The floor price of non-fungible token (NFT) CryptoPunks collectibles has increased by 13% within three hours due to rumors that its owner, Yuga Labs, may be "in the process" of selling the intellectual property (IP) rights of CryptoPunks.

This rumor originated from "Wale.moca", a researcher at the Azuki NFT company, who cited "some sources close to the matter" in a January 14 post on X.

He did not reveal who the potential buyer might be. However, he said it is not a Web2 brand or an existing NFT company like Pudgy Penguins, Azuki, or Doodles.

The CryptoPunks floor price has increased from 36.6 ETH to 41 ETH — worth over $130,000 — within three hours of Wale.moca's X post, NFT Price Floor data shows.

The sale of the IP rights would bring about a significant change in the NFT industry, as Yuga's CryptoPunks are the most valuable NFTs on the market.

The CryptoPunks NFTs have a market capitalization of 414,700 ETH ($1.3 billion) — nearly double the second-largest NFT, Pudgy Penguins, at 213,080 ETH, according to NFT Price Floor.

Yuga had acquired the IP rights to 423 CryptoPunks NFTs from the Larva Labs NFT company for an undisclosed amount in March 2022.

The CryptoPunks NFT floor price at the time was around 65 ETH — a nearly 37% decrease from the current floor price.

However, data from CoinGecko shows that ETH has increased by over 24% since then, trading at around $2,590.

Yuga is also the owner of the Bored Ape Yacht Clubs, the third-largest NFT collection by market value.

Yuga's co-founder, Greg Solano, has returned to the CEO position to replace Daniel Alegre in February last year. He made a "difficult" decision to carry out a series of layoffs two months later, citing the company's need to return to a "top-creative mindset".

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