{"id":9108,"date":"2021-09-27T09:57:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T13:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=9108"},"modified":"2021-09-27T09:57:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T13:57:46","slug":"before-nfts-surging-interest-pre-cryptopunk-collectibles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2021\/09\/27\/before-nfts-surging-interest-pre-cryptopunk-collectibles","title":{"rendered":"Before NFTs: Surging interest in pre-CryptoPunk collectibles"},"content":{"rendered":"

NFT hunters are suddenly rediscovering these forgotten vintage collectibles<\/b><\/p>\n

Love them or hate them, blockchain collectibles are having a moment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good art. It\u2019s bad art. It\u2019s good, bad art. Folks are flipping apes and robots and pixely punks. Tweets (which are arguably ownerless) are worth millions to the right buyer. Literal children \u2014 we\u2019re talking humans who weren\u2019t even alive yet when Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin white paper<\/a> \u2014 are suddenly whales, and it just might feel like everyone but you is getting overnight-rich on that nonfungible JPEG money.<\/p>\n

There is, of course, something to be said about how an object\u2019s provenance relates to its value. CryptoPunks for example \u2014 often erroneously billed as the \u201cfirst\u201d nonfungible token, or NFT, series \u2014 are a well-known example of an old, long-dead project enjoying a renaissance of financial and social appreciation. A year ago, no one cared. You could have bought one for a couple hundred bucks. Today, that club is for millionaires only.<\/p>\n

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Spells of Genesis mobile game<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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So, why haven\u2019t many of the crypto-collectibles on Counterparty that pre-date CryptoPunks<\/a> (and even the entire Ethereum ecosystem) experienced the same level of frenzy?<\/p>\n

The times, they are a changin\u2019<\/h4>\n

According to Shaban Shaame, blockchain pioneer and CEO of software company EverdreamSoft, it comes down to accessibility \u2014 and the times, they are a changin\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re on an older blockchain and not particularly easy to acquire,\u201d says Shaame in an interview with Cointelegraph. Counterparty (XCP) is an early contract layer of the Bitcoin blockchain that allowed creators to mint and distribute their own tokens. As Bitcoin\u2019s fees rose and Ethereum\u2019s popularity soared, however, the tokens and contract capabilities offered by Counterparty became largely obsolete.<\/p>\n

Today, it\u2019s a ghost town. \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t know how to use Counterparty at all,\u201d confirms Shaame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re looking for these antiquities but keep hitting a wall because they\u2019re so used to using OpenSea.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pause. Let\u2019s step into our time machine for a moment and travel back to the year 2015. It\u2019s September. The price of Bitcoin is $236. Ethereum\u2019s genesis block isn\u2019t even two months old. Smart contracts, as they\u2019ll exist in the future, are naught but a dream. And Shaame has just launched a token sale for the first-ever blockchain-based mobile game, Spells of Genesis.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s main draw was a series of digital trading cards meant to integrate into the game at launch. Each card was provably rare, with fantasy-themed artwork based on moments and figures in early blockchain history. The game\u2019s most coveted card depicted a purple-robed, druid-style Satoshi Nakamoto crafting Bitcoin\u2019s blockchain. Its edition was a mere 200 cards.<\/p>\n

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\"Fan<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Fan tokens: Day trading your favorite sports team<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 7, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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What it\u2019s like when the banks collapse: Iceland 2008 firsthand<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 5, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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Crypto City: Guide to Tokyo<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 1, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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Before NFTs: Surging interest in pre-CryptoPunk collectibles<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> September 27, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Bitcoin<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Bitcoin ledger as a secret weapon in war against ransomware<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> September 16, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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NFTs did not yet exist<\/h4>\n

These were not NFTs in any modern sense because those simply did not exist yet. Rather than each one being verifiably 1-of-1 (nonfungible), each card design featured a limited edition of interchangeable (fungible) tokens on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. After its successful fundraise, the game went on to release dozens of trading cards with varying edition sizes and levels of rarity.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward six years, and the completed Spells of Genesis mobile game is gathering dust on your favorite app store. While the game surged in popularity for a year or two around the time of the initial coin offering boom, it was eventually overtaken by nonfungible projects like CryptoKitties, and its collectibles more-or-less faded into obscurity.<\/p>\n

That is until recently, according to Shaame:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past few weeks, our team has suddenly been overwhelmed with demand for Spells of Genesis cards. Two weeks before that, people started going crazy for Rare Pepe cards. One of them sold for $300K.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pepe attracting interest, too<\/h4>\n

He relayed that many long-dormant NFTs, such as Rare Pepe, Force of Will and Mafia Wars, have suddenly begun to attract fresh interest from collectors as well. A collector and merchant operating under the name Pkeane4osu tells Cointelegraph that the rise started in February but really took off at the beginning of July. Now he\u2019s flipping 20\u201325 Counterparty collectibles per day \u2014 some for as high as 4.5 Bitcoin:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe increase in sales to new buyers has been unreal. Many have never used Counterparty, and some have never used Bitcoin. Interest, in general, is higher than I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also notes that the transformation in pricing is especially shocking, given that the Counterparty blockchain was \u201cclose to a three-year standstill\u201d prior to this sudden resurrection. \u201cMany people that were once extremely active in the community just washed their hands of Counterparty,\u201d he explains. Today, however, even a dust-sized sliver of the more popular collectibles has meaningful value to the right buyer. \u201cRoughly two weeks ago, I sold 0.1 of a Satoshi Card for 5 ETH \u2014 1\/10th of a card,\u201d says Pkeane4osu.<\/p>\n

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