What is Yuga Labs?

Yuga Labs, LLC is an American blockchain technology company that develops non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital collectibles. Incorporated in Delaware in February 2021, the company is best known as the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection.¹ From its origins as a digital art project, Yuga Labs experienced a meteoric rise, achieving a $4 billion valuation by March 2022 and establishing itself as a dominant force in the Web3 industry.⁴ The company’s trajectory has been characterized by rapid innovation in community building, intellectual property (IP) management, and the development of a gamified metaverse called Otherside.⁶ Its stated mission is to shape the future of Web3 through storytelling, experiences, and community, with the goal of building an interoperable “Yugaverse” where users function as both owners and creators.⁶

The company’s evolution serves as a significant case study in the life cycle of a Web3 enterprise, reflecting the industry’s broader transition from decentralized idealism to corporate pragmatism. Yuga Labs began with pseudonymous founders and a community-centric ethos, common in the crypto space, but as it scaled, it encountered the pressures of traditional business, including a $450 million venture capital-led seed round, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, and complex IP litigation.⁵ These challenges precipitated a shift toward a more conventional corporate structure, marked by the hiring of executives from Web2 companies, corporate restructuring, and a proposal to replace its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with a centralized corporate entity.¹² This journey highlights the inherent tension between the foundational principles of Web3 and the operational realities of building a multi-billion-dollar global company.

History

Founding and Anonymity (2021)

Yuga Labs was founded in February 2021 by four individuals who initially operated under pseudonyms to maintain their privacy, a common practice within the cryptocurrency community.¹⁵ The two principal co-founders were Greg Solano, a writer and editor, and Wylie Aronow, who had a background in creative writing.¹⁶ They adopted the online monikers “Gargamel” and “Gordon Goner,” respectively.¹⁶ They were joined by two software engineers, Zeshan Ali and Kerem Atalay, who went by “No Sass” and “Emperor Tomato Ketchup”.¹⁷ The idea for the company began with a simple text message exchange about creating an NFT project.⁶ The company was officially incorporated in Delaware on February 8, 2021.¹ The name “Yuga” was inspired by a villain from the The Legend of Zelda video game franchise who possesses the ability to transform people into two-dimensional art, a thematic nod to the company’s focus on digital art and collectibles.¹⁶

In February 2022, the founders’ anonymity was abruptly ended when BuzzFeed News published an article revealing the real identities of Solano and Aronow.⁹ The reporter uncovered their names by searching publicly available business records associated with Yuga Labs, which was incorporated at an address linked to Solano.⁹ The event, widely referred to as “doxxing” by the founders and the broader Web3 community, ignited a heated debate about the role of pseudonymity in the rapidly professionalizing crypto industry.⁹ Proponents of the disclosure argued that the leaders of a multi-billion-dollar enterprise have a public responsibility to be transparent, similar to executives of publicly traded companies.⁹ Conversely, many within the Web3 space contended that the act violated a core tenet of the culture and dismantled the democratic foundation of a system predicated on the principle of anonymity.⁹ Following the publication, both Solano and Aronow confirmed their identities on Twitter, with Aronow posting, “Got doxxed against my will. Oh well”.⁹ The identities of Ali and Atalay were also later publicly confirmed.¹⁷

This forced unveiling marked a pivotal turning point for Yuga Labs, compelling a rapid transition from a pseudonymous art collective into a public-facing corporation. Before the article, the founders had maintained their crypto-native mystique, giving interviews to major publications like Rolling Stone under their pseudonyms.¹⁸ The exposure rendered this posture untenable and thrust them into the public eye, where they were now accountable in a more traditional, “Web2” sense. This shift was almost immediately followed by the formalization of a corporate structure. In February 2022, the company hired its first C-suite, including Nicole Muniz as CEO.²⁰ This move was a necessary step to manage the massive influx of capital from their upcoming seed round and to navigate the increasingly complex legal and regulatory challenges that a company of its scale would inevitably face.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Launch

