CryptoPunks enters the pantheon of modern art: MoMA's permanent collection opens a new era for NFT art

On December 20, 2025, a milestone event in digital art history took place: the Museum of Modern Art in New York announced the inclusion of eight CryptoPunks NFTs in its permanent collection. This move not only serves as official verification of the status of this pioneering series as an “important part of digital and cultural history,” but also marks the formal acceptance of blockchain-based art forms by top global art institutions. Although the global art market faced setbacks in sales in 2024, NFTs, with their unique cultural penetration, are moving from the margins of experimentation to the core narrative of art history, laying a new foundation for the long-term value of crypto art assets.

Verification: Why is MoMA Embracing CryptoPunks?

The Museum of Modern Art in New York, established in 1929 and defining the standards of modern and contemporary art, has profoundly influenced the writing of art history with each collection choice. The inclusion of CryptoPunks in the permanent collection is by no means a rash move to chase trends, but rather the result of a thoughtful “historic donation” and academic recognition. Through this action, the museum clearly states that generative art based on blockchain technology is an indispensable component.

The eight works acquired this time include Punk 4018, 2786, 5616, 5160, 3407, 7178, 74, and 7899. They were not purchased by the museum at great cost but were generously donated by the community. Key drivers Mara Calderon and ArtOnBlockchain, along with well-known collectors Cozomo de' Medici, JudithESSS, and others, collaborated to create this gift to art history. This community-driven approach to donating to top institutions embodies the spirit of Web3, also avoiding the common suspicion of capital speculation found in the traditional art market, making this collection more pure in cultural and historical significance.

What is CryptoPunks? It is a series of 10,000 pixel-style avatars created by the Larva Labs team (Matt Hall and John Watkinson) in 2017. Each Punk is randomly generated by an algorithm, possessing different combinations of features (such as hats, pipes, zombies, aliens, etc.) and is recorded on the Ethereum blockchain as an immutable ownership record. Its emergence predates the widespread adoption of the “NFT” concept and is recognized as the pioneer of crypto art and the paradigm setter for digital collectibles. The inclusion in MoMA's collection is a testament to this “pioneering” status, similar to its foresight in being the first to collect photography, film, and design works.

CryptoPunks stored in MoMA key information

• Storage time: December 20, 2025
• Number of items in stock: 8
• Method of entry: Community donation (non-purchase)
• Core Donor: Mara Calderon, ArtOnBlockchain
• Important Contributors: renowned collectors such as Cozomo de' Medici, JudithESSS, NTmoney, etc.
• Total Supply: 10,000
• Current number of holders: 3,121 independent Ethereum wallet addresses
• Historical Significance: NFT digital art has entered the permanent collection system of the world's top art museums for the first time.

Market Resilience: How Top IPs Showcase Their Value Amidst Volatility?

Despite obtaining hall of fame verification, another key dimension to measure the vitality of a crypto asset is its market performance. After experiencing several rounds of bull and bear cycle transitions, the data of CryptoPunks shows the resilience and depth that a top cultural IP should possess. According to the latest data disclosed by the project team, its market activity has maintained an impressively stable performance throughout the macro market cycles.

From the perspective of trading activity, short-term momentum is strong: in the past day, sales reached 136.48 ETH (approximately 407,000 USD), in the past week it was 505.91 ETH (approximately 1.51 million USD), and in the past four weeks it reached 2,850 ETH (approximately 8.5 million USD). This sustained liquidity is not something that many fleeting NFT projects possess. Although the overall market is currently in a correction phase, its floor price remains solidly around 26.58 ETH (approximately 79,000 USD), with 1,888 sales completed in the past 12 months. From a broader perspective, the total sales during the project's lifecycle have reached an astonishing 1.4 million ETH, equivalent to approximately 3.89 billion USD. This figure is not only a financial indicator but also a testament to the massive social attention and capital recognition it has accumulated as a cultural phenomenon.

