After acquiring some of the world’s biggest names for NFT, Yuga Labs is currently offloading crypto plants, moonbirds and other brands as the market faces ongoing challenges.
Yuga Labs recently began handing over IP rights to several NFT collections, including Cryptopunks IP, which could mark the shift of the once dominant NFT giants. Cryptopunks IP is currently part of the Infinite Node Foundation, a nonprofit focused on digital art preservation.
Meanwhile, Moonbirds (another blue chip collection) has fallen into the hands of a relatively unknown gaming company called Orange Cap Games.
Natalie Stone, general manager of Cryptopunks, said the terms of the transaction would not be revealed, but reports that the Infinite Node Foundation may have paid about $20 million. This could be less than what Yuga paid in 2022, and far from the hype-driven price seen at the peak of the NFT boom.
Still, Yuga is not completely separated as the company still retains its rights under a standard IP license, Stone told The Verge.
“Using punk, we have chosen nodes because of our ability to manage legacy,” said Nicki Schiller, chief of staff at Yuga Labs, in a commentary on crypto.news.
“Moon Birds deserves a team that is completely dedicated to their world, and the Orange Cap Game is good to move them forward. At Punk, we are the biggest owners and chose nodes for their ability to manage legacy. These moves reflect a clear focus.
Nikki Schiller
Cultural Movement
Still, the sale shows a major change. When Yuga Labs acquired Cryptopunks from Larva Labs in 2022, the NFT market was still shining. Priced at Sky High, one crypto group was famously sold for Ethereum (ETH) over $23 million, but that’s not happening anymore.
The exact reason behind the acquisition remains unknown, but Nord Foundation Chairman Mickey Marca said Cryptopunk “spurred a cultural movement” and added that the company is planning to set up a permanent exhibition space in Palo Alto, display the full 10,000-piece collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, and “ease collectors to acquire scholars, curators and collectors.”
So what happened? Cryptopunks was created in 2017 by Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs. At just 24 x 24 pixels, 10,000 characters quickly became more than JPEG. They were the beginning of the status symbols, collector baits, and the NFT movement. Long before the bored apes took over their Twitter profile pictures, Punk was already auctioned by art and gorgeous auction house Christie’s.
Yuga went between Peak’s hype and got multiple NFT collections. But now we offload the same assets, not just the crypto plants. In early May, Yuga sold the Moonbirds IP to Orange Cap Games, a low-cost outfit in the NFT gaming space. The deal includes not only Moonbird, but also the myths and oddities of related spinoffs.
https://t.co/dwnvvzktuz
– Orange Cap Game (@ocapgames) May 30, 2025
Orange Cap Games described the X-Post acquisition as an opportunity to realize a ‘beloved IP’ through a carefully crafted experience that introduces new fans and deepens connections with existing communities. The company highlighted its excitement about taking over the Moonbird franchise, saying that Moonbird “is simply nesting around the bear market, full of untapped possibilities, and under stewardship, it’s time to fly.”
Orange Cap Games has a track record in NFT gaming and has launched Vibes TCG, a collectable card game centered around Pudgy Penguins IP, “celebrating culture, community and joy.” The studio boasts attention to detail, saying, “Those who know us through the atmosphere know that they are obsessed with excellence, such as game design, physical product development, creative execution.”
“In fact, we are the only TCG studio that knows that we have developed our own custom paper stock for future physical releases. Details are important. This is the attitude we bring to everything we do.”
Orange Cap Game
Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano seemed optimistic. “Moonbirds deserve a team where the whole world is birds,” he said.
Regarding the blockchain environment, Orange Cap Games noted that future on-chain components of Moonbirds created by them are on the mainnet or exclusively using Apechain, a network supported by Yuga Labs in Layer-2.
Time of one time
Still, it’s hard to ignore the background. NFT is not the old one. Market activity fell off the cliff. According to Dappradar data, trading volumes at top NFT collections have fallen 95% from their peak. The once-dead projects have either disappeared into license transactions, art displays, or physical goods, in the name of staying alive, or relying on physical goods.
ART NFTS annual trading volume and sales volume | Source: Dappradar
Schiller pushed back the idea that lower market conditions prompted sell-offs and that trading was “not driven by market volatility” but reflected “strategic clarity rather than short-term circumstances.”
Yuga Labs appears to be doubling what is considered Core, and Solano says in an X post “focusing on apes and other special things we’ve been cooking.”
The company’s other metaverses – a gaming, immersive world tied to boring apes – remains a key focus. And maybe that’s true. Yuga isn’t necessarily giving up, and certainly has retreated from the idea that a company can own NFT Canon.
When Yuga acquired the IP of Cryptopunks, “It wasn’t just ownership. It was about celebrating the cultural icons we believed in,” said Wylie Aronow, co-founder of Yuga Labs, adding that offering a brand is a “full-cell moment.”
Meanwhile, the Infinite Node Foundation appears to have put together a rather serious team to manage the collection. The founders of both Larva Labs and Art Blocks have been featured on the advisory board, with Live Ethereum Nodes running at the new facility highlighting decentralization.
Schiller confirmed that “the lasting experience of others will begin this summer” and teased APEFEST and the upcoming developments on the long-awaited real-life clubhouse. “We’ll share all of this soon,” she added.
Some people in the NFT community see this as a big victory, while others see it differently. But maybe it’s just a new reality and the NFT market is not dead. It’s just quiet, more mature and perhaps a little clever.
read more: US SEC finishes probes to boring ape NFTS creator Yuga Labs