Yuga Labs bought CryptoPunks and this is the biggest story of the entire year IMO relating to blockchain or crypto so far.
Apes vs Punks
The tension between the Bored Ape Yacht Club community and the CryptoPunks community has been significant throughout 2022 so far. Many people have argued in favor of the apes flippening the punks, while others say this is nonsense.
I have to admit, punks are three years older so I do find any comparison between the two projects a bit misleading... Punks have a special place in the PFP ecosystem.
But. Then there was Larva Labs.
Larva Labs and Commercial Rights
One of the big things that made BAYC pop was the decision by Yuga Labs to grant full commercial rights to the owners of the BAYC NFTs. If you own the NFT, you can build a brand on it -- whether that's selling T-shirts with the ape on it, using the likeness of the ape for the brand of anything (hot sauce, coffee, weed, toothbrushes, anything), or even selling the likeness of the ape to use in a TV show or feature film.
Cryptopunk holders tried to do similar things, and Larva Labs took legal action against those people. They made it perfectly clear that this kind of business activity was not a part of the punk plan.
There's a lot I could say about these two distinct approaches... but it no longer matters.
Yuga bought Cryptopunks, so it's over. Punks can finally enjoy the commercial rights to their own PFPs.
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This is a HUGE Deal
I am surprised at how many of my friends are unaware of the story here, or generally uninformed about BAYC and Cryptopunks. These are the biggest most significant projects in crypto culture!
I talk about this story in much more detail in the video.
One company selling off their entire NFT collections to a greater fool company? Very fractal :)
lol