The high-value consensus of CryptoPunks has long been validated through the auction market. In 2021, CryptoPunk 9997 (a “zombie” attribute Punk, of which there are only 88 globally) was sold at Christie’s in Hong Kong for 33.9 million HKD (approximately 4.35 million USD), nearly five times the highest estimate. This piece was initially purchased in 2017 for only 0.15 ETH (about 66 USD at that time). The story of this leap in value certainly has factors related to market cycles, but at its core lies the scarcity of Punks (for example, only 273 with “mustaches” and 254 wearing “hats”) combined with the cultural status that builds a moat. The collection actions of MoMA undoubtedly inject “permanence” into this moat's cultural capital, shifting its value support from purely community consensus and financial speculation to a status in art history comparable to that of traditional masterworks.

Paradigm Shift: How NFTs are Reshaping the Global Art Market Landscape?

CryptoPunks entering MoMA is not an isolated event, but rather the latest climax in the ongoing impact and integration of NFT as a new form of artistic medium into the traditional art world. This process is expected to accelerate and deepen in 2025.

As early as July 2025, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami acquired CryptoPunk 5293 (one of only 3,840 female Punks), making it the first NFT to be collected by a major art museum. This precedent paved the way for MoMA's decision. Looking back to 2021, digital artist Beeple's work “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold for $69.3 million at Christie's, instantly bringing NFT art to the global spotlight and setting the third-highest auction price for a living artist's work. These events connect to outline a clear trajectory: NFTs are entering the museum system through auction houses and galleries, completing their “legitimacy” as a serious form of art.

This trend coincides with the macro adjustment period of the global art market. According to the “2025 Basel Art Fair and UBS Global Art Market Report,” the total sales of artworks worldwide fell by 12% year-on-year in 2024 to $57.5 billion due to factors such as political tensions and economic fluctuations. However, the report simultaneously reveals a key and positive change: the number of transactions has increased by 3% against the trend, reaching 40.5 million. Behind this “increased volume and decreased prices” is the market's foundation expanding towards the mid-to-low price segment, attracting a new generation of collectors. Moreover, NFTs naturally align with this trend due to their divisible unit price, transparent transaction history, and strong community attributes. They lower the barriers to entry for art collecting, enabling a broader group of people to participate, which is precisely the key for the art market to seek new growth points during its adjustment period.

Taste Evolution: Where are the Collecting Eyes of the Encryption Elite Turning?

At the same time that NFT art is gaining institutional recognition, an intriguing phenomenon is quietly occurring among the cryptocurrency wealthy: their interest in physical, classical collectibles has significantly increased. This may signify that this emerging class is maturing and diversifying in cultural consumption.

A highly symbolic case is that a complete Triceratops fossil, about five meters long and dating back 69 million years, was purchased by a group of collectors, including Wintermute co-founder Yoann Turpin, for approximately 5 million dollars, and placed in a highly secure vault in Singapore. These types of collectibles are known as “ultimate physical NFTs,” which share similar characteristics with top NFTs: absolute scarcity (only 24 known globally), real ownership, deep historical and cultural significance, as well as equally high financial and custody thresholds.

This shift in collectible tastes from pixelated digital avatars to prehistoric dinosaur skeletons reveals the evolving mindset of the crypto elite. After experiencing the fervor and cooling of the NFT market in 2022, some seasoned participants began to seek asset classes that are more enduring and time-tested. Antiques, precious metals, classic artworks, and rare natural treasures provide them with a sense of “certainty” and “physical reality” in contrast to the rapidly changing digital world. Investors like Chaw Wei Yang, who run the collectibles platform Co-Museum, are also participating, indicating that this is becoming a conscious strategy for asset allocation and cultural identity building.

This does not represent a departure from digital art, but rather the improvement of the encryption-native generation's collection system. They may hold CryptoPunks in their Ethereum wallets while also collecting dinosaur fossils in a real-world vault. Together, these constitute their understanding and practice of “scarcity value”. In the future, we may see more hybrid collections that cross the boundaries of digital and physical, as well as attempts to tokenize ownership of physical treasures based on Blockchain.

CryptoPunks enters the eternal hall of MoMA, writing the most authoritative footnote for the first glorious era of NFT. It proves that truly groundbreaking cultural creations, whether their medium is canvas or Blockchain, will ultimately be remembered by history. Meanwhile, the robustness of market data and the broadening of collectible tastes also indicate that this field is moving away from the early speculative clamor towards a new stage with more complex value recognition and richer levels of participation. Digital art and physical treasures will, in the hands of a new generation of collectors, collectively define the cultural wealth landscape belonging to this era.