One company reigns as the kings of the NFT industry – Yuga Labs. In just three years, they’ve gone from a group of four friends to an industry giant, managing NFT collections with a market cap of well over $1 billion USD, countless celebrity fans, and worldwide recognition.
Now, the company is forging a path into gaming – and with multiple titles on the horizon, Yuga Labs continue to grow not just themselves, but the NFT industry at large.
Master the brand, as we explain the past, present and future of Yuga Labs in 2025.
What is Yuga Labs?
Yuga Labs is a blockchain technology company, founded in February 2021 by Greg Solano (@CryptoGarga), Wylie Aronow (@GordonGoner), Zeshan Ali (@SassBAYC) and Kerem Atalay (@tomatobayc).
Based in Miami, the company spans multiple NFT collections, games, and entertainment brands – and despite its young age, Yuga is already valued at over $4 billion USD, with over 100 employees on their payroll.
Yuga Labs is best known for its NFT collections, which include:
- Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC): 10,000 ape avatars, minted on Ethereum in April 2021. The #2 most valuable NFT collection.
- Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC): 10,000 dog avatars, minted on Ethereum in June 2021. The original companions to the Bored Apes.
- Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC): 20,000 mutated apes, introduced on Ethereum in August 2021. 10,000 were minted, with the other 10,000 created by using Mutant Serum on a Bored Ape.
- TwelveFold: 300 pieces of generative art, minted as Bitcoin Ordinals in March 2023.
- CryptoPunks and Meebits: Acquired from Larva Labs in March 2022. The #1 and #40 most valuable NFT collections.
On top of their NFT collectibles, Yuga Labs are known for their range of games – such as endless runner Dookey Dash, its follow-up Dookey Dash: Unclogged, and the Otherside metaverse.
Yuga Labs also played a role in forming the ApeCoin DAO, its popular $APE token, and initiatives such as the soon-to-release ApeChain.
The history of Yuga Labs so far
April 2021 saw the debut of Bored Ape Yacht Club, with 10,000 NFTs minted at 0.08 ETH ($250 USD) each. The release of Bored Ape Kennel Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club – and the first annual ApeFest in October 2021 – grew the Yuga ecosystem further, and by the end of 2021, BAYC was the #2 most valuable NFT collection.
2022 saw the debut of Dookey Dash, an endless runner title accessible to Sewer Pass NFT holders. Players competed to achieve the highest score – with the champion, Twitch streamer Mongraal, selling his Golden Key prize for $1.6 million USD (1,000 ETH).
These successes led to the acquisition of CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs shortly thereafter. 2022 also saw the introduction of the Otherside metaverse, the formation of the ApeCoin DAO, the release of the $APE token, and the acquisition of Beeple’s 10KTF NFT collection.
2023 saw the introduction of Bitcoin Ordinals collection TwelveFold in March, and the release of two strategy games – Legends of the Mara and HV-MTL. Each has its own companion NFT collection, but mixed reception saw the titles transferred to game studio Faraway in April 2024.
Yuga acquired PROOF Collective – known for their Moonbirds NFT collection – in February 2024, and released a follow-up to Dookey Dash, titled Dookey Dash: Unclogged, in September 2024.
This success hasn’t been without controversy.
In February 2022, a BuzzFeed article revealed the identities of Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow – who were pseudonymous up to that point. 2022 also saw Yuga issue artist Ryder Ripps with a lawsuit against his RR/BAYC collection – a case that was settled in Yuga’s favour in 2023.
May 2024 saw the debut of Nina Chanel Abney‘s “Super Punk World” collection – the first release from Yuga’s Punks in Residence programme. It received major backlash, leading to the backtracking of the Punks in Residence series, and raised speculation that Yuga were out of touch with the NFT community.
What’s next for Yuga Labs?
Yuga Labs has big plans for the future, particularly around gaming and the metaverse.
Otherside is still in development, with a number of successful – though limited – playtests thus far. Otherside looks set to be cornerstone of the Yuga ecosystem moving forward, although some players are concerned with the pace of development thus far, and the quality of the product so far.
Yuga have deepened ties with Faraway, with the studio currently developing the in-universe Serum City title in collaboration with Novel Labs – with many more titles likely to follow.
$APE continues to grow, with the ApeCoin DAO voting to launch ApeChain – a Layer-3 blockchain built on Ethereum Layer-2 Arbitrum. The goal of ApeChain is to advance Web3 content, tooling and distribution platforms, making blockchain technology more accessible to mainstream audiences.
The NFT industry wouldn’t be what it is today without the success of Yuga Labs. For better or worse, Yuga are leading figures of the industry – and as they march into 2025 and beyond, their journey has only just begun.
Riding crypto waves since 2012, bridging digital and physical worlds through prose.