Yuga Labs pauses CryptoPunks project following significant criticism from the ‘woke’ community.

Yuga Labs CEO, Greg Solano, has announced that his company will no longer be involved with the CryptoPunks project due to the negative response from the community regarding their new project, Super Punk World. The official CryptoPunks account revealed the launch of Super Punk World on May 20, which featured 500 hybridized 3D sculptures that aimed to challenge traditional concepts of race and gender. However, the collection faced backlash from the crypto community, who criticized it for being “woke.” Some community members expressed their disappointment, stating that Yuga Labs had “killed” CryptoPunks with this move. In response to the backlash, Solano published a statement explaining that the intention was to collaborate with renowned artists like Nina Abney to bridge the gap between Web3 and traditional art. Solano also mentioned that they plan to distribute Abney’s collection to those who already support her work, potentially through airdrops to SuperCoolWorld holders. As for the CryptoPunks collection, Solano confirmed that Yuga Labs will no longer be involved with it. Instead, the company aims to assist museums and institutions in acquiring CryptoPunk NFTs and educating the public about the collection. Despite a decline in NFT trading volumes, the CryptoPunks collection experienced a resurgence in March when two transactions broke sales records. One rare alien CryptoPunk sold for 4,500 Ether (ETH), equivalent to approximately $16 million, and another piece sold for 4,850 ETH, worth around $16.4 million at the time.