The concept for the Bored Ape Yacht Club was rooted in a fictional narrative about a group of early crypto investors who, having become billionaires by “aping in” to various assets, find themselves rich but terminally bored.³ The story envisioned these apes congregating in a dilapidated “swamp clubhouse” in a future setting.¹⁸ More than just a piece of digital art, each NFT was conceived as a “membership pass” to this exclusive digital club, granting holders access to special benefits and a shared community space.⁶

The collection consists of 10,000 unique avatars of cartoon apes, each algorithmically generated with a distinct combination of traits such as fur color, clothing, and accessories.⁸ The artwork for the original collection was created by a freelance artist known publicly as All Seeing Seneca.³ The presale for the BAYC collection began on April 23, 2021, with the official public launch on April 30, 2021.³ Each NFT was priced at 0.08 Ether (ETH), equivalent to approximately $190 at the time.³ The launch initially saw slow sales, but momentum picked up dramatically after the influential NFT trader Pranksy purchased a large quantity of the apes and promoted the collection to his followers on Twitter. Following this, the entire collection sold out within 12 hours.²⁶

Early Ecosystem Expansion (2021)

Following the successful launch of BAYC, Yuga Labs moved quickly to expand its ecosystem and reward its burgeoning community.

Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC)

In June 2021, Yuga Labs introduced the Bored Ape Kennel Club, a collection of 10,000 companion dog NFTs.⁸ In a move designed to reward early supporters, every BAYC holder was able to “adopt” one BAKC NFT for free, only having to pay the transaction (gas) fees on the Ethereum network.⁸ The minting window for the collection was open for one week, from June 18 to June 25, 2021.²⁹ This “airdrop” added a new layer to the BAYC lore and provided additional value to the core collection.²⁹ As a philanthropic gesture, Yuga Labs implemented a 2.5% royalty fee on all secondary market sales of BAKC NFTs for the first six weeks, with all proceeds donated to no-kill animal shelters.⁸

Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC)

On August 28, 2021, the ecosystem expanded again with the launch of the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, a collection of up to 20,000 “mutant” versions of the original apes.³² This launch featured an innovative dual-mechanic approach. First, 10,000 MAYC NFTs were sold in a public Dutch auction, raising $96 million in under an hour.³⁴ Second, Yuga Labs airdropped 10,000 “mutant serums” to all existing BAYC holders.³⁵

These serums came in three tiers of rarity; M1, M2, and the extremely rare M3, and could be combined with an original Bored Ape NFT via a smart contract.³⁴ This process would generate a new, unique Mutant Ape NFT that shared traits with the original ape but was visibly mutated. The original Bored Ape NFT remained unchanged and in the owner’s possession.³³ This strategy served two key purposes: it provided a valuable new asset to the original community members while also creating a new entry point into the Yuga Labs ecosystem at a more accessible price point than the increasingly expensive BAYC collection.³³

Market Dominance and Funding (2022)

The year 2022 marked a period of aggressive expansion and consolidation for Yuga Labs, cementing its position as the undisputed leader in the high-end NFT market.

Acquisition of CryptoPunks and Meebits

On March 11, 2022, Yuga Labs announced a landmark deal to acquire the intellectual property rights for the CryptoPunks and Meebits NFT collections from their creator, Larva Labs.⁷ CryptoPunks, launched in 2017, is widely considered one of the first and most historically significant PFP NFT projects, and this acquisition brought the two most valuable collections in the space under a single corporate umbrella.² The move was widely seen as creating a near-monopoly for Yuga Labs in the blue-chip NFT market.⁷ A pivotal element of the acquisition was Yuga Labs’ immediate decision to grant full commercial and IP rights to individual CryptoPunks and Meebits holders, a right that BAYC owners had enjoyed from the start but which Larva Labs had not extended to its collectors.³⁹ This gesture was a strategic success, winning goodwill from the CryptoPunks community and highlighting Yuga’s community-centric approach.

