Deep in the code of a crypto laboratory, a matter of breakouts before the epic 2017 Crypto Bullrun, 10,000 ‘Cryptopunks’ were randomly generated and minted on the rising & mighty Ethereum blockchain as, permanent and immutable, Non-fungible Tokens. Due to the ensuing market chaos the collection of 10,000 whacky & zany Punks became somewhat lost in the noise and existed relatively unnoticed - except by the rare few who saw glimpses of their potential and quickly, and quietly, claimed them for free, to be their very own. 
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It wasn't long before the Punk owners, these tech savvy crypto investors, saw the value and attraction in Punks with rarer attributes than others. As any trader would do, holders began trading their Punks for more attractive and rarer ones and, before too long, a full blown punk-economy was born, driven by scarcity, rarity and desire. 
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An experiment by design and an emerging phenomenon by effect. Winning the hearts of wealthy Crypto enthusiasts worldwide, high rollers and art collectors began throwing Ethereum at anyone who would relinquish a Punk to them. The Punks were soon seeing each other all over Crypto Twitter and Social Media platforms as owners relentlessly flaunted them, as their own profile picture, as a means to advertise their unique NFT to eager buyers, creating further opportunity to flip for a rarer Punk. Within this culture, demand began to aggressively outstrip supply and a Punk profile picture became a status symbol for the wealthy. Before they knew it, the Punks had become one of the most prominent cultural parts of crypto history. 
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With the Punks now pulled from the comforts and security of their cold storage Ethereum wallets and making tracks all over Twitter, they had now seen the outside world - the cryptosphere. Here, among them, they became privy to heavy rumours and speculations of an upcoming ‘ETH 2.0’. 
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This great technological advancement highlighted to the Punks the harsh limitations of the 24x24 pixel, 8-bit-style, low resolution imagery constraining their massive personalities and ambitions. The art of themselves being somewhat of a metaphoric expression of the limitations imposed by the performance issues surrounding the native blockchain that presently secured them. The now referred: ETH 1.0. 
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Chatter emerged among the Punk community. They knew they were more than this 8-bit-style low resolution representation of themselves, restricted by the shackles of the ETH 1.0 blockchain. They were now wanted. They were desired. The punks knew it was time to rebel and break free of their limitations. To escape their low resolution shackles and break out of 8-bit-style imagery and into true expressions of their full personalities, braced and ready for the wonders of this elusive Ethereum 2.0!
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So began the exploration by 5 brave Punk heroes, in search of their escape, where they would find a portal. A portal through a ‘minting’ mechanism that would allow each punk to reinvent him or herself into a true, unique, vibrant expression of who they really are. The 5 brave heroes who dared peek through the portal brought back for the others a glimpse of what lies ahead of them - beautiful, vivid, 3D rendered versions of themselves in an absurd 4k resolution, ready for the high fidelity performance ETH 2.0 has in store.  
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With the news starting to circulate amongst the Punks on Crypto Twitter, they are now banding together as a new faction, the ‘Crypt3d Punks’ - with one common objective uniting them: Breaking through the Minting Portal. A small group of Punks already formed, carrying a distinct fragrance of deep fried chicken and calling themselves the ‘Pioneers’. Is it only a matter of time before we see another? Soon, the Cryt3d Punks numbers will be so strong that they can finally free themselves from the 8-bit graphic burden and burst through the Minting Portal. 
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To be continued...