A complete set of 10 Autoglyphs was acquired for 5,000 ETH, approximately $14.6 million today, marking the highest NFT sale in the past two years and the fifth-largest purchase on-chain.
The sale was conducted via Fountain.xyz, a brokerage for rare digital art. The collector wished to remain anonymous, but a representative said that the buyer comes from a background of collecting traditional analog art forms and views the Autoglyphs as no different from a standard art acquisition.
Autoglyphs were introduced in 2019 by Larva Labs, the creators behind the iconic CryptoPunks, and represent the pinnacle of on-chain generative art. Unlike many NFTs that rely on off-chain storage, every aspect of an Autoglyph, from its creation algorithm to its final visual output, exists directly on the Ethereum blockchain. This solves the off-chain storage issues encountered by previous projects like CryptoPunks.
Each piece in this collection of 512 is immutable and is without royalties. Autoglyphs are considered the purest form of generative art within the blockchain space. The set was one of only seven full sets and among the three developer sets curated and minted directly by Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs. The acquired set was also previously part of the “Old School Collection.”
The purchase adds a new milestone in the Autoglyphs’ legacy, which has seen over $50 million in secondary sales and exhibitions at prestigious venues like Centre Pompidou and Sotheby’s.