$450 Million Seed Round

Just days after the acquisition, in March 2022, Yuga Labs announced it had raised a $450 million seed funding round, which valued the company at $4 billion.⁵ The round was led by the prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).⁵ The list of participants was extensive and diverse, including Web3-native firms like Animoca Brands and The Sandbox, major crypto exchanges like FTX and MoonPay, and a host of celebrity and angel investors such as Mark Cuban, Snoop Dogg, and Shaquille O’Neal.⁴² The primary stated use of the funds was to scale the company’s team and finance the development of its ambitious metaverse project, Otherside.⁴⁶

The acquisition and the funding round were not isolated events but rather two parts of a coordinated strategic blitz designed to cement market dominance and finance a fundamental pivot in the company’s mission. By acquiring the CryptoPunks IP, Yuga Labs neutralized its main competitor and absorbed its immense cultural and historical capital. This consolidation created an unparalleled portfolio of blue-chip IP, transforming Yuga Labs from the creator of a popular PFP project into the steward of NFT history. This new narrative, of building a “Web3 culture, gaming, and entertainment empire”, was essential to justify the monumental $4 billion valuation to traditional venture capitalists.⁴⁵ The funding, in turn, provided the necessary war chest to execute on the ambitious metaverse plans that this new empire demanded.

Leadership and Restructuring (2023–2024)

As Yuga Labs matured, it experienced significant changes in its leadership and corporate structure. Nicole Muniz, who was hired in early 2022, served as the company’s first CEO until the first quarter of 2023.⁴⁸ She was succeeded in April 2023 by Daniel Alegre, a seasoned executive from the traditional gaming world who was previously the President and Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard.¹² Alegre’s appointment was seen as a move to bring experienced leadership to guide the company’s expansion into gaming and the metaverse.⁴⁹

Alegre’s tenure, however, lasted less than a year. In February 2024, co-founder Greg Solano announced he was “stepping back in” to the CEO role.²¹ Solano framed the leadership change as a necessary step to re-center the company on a “crypto-native focus”.⁵⁰ As part of his new vision, he announced plans to “unshackle” the Bored Ape Yacht Club team by establishing it as a separate subsidiary, BAYC LLC, to foster greater agility and innovation.⁴⁸

During this period, the company also underwent two major rounds of restructuring. In October 2023, under Alegre, Yuga Labs conducted layoffs in the United States to streamline operations and concentrate resources on the development of Otherside.⁴⁸ A second, more significant restructuring occurred in April 2024, shortly after Solano’s return as CEO. This round also included layoffs, with Solano explaining in a company-wide message that Yuga Labs had “lost its way” and had become encumbered by “labyrinthine corporate processes”.¹⁴ This refocusing effort also involved spinning out two of its gaming properties, HV-MTL and Legends of the Mara, which were acquired by the game developer Faraway. Yuga’s Chief Gaming Officer, Spencer Tucker, also moved to Faraway as part of the deal.¹⁴

Strategic Refocus (2025)

Throughout 2025, Yuga Labs accelerated its strategic shift by divesting several of the major IP assets it had previously acquired. This represented a significant contraction from its earlier strategy of market consolidation and a deliberate move to concentrate on its core brands.

In May 2025, the company announced the sale of the CryptoPunks intellectual property to The Infinite Node Foundation (NODE), a newly formed non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of digital art.³⁹ The sale price was not officially disclosed but was estimated to be around $20 million.⁵⁴ As part of the arrangement, the original Larva Labs founders, Matt Hall and John Watkinson, and Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow joined NODE in an advisory capacity to guide the collection’s future.⁵⁴

This was followed in June 2025 by the sale of the Moonbirds, Mythics, and Oddities collections to Orange Cap Games, a Web3 startup.⁵⁵ These collections had been acquired by Yuga Labs as part of its purchase of the PROOF collective in February 2024.¹⁹ These divestments were explicitly framed as a strategic decision to allow Yuga Labs to dedicate all of its resources to its two primary pillars: the Bored Ape Yacht Club brand and the Otherside metaverse.¹⁴

Core Projects and Ecosystem

NFT Collections and Intellectual Property

Yuga Labs’ ecosystem was built on a portfolio of high-value NFT collections. The company’s strategy has evolved from acquiring a dominant market share of blue-chip IP to focusing on developing its own native brands. The following table outlines the timeline of Yuga Labs’ major IP assets.

