“No Current Plans” for Scrapped V1 CryptoPunk’s NFTs, Yuga Labs Says

The revival of the scrap “V1” CryptoPunk’s NFTs from the original by Larva Labs rolling out bugs in 2017 has added a wrinkle to the debate about provenance, ownership and artists’ purpose i Web3 world. And it doesn’t seem that V1 NFT owners are part of the new owner Yuga Labs growing plans for CryptoPunks brand.

On Monday, Yuga Labs—which bought CryptoPunk’s IP from Larva in March – published long-awaited commercial rights license for Ethereum The NFT project, allows the owners of the 10,000 unique profile pictures to turn them into all kinds of derivative creations such as art and products. It reflects the approach of Yuga’s own popular Bored Ape Yacht Club.

But IP License Agreement specifies that it only applies to CryptoPunks stamped with the other smart contract (self-executing computer code stored on a blockchain) – in other words “V2” or “official” CryptoPunks that have traded for millions of dollars apiece. Owners of V1 Punks have no legal permission from Yuga to turn their NFT avatars into commercial creations.

Asked for clarity on Yuga’s stance on V1 Punks and future plans regarding the project, a company spokesperson said. Decrypt this week, “There are no current plans for V1 Punks.”

An NFT is a blockchain token which can represent ownership in an item, including artwork, collectibles, and profile pictures like CryptoPunks. The project has a total of 10,000 pixel avatars, and together they’ve generated more than $2.3 billion in trading volume to date, while influencing countless other projects (like Yuga’s own Bored Apes).

In an interview with Decrypt, CryptoPunk’s Brand Manager Noah Davis– who previously oversaw NFT sales at auction house Christie’s – shared his take on V1 Punks, referencing original Larva co-creators Matt Hall and John Watkinson. But Davis said he “would not take a definitive position” on the NFTs.

“Personally, I think the V1 Punks are a really cool relic of Matt and John’s creative process,” said Davis. “This is proof of how Matt and John created CryptoPunks.”

“Whether they are or not the CryptoPunks, I think that has been very clearly addressed by Matt and John – who are the artists and whose opinions matter, and are probably most important in this case,” he added. “It’s like a misspelled Jordan rookie card — but it’s not the Jordan rookie card.”

What are V1 Punks?

Larva Labs’ stated stance on V1 Punks was clear, but the actions confused the message. V1 Punks really re-entered the CryptoPunks conversation late last year, when community members created a “wrapper” program that effectively rescued the derelict avatars from Larva’s buggy original smart contract and turned them into functional Ethereum NFTs.

Collectors quickly began buying and selling Wrapped V1 CryptoPunks, trading them for increasing sums while calling them the “original” CryptoPunks. The V1 versions are identical to the “official” Punks NFTs, except for a new background color added via the packaging. It clearly upset Hall and Watkinson in the process.

Larva’s founders argued that V1 NFTs were “not official CryptoPunks” and said they “don’t like them” – but they confused the message by also packaging and selling some of the V1 Punks who were in their own wallets. Ultimately, Larva Labs apologized in February and donated the funds to charity, calling the actions “stupid” and a “bad decision.”

However, Larva Labs filed a DMCA copyright claim to have V1 Punks removed from OpenSea. Although the V1 community was ostensibly attacked by the CryptoPunks’ creators, some reveled in the ensuing chaos and celebrated Larva’s misstep.

“It was a big cluster, wasn’t it? We really put them under a lot of pressure,” V1 Punks community member hemba told Decrypt in May. “They just tripped over themselves.”

In March, the situation changed dramatically when Larva Labs sold CryptoPunk’s IP to Yuga Labs, Yuga chose not to pursue the DMCA claim, and Wrapped V1 CryptoPunks returned to OpenSea before the community launched its own Rarible-powered marketplace. The battle was over, plus Yuga apparently bought more than 1000 wrapable V1 punks in the Larva deal, along with a Wrapped V1 NFT.

But what does it mean going forward for V1 Punks? Yuga Labs may not actively push back against the V1 community, as Larva Labs did, but holders are also not invited to the “official” party and provide benefits as the CryptoPunks brand moves forward.

When V1 Punk’s own Rarible-powered marketplace launched in May, community members said Decrypt that they hoped to create an independent DAO – or Decentralized Autonomous Organization – to unite all Larvas Punks: V1 Punks and the official (V2) CryptoPunks.

Some owners held out hope that Yuga Labs’ IP license agreement would somehow recognize or grant rights to V1 Punks. But that was not the case, and the topic remains at times controversial on social media, with collectors asking Davis for answers and some punk owners (like hemba) tweeting that they don’t approve of Yuga’s License Terms.

V1 Punks owners continue to ask questions, and Yuga’s initial response may not have been what they were looking for. At least for now, any further V1 movement – including efforts to unite the communities in the midst of enmity from some Punk holders – will have to come from the community, as always.