Larva Labs is the creator of the famous CryptoPunks and Meebits
Larva Labs is an American IT studio based in New York. She develops software and applications. So far not impressive, right? So why is the company so famous?
What is Larva Labs known for?
The company was founded in 2005 by Matt Hall and John Watkinson. Before starting the joint studio, Matt Hall graduated from Trinity College in 1998 with a degree in computer science and mathematics, after which he worked in various positions in the field of development. And John Watkins graduated from the University of Toronto in computer science and worked as a tech lead for various companies.
After the start of the partnership, the owners of the company have been creating various IT solutions. Now the studio continues to develop a global web infrastructure, various software, games and applications for various clients, including Google and Microsoft.
Until 2017, they were not so famous, and the popularity of Larva Labs came by creating one of the most expensive in the world NFT collections CryptoPunks. To date, the trading volume of these NFTs has exceeded $1.75 billion. Apart from CryptoPunks , they have other NFT collections as well. About them and not only we will tell in our article.
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NFT Collection CryptoPunks
In 2017, two software developers John Watkinson and Matt Hall partnered to create a project in the emerging NFT industry. They created software that could create unique, dissimilar avatars. These were 24 x 24 pixel, 8-bit images depicting people’s heads and necks in 10,000 unique variations. The avatars depict ordinary people in various costumes and images, aliens, zombies, monkeys.
The name “punk” came to the partners minds because of the punk movement and the riots of the 1970s. Creators of Cryptopunks advocated an anti-elitist origin for blockchain systems. So, the program generated 10000 avatars, among which no two are the same. Some of them are considered rarer (and therefore more expensive).
Matt Hall and John Watkinson, the creators, used their algorithmically generated images based on the idea that each avatar can only officially belong to the person who bought it. They then put these avatars on the Ethereum market. They kept 1000 pieces of them at the start.
The success of Cryptopunks in the market
So, software developers Matt Hall and John Watkinson placed the working code that creates these unique images of people and avatars on the blockchain , and the process of changing the digital world began. The CryptoPunks project became one of the first Ethereum assets. The project laid the foundation for the emergence of the ERC-721 standard that regulates transactions with NFTs.
When Cryptopunks first began to be created, each avatar had a price of no more than 34 dollars. And now the total value of sold punks is 1.5 billion dollars. The NFT collection itself is in the TOP of the best NFT collections in history, and owning a Cryptopunk means having a special social status and unconditional prestige. But why is this so?
The value of CryptoPunks
The value of each avatar varies. Therefore, initially there were 10 thousand unique projects, of which 9 thousand were ordinary people (men and women). Thus, a thousand more Cryptopunks appeared with the image of aliens, zombies and monkeys. This led to the fact that the latter turned out to be rarer, and therefore more expensive. So, if you look at any max bid, you won’t see people or characters without accessories.
So, in 2021, the most expensive sale at the CryptoPunks auction took place at a price of $23.7 million. This became CryptoPunk #5822.
Larger investments in NFTs lead to an increase in their overall value. That’s why, as the number of sales of punks increases, the price of each individual bid for such an avatar goes up. Also, the value of the characters is affected by the prestige associated with the transaction. Because it elevates the buyer’s status, everyone wants to invest in NFTs.
NFT Collection Meebits
After the success of CryptoPunk, May 3, 2021, Larva Labs has released their next collection of NFT Meebits.
The collection consists of 20,000 generated 3D voxel characters created on the blockchain Ethereum. Creators of Larva Labs position their NFTs above Cryptopunks: they can`t just become an avatar on a social network, but be a 3D avatar in various metaverses that are now actively developing.
The owners of the collection encouraged their community: all holders of NFT Larva Lab received a free Meebits. And 9,000 pieces were put up for public sale through a Dutch auction. The auction started at an impressive 2.5 ETH and sold out within 6 hours, totaling almost $80 million in sales for Larva labs.
To date, Meebits has surpassed the $500 million mark in all-time sales.
Criticism of the NFT community towards Larva Labs
Cryptopunks today are an indicator of social status and have entered the history of digital art. And their owners following the example of policy Yuga Labs wanted various offline activities, perks, and opportunities to commercialize their Punks. But Larva Labs kept aloof from these discussions and argued that the mere possession of Cryptopunk was sufficient. Gradually, this problem became more and more acute, especially against the background of the younger BAYC, for whose owners many privileges were available.
Against this background, the famous collector Punk 4156 made a demonstrative act, who sold his NFT for more than 10 million dollars after the non-community did not receive any reaction and response from Larva Labs for questions about collection rights.
Purchase of copyrights for Cryptopunks and Meebits by studio Yuga Labs
With such sharp criticism in March 2022 Yuga Labs (organization known for creating the Bored collection Ape Yacht Club) acquired the intellectual property rights to the Cryptopunks and Meebits from Larva labs. And opened these rights to the whole world. They did this so that all punk owners could fully promote them and not risk copyright lawsuits from Larva Labs.
Our opinion about Larva Labs
Creator duo Larva Labs is truly amazing. Matt Hall and John Watkinson create unique products that are bought up for crazy money the whole world. Thanks to the Cryptopunks, they have created a big name for themselves and a rich portfolio. Now the public will meet each new project with great interest and anticipation. With their designs disappearing from the shelves quickly, we can expect a lot more from this company in the future.
