On February 8, the multinational luxury auction company Sotheby’s announced the firm would be auctioning 104 Cryptopunk non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles, but before the event started Sotheby’s canceled the event. It seems “0x650d,” the owner of the Cryptopunks NFTs, decided to keep the assets that were estimated to fetch around $20 to $30 million at auction.
Cryptopunks Owner Decides to Keep 104 NFTs, Sotheby’s Forced to Cancel ‘Punk It’ Auction
The luxury auction house had to cancel an NFT auction dubbed “Punk It” on Wednesday after the consignor decided to back out. During the first week of February, Sotheby’s revealed it would be auctioning 104 Cryptopunks that were estimated to get around $20 to $30 million. The sale would be called “Punk It,” and the NFTs stemmed from the owner “0x650d,” an individual who purchased the 104 Cryptopunks in a single transaction by paying a miner a bribe of five ethereum (ETH) in July 2021.
Then on the day of the scheduled auction, Sotheby’s tweetedAfter a conversation with the consignor, 0x650d the event was cancelled. “Following discussions with the consignor, tonight’s Punk It sale has been withdrawn. Thank you to our panelists, guests, and viewers for joining us,” Sotheby’s said. Then, 0x650d replied to an earlier tweet by saying that he had decided to retain the Cryptopunk NFTs. 0x650d said:
Nvm has decided to hodl.
NFT Supporter Says Canceled Auction ‘Made Everyone Look Stupid’
In another tweet, 0x650d shared a meme making fun of the situation with the luxury auction house Sotheby’s. Others didn’t think the meme was funny and 0x650d received criticism for pulling the auction away from Sotheby’s. “Bro you suck,” one individual wrote. “Stop acting like you rugged Sotheby’s. LMAO — You made everyone look stupid. Even the press here is laughing at us because of you… Stop hiding the guilt behind dumb ass memes.” Another individual agreed and said:
Very well said @farokh. [The]Sale would have been [a] big win for NFTs in general. It seems odd that the auction was pulled at such a last minute. Obviously, something’s amiss we’re not being told.
In the meantime, there are other things. memesThe Cryptopunks NFT Sale was pulled because 0x650d had been shared. However, it is not clear why. It’s quite possible that 0x650d’s stash became worth far less than he expected when the Cryptopunks NFT auction was first announced. The cryptocurrency market price, as well as the non-fungible token digital collectibles’ value, has dropped dramatically in comparison to fiat currencies, since the increased geopolitical tensions with Russia and Ukraine.
At the time of writing, metrics from dappradar.com indicate that 0x650d’s stash of NFTs are estimated to be worth $22.16 million. The value is a lot less than the wallet’s net worth when the auction was first announced. At the moment, the wallet 0x650d holds approximately 136 non-financial tokens (NFTs) from 18 different collections. 0x650d’s Twitter account profile has an etherscan verification message that is signed and verified, proving that 0x650d is indeed the owner of the 0x650d ethereum address holding the 136 NFTs.
What do you think about 0x650d canceling the NFT auction that was supposed to be held by Sotheby’s? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
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