Collection Name	Date Created/Acquired	Description	Current Status (as of late 2025)
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)	April 2021	10,000 unique ape avatars serving as membership to an exclusive club.3	Core Asset
Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC)	June 2021	Companion dog NFTs airdropped to BAYC holders.8	Core Asset
Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC)	August 2021	20,000 “mutant” apes created via public sale and serums for BAYC holders.33	Core Asset
CryptoPunks	Acquired March 2022	Historically significant 10,000-piece PFP collection from Larva Labs.39	IP Divested (May 2025) 53
Meebits	Acquired March 2022	20,000 3D voxel characters from Larva Labs.41	IP Divested (February 2025) 56
10KTF	Acquired November 2022	Digital accessories project from WENEW, led by artist Beeple.4	IP Divested (October 2024)
PROOF / Moonbirds	Acquired February 2024	NFT collective and its 10,000-piece owl-themed PFP collection.19	IP Divested (June 2025) 55

The Otherside Metaverse

Otherside is Yuga Labs’ most ambitious project, envisioned as a gamified, interoperable metaverse that combines the mechanics of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) with the principles of Web3 ownership.²³ The project is being co-developed with British technology firm Improbable and the Web3 gaming company Animoca Brands.⁵⁷ The core vision is to create an open, collaborative world where players own the virtual land, their NFTs from various collections can be used as playable 3D characters, and thousands of users can interact simultaneously in real-time.⁵⁹

The virtual land within Otherside is represented by a collection of NFTs called “Otherdeeds.” A total of 200,000 Otherdeeds are planned for the metaverse.⁵⁹ The initial mint of 100,000 Otherdeeds took place on April 30, 2022. Of these, 55,000 were sold to the public in a highly anticipated sale that required payment in ApeCoin.⁶⁰ The sale generated over $300 million for Yuga Labs but also caused unprecedented congestion on the Ethereum blockchain, leading to transaction fees soaring into the thousands of dollars for many users.⁶⁰ Otherdeeds are dynamic NFTs, each possessing a unique combination of attributes, including environment type, sediment, resources, and potential artifacts.⁵⁸ Adding to their rarity, 10,000 of the initial Otherdeeds were minted with a “Koda,” a mysterious celestial being that is a rare in-game character.⁵⁸

After a period of relatively quiet development, Yuga Labs renewed its focus on Otherside in 2025. In June 2025, the company announced significant updates, including new AI-powered world-building tools integrated into the Otherside Development Kit (ODK), which allow creators to build and modify virtual environments using simple text commands.⁵⁶ Alongside these tools, Yuga Labs launched new interactive experiences, such as an 8v8 team shooter game called

Bathroom Blitz and a large-scale stress test event named Otherside Outbreak, designed to test the platform’s capacity for handling thousands of concurrent users.⁵⁶ CEO Greg Solano has affirmed that the company remains well-funded for several more years of development, with a full release of the persistent world anticipated in 2025.⁵⁷

ApeCoin and Governance

ApeCoin ($APE)

ApeCoin ($APE) is an ERC-20 token launched on the Ethereum blockchain on March 16, 2022.³ It serves as the official utility and governance token for the entire Yuga Labs ecosystem, often referred to as the “Apeverse”.⁸ The token was designed to facilitate a decentralized economy for culture, gaming, and commerce within Web3.⁶⁶ Its primary functions include being the medium of exchange for ecosystem products (such as the

Otherside land sale), granting holders access to exclusive merchandise and events, and serving as a governance token for the ApeCoin DAO.⁶⁷ The total supply of ApeCoin is permanently fixed at 1 billion tokens, with no minting or burning capabilities.⁶⁷

