In brief

  • CryptoPunks are one of the most popular NFT collections.
  • And one of them will now be on show in a Miami museum.

A non-fungible token (NFT) has landed in a museum. The CryptoPunk, from a popular and expensive collection of pixelated characters, was given to Miamiā€™s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) by trustee Eduardo Burillo.Ā 

According to ICA, it's the "first NFT to enter a major art museum collection."

NFTs are unique digital tokens, typically minted and stored on the Ethereum blockchain. They can represent just about anythingā€”such as artwork, audio, or video contentā€”and have proven to be extremely lucrative: In the first half of this year alone, $2.5 billion-worth of NFTs sold, according to DappRadar.

CryptoPunks were created back in 2018, long before demand for NFTs hit fever pitch. They are a collection of 10,000 unique 24-by-24 pixelated headshots. And people love them: They were plastered around Miami by an artist in a month-long exhibition back in April and have sold for millions of dollars.Ā 

The elegantly-named CryptoPunk 5293 is one of them and will be on view in the ICA this summer.Ā 

"CryptoPunk 5293 joins the ICA Miami collection as a work that is truly representative of the cultural zeitgeist and will have historic significance for generations to come, reflecting ICA Miamiā€™s commitment to fostering an expansive understanding of contemporary art and cultural production in the 21st century," ICA Miami artistic director Alex Gartenfeld said in a statement.Ā 

Gmoney, a pseudonymous investor with an interest in Ethereum and NFTs, told Decrypt that NFTs landing in museums was always going to happen.Ā 

"It was part of my original thesis on [CryptoPunks]ā€”that they will be in museums one day," he said. "Itā€™s happening much faster than I originally expected."

Ā 

He added: "I think weā€™re past the point of no return. NFTā€™s are historically significant to the art history narrative."

After a boom this year and last, the NFT craze seems to have calmed down a bitā€”although the tokens are still popular. Just last week, Twitter dropped a collection on their platform.

CryptoPunk 5293 will be on show at the ICA on 61 NE 41st Street, Miami, Florida, this summer.Ā 

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