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Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the most well known NFT collections in the space, and now, its creators buy out the intellectual property of Cryptopunks from Larva Labs. Some consider the latter, pixel-based NFT series to be the original collection that gave rise and fame to the NFT industry. Then, it was the industry itself that pushed Cryptopunks to heights no one ever imagined.
A recently published press release outlines that Yuga Labs of BAYC, has fully acquired intellectual right or property of the two collections worth over $3 billion. With this acquisition Yuga Labs will own the CryptoPunks and Meebit brands and logos, and as they’ve done with their own BAYC collection, Yuga Labs will transfer IP, commercial, and exclusive licensing rights to individual NFT holders.
Blue chip NFT acquisition
It is currently unknown how much did the BAYC team pay for both NFT collections but rest assured, these numbers are in the blue chip territory. The company has bought copyright of over 400 CryptoPunk NFTs as well as 1,711 Meebits, Larva Labs’ other popular collection.
The creators of CryptoPunks have struggled to protect their IP over the years, repeatedly lashing out at copycat projects and issuing DMCA takedown requests.
Given the recent Opensea hacks, Bored Ape Yach Club has also had its bad days, but the Yuga Team seems to be confident that they are on the right track. When we set out to create within the NFT space, we did so with a deep admiration for CryptoPunks and the visionary work of Matt and John,” said Nicole Muniz, CEO of Yuga Labs.
Opposingly, Larva Labs of Cryptopunks seems to be happy to call it quits. “Our specialty has always been the creation of things early in the life of a technology,” their blog post commenting on the acquisition reads. “Our personalities and skill sets aren’t well suited to community management, public relations, and the day-to-day management that these kinds of projects require and deserve.”
As for the plans for the newly acquired collections, Gordon and Gargamel, pseudonymous co-founders of Yuga Labs, said, “We’re not in a rush to do anything but give people their IP, see what they build, and listen.”
Cryptopunks NFT collection gets a new life?
It is clear that both Cryptopunks and Meebits are in good hands. After all, BAYC’s success is mainly resultant from the amazing work the team conducted in getting the community together, so perhaps, the two collections are off to a new bright start. The purchase currently goes in parallel with incredible rise of the art market that has risen by 60% in turnover, all thanks to NFTs.
