CryptoPunks: Free to Claim
The Story of Two Accidental Artists Who Changed the Digital Landscape
2025 Bronze Cube ADC Award — Book Design
AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers
“It took an 836-page, traditionally printed book to lift the CryptoPunks out of the speculative realm and reframe them within art history. Astutely conceived, CryptoPunks makes a compelling case: When Matt Hall and John Watkinson released their pixelated figures in the form of non-fungible tokens onto Ethereum, they weren’t merely minting images but breaching the boundaries of the art world and advancing a new set of collective values.” ~ Christopher Cherix, Director of MoMA
Created with Zak Group and published by Phaidon, CryptoPunks: Free to Claim explores the meteoric rise of a pre-eminent NFT collectible: what began as an experiment in digital ownership has become the catalyst for a digital art movement and a dynamic subculture synonymous with a new age of the internet.
The book is a comprehensive monograph that includes all 10,000 CryptoPunks presented in a special 400+ page catalogue raisonné, a timeline providing a zine-like assemblage of community member posts and tweets as they happened; and an extensive glossary that defines more than 100 anonymously-authored terms and ideas.
With an in-depth interview between Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries) and CryptoPunks founders Matt Hall and John Watkinson, this cult and category-defining book features a kaleidoscopic collection of texts, interviews, and visual essays exploring this emerging world of web3 and digital culture at large – inspiring a first wave of visual books on this groundbreaking subject.
The book is for all levels of knowledge and features unique contributions from fascinating figures in tech, design, fashion, finance, and contemporary art including: Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), Mat Dryhurst, Noam Segal (Guggenheim), Philippe Bettinelli and Marcella Lista (Centre Pompidou), Michael Connor (Rhizome), Mindy Seu, Chris Lyons (a16z), Salome Asega (NEW INC), Simon Denny, Shumon Basar, Martina Tiefenthaler, NEW MODELS, Rival Strategy, among others.
Role: Executive Producer & Editor