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NFTs date back to the time when in 2014, digital artist Kevin McCoy minted the first NFT art named Quantum on the Namecoin blockchain. After that, thousands of NFTs were minted on Ethereum and other blockchains. In 2021, the NFTs started booming, bringing many creators and companies into the mainstream of the decentralized space. One such example is Yuga Labs, a blockchain company specializing in NFTs which designed and developed the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).
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What is the Bored Ape Yacht Club?
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 bored apes NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Each unique Bored Ape doubles itself as a membership card to the Yacht club, thereby offering exclusivity to the Bored Apes’ holders. The collection was launched on April 29, 2021, when its sales were very low. However, on May 1, an active NFT trader Pranksy purchased many Apes. He then tweeted to his followers on the NFT, which led to selling out of all of them in just 12 hours! All apes are unique though some are rarer than others in certain attributes. Each Bored Ape is algorithmically created using 170 major attributes including expression, accessories like glasses, jewelry, clothing, and more.
Why are Bored Apes worth so much?
The Bored Apes were launched at a price of 0.08ETH or €190. So, no ape costs more than others, regardless of the traits. Three months later, NFT values started increasing. In August 2021, during the crypto summer bull run, the Bored Apes NFTs shot up by over 400%. The price of Bored Apes has tremendously grown since then and a total of 6454 unique owners currently hold the 10,000 NFTs in the collection.
Who is behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club?
Created by Yuga Labs, BAYC was founded by Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano. Their pseudonyms are Gordon Goner and Gargamel. Later in April 2021, they included Kerema and Zeshan. While Gordon and Gargamel were artists, Kerem and Zeshan were software engineers. Gargamel had a Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA) and Gordon dropped out of MFA due to health reasons.
Who Drew the Bored Apes?
While most people believe the quartet – Gordon, Gargamel, Kerem, and Zeshan- to be the artists behind the Bored Apes, the reality is different. They only suggested the idea while an Asian-American artist Seneca, popularly known as All Seeing Seneca, created and drew the primary characters. Seneca wasn’t aware of NFTs, however, Yuga Labs offered her the opportunity to develop the character. In fact, Yuga Labs wanted “Punk Apes”, of which they themselves had no idea.
How BAYC maintains relevance?
Ever since its launch, BAYC has undertaken many fascinating initiatives to foster engagement with its club members. Some of the key elements of its ecosystem that are created in this respect are:
The Bathroom
The Bathroom refers to the first engagement with the club members. It is a digital replica of a private physical whiteboard on which members can write freely their ideas on the wall. The concept is to create a shared digital canvas to offer the members an exclusive means to share their suggestions and feelings on the club.
The Bored Ape Kennel Club – BAKC
Another engagement is the concept of dog adoption, wherein any Bored ape can adopt a dog as its companion so that it does not get bored in the swamp. The Kennel Club allows every ape to adopt a dog in the club as its companion for free, excluding the gas fee. This offer went on for a week in June 2021 when members who had applied for the adoption got their distribution at the end of the adoption period. Nearly 96% of the Bored Ape holders adopted a dog companion while the remaining 400 unadopted dogs were left in the swamp for extinction.
The Mutant Ape Yacht Club – MAYC
In yet another initiative to engage with the club members, the Mutant Serum airdrop model was introduced in the BAYC’s ecosystem. On August 8, 2021, each holder was airdropped a Mutant Serum Vial. A collection of 10,000 mutant apes was already auctioned and sold out before the mutation began. The mutation was the club’s way to express gratitude to its members who had minted mutant apes for free with their serums. M1, M2, and M3 were the serums airdropped and the bored apes could only use each vial once. While M1 and M2 serums mutated bored apes into mutant apes, M3 mutated the bored ape into an unrecognizable mutant. Apart from the previously minted 10000 mutant apes, this sums up 20,000 collections of Mutant Ape NFTs, resulting in the creation of the Mutant Apes Yacht Club.
What makes BAYC valuable?
There are various reasons that can be attributed to BAYC’s worth:
Celebrity Holders
Many celebrities in the crypto industry serve as significant game-changers and media influencers for various projects. One key example is the Pranksy tweets that led to the sale of bored ape NFTs. Since then, many celebrities including Madonna, Travis Barker, Kimbaland, Kevin Hart, Paris Hilton, Jimmy Fallon, and others have acquired the NFT to flaunt it.
Community Strength and Support
In the blockchain and NFT industry, the community plays a significant role in endorsing the projects. Communities with more supportive members attract new users and creators. Bored Apes Yacht Club has meet-ups held in Hong Kong, California, the UK, and New York.
Membership advantages
BAYC offers various membership benefits like access to the club, bathroom access, free NFTs, and membership to BAKC and MAYC. As Yuga Labs comes up with more unique opportunities, existing members will get a lot of benefits from the projects. One example is the ApeCoin tokens distributed to Bored Ape and Mutant Ape holders. Of these, Bored Ape holders got 10,094 €APE while Mutant Ape holders received 2,042 €APE.
Other Yuga Labs Projects
In less than 2 years of its journey, Yuga Labs have gained a lot of name in the industry and the company is currently worth billions of dollars. These aspects showcase their relentless efforts and initiatives taken in the crypto/blockchain space. Other projects include €APE Cryptocurrency and metaverse projects.
