The NFT community was left shocked after NFT collector Brandon Riley accidentally burned a CryptoPunk NFT worth $200,000. Riley purchased the coveted CryptoPunk #685 on March 13 for 77 ETH and intended to hold onto it for the long term. However, when he attempted to borrow some money against it using a technique called wrapping, he mistakenly sent it to a burn address, making it irretrievable.
CryptoPunks, which are unique 8-bit pixel art characters created by Larva Labs and stored on the Ethereum blockchain, have gained a cult following in recent years. Each CryptoPunk has its own unique traits, making them highly sought after by collectors.
When an asset is sent to a burn address, it is effectively destroyed as the address has no private key and is inaccessible to anyone. The CryptoPunk #685 that Riley sent to a burn address is now permanently deleted from circulation. This incident has caused concern in the NFT community about the importance of proper storage and handling of valuable digital assets.