ApeCoin DAO and the Proposed Shift to ApeCo

ApeCoin was officially launched by the ApeCoin DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization established to be a legally separate entity from Yuga Labs.⁷ The DAO was created to allow any holder of the APE token to participate in governance by voting on proposals related to ecosystem funds, rules, and partnerships.⁶⁵ The DAO’s decisions are administered by the APE Foundation, a legal entity that acts as the steward of the ecosystem and oversees its day-to-day operations.⁶⁹

However, in June 2025, Yuga Labs proposed a radical overhaul of this governance structure. CEO Greg Solano introduced an Ape Improvement Proposal (AIP) to dissolve the ApeCoin DAO and transfer its assets, including a treasury valued at over $168 million, and all governance responsibilities to a new, Yuga-controlled corporate entity named “ApeCo”.¹³ Solano argued that the DAO model had become an impediment to progress, describing it as having “devolved into sluggish, noisy, and often unserious governance theater” that wasted resources on “vanity proposals and low-impact initiatives”.¹³ The proposal, which garnered largely positive initial feedback from the community, would revoke the direct governance rights of token holders and centralize decision-making to focus resources more effectively on Yuga’s core projects: ApeChain, BAYC, and Otherside.⁷²

This proposed move represents the most explicit manifestation of Yuga Labs’ strategic evolution from Web3 idealism toward corporate efficiency. The initial creation of the DAO was a standard and celebrated practice in Web3, designed to ensure decentralized community ownership.⁷⁴ By labeling this model a “failed experiment” and proposing a centralized, corporate alternative, Yuga Labs is prioritizing speed of execution and strategic alignment over the philosophical purity of decentralization. If the proposal is formally adopted, it could set a major precedent for the governance of large-scale crypto projects, raising a fundamental question for the industry about whether true decentralization is compatible with the demands of building competitive, mass-market products.

ApeChain Infrastructure

To address the scalability challenges of the Ethereum mainnet, Yuga Labs spearheaded the development of ApeChain, a dedicated blockchain for the Ape ecosystem. The mainnet for ApeChain officially launched on October 20, 2024.⁷⁵ The need for a proprietary chain was made evident during the

Otherside Otherdeeds mint, where extreme network congestion and exorbitant gas fees highlighted the limitations of building a large-scale interactive ecosystem directly on Ethereum’s base layer.⁷⁵

ApeChain is built using the Arbitrum Orbit stack, functioning as a Layer-3 (L3) network.⁷⁷ This means it processes transactions on its own chain and then bundles them to be settled on the Arbitrum One network (a Layer-2), which in turn settles on the Ethereum mainnet (Layer-1).⁷⁸ This layered architecture allows ApeChain to inherit the security of Ethereum while offering significantly higher transaction speeds and drastically lower costs.⁷⁸ A key feature of the chain is its use of ApeCoin ($APE) as the native gas token, which deeply integrates the ecosystem’s currency into its core infrastructure and creates a constant source of utility for the token.⁷⁵ The chain’s development is being led by Horizen Labs.⁷⁷

ApeChain incorporates several advanced features, including native yield generation, which allows users to earn passive income on assets like APE, ETH, and stablecoins that are bridged to the network.⁷⁵ It also supports cross-chain interoperability through an integration with LayerZero’s omnichain fungible token (OFT) standard, enabling seamless asset transfers between ApeChain and other blockchains.⁷⁵ The launch of the mainnet was met with significant market enthusiasm, causing the price of the APE token to more than double in the days that followed.⁷⁵

Cultural Impact

Mainstream Adoption

The Bored Ape Yacht Club transcended the niche crypto world to become a global cultural phenomenon, largely driven by its adoption as a digital status symbol.³ This was significantly accelerated by a wave of high-profile celebrity collectors who used their Bored Ape NFTs as their profile pictures on social media platforms.³ Notable owners include musicians Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem; actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Paris Hilton; athletes Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, and Serena Williams; and television host Jimmy Fallon.³ This celebrity endorsement created a powerful feedback loop, generating widespread media coverage and introducing the concept of NFTs to a mainstream audience.³

