XCOPY Raises $24M in Minutes From Latest NFT Drop

Crypto art pioneer XCOPY has sold over $24 million worth of NFTs in their latest drop. Most of the funds raised came from mints of the “MAX PAIN” piece sold as an open edition, but a series of ranked auctions also raked in sizeable sums. 

XCOPY Makes $23M “MAX PAIN” Piece

XCOPY is proving high-value NFT artwork is going nowhere.

The London-based crypto artist launched their “MAX PAIN AND FRENS” NFT drop via Nifty Gateway Thursday. The headline event was the open edition sale for a piece called “MAX PAIN,” which was sold alongside several other more limited pieces. The total raised from the drop sits at around $24.4 million, with over $23 million of that coming from the open edition sale.

The sale for “MAX PAIN” opened at 22:30 UTC. Patrons had a window of just 10 minutes to mint an NFT, with no maximum limit on the amount that could be minted. In total, 7,394 NFTs were minted at $3,108 each—the price of 1 Ethereum at the time the sale began. 

Alongside “MAX PAIN,” two auctions for other more limited XCOPY pieces ran. The first, titled “WASTER,” launched in an edition of six and used a ranked auction system. The top six bids, which ranged between $101,000 and $91,000, received an NFT. Another limited edition piece called “DAMAGER LUXE” used the same auction system, with the top bid coming in at $79,999. Fans who held five NFTs supported on Nifty Gateway’s marketplace could also enter a raffle to purchase one of 24 “GOURMET SPICY” pieces for $1. Additionally, in a follow-up to XCOPY’s last open edition drop, “Afterburn” holders could burn either one or two of their NFTs to receive a selection of other previously unreleased works. 

“Afterburn” was released for $999 in a five-minute open edition with two other NFTs in March 2021. The drop, titled “TRAITORS,” minted just 1,127 pieces in total, signaling the recent explosion of interest in NFTs. Like most other early XCOPY pieces, those NFTs trade for significantly higher than their initial listing price. XCOPY was one of the first digital artists to embrace NFTs with works minted on Ethereum as early as 2018, and their distinctive glitch-based style has inspired countless other artists. Alongside names like Beeple and FEWOCiOUS, they’re regarded as one of the space’s key figures.

While “MAX PAIN” isn’t quite as valuable as XCOPY’s rarer pieces—which can sometimes fetch millions of dollars—those who minted one of the NFTs are already seeing a return on their investment. The floor price on OpenSea currently stands at 1.125 Ethereum, around $3,559. If these latest NFTs follow the prices of other XCOPY crypto art, they could possibly see even higher valuations in the future. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing this piece, the author owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.