What is Bored Ape Yacht Club?

If you know about NFTs, you know about Bored Ape Yacht Club. It’s an exclusive collection of non-fungible tokens that trade hands for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has a powerful community of influential voices who wear their profile-pictures with pride. But how did these Bored Apes become so valuable? And what’s the point in owning one? 

• What is Bored Ape Yacht Club?
• Who started the Bored Ape Yacht Club?
• What utility do the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs have?
• What is the Otherside?
• Is there a token attached to the project?
• Do Bored Ape Yacht Club holders get exclusive NFT drops?
• Why are Bored Apes so expensive?
• Useful Links

What is the Bored Ape Yacht Club?

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is an edition of 10,000 NFTs that began life as a simple profile picture (PFP) collection. Each NFT features a Bored Ape, constructed from a combination of around 170 traits . And every Ape, with each one having a different combination of over 170 traits.

The project was created and exists on the Ethereum blockchain and is an example of generative art. Generative art means the work in question has been created with the help of a computer program. 

In this case, someone created the outline of a bored-looking ape and then wrote some computer code to apply a combination of various traits to each outline. This makes each Ape unique and also gives each one a different level of rarity. 

There are seven main features each Ape has:

• Clothes
• Eyes
• Background
• Earring
• Mouth
• Hat

You can use DappRadar’s NFT Explorer to filter the BAYC collection based on these features. Then under these, there are many individual traits. You can also discover loads of alpha, like sales history, floor price, sales volume and more.

Who started the Bored Ape Yacht Club?

Yuga Labs is the studio behind BAYC. Yuga Labs was founded by four blockchain enthusiasts and self-described ‘literary bros’. Their pseudonyms are Gordon Goner, Gargamel, No Sass and Emperor Ketchup.

The group of four was inspired by the success of the CryptoPunks project. But the guys wanted to make something even more irreverent. And they wanted to create a club, or a community, that was linked through a mindset and ownership of a Bored Ape. Thus, BAYC was born.

The project launched with a pre-sale on April 23rd, 2021. On April 29th, the project received its full launch with a price of 0.08 ETH. The collection sold out in 12 hours but, following this, there wasn’t much interest in the collection.

Legend has it that the project gained momentum when famed NFT collector Pranksy announced his purchase of 250 Apes. You can view Pranksy’s crypto wallet using DappRadar’s Portfolio.

Then In July 2021, Bored Ape trading volumes picked up and prices started to climb rapidly. Since then, BAYC has been a blue chip collection that consistently ranks at the top of DappRadar’s NFT rankings.

What utility do the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs have?

Unlike many NFT projects that have followed in its wake and attempted to emulate its success, BAYC does offer genuine utility for holders. Here are some of the biggest perks people can enjoy when they hold a Bored Ape:

Access to a community

Bored Ape holders are some of the most powerful and influential people in the NFT space. Usually, this is because they hold a Bored Ape, which conveys status. Although this is a bit of a self-fulfilling feedback loop, there’s no doubt that when someone from the BAYC community recommends a project, that project gets attention.

The BAYC Discord server has exclusive channels for Bored Ape holders. This network of influencers and web3 enthusiasts are often the first to know about important drops and they share alpha with each other. So if a potential blue chip project is in the works, these people will be there on whitelists and pre-mints.

Copyright ownership

Bored Ape holders also own all of the rights to the NFT image. This means that as long as it’s in someone’s crypto wallet, that person can do whatever they want with their Ape.

They can use it as their company logo or on skateboard designs. Adidas has designed a range of clothing around the Bored Ape that it holds as a company. One person even made a whole new range of NFTs, based on their own Bored Ape.

Famously, Seth Green has created a TV show based on the Bored Ape he owns. Also, Snoop Dogg and Eminem featured their Apes in a music video for their latest song together.

It’s a 3D avatar for the metaverse

Because BAYC holders own the rights to the image of their Bored Ape, they can use it as an avatar in other compatible virtual worlds. BAYC isn’t the only project that lets you do this but it’s by no means standard practice for all NFT PFP/avatars. So it’s definitely a perk of the collection.

To transport your Bored Ape NFT to where you want it, you’ll need to find a virtual world that can accommodate different avatar characters.Then you’ll need to get the 3D file and transpose it to the new platform.

