In a surprising move, Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, is taking a big step back from CryptoPunks, an Ethereum-based NFT collection that it acquired in 2022.
The company plans to decentralize CryptoPunks completely, meaning they will be preserved on the blockchain without any further changes or updates from Yuga Labs. This was stated by Garga.eth, a co-founder of Yuga Labs, on X.
Yuga Labs is saying “goodbye” to controlling CryptoPunks. They will become completely independent and operate entirely on the blockchain, without Yuga Labs making any changes or updates.
What about punks? Yuga will no longer touch punks. They will just be decentralized and preserved on the blockchain. The only thing we intend to do is support a few museums and institutions in their quest to acquire a punk and help educate their audience about them.
Yuga Labs is not completely stepping back. The company will continue to support museums and institutions interested in acquiring a CryptoPunk and will help educate people about the collection.
Furthermore, Yuga Labs aims to bridge the gap between the web3 world and traditional art by partnering with renowned artists. Nina Chanel has also been named as a CryptoPunk artist-in-residence. Known for her influential art, Nina Chanel will collaborate closely with Yuga Labs.
Garga.eth expressed excitement about this collaboration, emphasizing Nina’s global recognition. In addition to being an artist-in-residence, Yuga Labs plans to offer Nina’s latest art collection exclusively to SuperCoolWorld holders. They are contemplating a randomized airdrop to share her work with these supporters.
Our plan is to get Nina’s latest collection into the hands of those who have been supporting her work in this space by making it available only to SuperCoolWorld holders. Current thinking is via randomized airdrop.
Yuga Labs intends to support the CryptoPunk community by helping museums acquire CryptoPunk items and collaborating with artists like Nina Chanel.
Aside from CryptoPunks and Bored Apes, Yuga Labs is also the owner of several blue-chip collections such as Meetbits, OtherSide, and Moonbirds which it acquired in early 2024.
