On February 17, it became known that the minimum price of an NFT from the Pudgy Penguins collection exceeded a similar metric for the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection, reaching 22.2 ETH. This event marked a significant increase in the value of Pudgy Penguins, which has increased by 320% since November 2023, while BAYC has been showing a decrease in value since April 2022 when their NFTs were selling for 160 ETH and above.

Co-founder of Yuga Labs expressed respect for the Pudgy Penguins collection, calling it a worthy competitor in the NFT market and advised the team to continue developing the project. In February, Yuga Labs also acquired the startup PROOF, developer of several NFT collections, however, this did not help strengthen BAYC's position in the market. Some BAYC owners expressed confusion about this acquisition, with one collector calling it meaningless.

In November 2023, owners of BAYC NFTs experienced health issues after attending the Ape Fest event, complaining of eye pain and worsening vision.