CryptoPunks collection to be featured in 800-page book documenting phenomenal rise

Phaidon will launch ‘CryptoPunks: Free to Claim’, the first and only comprehensive book to feature all 10,000 Punks ever created, alongside a detailed look at how the digital collectibles became a cultural phenomenon.

In an Oct. 16 press release received by crypto.news, global publishing firm Phaidon announced the upcoming release of “CryptoPunks: Free to Claim”, a book written and compiled by creative director Zak Kyes, web3 lifestyle and media company Yuga Labs and conceived by Zak Group.

The book will be available for order in December for $100 USD, $135 CAN, £49.95 UK and €89.95 EUR. A limited version will be available for CryptoPunk owners with the word e”HOLDER” printed at its edge.

The book will be the first of its kind to showcase all 10,000 unique CryptoPunk non-fungible token characters compiled in print, featuring each Punk’s type, attributes, pixel color and on-chain data in the form of Image Hash.

Artist Simon Denny placed each Punk in miniature icons on pages made out of tear-out blotter paper. The book has a comprehensive timeline woven into it, with excerpts from community member posts and timestamped tweets.

“CryptoPunks: Free to Claim” also includes interviews with key figures instrumental in the rise of CryptoPunks, such as founders Matt Hall and John Watkinson, and artistic director Hans Ulrch Obrich.

Its glossary is filled with more than one hundred web3 terms courtesy of pioneers from the industry, such as Beeple, Emily Segal, and Venkatesh Rao.

Some leading figures and experts from the digital art, design, fashion and fashion space wrote texts or designed visuals for this book, including Anika Meier, Gmoney, Mindy Seu, Chris Lyons (a16z), Salome Asega or NEW INC, New Models, Shumon Basar, Martina Tiefenthaler, Michael Connor or Rhizome, Jack Butcher, and 6529.

This book aims to capture the rich history of these digital icons through a series of texts, interviews and visual essays that illustrate the CryptoPunks widespread cultural impact on Crypto Art and how it will continue to stay relevant for years to come.

First launched on 23 June 2017, CryptoPunks or Punks is a set of 10,000 uniquely generated 24 x 24 pixel avatars inspired by the London 80s punk scene and 90s cyberpunk.

CryptoPunks began as free-to-claim NFTs, hence the title of the book. Due to high demand, CryptoPunks grew to be bought and sold as digital collectibles, with prices ranging from thousands to millions of dollars for a piece. Since the Punks started selling, they have generated more than $2.3 billion in cumulative sales.

Some CryptoPunks have even been sold for millions of dollars at auctions hosted by Christie’s and Sotheby’s as well as made into permanent collections at art institutions such as ICA Miami, Centre Pompidou, and LACMA.