CryptoPunk Owners Can Now 'Rent Out' Their Avatars

CryptoPunks — a collection of 10,000 unique characters on the Ethereum blockchain — and similar digital assets can now be “rented” and “lent” out through a new non-fungible token (NFT) rentals protocol called reNFT.

reNFT has created a licensing service that allows CryptoPunk owners to sign a transaction giving borrowers the right to display the CryptoPunk avatar as their own for a specified time period of up to 99 days.

🔥WE ARE LIVE ON ETH MAINNET🔥

You can now LEND and RENT #NFTs!
👉https://t.co/YKH1EQzwEE

Join us in our Discord to watch us walk through the platform and answer any questions!⚡️

THANK YOU all for your support to this point and beyond, a big milestone for our entire team! pic.twitter.com/ldockBzI7c

— reNFT (@renftlabs) July 23, 2021

“This transaction follows the tenant rights protocol which gives sole permission to display the CryptoPunk as your Avatar for a fixed period of time up to 99 days,” CryptoPunk.rent wrote in its FAQ section. “Tenants may display as an avatar their rented punk on Twitter, Discord, NFT marketplaces, and any other social platform where punk users congregate.”

Critics were quick to point out that users could simply copy-and-paste a CryptoPunk avatar’s image file and upload it to various social media platforms, bypassing the rental process entirely; however, CryptoPunk.rent has pointed out that using an owned NFT without authorized permission is considered stealing, hence the need for a rental service.

“Can’t I just right-click-save a CryptoPunk and use it as my Avatar? You have the physical ability to do this, just as you have the ability to save someone’s picture and use it as your own. It’s called stealing someone’s property,” the FAQ said.

According to the service, CryptoPunk owners must refrain from using their own avatar on the aforementioned social media platforms while a tenant has its rights, and they must agree not to sell or offer to sell a punk to which a tenant presently has rights.

Meanwhile, the most affordable CryptoPunk is now worth more than six figures.