Decrypt’s 2024 NFT Project of the Year: CryptoPunks

Earlier this month, Pudgy Penguins came within striking distance of dethroning CryptoPunks as the most expensive NFT collection in the world. 

It’d been a long, long time since any other brand had come close to accomplishing that feat, and Pudgy had wind in its sails: Riding momentum from an upcoming token airdrop, the collection soared to unbelievable highs, exploding from a floor price of $19,000 at the start of November to more than $138,000 by mid-December. 

It looked like the flip might happen. Then the PENGU token airdrop went live and—in typical crypto fashion—Pudgy Penguins collapsed in value by over 55% within a matter of hours. 

Left untouched, at the top of the heap, was CryptoPunks. The episode perfectly encapsulated the prevailing NFT narrative of 2024: While other collections worked overtime to drive demand via incentives and the promise of…