Sales of non-interchangeable tokens (NFT) from the CryptoPunks project increased sharply after Visa announced the acquisition of one of them on Monday.
According to CryptoSlam, the sales volume for the last day exceeded $111 million, which is an absolute record. In July, when a new maximum was registered in terms of sales for the month, the final figure was $135.2 million.
In addition, the average transaction amount with NFT CryptoPunks this month is $200 thousand, which is more than twice the July values. 90 CryptoPunks were sold only within the first hour after the announcement of Visa. The minimum price of CryptoPunks put up for sale has also grown and is now equal to 74.5 ETH ($250 thousand). According to the developer of the project Larva Labs, two of the most expensive NFTs from the collection, representing the rarest alien characters, were sold in March of this year for $7.6 million each.
"There are certain events and turning points that mark the transition from exotic hobbies to something more common, and there have already been at least two such moments in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain in recent months," publicist David Morris notes. " First, Salvador seriously started talking about bitcoin, after which a fight broke out in the US Senate over whether wallet developers are brokers. The acquisition of Visa also serves as a marker of the inevitable release of non-interchangeable tokens to the masses."
Even before the Visa announcement, CryptoPunks became the first NFT project that attracted the attention of collectors outside the cryptocurrency industry. In May, 9 NFTs were put up for sale by the auction house Christie's, and in June Sotheby's sold another "alien" for $11.75 million, thus even surpassing the record registered in the blockchain.