Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano says the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) is trimming down its workforce. In a message to employees shared on the social media platform X, Solano says Yuga Labs will have to lay off some of its employees amid plans to make changes in the […]
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Yuga Labs, the team behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, is restructuring to focus its efforts on building the 'Otherside' metaverse.
The post Yuga Labs announces restructuring in push towards ‘Otherside’ metaverse development appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
CoinGecko cited Magic Eden’s new Diamond reward program and its ongoing commitment to support creator royalties as the main catalysts.
Magic Eden, a Solana-based nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, recorded its largest monthly trading volume in March, surpassing industry leader Blur.
Its NFT trading volume spiked 194.4% in March to $756.5 million, while Blur marginally increased to $530.4 million, according to CoinGecko’s Q1 2024 report, published on April 17.
CoinGecko said Magic Eden’s rise up the ranks was partly contributed by its new Diamond reward program and its continued partnership with Yuga Labs — at a time when the NFT studio cut ties with NFT marketplaces that weren’t supporting creator royalties.
Web3 and non-fungible token (NFT) development company Yuga Labs has acquired NFT collective PROOF and its assets, according to a new announcement. Yuga Labs, the creator of some of the biggest NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and TwelveFold, says the acquisition is part of its goal of being “the front door of […]
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Friday saw Yuga Labs, known for creating the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) series, unveiled its acquisition of Proof, a notable NFT startup behind the Moonbirds collection. Kevin Rose, founder of Proof, will assume an advisory role within Yuga, and the startup’s team plans to integrate into the Yuga framework. Moonbirds NFT […]
One of the top memecoins in recent years is rallying after the announcement of a new free-to-play blockchain game. ApeCoin (APE), a memecoin associated with the Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token (NFT) collection, APE hit a high of $1.67 and a low of $1.44 on January 17th – a difference of approximately 16%. APE […]
The post Ethereum-Based Altcoin Leaps 15%+ in Hours After Announcement of a Free-To-Play Game for the Ecosystem appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Wylie Aronow said he’s been seeing a number of tweets this week asking when he’s planning to return to the helm at Yuga Labs.
Nonfungible token (NFT) entrepreneur Wylie Aronow has confirmed he isn’t ready to return to Yuga Labs, the NFT firm he co-founded, despite making “steady progress” with his health.
“I’m not ready to come back to even part-time work. I have to ensure I’m around for a long time, for those who need me,” Aronow said on Dec. 11 in addressing rumors of a potential return.
Aronow explained that some days he’s ready to throw himself into the “deep end,” while on other days he feels he needs to be “wheel-chaired” to an emergency room.
The Simpsons poked fun at NFTs in their annual halloween special but degens still managed to take advantage of the publicity to hoist an NFT collection to near top of the charts.
Animated television series The Simpsons spent an entire segment mocking nonfungible tokens (NFTs) during the latest 34th annual Treehouse of Horror Halloween special, in a segment called “Wild Barts Can’t Be Token.”
In the special, Homer accidentally mints Bart on the blockchain, and in the ensuing scenes, the creators poke fun at NFTs, all while referencing collections such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Doodles, as well as the viral digital artist Beeple.
Get ready for a non-fungible night in tomorrow's #TreehouseOfHorror XXXIV on @FOXTV, next day on @hulu. pic.twitter.com/Y4cSiyp4kD
— The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons) November 4, 2023
The special revolved around poking fun at the speculative nature of NFTs and how the market is largely fueled by the fear of missing out (FOMO).
Once Marge discovers that Bart has become trapped on-chain, she too digitizes herself as NFT. She battles her way through carriages on a virtual train — which is literally powered by FOMO — to rescue Bart, fighting NFT-themed characters all the while.
The final joke lands when Homer finally gives into FOMO and mints himself as NFT. The second he does so, the train runs out of steam and the price of all the NFTs plunge to near-zero, ending the episode with his iconic catchphrase “Doh!”
Despite being the essentially the punchline of an episode-long joke, the NFT community on Crypto Twitter reacted with delight, with Beeple saying that his work appearing on the show was a “bucket list moment” for him as an artist.
Notably, the Simpsons creators even parodied their own NFT collection — Golden Moments — which was first offered in conjunction with Disney+ by the NFT platform VeVe in Nov. 2021.
“We saw that,” wrote the official account for Veve.
