Yuga Labs faced backlash over its new punk-themed NFT collection developed in collaboration with artist Nina Chanel Abney, and was criticized for “diluting” the OG CryptoPunks brand.
The 500-piece “Super Punk World” collection launched on Monday and features “hybrid 3D sculptures that blur boundaries of race and gender and reflect identities in the virtual and real world.”
Coinbase protocol expert Viktor Bunin, who sports CryptoPunk as his social media profile picture, is one of the critics of the collection and has called on Yuga Labs to cancel the sale.
“It dilutes the CryptoPunks brand with what appears to be a low-quality cash grab,” Bunin said. “The best way to manage punk is to build its legacy, not to monetize it in such poor taste.”
Yuga Labs CEO Greg Solano said that when the company acquired the intellectual property rights to the CryptoPunks collection in March 2022, it did so “with the intention of preserving the collection’s legacy.” He explained that Yuga Labs wants to collaborate with world-class artists to “bridge the web3 and traditional art worlds.” Nina Channel’s collection was part of that plan and was only available to existing “SuperCoolWorld” NFT holders through a proposed random airdrop.
But going forward, Solano confirmed that the company will “no longer touch” CryptoPunks.
“(CryptoPunks) will be distributed and preserved on the blockchain. The only thing we’re trying to do is support some museums and institutions that are trying to acquire punk and help educate audiences about punk,” he said.
CryptoPunk NFT Performance
The floor price of the CryptoPunk NFT has doubled in US dollar terms over the past 18 months, but has fallen more than 40% in ether terms since the bottom of the cryptocurrency bear market.
In March, the second most expensive CryptoPunk of all time was sold for 4,850 ETH, valued at $16.4 million at the time. Last month, the sixth most expensive CryptoPunk was sold for 4,000 ETH ($12.4 million).
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