The project’s cultural cachet also attracted major brand partnerships, further legitimizing NFTs as a new frontier for marketing and collaboration. In September 2021, the global sportswear brand Adidas purchased a Bored Ape NFT and incorporated it into its Web3 strategy.³ Universal Music Group formed a virtual band called Kingship, composed of three Bored Ape and one Mutant Ape character.³ In a more recent collaboration in September 2025, German automaker BMW partnered with Yuga Labs to create a unique, one-of-a-kind BAYC-themed M235i car.⁸¹

Community and Events

From its inception, Yuga Labs fostered a strong and engaged community by offering exclusive benefits to its NFT holders. Ownership of a Bored Ape granted access to “THE BATHROOM,” a collaborative digital graffiti board where members could draw pixels at timed intervals.³ Holders also received access to exclusive merchandise drops and, crucially, were granted full commercial usage rights to their specific ape, allowing them to create and monetize their own derivative projects and products.²⁶

To further cultivate the “exclusive club” atmosphere, Yuga Labs has organized a series of large-scale, in-person events for its community known as “ApeFest.” These multi-day festivals have been held in various international locations, including New York City, Hong Kong, and Lisbon, Portugal.³ The events have featured elaborate productions and performances by world-renowned entertainers such as comedians Chris Rock and Aziz Ansari, and musical acts like The Strokes and LCD Soundsystem, reinforcing the high-end, aspirational nature of the brand.³

Legal Challenges and Controversies

SEC Investigation (2022-2025)

In October 2022, reports emerged that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an investigation into Yuga Labs.¹¹ The probe focused on whether certain of the company’s NFT offerings and the distribution of ApeCoin constituted the sale of unregistered securities.⁸⁴ The SEC’s inquiry was part of a broader examination of the NFT market to determine if digital assets should be regulated in the same manner as traditional stocks and bonds, using the legal framework of the Howey Test.⁸³

On March 3, 2025, Yuga Labs announced that the SEC had concluded its investigation and would not be bringing any enforcement action against the company.¹¹ Yuga Labs publicly celebrated the outcome as a “huge win for NFTs and all creators,” asserting in a statement that “NFTs are not securities”.¹¹ The closure of the probe was part of a wider trend at the time, as the SEC, under a new administration, also dropped investigations into several other major crypto firms, including OpenSea, Coinbase, and Kraken.⁸³

Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ryder Ripps

In June 2022, Yuga Labs initiated a high-profile lawsuit against artist Ryder Ripps and his collaborator Jeremy Cahen for trademark infringement, cybersquatting, and related claims.¹⁰ The lawsuit stemmed from the creation of the “Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club” (RR/BAYC), an NFT collection that used the exact same images as the original BAYC collection. Ripps defended his project as a form of satirical protest and appropriation art, intended to critique Yuga Labs for what he alleged was the use of racist and neo-Nazi dog whistles in its artwork and branding.⁸⁶

In April 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Yuga Labs, finding Ripps and Cahen liable for trademark infringement.⁸⁶ The court rejected Ripps’ defenses based on the First Amendment and fair use.⁸⁷ Following a bench trial on remedies, the court awarded Yuga Labs a judgment that eventually grew to approximately $9 million, which included disgorgement of profits, statutory damages, and attorney’s fees.¹⁰

Ripps and Cahen appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On July 23, 2025, the appellate court issued a landmark ruling that had significant implications for the entire digital asset industry.¹⁰ The court affirmed a crucial legal principle: that NFTs qualify as “goods” under the Lanham Act and are thus eligible for federal trademark protection. This was a major victory for Yuga Labs and other brand owners in the space, establishing a clear legal precedent for protecting digital assets from counterfeiting.⁸⁸ However, the court simultaneously reversed the lower court’s summary judgment on the infringement and cybersquatting claims. The panel ruled that Yuga Labs had not proven a “likelihood of consumer confusion” as a matter of law, concluding that the question was a complex factual issue that required a full trial to resolve.¹⁰ The case was subsequently remanded back to the district court for trial.⁸⁸

