Yuga Labs Supports The PoS ETH Chain, But are NFTs Safe?

Yuga Labs has confirmed that intends to only recognize NFTs on the PoS ETH chain.
A Market analyst explains why NFTs might be at risk after the Ethereum Merge upgrade.

Yuga Labs, the blockchain technology company that develops NFTs and digital collectibles, popular for creating the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, has thrown its weight on Ethereum the Merge upgrade. As the date for the upgrade draws closer, major projects such as Chainlink, companies, and institutions are reaffirming their support for the upgrade that will the Ethereum upgrade transition from a PoW ETH chain to a PoS ETH chain.

In a tweet, Yuga Labs noted that it intends to recognize NFTs on the PoS ETH chain as subject to the relevant NFT license and eligible for Yuga-offered utility.

The Ethereum network is gearing up for the merge mid September. In line with the broader Ethereum community, in the event of a viable PoW fork, Yuga intends to only recognize NFTs on the PoS ETH chain as subject to the relevant NFT license and eligible for Yuga-offered utility

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) August 17, 2022

This confirmation comes amidst concern among NFT enthusiasts that digital collectibles might not be safe post-Ethereum Merge upgrade which is now just weeks away.

The Ethereum Merge may put your NFTs AT RISK!

One market analyst and commentator notes that in the event there is a proof of work (PoW) fork of Ethereum, this will create two versions of the same NFTs. One on the PoW chain, and the other on the proof of stake (PoS) Ethereum 2.0.

after some reflection, here's my take on a eth pow fork

1. many, incl me, have predicted for years that miners would fork ethereum to extract the final juice out of their investment. it doesn't take nostradamus to see this.

— Hasu⚡️🤖 (@hasufl) August 6, 2022

While some enthusiasts might be excited by the prospect of having two of the same NFT, the analyst notes that the big risk is a ‘replay attack’. He adds that this is “when a transaction happens on one blockchain and can be repeated on another.”

The issue is something called a 'replay attack'. This is when a transaction happens on one blockchain and can be repeated on another.

For example – after the merge, you sell your CryptoPunk on the PoW chain for 5 ETH (or ETHPoW as people are calling it) hoping to cash in…

4/8 pic.twitter.com/vBINktPfne

— Adam McBride (@adamamcbride) August 11, 2022

While the scenario is not guaranteed to play out, the analyst advises NFT holders to be safe than sorry and has pointed out ways holders can protect their NFTs.

Before the merge
✅ Delist any NFTs you have for sale.

After the merge
✅ Transfer your NFTs on the PoW chain to a NEW wallet.

This breaks the link between your PoW NFTs and PoS NFTs. And should be relatively inexpensive give the expected drop in price of ETHPOW.

7/8

— Adam McBride (@adamamcbride) August 11, 2022

Despite a drop in both volume and average prices of NFT sales, the industry remains robust with major institutions joining retail investors in recent months and years. As Crypto-NewsMedia recently reported, Meta’s Instagram has recently rolled out Instagram NFTsand integrated Coinbase to offer digital collectibles access to more than 100 countries.