollar prices at auctions conducted by Christie’s and Sotheby’s and have been integrated into permanent collections at prestigious art institutions such as ICA Miami, Centre Pompidou, and LACMA.
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