Mar 14, 2022 - Economy
NFT megamerger between Bored Apes and Cryptopunks

- Dan Primack, author ofAxios Pro Rata

CryptoPunk 9998; Bored ape 9564; CryptoPunk 7557.
Yuga Labs, the NFT company behind the Bored Apes Yacht Club, acquired the rights to the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections, from Larva Labs.
Why it matters: Bored Apes and CryptoPunks are the world's most valuable NFT collections, with Meebits not too far behind. Yuga now controls NFTs with around $5.5 billion in market cap.
Flashback: Andreessen Horowitz in talks to back Yuga Labs.
The bottom line: Yuga Labs said it plans to open up the IP rights of individual CryptoPunks to their owners, as it's done since the beginning for Bored Apes owners. This resolves a conflict between the CryptoPunk community and Larva Labs, which hadn't been willing to take such a step.