NOVO IS BACK: The Web3 Community Raised $101K To Help This CryptoPunk Get His Digital Identity Back

The power of community is alive and well as the NFT space rallied around this CryptoPunk and helped him get his digital identity back!

On January 3rd, notable CryptoPunk, CryptoNovo, had his wallet was compromised, and he lost several high-end NFTs, including his profile photo, CryptoPunk #3706.

Just when things looked their worst for CryptoNovo, Crypto Artist and fellow Punk, Dario De Siena, and the Web3 space stepped up and created the “Go Fund Novo” Project.

This fundraising campaign is to help a foundational icon in the Web3 space to reclaim his identity,” De Siena wrote. “CryptoNovo has been, for years, an amazing ambassador for Punks and for Web3, and he’s fallen victim to a malicious link from a hacked Discord. Sadly, his Punks have been stolen, and we are working to help him reclaim the iconic hat and clown-nose Punk that is core to his digital identity. This campaign is as much a part of our movement as it is an effort to help one specific person. We all know that every day, so many get scammed, but with this effort, we hope to make the statement that our community is strong, and we can make a lot happen in a really short amount of time. If you mint this GoFundNovo Support Token, you are doing something for someone else—and for the entire culture of Web3. So many projects are seen as financial investments, this will be an investment in to the Web3 culture.”

Many in the space heard De Siena’s call to action and contributed what they could to get CryptoNovo his CryptoPunk back.

In total, the Web3 community raised 76.5 Eth or $101,932 USD in a little over a week and returned CryptoPunk #3706 to its rightful owner!

“There are many ways to look at this event,” De Siena told the Gazette. “For me it was an great example to show, how you can solve a problem with a creative idea using the power of the Community & Art to showcase our Culture in Web3. As we are here for the long-term to build the future, we need to come together and learn from each other, to grow & get stronger every day. “

After CryptoNovo was reunited his digital identity, this pillar of the Punk community took to Twitter and thanked the space for its support.

“3706 is home,” CryptoNovo wrote in a statement. “For the first time since I started in this space I, speechless. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to every single alien, ape, and zombie who contributed to the #GoFundNovo cause to return CryptoPunk#3706 to me, no matter how big or small. I’m blown away by the dedication and determination you all had to bond together through epic Twitter Spaces and really cool NFT drops to make this happen. You can’t spell #commUNITY without UNITY and that’s exactly what I saw.”

Check out CryptoNovo’s full statement below: