It started with a few lines of code. No splashy launch. No roadmap. In early 2018, the pseudonymous Robi, founder of the early experimental NFT infrastructure platform Ark.Gallery (no longer in operation), built a tool to solve a growing problem in the NFT world.

CryptoPunks, a 10,000-piece generative art collection created by web3 studio Larva Labs in 2017, weren’t compatible with marketplaces like OpenSea. They were launched before the ERC-721 token standard existed and lived on a custom smart contract, separate from the rest of Ethereum’s expanding NFT ecosystem. That made them harder to buy, sell, or integrate into newer platforms. 

But a new project, Wrapped CryptoPunks, fixed that.

The open-source tool allowed collectors to vault their original Punk and receive a version that followed the ERC-721 standard. The artwork and provenance stayed the same. The wrapper simply made Punks easier to list, buy, sell, and even use as collateral in lending protocols. Activity increased, and visibility grew. Over time, Wrapped CryptoPunks, or wPUNKS, became one of the most widely adopted tools in on-chain collecting.

There was no token, no VC funding, and no official rollout. Just a small contract that worked as intended and is still in use today. Seven years later, Robi is reflecting on the project’s early days, how it gained momentum, and why collectors and builders still rely on it. 

Here’s how it came together, in the words of the developer who built it.

OpenSea: Before ERC-721 came along, CryptoPunks were in their own little world. What was it like owning one back then, and what were the biggest quirks of the original system?

‍Robi: Back in 2017, a lot was happening in a compressed amount of time. I remember Punks being launched in June, and not long after, CryptoKitties arrived. At that time, my understanding of crypto was close to zero—I didn’t even know how to use a wallet. For a beginner like me, it was overwhelming.

It took me a few months to get familiar with crypto and MetaMask. I bought my first Punk in 2018. One of the most fun parts was reading the messages in the Punk Discord. It was smaller back then, but very active and entertaining.

OpenSea: If CryptoPunks helped inspire the ERC-721 standard, does that mean they were kind of the “beta version” of today’s NFTs? What was missing that wrapping fixed?

Robi: I personally don’t see them as a beta version. There’s some debate about whether they were the first NFTs. There are earlier experiments in non-fungibility that predate CryptoPunks.

What I’m sure of is that CryptoPunks elegantly demonstrated how non-fungibility could be achieved technologically. The Punk contract is a beautiful piece of code, and ERC-721 was clearly influenced by it. But beyond the tech, Punks created the desire to own, collect, and share—a kind of cultural movement. The early CryptoPunks community was probably the first digital-native group to seriously explore digital ownership.

The wrapper didn’t really “fix” anything. To me, the CryptoPunks project is perfect and complete as it is. The wrapper is just a tool or adapter to make it compatible with modern infrastructure.

OpenSea: When you first set out to wrap a CryptoPunk, what was the “aha” moment where you realized this could actually work?

Robi: When we deployed the wrapper, we tested it internally and then announced it in the Discord. We told people to use it cautiously—we didn’t have the funds for a formal audit. Thankfully, some community members stepped in and reviewed the code.

A few months later, Matt and John from Larva Labs added a “Wrapped Punks” section to the official CryptoPunks site (then under the larvalabs.com domain). That was a big moment.

Later, when the Punk market exploded in 2021 and the wrapper was being heavily used, I paid for an audit myself. It felt necessary given how much volume it was handling across marketplaces.

OpenSea: For people who’ve never wrapped a Punk, can you explain what’s really happening under the hood? What kind of digital magic is going on in those transactions?

Robi: At a high level, wrapping a Punk means sending it to a smart contract that acts like a vault. That contract holds the original Punk and mints a new ERC-721 token that represents it—like a proxy or a receipt.

You can use that token like any regular NFT. And if you want the original back, you burn the wrapped token and the contract returns your Punk. 

OpenSea: Some collectors swear by keeping their CryptoPunks in their original form, while others say wrapping is the only way to go. If CryptoPunks were a classic car, is wrapping them like adding power steering, or is it more like putting the whole thing on a new chassis?

Robi: Every collector has their own philosophy. Technically, wrapping just means sending your Punk to a contract address instead of a user wallet—it’s still your Punk.

But I understand the appeal of unwrapped Punks. Some collectors prefer those with fewer transactions in their history. That can reflect stronger attachment or long-term holding by previous owners, which some people value.

OpenSea: What’s the biggest myth about Wrapped CryptoPunks that you wish people would stop believing?

Robi: Honestly, nothing major comes to mind. If I had to name one, maybe the idea that wrapping somehow damages or compromises Punk. It doesn’t. The process is fully reversible, and the original Punk stays intact and secure.

OpenSea: When you launched Wrapped CryptoPunks, did you expect it to blow up the way it did? Were there any moments where you thought, “Uh oh, what have we created?”

Robi: Not at all. I had zero expectations. It was just something we did for fun, as a side project that took less than a week. I felt it was really useful since you could immediately list Punks on OpenSea and use them on early NFT loan platforms like NFTfi and a few others.

I do remember feeling really good when I saw Punks being wrapped and sold on OpenSea and Rarible. Prices spiked, and there was much more visibility for the collection thanks to the wrapper. That was very rewarding to see.

OpenSea: Because Wrapped CryptoPunks is open-source, people could theoretically tweak or build on it. Have there been any wild or unexpected spin-offs that caught your eye?

Robi: One that comes to mind is a clean and well-designed front-end interface for the wrapper contract, built by Niftynaut—an early community member and a mod in the Punks Discord. It was a really helpful alternative to our own front end and a great option for anyone who wanted to interact with the contract without doing it manually.

OpenSea: What was it like watching the CryptoPunks ecosystem shift from being this underground digital collectible to becoming a prized piece of NFT history—especially after Yuga Labs took over?

Robi: Totally unexpected—especially at that scale and with those numbers. What started as this niche experiment suddenly became a cultural and financial phenomenon. I never imagined it would go that far.

OpenSea: Now that Wrapped CryptoPunks has cemented its place in the NFT space, do you think its story is finished, or is there another chapter still to come?

‍Robi: Even though the NFT and Punk market has cooled down a lot since the 2021 boom, I still believe CryptoPunks will continue to have a long-term impact. They’re a foundational part of digital art history, and they’ve helped shape our broader digital culture. I think the story isn’t over; it’s just moved into a new phase.