We saw that @TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/nBAQEjJmyp
— VeVe | Digital Collectibles (@veve_official) November 6, 2023
NFT enthusiasts certainly didn’t let the Simpsons roast go to waste, with creators rushing to capitalize on the newfound publicity for NFTs.
Just hours after the episode first aired, Italian parody artist Rino Russo launched a Simpsons-derived NFT project, which combined the likeness of Simpsons characters with CryptoPunks.
The collection, dubbed Springfield Punks, was launched as a free mint and quickly sold out as NFT fans raced to jump in on the action.
— Rino Russo (@RinaldoRu) November 6, 2023
Bart's an NFT in Treehouse of Horror XXXIV
Celebrate with free Springfield Punks mint live now!!
♂️♂️♂️
Mint Site: https://t.co/E8DD0JhAY6
Contract: https://t.co/o5J43ndaKb #Simpsons #NFTs #Halloween #FreeMint pic.twitter.com/v1D9ccSj4X
At the time of publication, the Simpsons Punks collection has witnessed a whopping 1,377 Ether (ETH) — worth $2.6 million at current prices — in trading volume, making it the third most traded collection on OpenSea in the last 24 hours.
Shpend Sahilu, the social lead for NFT company Yuga Labs announced that he would be stepping down after anti-semitic tweets he posted years ago resurfaced on social media.
Sahilu, better known by the pseudonym NGBxShpend on X, explained that he would be leaving his role at the company, due to his past anti-semitic tweets becoming “a distraction” from the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
“I want to apologize to anyone who I may have let down with tweets I made in poor taste,” he wrote in a Nov. 5 post on X.
Hey everyone, tough day today. I am stepping down from my position at Yuga Labs. Some tweets have resurfaced from my past and it’s become a distraction from the Club and what we’re all about. These tweets do not reflect who I am or what I believe in. It has been an amazing…
— ngbshpend.eth (@NGBxShpend) November 5, 2023
One user attached a screenshot of one of the offending tweets from 2016 in the comments section of the original post, showing him making a joke about Hitler.
Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks, have been accused of perpetuating anti-semitic stereotypes in their artwork by controversial artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen. These accusations, which took the form of a knock-off NFT collection led to a more than year-long legal battle.
However, Yuga Labs recently notched a legal victory against the provocative duo, with the court ordering Ripps and Cahen to pay $1.6 million in damages to Yuga Labs for copyright infringement.
After a prolonged and continuous decline in NFT sales, the market seems to be finally showing signs of a recovery, with monthly trading volumes growing for the first time in a year, according to a report from crypto data firm DappRadar.
“The year-long downward trend in NFT trading has been broken. Trading volume is up by 32% from $306 to $405 million, returning almost to levels seen in August,” wrote the report.
DappRadar found that NFT trading volume grew by $99 million in October compared to sales in September, bringing overall trading activity back to levels slightly below that of August.
Despite the seemingly significant increase month-over-month, it's worth noting that October’s $340 million sum pales in comparison to the $1.98 billion of volume witnessed seven months prior in March.
When it came to trading volume, Ethereum-based NFTs still dominated the market, growing more than 50% in October. Meanwhile other networks such as Polygon, Starkware, and Flow saw their sales volume drop 48%, 42% and 32% respectively.
The report made special note of NFT activity on the Solana (SOL) ecosystem, which — after being plagued by the FTX downfall — showed signs of strength, notching a 15% uptick in overall trading volume.
Attendees of the Yuga Labs’ ApeFest event on Nov. 4 in Hong Kong have reported burns, damaged vision and “extreme pain” in their eyes, which they attribute to the use of improper lighting.
NFT marketplace OpenSea announced on Nov. 3 that it would be laying off 50% of its total staff. Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer broke the news on X saying the company was launching OpenSea 2.0 with a smaller team.
Magazine: Slumdog billionaire — Incredible rags-to-riches tale of Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal
The NFT artists were also ordered to cover Yuga Labs’ legal fees after determining the trademark infringement constituted an “exceptional case.”
A United States district court judge has ordered nonfungible token (NFT) artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen to pay Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs a total of $1.57 million in disgorgement and damages, along with legal fees, bringing an end to the long-running “copycat” NFT lawsuit.
The Oct. 25 order follows an April 21 partial summary judgement granted in favor of Yuga Labs after the firm claimed that Ripps and Cahen, the defendants, violated copyright laws by making copycat versions of its Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collectibles.
