The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has added 10 CryptoPunks and 10 Chromie Squiggles NFT artworks to its permanent collection. CryptoPunks are 24×24-pixel digital characters created on the Ethereum blockchain by Larva Labs in 2017. Chromie Squiggles are random, wavy digital works created by Erick Calderon.
Both of these series total 10,000 pieces and are immutable due to the blockchain, underscoring their unique status in digital art. CryptoPunks are among the most famous NFT works of all time, and Chromie Squiggles marked ArtBlocks’ first launch. NFTs are entirely digital, and while physical copies have existed, they are meaningless; beyond the initial idea, NFTs like CryptoPunks are generated randomly.
The NFT boom of 2021 drew massive attention to NFT works, though interest has waned since. The purchase is seen as a milestone for NFT art, signaling legitimacy of digital cultures within the canon of art history. Digital art advisor Georg Bank called the acquisition a clear sign that the crypto art movement has arrived at an institutional level, while Diane Drubay, founder of We Are Museums and WAC Lab, noted that MoMA’s purchase supports digital cultures that go beyond technology and markets.
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