It’s not just separate virtual worlds where you can use your Bored Ape. In May, 2022, Yuga Labs sold off nearly 100,000 parcels of digital land in The Otherside. It’s the company’s very own addition to the metaverse.

What is the Otherside?

Otherside is Yuga Labs’ very own portion of the digital landscape we call the metaverse. The initial sale in May was so oversubscribed that Ethereum gas fees went as high as $474. Yuga Labs sold $600 million worth of Otherside land within a day.

In July there was a playtest where Otherside land holders entered the virtual world and played around a bit, to see if the ecosystem could handle that many gamers. There’s footage of this test online and DappRadar wrote an article about it at the time.

There are 100,000 parcels of land in Otherside and the platform has its own marketplace. Traders will need ApeCoin to purchase items in the marketplace. Holders of other, select NFTs can use them inside Yuga Labs’ ecosystem.

Is there a token attached to the project?

ApeCoin (APE) is Otherside’s native token. So while there is no official BAYC cryptocurrency, the ape-based ecosystem that Yuga Labs has built on the back of Bored Ape’s success does have an associated coin.

The token dropped in 2022, in the run-up to the launch of Otherside. As it was the currency that people needed to spend to get their hands on land parcels, its value increased massively just before the land sale.

Bored Ape holders could claim 10,094 ApeCoin when the token launched. At the time, this was worth $86,202. Not bad, just for holding an NFT. You can check out the current value of value of ApeCoin using DappRadar’s Token Explorer.

Do Bored Ape Yacht Club holders get exclusive NFT drops?

Yes, BAYC has given out plenty of exclusive NFTs as drops to Bored Ape holders.

Mutant Ape Yacht Club

Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs were born when Yuga Labs dropped one of three serums to Bored Ape holders. It was either an M1, M2 or Mega Mutant (M3) serum, going up in order of rarity. Yuga Labs launched this BAYC off-shoot in August 2021.

When holders mixed burned the serum and mixed it with their Ape, they minted a fresh Mutant Ape. These secondary NFTs now trade for tens of thousands of dollars. Find out what they’re currently worth with our NFT Explorer.

Bored Ape Kennel Club

These cute little pooches dropped in June 2021, before the Mutant Apes were created. They were given out to Bored Ape holders as a reward for being part of the community. The idea was to give people an Ape’s best friend, and broaden the BAYC ecosystem at the same time.

Although they were created before MAYC, BAKC are worth less on secondary markets. You can discover how much they’re trading for now by going to their page on DappRadar’s NFT Explorer.

ApeCoin

As we’ve already seen, Bored Ape holders could also claim ApeCoin tokens when they launched in the run-up to the Otherside sale. When ApeCoin reached their all-time high of $26.70, these tokens were worth $269,510.

Why are Bored Apes so expensive?

This is a question without a definitive answer. Some things just capture the zeitgeist, and there isn’t necessarily always a rhyme or reason to it. But there are a few reasons that certainly contributed to the collection’s success:

Timing

BAYC launched at the beginning of the NFT bull run. It helped contribute to it, no doubt, but it was also a beneficiary of worldwide lockdowns and people having spare capital. NFT technology was in the mainstream media and people wanted to get involved. 

As cryptocurrency prices increased and people speculated feverishly, the price of the Bored Apes continued to rise. But because the collection launched just before NFTs gained so much attention, they were seen as a credible OG project.

Celebrity endorsements

The list of celebrities who own a Bored Ape is as long as my arm. They’re one of the main reasons these NFTs became so popular, because they’re the ultimate status symbol.

But whereas high-profile celebrities often charge millions of dollars to endorse brands and products, these celebrities paid good money for their Apes. They were the ultimate spokespeople to make the NFTs must-have items.

Here’s a list of some of the famous names with a Bored Ape in their crypto wallets. Click on a name to see what else they’re holding.

• Snoop Dogg
• Paris Hilton
• Eminem
• Madonna
• Steph Curry

Genuine utility and perks

We’ve already seen what people can get for owning a Bored Ape. The rewards on offer can make people rich, so owning one is seen as a good investment.

Useful Links

• Go to BAYC platform
• BAYC single dapp page
• BAYC in NFT Explorer
• Go to Otherside
• Articles about BAYC