Ascension from its modest minting toll of 0.08 Ether (ETH), Bored Ape Yacht Order (BAYC) has climbed to nonfungible-token (NFT) stardom, competing with 1 of the earliest examples of Larva Labs CryptoPunk NFT.

Given its steady but amplified growth, BAYC has many crypto natives speculating that its collection volition eventually "flip" CryptoPunks, and in that location are several reasons to back information technology.

Tip-toeing around which collection is the top NFT contender, the competition between these two collections is driven past several factors. With an existing dissever between mainstream media adoption and the IP rights granted to its owners, the BAYC and CryptoPunks collection also have a disparate corporeality of unique holders. This is important considering the amount of unique holders is frequently indicative of a wider spread of owners, meaning information technology's less at the mercy of a unmarried sale dictating the projects overall or flooring value.

Allow'southward take a await at some of the factors NFT advocates and traders are talking virtually in regards to the BAYC projection flipping the floor cost of CryptoPunks.

Two unlike labs and visions

The stagnation of CryptoPunks in comparing to the dynamic marketing nature of BAYC leaves many speculating that a "flippening" is inevitable. To add fuel to fire, although at that place are many copyright options given to creators, the "no rights reserved" option is not one given at LarvaLabs.

As such, many have taken to Twitter to comment in support of the speculation. One particular at present-quondam CryptoPunk #4156 was sold for 2,500 Ether on principle and contention regarding Larva Labs' stance on Creative Commons 0 (CC0) — otherwise known as "no rights reserved."

Across issues with intellectual property (IP) rights, it appears that groups of individuals are rallying effectually the "flippening" because BAYC has seemed to take mastered its overall marketing and strategic partnerships.

Launched April 20, 2022, the funny, but bored-appearing Apes were minted for 0.08 ETH, valued at $300 at the time. Not long subsequently more notable names similar NBA star Stephen Curry began switching their Twitter profile pictures to Apes did the market begin to surge, solidifying the collection as an apparent "blue fleck."

Gaining the attention and adoption of mainstream media and celebrities alike, BAYC seems to have a different trajectory than CryptoPunks. More than individuals, BAYC is strategically partnering with other brands similar Adidas and, most recently, appear its partnership with Animoca Brands, a Hong-Kong based software company focused on blockchain games for its future play-to-earn (P2E) games.

In confirming its partnership with Adidas, BAYC alludes to its potential interoperability — the ability to exchange data in unlike systems or, in this case, Metaverses.

CryptoPunks were outset generated for free on June 23, 2022, for anyone with an Ethereum wallet. The only fee was the toll of gas to mint. Although at the time, many considered CryptoPunks to be the first "NFT," the token itself is not an ERC-721 token. While built on the Ethereum blockchain, information technology turns out that the CryptoPunk pre-dates the ERC-721 standard and is closer to being an ERC-20 token.

According to Larva Labs, it no longer has any control over the code utilized to purchase, sell and merchandise the CryptoPunks over the blockchain. By surrendering over its control, it gave the code more brownie through transparency, assuming that it would provide all it was promised to do.

Whether that is what the community anticipated is a different story.

Creators control the IP or bust

In that location seems to exist a climate shift regarding where value is placed in an NFT collection. The ongoing contention within the NFT sphere is who owns the rights: the creator or the owner?

Many are questioning projects who are granting their owners limited rights. However, very few NFT projects align themselves with a CC0 mentality where "no rights are reserved." The few NFT projects operating in this manner are CrypToadz and NounsDAO — a project dear to @punk4156.

Not satisfied or content with the limited rights granted to CryptoPunks owners caused renowned CryptoPunks Ape Punk #4156 to change their tune. Despite the rather embedded relationship to CryptoPunks — particularly the one behind their "brand" Punks #4156, placed one of the rarest types in the collection for sale. Their Ape punk up was listed for sale at 2,500 ETH, valued at $10.26 million. Equally the 3rd-highest valued CryptoPunks sold, many have taken to Twitter to comment on this historical sale.

Copyright bug are what collection i of the leading community members out, and given its reputation, many are turning their center toward the left-facing CryptoPhunks. Phunks supporters claim to align themselves on the "correct side of history" since they allegedly requite its owners IP rights.

Despite the rights alleged and given, there is something to be said well-nigh figures — there is no denying the numbers the BAYC collection has pulled.

Power in numbers

For the last 30 days, the BAYC collection has amassed a trading volume of nearly 44 Ether, according to data from OpenSea. Impressively, in November lone, the flooring price of BAYC surged over 50% and the average price is roughly 56.five Ether, suggesting its floor could hands inch closer to that of Punks.

7 day Bored Ape Yacht Club floor price. Source: OpenSea

Comparatively, the Crypto Punks collection's locked in 32,005 Ether in the last iv weeks. Since the sale of Punk #4156, its floor price has steadily been decreasing and is down vii% from last calendar month, according to data from Dune Analytics.

BAYC versus CryptoPunk price operation. Source: Delphi Digital

With so much emphasis on flooring prices, the number of unique holders in an NFT drove often gets overlooked. Placing light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation focus on the corporeality of liquidity being exchanged, ane loses sight of the number of individuals who concord the token.

One could argue that the higher the number of unique holders, the more indicative the collection is to be successful. This is because it'due south widely adopted and is less at the mercy of a pocket-sized grouping of individuals who could easily set the gas to fire with a unmarried auction.

When comparing the two collections, BAYC has nearly 6,000 unique holders, whereas CryptoPunks has less than one-half the number of unique holders at 3,273. Co-ordinate to Larva Labs, the top ten CryptoPunk owners have over 100 CryptoPunks in their wallets with the elevation wallet belongings 410.

Listing of top 10 CryptoPunks owners. Source: LarvaLabs

According to Dune Analytics, the superlative percentage of Apes owned is one.05%, significant that no wallet owns more than 105 Apes. Since fewer wallets in the BAYC collection take up a large percentage of ownership, it means that there's a larger number of individuals in the customs who not only won a bulk of the drove, simply share a sense of collective value. The Bored Ape Yacht Club customs members that volition protect the value the brand has seemed to capture through its partnerships and are "diamond handing."

Percentage of Apes owned by pinnacle 50 holders. Source: Dune Analytics

A potential "flippening" — simply does information technology thing?

Great emphasis is placed on "will/when BAYC flip CryptoPunks?" Mayhap the bigger question is, does it matter?

Regardless of Apes flipping Punks, many argue that Apes would never outprice premium tier punks like Aliens or the CryptoPunk version of Apes. Some say that the BAYC drove lacks a range of visual "stratification of condition," making them harder to value.

Only time will tell whether Apes flip Punks. However, the narrative could shift and focus less on the market caps and floor prices of both collections and more so on the value both collections capture over time, regardless of copyright limitations.

After all, at that place is always another potential "blue chip" on the horizon.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading motion involves risk, you lot should acquit your own research when making a conclusion.