Nfts
CryptoPunks NFT art sparks backlash amid ‘woke’ controversy
Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, has decided to withdraw from its involvement in Cryptopunks, another prominent NFT collection in the crypto world.
In 2022, Yuga Labs acquired Cryptopunks to preserve its legacy. Over time, Cryptopunks has become one of the most iconic and influential profile picture (PFP) sets in the NFT space. Thanks to their popularity among collectors, Cryptopunks have even entered museums.
GM,
I wanted to share an update on Punks: When we acquired the collection a few years ago, we did so with the intention of preserving the collection’s legacy.
we consider the punks to be the first cave paintings of this new medium, and we were heavily influenced by them when creating…
– Garga.eth (Greg Solano) 🍌 (@CryptoGarga) May 20, 2024
After managing the project for two years, Yuga Labs decided to move on. In a detailed post shared by Garga.eth (Greg Solano), co-founder of Yuga Labs, the company announced its decision to end all ties to the NFT collection. Instead, they plan to make it fully decentralized to ensure its preservation on the blockchain.
As part of their efforts to integrate Cryptopunks into the mainstream art world, Yuga Labs introduced new NFTs consisting of just 500 works of art. They have collaborated with renowned artists to create new works using the Cryptopunks brand, with the aim of bridging the gap between the Web3 ecosystem and traditional art.
One of these collaborations was with artist Abney, who created Super Punk World using the official Punks seal. However, this decision was not well received by some members of the punk community and collectors.
They criticized the artworks, which aimed to celebrate diversity and challenge conventional ideas about identity, calling them “woke”. Some argued that the avatars depicted in the artwork differed from what they believed an original Punk should look like.