Owner of monkey NFTs, Yuga Labs starts to gather the most expensive collections in the world

The NFTs (non-fungible token) market had its first consolidation movement last Friday (11th). The company responsible for the virtual monkey drawings, Yuga Labs, bought the rights to the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections, from creator Larva Labs.

According to TechCruch, a website that tracks tech businesses, Yuga Labs and CryptoPunks are the two most valuable collections of NFTs in the market — the combined amount of which is at least $3.6 billion.

“We have long admired CryptoPunks and the work of project founders Matt [Hall] and John [Waltkinson]. They powered NFTs and the crypto world, and we are honored to bring the brands they built into the future we are building at Yuga,” Yuga Labs said on twitter.

The Larva Labs founders ditched the project entirely, and Yuga Labs purchased 423 CryptoPunks and 1,711 Meebits from the company. Hall and Waltkinson were left with just some digital artwork, in addition to the autoglyph designs that were not part of the deal. The value of the transaction was not announced.

Some big news to share today: Yuga has acquired the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections from @LarvaLabs, and the first thing we’re doing is giving full commercial rights to the NFT holders. Just like we did for BAYC and MAYC owners. pic.twitter.com/lAIKKvoEDj

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) March 11, 2022

“We will soon be granting CryptoPunks and Meebits holders the same commercial rights as CryptoPunks and Meebits owners. [NFTs de macacos] enjoy,” Larva Labs said in a statement.

Yuga Labs trajectory

In recent months, the celebrity world has been overrun by monkey NFTs. On January 20, 2022, football player Neymar exchanged his profile picture on a social network for a monkey chewing gum. At the time, the purchase was valued at approximately US$517,000, or R$2.7 million. Singer Justin Bieber also adopted digital art in his profile.

I am an ape! #community #art #BoredApeYC pic.twitter.com/iOe3E0H2t6

— Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) January 20, 2022

To the CNN Brasil Business, Gargamel, Gordon, Tomato and Sass said they were shocked when celebrities started buying their digital art. “It’s really cool to see something that started out so small become something that people are excited about.”

“There are many artists who value being on the cusp of new cultural waves, and so it’s not surprising [que tenham comprado os NFTs]”.

As of press time, the company did not have any new digital art for sale, but it was possible to buy NFTs from other owners, with prices ranging from $230 to more than $2.6 billion. It is worth remembering that the owners stipulate the value they intend to sell their assets.

And with that, the company behind the designs, Yuga Labs, saw its tokens enter the group of most expensive collections in the world. With just one year of operation, the company has already sold around 10,000 NFTs and had approximately US$ 1 billion in gross profit, considering the price of ethereum on Monday afternoon (14), at US$ 2,575.

Monkeys star in digital pieces as they are known by the crypto community as a symbol of people diving headfirst into cryptocurrencies and other industry projects, often without due diligence.

The project idea started on February 6, 2021, when Gordon sent a message to Gargamel asking if he knew JavaScript (a programming language used to implement complex items on the internet).

However, the two didn’t have the technical skills to get involved with technology. They were joined by two of Gargamel’s engineering friends: Zeshan, called Sass, and Kerem, nicknamed Tomato.

At the time, a team of freelance illustrators and designers created the first collection for their friends, called the Bored Ape Yacht Club. There were about 500 monkeys, all of which were sold on April 23, 2021.

The average cost to create an NFT about a year ago was 0.08H, or approximately $200.

Gargamel, Gordon, Tomato and Sass opted for the technology because NFTs are unique, like a fingerprint. And they serve as an authentication tool.

“It felt like a new wave of culture was coming [com as artes digitais]and we wanted to be a part of it”, said the Yuga Labs team in an interview with CNN Brasil Business.

In May, another 9,500 monkeys were bred in a single night, and the collection sold out in the early morning of the same day. For the month, Bored Ape Yacht Club was the most operated smart contract on the ethereum network.

Among all the clients, some celebrities have joined the list of buyers of digital arts from Yuga Labs, such as NBA player Stephen Cury, American presenter Jimmy Fallon, rapper Post Malone and other celebrities.

In addition to NFTs

The work of the group of friends did not stop at the digital arts. On August 8, 2021, compare land in the Decentraland game, and opened the BAYC Riberboat Casino.

On site, players can participate in poker, blackjack and roulette tournaments. All games use MANA, cryptocurrency from the Decentraland digital universe.

The following month, the friends, along with 40 employees who work from merchandising to digital experiences, created an ‘interactive scavenger hunt’ for members (name given to the owners of some Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT).

Users explored the interior and exterior of Yuga Labs’ headquarters, solving puzzles. The winner received 10 ETH plus a digital art of a monkey.

But the company didn’t just stay in the virtual world. Between October 31 and November 6, 2021, Yuga Labs held Ape Fest, a week of free in-person events for members, at Brooklyn Steel, a venue in New York City.

Monkey NFT owners had access to several parties and limited edition digital art. In addition to concerts by the band The Strokes and comedian Chris Rock. In all, about US$ 200 thousand (about R$ 1 million) were raised at the event.

And while they don’t have any new projects to release in the next few months, friends say they’re only on the surface of what Yuga Labs can be.

(Gordon and Gargamel have chosen not to reveal their identities, only providing the codename by which they are known in the crypto community)