If you’ve spent any time at all in the NFT space, then you’ve heard of Bored Ape Yacht Club. Probably, you know at least that they’re popular with celebrities and they’re very expensive.
But what exactly is a Bored Ape? Who created them? Why are they so popular? What are the benefits of owning one? What’s the average Bored Ape Yacht Club price, and how much is the most expensive Bored Ape NFT?
We’ll answer all these questions and more below.
Bored Ape Yacht Club up close
“Bored Ape Yacht Club” refers to both a collection of 10,000 unique NFT ape avatars, and the club where these virtual characters hang out. Created by Yuga Labs as Ethereum ERC-721 tokens, the project launched at the end of April 2021.
According to Yuga’s CEO Nicole Muniz (aka Vstrange), BAYC began as an idea for a community art project. Once they realized that some people were likely to draw obscene images, they gradually began to envision someone drawing on a bathroom wall.. in a low-class bar… on a yacht… in a swamp… in the future somewhere near Miami.
The idea to populate this weird world with bored apes was inspired by the 2011 film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Using a computer algorithm, each unique BAYC NFT is assigned a randomized set of characteristics (background, eyes, mouth, fur, clothing style, hat and earrings). Some traits are rarer than others. For example, only 108 Bored Apes have cyborg eyes.
NFTs with several rare traits generally fetch higher prices. Websites like rarity.tools conveniently rank all BAYC NFTs by rarity.
What makes them special?
As Muniz explained in a provocative interview with D3 Network, Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs aren’t just art, they’re “keys to a club.” This goes far beyond the virtual swamp club in the Bored Ape metaverse. At their first annual members-only APE FEST in New York that began on (appropriately) Halloween 2021, a star-studded crowd of nearly a thousand Ape owners partied the night away on a yacht cruising Hudson Bay.
Yuga Labs team later introduced a second, 20,000-NFT collection, Mutant Ape Yacht Club. Half of these were minted by exposing a BAYC NFT to a virtual vial of “mutant serum.”
Other BAYC-related activities have so far included:
- Adidas’ purchase of Bored Ape #8774, which will be turned into a metaverse character named Indigo Herz, dressed in yellow Adidas Originals clothing.
- Yuga Labs’ launch of ApeCoin (APE), including a 10,094-token airdrop for each Bored Ape. The BAYC coin is envisioned to “empower a decentralized community building at the forefront of Web3.”
- a collaboration with Coinbase to release a Bored Ape film trilogy. BAYC owners can submit their Bored Apes to “casting,” and those selected will be paid a $10,000 licensing fee.
- the announcement of Otherside, a new BAYC metaverse.
- Bored Ape Kennel Club, a collection of 9,602 dog NFTs, which were originally offered for free (minus gas) to every Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT owner.
What are Bored Apes worth?
The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT mint price was 0.08 ETH, or about $225 in April 2021. Within 12 hours, all 10,000 apes had been minted, generating $24.3 million.
Their immediate popularity with celebrity owners, including Snoop Dogg, Serena Willimas, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Beiber, Eminem and NBA star Stephen Curry, plus their Adidas partnership, pushed the price skyward. The most expensive BAYC NFT ever sold was #8817 (ranked #17), which went for $3.4 million at Sotheby's in October 2021.
Bored Ape Yacht Club is often termed a “blue chip” NFT collection, meaning they’re perceived as a collection that should retain a high value far into the future.
Yuga Labs continues to grow beyond just Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. In 2022, it bought the rights for two other popular NFT collections, CryptoPunks and Meebits. And its Otherside metaverse project should bring the company millions in virtual land sales.
These signs of continued growth, even through bearish markets, are undoubtedly positive for Bored Ape Yacht Club’s future.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. You should consult a qualified licensed advisor before engaging in any transaction.