This ruling represents a foundational legal development for Web3, as it simultaneously strengthens and complicates intellectual property protection for digital assets. On one hand, the confirmation that NFTs are trademarkable goods provides a solid legal foundation for brands to defend their IP in the digital realm, a significant de-risking event for the industry. On the other hand, the reversal on the issue of consumer confusion ensures that trademark law cannot be used as a simple tool to silence critics or parodists. It establishes that in cases involving artistic expression and commentary, the complex question of whether consumers were actually misled must be carefully weighed by a fact-finder, thereby balancing commercial rights with expressive freedom.

Artwork and Symbolism Criticism

The Bored Ape Yacht Club collection has been the subject of persistent criticism, prominently voiced by Ryder Ripps and the hacktivist group Anonymous, alleging that its artwork and branding contain esoteric racist and neo-Nazi symbolism.⁸⁷ The allegations point to several specific elements. One is the claim that the BAYC skull logo bears a striking resemblance to the Nazi

Totenkopf (death’s head) symbol used by the SS.⁹⁶ Another is the use of ape imagery itself, which critics argue taps into the historical racist trope of simianization used to dehumanize Black people.⁹⁶ Further claims involved alleged numerological references to Adolf Hitler, such as the logo’s 18 teeth (where 1=A, 8=H) and the project’s launch date of April 30, the anniversary of Hitler’s death.⁹⁶

The founders of Yuga Labs have consistently and vehemently denied these accusations. In public statements, they have highlighted their own diverse ethnic backgrounds, which include Jewish, Turkish, Pakistani, and Cuban heritage, and have described the allegations as a “crazy disinformation campaign”.³ They maintain that the choice of apes as the collection’s theme is a direct reference to the crypto community slang term “aping in,” which means to invest heavily in an asset without extensive research.³ They also assert that the skull logo was inspired by motifs from skateboarding culture, hip-hop, and anime, not Nazi iconography.⁹⁸ Researchers from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) who reviewed the allegations stated that they found the claims to be insubstantial, although they did note that some traits within the collection could be seen as problematic.³

Recent Developments and Future Outlook

The Otherside Awakens (2025)

Following the corporate restructuring and strategic divestments of 2024 and early 2025, Yuga Labs has channeled its resources and focus into the development of its flagship metaverse project, Otherside. During the summer of 2025, the company announced a series of major updates aimed at accelerating development and increasing community engagement. These included the release of AI-powered world-building tools within the ODK, the launch of new in-game experiences like the team-based shooter Bathroom Blitz, and the expansion of social hubs to accommodate larger groups of players.⁵⁶

This renewed push has garnered positive attention and significant investment. In August 2025, scrap-metal billionaire Adam Weitsman announced the direct purchase of over 5,000 Otherdeed NFTs from Yuga Labs’ treasury, framing it as a long-term investment in the future of the metaverse.⁸¹ CEO Greg Solano has also indicated that Yuga Labs has a “reward” planned for BAYC and Otherdeed holders in 2025, leading to speculation about a potential ecosystem token for Otherside or other new initiatives.¹⁰²

Solano’s Vision

Since his return to the CEO position, Greg Solano has consistently articulated a vision for Yuga Labs that emphasizes a return to its “crypto-native” roots.⁴⁸ This strategy involves focusing on building products and experiences for the core Web3 community rather than prioritizing mainstream appeal in the short term. Key initiatives under this vision include the creation of the BAYC LLC subsidiary to grant the brand’s team more autonomy and a commitment to more transparent and frequent communication with the community, particularly regarding the development of Otherside.⁴⁸

The company’s future is now inextricably linked to its ability to deliver on the ambitious promise of Otherside. Solano has affirmed that Yuga Labs is well-capitalized to continue development for at least another two to three years and envisions the project becoming the “default space” or “living room of Web3,” where various communities can interact within an open, interoperable virtual world.⁵⁰ This long-term, focused strategy marks the latest chapter in the company’s evolution, betting its future on the successful execution of a single, large-scale gaming and social platform.

