Larva labs slammed for legitimacy: unsuccessful projects and launched V2 CrytoPunks

• Larva Labs is receiving criticism about the legitimacy of Punks as a result of its unsuccessful V1 CryptoPunks project and its recently launched V2 CrytoPunks.

• While it has sold some V1 Punks, it also claims that they are not genuine CryptoPunks and that a copyright infringement complaint will be filed.

• Larva Labs may send a DMCA notice to OpenSea and LooksRare in the near future or take action against the smart contract that wraps V1 Punks.

Matt Hall, one of Larva Labs’ primary engineers, stated in a Discord post earlier this week that he would be “taking necessary actions” in the following days for the claimed violation of “both the art and the CryptoPunks brand,” referring to the CryptoPunks V1 collection.

What happened to CryptoPunks V1?

Larva Labs, the designer of the legendary CryptoPunks NFT collection, has experienced criticism from the CryptoPunks community, with contradictory signals regarding V1 CrytoPunks and a community-backed initiative, V1 Punks.

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Some collectors believe that the Wrapped V1 CryptoPunks will increase in value in the future. They can also be sold as relics, with their ages increasing their value.

According to Mark Buchanan, Managing Partner of Meta4 Capital, which owns V1 CryptoPunks, Larva Labs is attempting to “regulate secondary markets for an asset” that has “already been claimed.” He believes that items such as comic books that were recalled owing to faults frequently find a home on secondary markets.

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Not the genuine CryptoPunks

While it has sold some V1 Punks, it also claims that they are not genuine CryptoPunks and that a copyright infringement complaint will be filed. In a Discord message, Larva Labs co-founder Matt Hall acknowledged making a mistake. Larva Labs first wanted to display its disapproval for the project by removing the V1 CryptoPunks, and they did so.

The communication, on the other hand, provoked harsh comments from the CryptoPunks group.

Following the revelation, Larva Labs immediately disassociated itself from the collection and released CryptoPunks V2, which featured a fixed supply of 10,000 photos as well.

Discrediting the V2 collection

The problem within the CryptoPunks community, however, is one of validity and authenticity as between CryptoPunks V1 and CryptoPunks V2 – and, more recently, a new set of algorithmically created Punks known as “V1 Punks” that differ only by a pink backdrop.

Because of OpenSea’s prohibition, the decommissioned CryptoPunks have now been wrapped in a community-created smart contract and re-issued on the Ethereum blockchain as V1 Punks, differentiated only by one color from their V2 counterparts.

This is an effort to discredit the unsuccessful V1 CryptoPunks project while also discrediting the V2 collection.

The community-wrapped Punks were born from the originally defective V1 CryptoPunks smart contract, with the community acknowledging them as the original.

Conclusion

According to the design firm, the community-wrapped project, entitled V1 Punks, is a potential copyright problem that looks to be generating consumer confusion and dilution to Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks brand — a crucial consideration in any copyright infringement action.

Undoubtedly perplexed, the community has expressed a variety of conflicting emotions to the distribution of 10,000 CryptoPunks V1.

Confusion has grown across the CryptoPunks community, as individuals who still believe the failed V1 CryptoPunks are valuable to have formed a community-wrapped initiative to keep it alive, delegitimizing the V2 CryptoPunks collection and perhaps infringing on the brand’s overall copyright.