NFT fans and fine art buyers have been left perplexed after a last-minute cancellation of an auction for a collection of 104 CryptoPunks believed to be valued at roughly USD 30 million. The event, staged by legendary fine-goods auctioneer Sotheby’s, was on pace to be one of the biggest NFT sales in history—until the ‘Punk It!’ The collection’s pseudonymous owner abruptly withdrew from the auction.
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022
The motives behind the CryptoPunk hodler’s action are unknown, but in the aftermath of the auction’s cancellation, the anonymous owner who goes by the handle “0x650d” on Twitter put out an apparently casual message to his 12 thousand followers, adding “nvm, decided to hodl.”
nvm, decided to hodl https://t.co/WdQ5H7I0fl
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022
The collector then made light of the incident, publishing a meme that said they were “bringing punks mainstream by rugging Sotheby’s.” While this was not a genuine “rug pull” in which investors were fraudulently robbed of their money, it did leave Sotheby’s and the community in the dark.
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022
Despite the fact that this would have been Sotheby’s first NFT-focused event, the auction house has a history of profiting from the lucrative NFT market. Last year, the auction house sold more than USD 100 million worth of NFTs, USD 24 million of which were NFTs.
