Benzinga - A leading non-fungible token and Web3 company announced an acquisition Monday that could help power its ambitions for the metaverse. The acquisition also brings one of the biggest names in the NFT space into the company’s ecosystem.
What Happened: Yuga Labs announced it was acquiring WENEW and its NFT collection 10KTF. Yuga said that WENEW shared a passion for imagination and storytelling.
Among the co-founders of WENEW were Michael Figge, Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple) and Guy Oseary.
Yuga announced that Figge would join the company as chief content officer. Beeple joined Yuga Labs as an advisor. Oseary previously signed a representation deal with Yuga Labs and an investor in the company.
The press release said Figge was “responsible for pushing the boundaries of imagination and creativity at Yuga through out-of-the-box content strategies and experiences.”
“Figge, Beeple and the WENEW team have found a way to create a captivating serialized story for web3, while also managing to tap into the passion people have for their digital avatars and customization,” Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano said.
Solano said storytelling and world-building were “foundational” to Yuga Labs.
“The possibilities of what we can do together are endless.”
Figge said the WENEW team was excited to join Yuga Labs and continue building in the Web3 space.
“We build this company with storytelling at the forefront,” Figge said. “Yuga’s first-class contributions to story, experiences and community were a huge inspiration. Their principles of openness inspired the interoperability of 10KTF.”
10KTF is an NFT storefront that allows the minting of one-of-a-kind (1-of-1) NFTs using NFTs from some of the largest collections.
The acquisition followed Yuga Labs reaching a deal to acquire CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs earlier this year.
Yuga Labs was valued at $4 billion earlier this year in a funding round.
Related Link: EXCLUSIVE: Yuga Labs Co-Founder Greg Solano, AKA Gargamel, Is Coming To Benzinga's Future Of Crypto Event: Here Are The Details
Why It’s Important: WENEW has previously had Web3 partnerships with brands that include Puma, Gucci, Playboy and Louis Vuitton.
Figge is the co-founder and creative director of Possible, a company that has experience launching immersive visual experiences for Coachella, Louis Vuitton, the Super Bowl, League of Legends Worlds and various concert tours. Figge’s work with the League of Legends Worlds won an Emmy Award in 2021.
The Possible co-founder has worked with Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Childish Gambino, Paul McCartney and Lady Gaga according to his Linkedin profile.
10KTF is a well-known NFT project thanks to its ties to several of the largest NFT projects and the ability for holders to create their own 1-of-1 NFTs. There are 23,491 10KTF items listed on Opensea with the cheapest currently listed at 0.475 Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), or around $586.
The NFT collections listed on the 10KTF website that can be used to create new NFTs are 0N1 Force, Bored Ape Kennel Club, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats, CrypToadz by GREMPLIN, CryptoPunks, Forgotten Souls, Gutter Cat Gang, Meebits, Moonbirds, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Nouns, Pudgy Penguins, Forgotten Runes Wizards Cult, Wolf Game, World of Women and World of Women Galaxy.
Level 1 items include high tops, daypacks, hats, hoodies and socks and cost 20 Apecoin (CRYPTO: APE) to mint plus ETH for gas fees. Level 2 items include helmets, Kevlar, vests, boots and weapons.
The acquisition of WENEW and 10KTF could help the metaverse ambitions and storytelling of the company’s assets in the coming years.
To find out more about Yuga Labs and its plans for the metaverse, join the company's co-founder Greg Solano for a fireside chat at Benzinga’s Future of Crypto. The Dec. 7 event will see Solano discuss Yuga Labs’ future ambitions involving the metaverse with its Otherside offering.
Get Future of Crypto Tickets here.
Photo: Screenshot Yuga Labs press release
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