Legendary NFT Artists Guide: CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, Azuki and more

On October 27, 2026, the specialized media outlet NFT Culture published a guide dedicated to so-called "legacy" NFT artists and projects—those iconic collections that still structure the digital art market nearly a decade after their launch. While the article highlights names such as CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, or Azuki, its impact goes beyond a simple cultural narrative: by consolidating the legitimacy of these assets, it could influence secondary demand and attract new institutional players, in a context where major cryptocurrencies show persistent volatility. Context The non-fungible token (NFT) market experienced meteoric growth between 2020 and 2022, driven by the craze for profile picture (PFP) collections and generative art. Since then, the sector has undergone several corrections, but certain collections, qualified as "blue chips" for their resilience, continue to dominate trades. According to CoinGecko data in October 2026, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) remain the most capitalized assets, while XRP holds fifth place, illustrating the persistence of interest in cryptocurrencies despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment. The projects highlighted by NFT Culture—CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, XCOPY, Hackatao, and Azuki—embody this notion of "legacy." Their common point? A strong visual identity, an engaged community, and an ability to weather market cycles. However, their valuation is often based on historical data, without an in-depth analysis of their current liquidity or ownership concentration. Furthermore, their link to the underlying cryptocurrencies (mainly ETH) exposes them to the fluctuations of the latter, as evidenced by the recent weekly declines of 3 to 5% recorded by BTC and ETH. The Facts The NFT Culture article, titled Behind the Bluechips , provides an overview of the NFT projects considered foundational. Here are the key elements, supplemented by CryptoScore Pro data as of October 27, 2026: CryptoPunks : Launched in June 2017 by Larva Labs, these 10,000 pixelated avatars were distributed for free before becoming collectibles. According to public sales data, approximately 3,800 pieces have been traded for over 100,000 USD each. Their intellectual property was transferred to Yuga Labs in 2022, then to the Infinite Node (NODE) foundation in May 2025, as part of a museum preservation project. No recent data on transaction volume or floor price is provided. Art Blocks : A generative art platform founded in November 2020 by Erick Calderon (alias Snowfro), Art Blocks has generated over 30,000 projects, with a total sales volume exceeding 1 billion USD since its launch. Tyler Hobbs' Fidenza collection, released in June 2021, remains a benchmark. The guide does not specify the distribution of sales between different projects nor their current liquidity. XCOPY : An anonymous British artist active since 2018, XCOPY has generated over 250 million USD in secondary sales on major platforms, according to NFT Culture. His work Right-click and Save As guy (2018) became a symbol of the movement. CryptoScore Pro data does not cover NFTs, but the underlying market, ETH, shows a capitalization of 286.49 billion USD as of October 27, 2026. Hackatao : An Italian duo consisting of Sergio Scalet and Nadia Squarci, Hackatao has created over 10,000 NFTs, with prices ranging between 50,000 and 200,000 USD per piece. Their first tokenized work, Girl Next Door , dates back to 2018. No recent statistics on their sales volume are available. Azuki : A collection of 10,000 avatars launched in January 2022, Azuki shows an average floor price of approximately 12,000 USD at the time of writing, with a total estimated capitalization of 1.2 billion USD. The project has diversified with a monthly manga and a physical card game, Azuki TCG . CryptoScore Pro data does not allow for the verification of these figures. The article emphasizes that these projects rely primarily on Ethereum's ERC-721 standard, guaranteeing the uniqueness of each token. However, it provides no in-depth technical analysis, nor any comparison with other standards such as ERC-1155. Furthermore, the recent performance of major cryptocurrencies – BTC up 0.50% over 24 hours, but down 3.30% over 7 days, according to CryptoScore Pro – could influence the valuation of these collections. Understanding Key Concepts Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and the ERC-721 Standard An NFT is a digital certificate of authenticity and ownership, recorded on a blockchain. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are interchangeable (or "fungible"), each NFT is unique. The ERC-721 standard, developed on Ethereum, is the most widely used for art or profile collections. For example, a CryptoPunk cannot be exchanged for another without a loss of value, as each possesses a distinct identifier. This mechanism allows for the tracking of transaction history and proves the rarity of an asset. Generative Art and Platforms like Art Blocks Generative art relies on algorithms that create unique works based on predefined rules. Art Blocks is the most well-known example: during the purchase (or "mint"), the algorithm generates a work in real-time, without the artist controlling the final result. For instance, Tyler Hobbs' Fidenza collection produces abstract patterns based on random parameters. This model has democratized access to algorithmic art, while raising questions about the authorship of the works and the value of randomness. Floor Price and Market Capitalization The floor price refers to the minimum cost to acquire an NFT from a given collection. For example, an Azuki at 12,000 USD means that this is the lowest price available on the secondary market. Total market capitalization is calculated by multiplying this price by the number of NFTs in circulation. For Azuki, a capitalization of 1.2 billion USD implies that the 10,000 avatars are worth an average of 120,000 USD each – a figure that can mask significant disparities between rare pieces and…