Matt Hall and John Watkinson Release CryptoPunks

The first large generative character set minted on Ethereum, CryptoPunks was released by Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs on June 22, 2017 for free. While Curio Cards predated the project as the first art NFTs on Ethereum, CryptoPunks (or Punks) stand as the first demonstration of generative algorithm that could produce a set number of unique iterations within a set with neither the artists, collectors or platform able to know precisely what would be generated. The project is generative, clearly, because the artists introduced autonomy to a system to create work. Punks stand as generative art and introduce the world to new issues, such as the demand for algorithms to paradoxically produce endless variety in a consistent and unified output space. The 10,000 unique Punks characters would also kick off a series of projects heavily inspired by the Punks minting and community mechanics. Larva Labs would demonstrate the power of generativity again in 2019 with Autoglpyhs—later in this chapter—which would in turn inspire Art Blocks—coming in Chapter 10. Beyond their impact on digital art, Etheria, Curio Cards and CryptoPunks also provided Ethereum with a first-mover advantage on NFTs. This fact remains despite NFTs early formation occurring entirely within the Bitcoin community. It would not be until the following decade (and chapter) that the Bitcoin community would seriously reenter the NFT discussion with Ordinals.