On stage at WebSummit in Lisbon on Thursday, the CEO of Yuga Labs Nicole Muniz discussed the value of protecting digital assets, the significance of intellectual property rights, and the history of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).
Muniz responded that an NFT represents “the rights and the fact that you have true ownership of that asset” in contrast to a standard JPEG image that is widely shared online.
She pointed out that Yuga Labs’ collections BAYC, CryptoPunks, and Meebits are the finest examples of producers giving owners a full commercial intellectual property license.
The concept of exclusive ownership is one that Muniz stated is “really coming into the space” and empowering consumers to effectively shift into owners” — adding that this represents a paradigm shift overall.
Muniz noted that several initiatives inside the Bored Ape ecosystem were established and succeeded as a result of these inherent notions of commercial sovereignty.
“Jenkins the Valet—which is one Bored Ape in the collection—has created a media company built on creativity, storylines and expanding the Bored Ape universe. Also, Bored and Hungry is an awesome fast-food chain in Los Angeles, and I think they’re expanding into other markets,” said Muniz.
Muniz stressed a democratic philosophy of inclusivity on the topic of Yuga’s intentions for The Otherside, their interoperable metaverse platform. She stated that it is their belief that people should also have true ownership over their identity and not just assets.
She consequently disclosed that Yuga is establishing a “Otherside development kit” to allow developers to design functionality and features for the Otherside, and then integrate them into other metaverses within the space.
Yuga Labs’ market capitalization increased to over $4 billion following a historic $450 million seed round sponsored by Andreessen Horowitz. Since then, the team has been entirely devoted to creating an institution that would maximize the firm’s advantages in the NFT market.