District court Judge John Walter awarded Yuga Labs $1.37 million after concluding the NFT firm was entitled to a disgorgement of the defendants’ profits. An additional $200,000 was awarded in statutory damages relating to cybersquatting violations.
Yuga Labs v. Ryder Ripps et al - Notes from the Court's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
— NeerMcD.eth (@NeerMcD) October 26, 2023
Yuga is awarded $1,375,362.92 in Ds profits, $200,000 in statutory damages, and attorneys' fees and costs (amount TBD). A permanent injunction is also issued against Ds.
1/ pic.twitter.com/2dTiuWpZSA
Yuga Labs has also been entitled to recover attorney fees and costs from the NFT artists after the judge determined the trademark infringement constituted an “exceptional case.”
“A trademark case is generally considered exceptional for purposes of awarding of attorneys’ fees when a party has taken positions that can be characterized as “malicious, fraudulent, deliberate or willful,” the judge noted.
Judge Walter also knocked back the defendants’ argument that the copycat BAYC versions were “satire” and “parody” — ruling that the defendants intentionally infringed Yuga’s BAYC trademarks with a bad faith intent to profit from them.
He also noted the defendants continued to market and promote their copycat BAYC versions after the partial summary judgement was delivered against them in April.
Yuga Labs filed the lawsuit against the two artists in June 2022.
In an Oct. 16 hearing in a United States appeals court, Ripps and Cahen’s lawyers tried to argue the lawsuit should be thrown out on the grounds of free speech under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. However, the three-judge panel didn’t appear persuaded by the lawyer’s arguments.
Related: NFTs aren’t dead — they’re just resting
BAYC is one of the most valuable NFT collectibles on NFT marketplace OpenSea.
Since April 2021, it has amassed 1.32 million Ether (ETH) or $2.38 billion in trading volume with an average floor price of 27.4 ETH ($49,200), according to OpenSea.
Magazine: Digital artist OSF gives fans a pledge of ‘art until I die’: NFT Creator
Online art store Avante Art is offering print copies of CryptoPunks for the next 48 hours through a partnership with CryptoPunks brand owner Yuga Labs.
Holders of CryptoPunk non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are being offered the chance to obtain physical prints of their digital art items, according to an October 26 announcement. The items are being offered as part of a partnership between online art store Avante Art and CryptoPunks brand owner Yuga Labs. The sale will last for only 48 hours. It began on October 26 at 3:00 p.m. UTC and will end on October 28 at 3:00 p.m. UTC.
Our print collaboration with @avant_arte is officially live – for 48 hours only.
— CryptoPunks (@cryptopunksnfts) October 26, 2023
Punk On-Chain is available exclusively to CryptoPunk holders at https://t.co/skT1FKTJgB pic.twitter.com/X657IqdgUT
Two different versions of the physical CryptoPunks collection are being offered on Avante Art. The first is called “Punk-On-Chain.” Each punk owner can commission a Punk-on-Chain print copy for each digital punk they own. However, users will need to prove ownership to commission a print copy. This means that individuals who do not own the on-chain version cannot buy its print version.
The second collection is called “10,000 On-Chain,” which is a print collection of all 10,000 CryptoPunks that's open to anyone. Collectors can buy the print version of a 10,000 On-Chain punk even if they don’t own the original on-chain version.
The two different versions of each printed punk are distinguishable from each other by a variety of characteristics. For example, the 10,000 On-Chain pieces are Archival pigment prints with silkscreen varnish seal, whereas the Punks-On-Chain pieces are UV pigment prints with white underpins. Both versions of each punk contain a Yuga Labs holographic sticker to prove their authenticity.
The Punks-On-Chain items also feature a QR code on the back of the print, leading to a blockchain-based digital Certificate of Authenticity (CoA). As for the 10,000 On-Chain pieces, they ship with a physical CoA that contains a QR code leading to the digital CoA, but this QR code is not on the print itself.
Related: BAYC creator Yuga Labs completes restructuring to focus on metaverse
CryptoPunks was one of the first algorithmically generated art collections to be distributed through blockchain technology. It was developed by Larva Labs studio and released in June 2017. The pieces were originally free to any Ethereum network user who wanted to mint them. At the time of publication, the lowest-priced CryptoPunks sell for approximately $78,000, and the entire collection has a market cap of over $782 million, according to data from Coingecko.
Larva Labs sold the copyrights for CryptoPunks to fellow NFT development team Yuga Labs in March 2022.
