Yuga Labs Delists Its Ethereum Punks NFTs, Here’s Why

Updated: 11 July 2023

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Yuga Labs, the digital asset incubation studio and the team behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club, has decided to clamp down metadata of its recently launched Ethereum Punks. The digital asset studio has also taken down its Ethereum Punks website.

At the request of Yuga Labs, the owner of CryptoPunks, I am taking down the Ethereum Punks website, removing all Ethereum Punks images from https://t.co/ZcR9HKlexS, and deleting my Tweets that reference Ethereum Punks, including my Tweet introducing the Ethscriptions Protocol.

— Middlemarch.eth (@dumbnamenumbers) July 11, 2023

Yuga Labs Takes Down Ethereum Punks

Launched in late 2021, Yuga Labs is home to popular non-fungible tokens, including Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Kennel Club, Twelvefold, HV-MTL, Otherdeed for Otherside, and Koda NFTs. The digital asset also owns intellectual property “IP” to Meebits and CryptoPunks.

Since its inception, Yuga Labs has been one of the most successful NFT startups in the short history of crypto. During this period, the digital asset firm has been innovative and dynamic, launching its project mainly based on market hype and crypto cycles.

In late 2021, when the NFT market blossomed, Ethereum NFTs were the most traded NFTs. The market hype attracted Yuga Labs to launch several NFTs, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Kennel, and Mutant Ape Yacht Club.

Earlier this year, NFTs hosted on Bitcoin, the flagship crypto, made inroads into the crypto market, dethroning dominant Ethereum NFTs and becoming the most talked about NFTs. Again, Yuga Labs followed the market hype and launched NFTs on the Bitcoin network, including Bitcoin Punks.

Bitcoin NFTs, also known as Ordinals, have recently gained traction among investors and creators, attracting the evolution of Ethscrptions. As its routine, Yuga Labs dived into the Ethscription NFT ecosystem and launched several NFTs, including Ethereum Punks.

What Makes Yuga Labs Step Back On Ethscriptions?

Unfortunately, things have not gone as anticipated, and Yuga Labs has decided to clamp down on Ethereum Punks. The NFT collection seemed similar to the original CryptoPunks, posing the need for a genuine CryptoPunk. It’s worth noting that Chiru Labs suffered a community backlash after launching its Azuki Elementals that seemed similar to the original Azuki.

ONE IS AN AZUKI AND ONE IS AN ELEMENTAL…. OMG … WHAT THE FCKKKKKKKKKK … I am down so much fucking money man …. FUCKKKKNN pic.twitter.com/KGFyEipXzb

— Wizard Of SoHo (🍷,🍷) (@wizardofsoho) June 27, 2023

In the meantime, Yuga Labs has requested Middlemarch, the Ethscriptions protocol creator, to take down the Ethereum Punks website. The digital asset firm has also directed the creator to remove all Ethereum Punks images from Ethscriptions.com and delete all tweets relating to Ethereum Punks.