Breaking Down the CryptoPunks Acquisition Rumor

Yesterday, the CryptoPunks floor price ran from 35 ETH to 42 ETH, up to more than $135,000 in USD terms.

Volume and sales were up a whopping 321% and 285% on the day.

Driving all the activity?

Rumors are newly swirling that another CryptoPunks acquisition is in the works.

Momentum picked up here when Azuki researcher Wale shared on X that "several sources" suggested Yuga Labs "might be in the process of selling the CryptoPunks IP."

Of course, the Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs made waves themselves when they first acquired the Punks from Larva Labs in March 2022.

The terms of the deal were never made public, but some estimates suggested the price tag was over $100 million.

Since then, Yuga have proved to be a commendably solid and mostly hands-off steward of the Punks ecosystem, but they've also weathered bouts of drama.

For example, in May 2024, after Yuga faced blowback around its initial Super Punks World auction setup, etc., we first learned new acquisition interest existed when crypto OG Cobie confirmed he'd inquired about the possibility of purchasing the Punks IP with a group of fellow holders.

Yuga said nay, and things have been quiet on this front until the latest acquisition rumors started circulating this week.

That leaves us with two main questions, then:

1. Is the speculation true, is Yuga working on a Punks deal?
2. And if so, who is the interested buyer?

As for the first question, the official answer is no. There is reportedly nothing in the works. Yuga co-founder Garga said as much yesterday on X.

Now, it's possible this is a smokescreen denial as the details of a deal are getting finalized.

We've seen stuff like this before in crypto, right. For example, Arbitrum famously denied token plans and then launched an airdrop. Womp womp.

But even if we take the denial at face value and assume it's very likely true, it's still interesting to consider how the prospects of a potential ownership change generated a trading frenzy.

Much of the action here was surely from whales momentum trading Punks to capitalize on a new surge of excitement. But at least some of it came from people betting on the possibility of new, better owners.

But that's the thing. What would new, better owners even look like?

Because all things considered, Yuga's been pretty good with the Punks, to the point that the best case scenario if there was another ownership change is that the new owners would basically follow Yuga's approach, just even more hands-off than they already are.

On the flip side, I think most other large companies in crypto wouldn't be good stewards here. Most would be tempted to go more hands-on to get their money's worth and then some.

All that said, in Wale's original (debunked? not debunked?) tweet, he noted he'd heard that the potential Punks buyer wasn't "a major Web2 brand, nor ... another big existing NFT company (Pudgy Penguins, Azuki, Doodles)."

He added that it seemed like "the plan of the potential new owners is to leave the IP untouched."

For the sake of discussion, then, let's say hypothetically there really was a buyer.

Leaving the IP untouched would make perfect sense, to be sure, as a buyer moving in to aggressively take advantage of the Punks would damage the collection's legacy, spook considerable sell pressure, and cause a revolt in the Punks and wider NFT communities.

That's the worst case scenario, right—a new undesirable owner doing regrettable things to extract as much cash as possible. It'd be a tragedy considering the history of the Punks to date.

The good news, though?

Even if there was a sale in the works, Yuga knows what's at stake and wouldn't sell to any dubious parties. That I fully believe. The purchaser, or purchasers in the case of a community syndicate, would have to be excellent for Yuga to OK anything.

But again, we're just talking hypothetically. For now, it seems like Punks will stay with Yuga, and that's probably for the best considering the specter of some alternatives.