🏆CryptoPunk Owner Explains Why IP Dispute Led to $10M Ethereum NFT Sale

🔐Discontent swirls around Larva Labs’ leading NFT avatar collection as one prominent holder bows out with an eight-figure sale.

Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks are the O.G.’s Ethereum NFT profile picture (PFP) project, yielding more than $1.75 billion worth of trading volume to date, including dozens of million-dollar sales. It’s the ultimate in Twitter flex, with crypto personalities plus celebrities like Steve Aoki, Gary Vee, Snoop Dogg and Jay Z using them—but some of the novelty may be wearing off.

As the market increasingly shifts towards NFTs with utility or additional perks, some collectors see CryptoPunks as a relic. Licensing and commercial usage by NFT holders remains unclear for the project, in stark contrast to the rising Bored Ape Yacht Club, which lets users turn their owned Apes into music acts, brand ambassadors, and merchandise.

Throughout the year Larva Labs has been curiously quiet about Punks as their value surged this year, thus far not opting to layer in added benefits for holders or provide clear guidance on IP rights issues. Many CryptoPunks holders identify as their respective Punks and have built social media brands around the pixel PFPs, but discontent is on the rise.

Recent complaints about the ethos and utility of CryptoPunks came to a head yesterday when the pseudonymous collector Punk4156—a co-creator of Ethereum NFT project, Nouns—sold his titular NFT for 2,500 ETH, or more than $10.25 million. It’s “time to move on” following frustration over Larva Labs and the project’s future.

Will other prominent holders follow suit, and if so, will that diminish the allure of the Punks?

There’s an apparent correlation between growing discontent around CryptoPunks and the rising prominence of its most popular successor, the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Yuga Labs’ collection of 10,000 Ethereum NFTs debuted in April and has skyrocketed in value since, with the cheapest available NFT now listed at 52 ETH on OpenSea, or about $205,000.

However, with Bored Apes, there’s value in more than just the original image itself. The Yacht Club bills itself as an exclusive community for holders, and the perks have been sizable.

Holders have received subsequent free Bored Ape Kennel Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs, each valued at five figures or more, plus exclusive merchandise and access to an October concert featuring Beck, Chris Rock, and The Strokes during NFT.NYC. Some CryptoPunks holders grumbled on Twitter over Larva Labs’ lack of events that week.

For some holders, there’s an even larger opportunity around Bored Ape NFTs: Yuga Labs grants holders commercial rights to their individual ape illustrations. Now, music producer Timbaland and major label Universal Music Group have launched separate virtual bands based on Apes, Arizona Iced Tea has used its Ape for marketing, and other holders have made merchandise.

I don’t think Punks need to sell out, have a roadmap, or compete with other NFTs in a clout measuring contest,” he tweeted. “However, I do think Larva Labs should turn over the license and IP to the community. Let those who got it here take over.”