CryptoPunks Ethereum NFT Sales Surge 1,200% After Bored Ape Creators Acquire IP

Larva Labs shocked the NFT world yesterday afternoon when it announced that it would sell the IP for the popular CryptoPunks project to Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. And after the news broke, CryptoPunks started selling like hotcakes.

According to data from CryptoSlam, secondary market sales of the Ethereum NFT collection have totaled $18.8 million over the last 24 hours, marking a 1,219% increase over the previous 24-hour span.

New buyers may be expecting additional value for the CryptoPunks project now that it will be under the command of Yuga Labs, which turned the Bored Ape Yacht Club into a sales juggernaut and celebrity favorite in less than a year.

Yuga Labs announced that it will grant IP rights for individual CryptoPunks images to their respective holders, much as it has for its own Bored Ape collections. That detail had been a point of contention for some CryptoPunks owners in the past, as Larva Labs had previously given unclear guidance about holders’ ability to monetize their NFT images.

In addition to surging sales volume, the floor price—or the cheapest available NFT in the project listed on a marketplace—for CryptoPunks has risen 11% during the span, to a current price of over 75 ETH (about $195,000).

Larva Labs also sold its Meebits NFT project IP to Yuga Labs as part of the deal. Meebits sales over the last 24 hours also jumped, to $18.5 million per data from CryptoSlam, which represents a 529% increase over the previous span. The Meebits floor price is up a towering 32% during the span, to nearly 5.6 ETH ($14,500).

Meanwhile, the so-called V1 CryptoPunks Wrapped collection—a series of community-made Ethereum NFTs based on the faulty, abandoned original CryptoPunks smart contract—has seen a 6,695% increase in sales over the last 24 hours. Larva Labs disavowed the project, but it has still generated over $1.6 million in secondary sales over the past day.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club itself is also benefiting from the increased momentum, with $7.3 million in NFT sales over the last day—up 307% from the previous 24-hour span, per CryptoSlam. The floor price has jumped 12%, as well, and currently sits at 82 ETH ($212,000).

Additionally, the newer Mutant Ape Yacht Club has seen $4.5 million in sales over the last 24 hours, which marks a nearly 79% day-over-day increase. The Mutant Apes floor is now up 9% to 18.5 ETH (nearly $48,000).

All told, CryptoPunks has yielded more than $2.1 billion in lifetime secondary trading volume to date, with the newer Meebits sitting at about $425 million (after wash sales are excluded). The Bored Ape Yacht Club has generated more than $1.4 billion in secondary sales, with the Mutant Ape Yacht Club at $987 million.