References

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48. Ross, K. (2024, February 21). Yuga’s Greg Solano resumes role as CEO, pledges stronger ‘cryptonative’ focus. Blockworks. https://blockworks.co/news/yuga-labs-ceo-bayc
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90. Appeals Court Overturns $9M Yuga Labs Victory Against Ryder Ripps in BAYC Case. (2025, July 24). CryptoNews. https://cryptonews.com/news/appeals-court-overturns-9m-yuga-labs-victory-against-ryder-ripps-in-bayc-case/
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95. Claims of racist imagery in Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project make it to court. (n.d.). Web3 Is Going Great. https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/single/claims-of-racist-imagery-in-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-project-make-it-to-court
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97. What’s going on with Bored Ape Yacht Club being a secret Nazi troll scheme?. (n.d.). Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/vgpo1b/whats_going_on_with_bored_ape_yacht_club_being_a/
98. Bored Apes: Why BAYC Haters Need To Give It a Rest. (n.d.). The Chainsaw. https://thechainsaw.com/finance/bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-haters/
99. Yuga Labs Unveils AI World-Building Tools And Major Game Updates For Otherside Metaverse. (n.d.). EGamers.io. https://egamers.io/yuga-labs-unveils-ai-world-building-tools-and-major-game-updates-for-otherside-metaverse/
100. Scrap-metal billionaire Adam Weitsman bought 5,000 NFT in a direct deal with Yuga Labs. (2025, August 5). Mitrade. https://www.mitrade.com/insights/news/live-news/article-3-986010-20250805
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102. Bored Ape and Otherdeed Holders To Receive ‘Reward’ in 2025. (n.d.). MagNFT. https://magnft.com/bored-ape-and-otherdeed-holders-to-receive-reward-in-2025/
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107. Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Yuga Labs acquires CryptoPunks and Meebits. (2024, July 25). Cryptonary. https://cryptonary.com/bayc-creatoryuga-labs-confirms-buying-of-meebits-and-cryptopunks/
108. Otherside – NFTs. (n.d.). IQ.wiki. https://iq.wiki/wiki/otherside
109. What is Otherdeed?. (n.d.). Gate.io. https://www.gate.com/learn/articles/what-is-otherdeed/3760
110. What Is ApeCoin (APE) And How Does It Work?. (n.d.). CoinMarketCap. https://coinmarketcap.com/cmc-ai/apecoin-ape/what-is/
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112. What Is The Yuga Labs Valuation? How Does Yuga Labs Studio Make Money?. (n.d.). Bitkan. https://bitkan.com/learn/what-is-the-yuga-labs-valuation-how-does-yuga-labs-studio-make-money-12384
113. Yuga Labs CEO and Key Executive Team. (n.d.). Craft.co. https://craft.co/yuga-labs/executives
114. Yuga Labs Org chart. (n.d.). The Org. https://theorg.com/org/yuga-labs
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117. Critic Says Yuga Labs Bitcoin NFTs Auction Sets ‘Really Bad Precedent’. (n.d.). Decrypt. https://decrypt.co/122771/critic-says-yuga-labs-bitcoin-nfts-auction-sets-really-bad-precedent
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121. Yuga Labs’ Gaming Ambitions. (n.d.). Naavik. https://naavik.co/digest/yuga-gaming-ambitions/
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123. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Founders Face Nazi Allegations. (n.d.). Binance. https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/931587#:~:text=Critics%20pointed%20to%20certain%20elements,community%20and%20outside%20of%20it.
124. Greg Solano Becomes CEO of Yuga Labs, Replacing Daniel Alegre. (n.d.). Charltons Quantum. https://charltonsquantum.com/greg-solano-becomes-ceo-of-yuga-labs-replacing-daniel-alegre/
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