The chronicles of #8279

Today CryptoPunk #8279 is me and I am CryptoPunk #8279. 576 pixels that have been my companion for the largest part of my time in NFT. Most people that know me in this space know me by this pfp or a variation of it. But I wasn't always #8279 and #8279 wasn't always me.

As part of one of the oldest NFT pfp collections in existence, it is worth taking a closer look into her history - or what's recoverable of it. Thanks to the blockchain some of those details are recorded forever while others are left to research and imagination.

She was minted 2008 days before this Etch on Jun-23-2017 06:43:52 PM +UTC. Like roughly a thousand of her brothers and sisters she was claimed by Hemba. #8279 spend more time with Hemba than she spent with me so far. I am not sure she received a lot of attention during that time though. She was part of the hundreds of Punks that Hemba sold over 3 years after claiming. In may 2020 her time had come and she was transferred to treetop.

While that period only lasted for 4 months I like to think she was appreciated. Treetop only owned 7 punks so far and only 3 including #8279 during her time in his wallet. The majority of her time she spent with just one other fellow half-shaved #5164. On September 20 Treetops wrapped and quickly sold her for rari, the original marketplace incentive scheme.

Her next owner Korniej is also an early punk trader that was active in 2020 and 2021. His exact attitude to #8279 and her brothers and sisters is difficult to ascertain as he has deleted all of his old posts on the punk discord. Based on his trading patterns it seems like he appreciated punks - he still holds 5 - and chose selectively but ultimately treated #8279 as an asset.

For 25 days at the beginning of 2021 "The Nat" became #8279's steward. This was a time of strong NFT and punk hype. I was scrambling to get the necessary funds as prices were rising. Every day new deposits arrived in my coinbase account, but every day the floor had risen. And I didn't want a floor.

On February 16 The Nat sold me #8279 for 11.25Ξ ($20,115) - more than double what he had paid in dollar terms less than a month before. The punk floor at that time was 8Ξ but this one spoke to me. It was the most expensive purchase I had made in my life at that point. And probably the riskiest. Definitely, the one that I got the most surprised and alarmed reactions for from my circle.

I kept re-listing #8279 far above the floor for a while to trade for a rarer trait and almost accepted an offer for 30 eth when the floor was 15. But tax concerns, the fear of missing a rising floor, and my growing connection with #8279 made me delist entirely. A decision that has given me peace of mind independently of floor price since.

Based on my research it's tough to say whether #8279 meant anything to her previous owners. So for future generations, I would like to record what she means to me. Maybe I will gamble if prices reach new heights, or upgrade if I come into cash and the new owner will find this. Or maybe this beautiful experiment that is digital goods and ethereum will fail and some digital archeologists will stumble upon this. But I have this romantic notion that one that my daughter will pass this on to my grandchildren and they get to read the story.

This punk was and is a symbol of my journey and belief in this space. I have grown to love many tokens since, but stumbling into the punk community at the beginning of 21 opened my eyes to the fact that people could care deeply about digital goods. I was hooked quickly and knew if I believed in this development I would always regret not getting one. The more time I spend with #8279 the more my connection is growing from a connection to punks to a connection to what has become my punk.