Bitcoin Bandits CryptoPunk #8611 was a CryptoPunk NFT that was burned by the Bitcoin Bandits community on June 17, 2023. The NFT was sold for 55 Ethereum (ETH) or $95,000 on Saturday, according to Etherescan. And hours later, the NFT was burned in a way that points to inscription 12,456,749, an NFT-like asset on Bitcoin that bears the same image as its predecessor.

The decision to burn CryptoPunk #8611 was a community-led effort conducted by Wolf Capital Developer Nathan Stein on Twitter and holders of Bitcoin Bandits, a Western-themed collection of Ordinals inscriptions. When a digital asset is burned, it's locked up for eternity in a digital wallet that nobody controls, and CryptoPunk #8611 has been put to rest in a well-known burn address that also contains $21 million worth of Ethereum.

The Bitcoin Bandits community believes that burning CryptoPunk #8611 is a way to show their support for Bitcoin and to send a message to the world that Bitcoin is the one true cryptocurrency.