After buying a few of the NFT world’s greatest names, Yuga Labs is now offloading CryptoPunks, Moonbirds, and different manufacturers because the market faces ongoing challenges.
Yuga Labs has just lately began slimming down, handing over IP rights to a number of NFT collections — together with CryptoPunks and Moonbirds — in what could sign a shift for the once-dominant NFT large. The CryptoPunks IP now belongs to the Infinite Node Basis, a non-profit centered on digital artwork preservation.
In the meantime, Moonbirds — one other blue-chip assortment — has landed within the arms of a comparatively unknown gaming firm referred to as Orange Cap Video games.
Whereas Natalie Stone, common supervisor of CryptoPunks, mentioned the phrases of the deal received’t be disclosed, studies counsel the Infinite Node Basis could have paid round $20 million. That’s doubtless lower than what Yuga paid in 2022, and a far cry from the hype-driven costs seen on the peak of the NFT increase.
Nonetheless, Yuga isn’t strolling away solely because the agency nonetheless retains its rights beneath the usual IP license, Stone informed The Verge.
Nicki Schiller, chief of employees at Yuga Labs, emphasised in a commentary for crypto.information that “with Punks, we stay the biggest holder and selected Node for his or her skill to steward the legacy — we’ll keep concerned by way of the advisory council.”
“Moonbirds deserve a workforce totally devoted to their world, and Orange Cap Video games is the proper match to take them ahead. With Punks, we stay the biggest holder and selected Node for his or her skill to steward the legacy – we’ll keep concerned by way of the advisory council. These strikes replicate a transparent focus: Yuga goes all-in on Apes, Otherside, and what’s subsequent.”
Nicki Schiller
Cultural motion
Even so, the sale marks a giant shift. When Yuga Labs acquired CryptoPunks from Larva Labs in 2022, the NFT market was nonetheless glowing. Costs have been sky-high and one CryptoPunk famously bought for over $23 million in Ethereum (ETH), and that form of factor doesn’t actually occur anymore.
Whereas the precise cause behind the acquisition stays unclear, Node Basis chair Micky Malka famous that CryptoPunks “sparked a cultural motion,” including that the agency is organising a everlasting exhibit house in Palo Alto and planning to indicate the total 10,000-piece assortment on the Toledo Museum of Artwork to make it simpler for “students, curators, and collectors to interact with it.”
So what occurred? CryptoPunks have been created by Matt Corridor and John Watkinson of Larva Labs in 2017. Simply 24×24 pixels, the ten,000 characters rapidly grew to become extra than simply JPEGs. They have been standing symbols, collector bait, and a few say, the start of the NFT motion. Lengthy earlier than the Bored Apes took over Twitter profile pics, the Punks have been already being auctioned by Christie’s, an artwork and luxurious public sale home.
Yuga got here in throughout peak hype, buying a number of NFT collections. However now, it’s offloading those self same property — and never simply CryptoPunks. Earlier in Could, Yuga additionally bought the Moonbirds IP to Orange Cap Video games, a low-profile outfit within the NFT gaming house. The deal consists of not simply Moonbirds, but in addition associated spinoffs Mythics and Oddities.
https://t.co/dWNVvZKTuZ
— Orange Cap Video games (@Ocapgames) Could 30, 2025
Orange Cap Video games described the acquisition in an X put up as an opportunity to carry “beloved IPs to life by means of rigorously crafted experiences that introduce them to new followers and deepen the reference to present communities.” The corporate emphasised its pleasure about taking on the Moonbirds franchise, stating that Moonbirds “have merely been nesting through the bear market, stuffed with untapped risk, and beneath our stewardship, it’s now time to take flight.”
Orange Cap Video games has a observe report in NFT gaming, having launched Vibes TCG, a collectible card sport centered across the Pudgy Penguins IP, which “celebrates tradition, group, and pleasure.” The studio prides itself on consideration to element, saying that “those that know us by means of Vibes know that we obsess over excellence, whether or not in sport design, bodily product improvement, or inventive execution.”
“In truth, we’re the one TCG studio we all know of that developed its personal customized paper inventory for our upcoming bodily launch. Particulars matter. That is the angle that we carry to every thing we do.”
Orange Cap Video games
Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano appeared optimistic. “Moonbirds deserve a workforce whose complete world is the birds,” he mentioned, praising Orange Cap Video games’ execution to date.
Concerning the blockchain surroundings, Orange Cap Video games identified that that future on-chain elements of Moonbirds created by them will likely be on both mainnet or, if on a layer-2, will solely use ApeChain, a community which was additionally backed by Yuga Labs.
As soon as-hyped time
Nonetheless, it’s onerous to disregard the backdrop: NFTs aren’t what they was once. Market exercise has dropped off a cliff. In line with information from DappRadar, buying and selling volumes for high NFT collections are down 95% from their peaks. As soon as-hyped tasks have both vanished or turned to licensing offers, artwork displays, or bodily merch, all within the title of staying alive.
Artwork NFTs yearly buying and selling quantity and gross sales rely | Supply: DappRadar
Schiller pushed again on the concept declining market circumstances prompted the selloff, emphasizing that the offers “weren’t pushed by market volatility” however as an alternative mirrored “strategic readability, not short-term circumstances.”
Yuga Labs appears to be doubling down on what it sees as core, with Solano saying in an X put up that the agency is “laser-focused on Apes, Otherside, and one thing particular we’ve been cooking up.”
The corporate’s Otherside metaverse — a gamified, immersive world tied to Bored Apes — stays a key focus. And perhaps that’s the actual story. Whike Yuga isn’t essentially giving up, it definitely retreating from the concept one firm can personal the NFT canon.
When Yuga acquired CryptoPunks’ IP, “it wasn’t nearly possession — it was about honoring a cultural icon we believed in,” mentioned Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow, including that giving the model away was “a full-circle second.”
In the meantime, the Infinite Node Basis appears to be pulling collectively a fairly severe workforce to steward the gathering. Founders from each Larva Labs and Artwork Blocks are on its advisory board, and a dwell Ethereum node will run at its new facility to emphasise decentralization.
Trying forward, Schiller confirmed that the “persistent Otherside expertise begins this summer season, marking a significant new section within the venture,” and teased upcoming developments round ApeFest and the long-awaited real-life Clubhouse. “We’ll be sharing extra on all of this quickly,” she added.
Whereas some within the NFT group view this as a giant win, others see it otherwise, likening the sale of a high-profile assortment to a small gaming startup because the web3 model of a storage sale. However perhaps that’s merely the brand new actuality, the NFT market isn’t lifeless. It’s simply quieter, extra mature, and, probably, a bit wiser.
Learn extra: U.S. SEC ends probe into Bored Apes NFTs creator Yuga Labs
