Yuga Labs sheds NFT icons as it doubles down on Apes and Otherside

After acquiring some of the NFT world’s biggest names, Yuga Labs is now offloading CryptoPunks, Moonbirds, and other brands as the market faces ongoing challenges.

Yuga Labs has recently started slimming down, handing over IP rights to several NFT collections — including CryptoPunks and Moonbirds — in what may signal a shift for the once-dominant NFT giant. The CryptoPunks IP now belongs to the Infinite Node Foundation, a non-profit focused on digital art preservation.

Meanwhile, Moonbirds — another blue-chip collection — has landed in the hands of a relatively unknown gaming company called Orange Cap Games.

While Natalie Stone, general manager of CryptoPunks, said the terms of the deal won’t be disclosed, reports suggest the Infinite Node Foundation may have paid around $20 million. That’s likely less than what Yuga paid in 2022, and a far cry from the hype-driven prices seen at the peak of the NFT boom.

Still, Yuga isn’t walking away entirely as the firm still retains its rights under the standard IP license, Stone told The Verge.

Nicki Schiller, chief of staff at Yuga Labs, emphasized in a commentary for crypto.news that “with Punks, we remain the largest holder and chose Node for their ability to steward the legacy — we’ll stay involved via the advisory council.”

“Moonbirds deserve a team fully dedicated to their world, and Orange Cap Games is the right fit to take them forward. With Punks, we remain the largest holder and chose Node for their ability to steward the legacy – we’ll stay involved via the advisory council. These moves reflect a clear focus: Yuga is going all-in on Apes, Otherside, and what’s next.”

Nicki Schiller

Cultural movement

Even so, the sale marks a big shift. When Yuga Labs acquired CryptoPunks from Larva Labs in 2022, the NFT market was still glowing. Prices were sky-high and one CryptoPunk famously sold for over $23 million in Ethereum (ETH), and that sort of thing doesn’t really happen anymore.

While the exact reason behind the acquisition remains unclear, Node Foundation chair Micky Malka noted that CryptoPunks “sparked a cultural movement,” adding that the firm is setting up a permanent exhibit space in Palo Alto and planning to show the full 10,000-piece collection at the Toledo Museum of Art to make it easier for “scholars, curators, and collectors to engage with it.”

So what happened? CryptoPunks were created by Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs in 2017. Just 24×24 pixels, the 10,000 characters quickly became more than just JPEGs. They were status symbols, collector bait, and some say, the beginning of the NFT movement. Long before the Bored Apes took over Twitter profile pics, the Punks were already being auctioned by Christie’s, an art and luxury auction house.

Yuga came in during peak hype, acquiring multiple NFT collections. But now, it’s offloading those same assets — and not just CryptoPunks. Earlier in May, Yuga also sold the Moonbirds IP to Orange Cap Games, a low-profile outfit in the NFT gaming space. The deal includes not just Moonbirds, but also related spinoffs Mythics and Oddities.

Orange Cap Games described the acquisition in an X post as a chance to bring “beloved IPs to life through carefully crafted experiences that introduce them to new fans and deepen the connection with existing communities.” The company emphasized its excitement about taking over the Moonbirds franchise, stating that Moonbirds “have simply been nesting during the bear market, filled with untapped possibility, and under our stewardship, it is now time to take flight.”

Orange Cap Games has a track record in NFT gaming, having launched Vibes TCG, a collectible card game centered around the Pudgy Penguins IP, which “celebrates culture, community, and joy.” The studio prides itself on attention to detail, saying that “those who know us through Vibes know that we obsess over excellence, whether in game design, physical product development, or creative execution.”

“In fact, we’re the only TCG studio we know of that developed its own custom paper stock for our upcoming physical release. Details matter. This is the attitude that we bring to everything we do.”

Orange Cap Games

Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano seemed optimistic. “Moonbirds deserve a team whose whole world is the birds,” he said, praising Orange Cap Games’ execution so far.

Regarding the blockchain environment, Orange Cap Games pointed out that that future on-chain components of Moonbirds created by them will be on either mainnet or, if on a layer-2, will exclusively use ApeChain, a network which was also backed by Yuga Labs.

Once-hyped time

Still, it’s hard to ignore the backdrop: NFTs aren’t what they used to be. Market activity has dropped off a cliff. According to data from DappRadar, trading volumes for top NFT collections are down 95% from their peaks. Once-hyped projects have either vanished or turned to licensing deals, art exhibits, or physical merch, all in the name of staying alive.

Schiller pushed back on the idea that declining market conditions prompted the selloff, emphasizing that the deals “weren’t driven by market volatility” but instead reflected “strategic clarity, not short-term conditions.”

Yuga Labs seems to be doubling down on what it sees as core, with Solano saying in an X post that the firm is “laser-focused on Apes, Otherside, and something special we’ve been cooking up.”

The company’s Otherside metaverse — a gamified, immersive world tied to Bored Apes — remains a key focus. And maybe that’s the real story. Whike Yuga isn’t necessarily giving up, it certainly retreating from the idea that one company can own the NFT canon.

When Yuga acquired CryptoPunks’ IP, “it wasn’t just about ownership — it was about honoring a cultural icon we believed in,” said Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow, adding that giving the brand away was “a full-circle moment.”

Meanwhile, the Infinite Node Foundation seems to be pulling together a pretty serious team to steward the collection. Founders from both Larva Labs and Art Blocks are on its advisory board, and a live Ethereum node will run at its new facility to emphasize decentralization.

Looking ahead, Schiller confirmed that the “persistent Otherside experience begins this summer, marking a major new phase in the project,” and teased upcoming developments around ApeFest and the long-awaited real-life Clubhouse. “We’ll be sharing more on all of this soon,” she added.

While some in the NFT community view this as a big win, others see it differently, likening the sale of a high-profile collection to a small gaming startup as the web3 version of a garage sale. But maybe that’s simply the new reality, the NFT market isn’t dead. It’s just quieter, more mature, and, possibly, a bit wiser.

Read more: U.S. SEC ends probe into Bored Apes NFTs creator Yuga Labs