CryptoPunk NFT Sells for $56M – But Was It Just a Marketing Stunt?

CryptoPunk 1563 just “sold” for a jaw-dropping $56.3 million in Ethereum, setting off a wave of speculation. On-chain investigator 0xQuit revealed that the sale likely used a flash loan—a quick loan repaid within the same transaction—meaning no actual value changed hands. The move said to be linked to promoting a new “Kamala Harris Punk” meme token, may be part of a clever marketing scheme. Balancer, a DeFi protocol, provided the flash loan, and the “buyer” used 24,000 ETH to move the CryptoPunk briefly between wallets, with no profits earned. This tactic has raised questions about whether the sale was genuine or just a publicity stunt, underscoring how marketing tricks are reshaping high-profile NFT sales.