Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs Launches Bitcoin NFTs
Yuga Labs TwelveFold NFT project is a limited edition collection of 300 generative pieces, inscribed on satoshis on the Bitcoin blockchain. Courtesy of Yuga Labs
After dominating the market for NFTs on Ethereum, Yuga Labs is taking on the Bitcoin blockchain.
The $4 billion company said it plans to launch a new collection of Bitcoin NFTs called TwelveFold, which is based on a 12×12 grid that the company describes as “a visual allegory for the cartography of data on the Bitcoin blockchain.”
Unlike previous launches, including the Web3 game Dookey Dash and its Otherside metaverse, TwelveFold will have no use or connection to the company’s notable Ethereum-based projects such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
According to Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano, the collection was designed by Michael Figge, Yuga’s chief content officer, who before joining the company in November created the NFT project 10KTF – which is based on a digital storefront where users can create unique NFTs with their avatar. on various metaverse-ready digital wearables.
so who IS @yugalabs art team? collecting art without knowing the artist(s) feels a bit soulless. pic.twitter.com/ED12P2NQOd
— tropoFarmer 🍌 (@tropoFarmer) 28 February 2023
Although Yuga said the collection of 300 NFTs would be auctioned off later this week, it did not give an exact time. The company said it would give a 24-hour notice with auction details and exact time via social media.
Although all of Yuga Labs’ previous NFT collections have been on Ethereum, the most popular for NFTs, the announcement of TwelveFold follows a wave of interest in Bitcoin NFTs, which recently played a role in pushing the price of Bitcoin above 25 000 dollars.
Using a new protocol called Ordinal Theory, NFT creators “inscribe” non-fungible tokens on the smallest unit of Bitcoin, called a Satoshi, which is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin. While NFTs on Ethereum and Solana mostly point to off-chain databases that contain an NFT’s master image, Bitcoin NFTs, or Ordinals, take advantage of recent updates to Bitcoin’s code to store art on the blockchain itself.
Ordinals have pumped up enthusiasm in the NFT industry over the past month, even as Crypto Winter lingers. Already, more than 213,000 Ordinals have been entered onto the Bitcoin blockchain, according to data from Dune Analytics, as the technology continues to attract major players in the NFT space such as DeGods.
Courtesy of Yuga Labs
Yuga is entering the Bitcoin NFT space as it faces a threat to its business from the ongoing battle between major NFT marketplaces for royalties. Earlier this month, in response to a challenge from upstart NFT marketplace Blur, market leader OpenSea switched to a policy of optional creator revenue.
This could hurt NFT creators like Yuga, who make millions from royalty fees from secondary sales.
The impending TwelveFold sale is likely to bring in a significant sum due to the Yuga’s brand name alone, but some have said they see the project as more than just a revenue boost for the company.
No use. No community. To be sold to the highest bidder. Couldn’t possibly have had more than a month to plan, think, design and execute. It basically lacks everything the NFT environment has demanded of all other projects. Nothing screams cash grab louder than this to me. pic.twitter.com/WbnEO4Jpyc
— rosalia.eth | gol.eth | APIs.eth | ropa.eth (@miq_eth) 28 February 2023
Common yuga milking system, but the amount of eyes they will bring? Indispensable.
Good move overall.— P1ckle.eth (@P1ckle__) 27 February 2023
Others have said the move could be particularly risky for Yuga given how much it relies on and cares about its reputation, as evidenced by the ongoing lawsuit against Ryder Ripps.
In a blog post published Monday, Solano explained Yuga’s thinking on the Ordinals project: “All of these choices are a departure from what is expected of Yuga. But you know. The devil does expected things.”
