Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT - Collection | OpenSea

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is the collection of 10,000 NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. These non-fungible tokens are graphical portrayals of cartoon-like apes that are unique by the metadata, which includes the clothes, backgrounds, earrings, eyes, and fur of the character. Metadata for NFTs is data about an illustration of the token that an NFT creator supplies. 

Introduced in 2021, the Bored Ape Yacht Club is similar to the artwork sold physically. But these artworks exist only virtually and are one of a kind as they remain on the blockchain. 

The creators of BAYC NFT introduced it in 2021 at the height of the digital currency bull market. Bored Ape Yacht Club has flourished among other significant NFTs, like CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties. 

When introduced, a BAYC was 0.08 Ether, the native digital currency of the ETH platform. That was equal to 220 dollars at the time. It sold out in 12 hours. By 2022, it had increased to a floor price of 76 Ether, or around $100,418. 

The floor cost refers to a collection's lowest price of an NFT. The dollar value of Bored Ape Yacht Club is subject to the cost of Ether; if Ethereum increases, the value of non-fungible tokens in this collection takes off. The trading volume of BAYC in Oct 2022, according to OpenSea, an NFT marketplace, was 673,000 ETH.   

BAYC has gathered interest through celebrities, who brought the NFTs at inflated costs. A few popular celebrities who flaunt their BAYC are Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, who purchased Bored Ape #599; singer Justin Bieber, Eminem, and Snoop Dogg; NBA champions Shaquille O'Neal and Steph Curry; and Neymar Jr, a world-class soccer player.

Yuga Labs created the BAYC. The Yuga Labs team has four pseudonymous key members: Gargamel and Gordon Goner (co-founders), No Sass, and Emperor Tomato Ketchup, who managed the technical aspects of Bore Ape Yacht Club. 

They become visible under these incognitos in the early days of the release. But the revelation of BuzzFeed about the co-founder's identities in 2022 led the other two members to give up their pseudonyms and post their pictures on X. 

In 2022, Yuga Labs obtained the intellectual property for competitor NFT collections Meebits and CryptoPunks, providing it ownership of the logo and brand of every NFT collection. CryptoPunks is one of the oldest non-fungible token projects. It was one of the valued NFT collections on OpenSea, the NFT marketplace, with a trading volume of one million Ethereum before getting delisted in 2022 for copyright violation. 

In a fundraising round by Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, the Yuga Labs team raised 450 million dollars. In March 2022, it increased to $4 billion. Yuga Labs utilized the capital to accelerate brand growth and extend its activities. 

Other non-fungible tokens that Yuga Labs introduced are MAYC (Mutant Ape Yacht Club), a spinoff of Bored Ape Kennel Club and Bored Ape Yacht Club. They were trading at volumes of 110,000 ETH and 457,000 ETH, respectively, on OpenSea in Oct 2022. 

The following things have driven the Bored Ape collection's value up. 

Celebrity Endorsement 

BAYC has attracted numerous brands and celebrities to own pieces of its non-fungible token collection. Adidas is among the brands contributing to the exposure surrounding the NFT collection. Adidas released "Into the Metaverse," its virtual collectible, in partnership with BAYC, PUNKS Comic, and Gmoney. 

Following the partnership release, Bored Ape Yacht Club uploaded a picture of a Bored Ape wearing the Adidas jacket on X. PUNKS Comic tweeted an image of a character wearing a shirt with the Adidas logo. Gmoney tweeted a silhouette image that showed the Adidas logo. 

Other celebrities who bought BAYC include prominent X personality and DJ Steve Aoki, billionaire Mark Cuban, X personalities and musicians Mike Shinoda and Post Malone, and songwriter and producer Timbaland.  

Rarity 

Various BAYC's distinctive traits and accessories contribute to its value. The word "rarity" indicates how unusual a non-fungible token is in a collection with an allotted number. In the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, there are over 160 traits, and every ape might have between 4 to 7 trait categories. These traits include background, earrings, eyes, clothes, hat, fur, and mouth. 

BAYC #8817 is the most precious Bored Ape in the collection, auctioned for $3.4 million in 2021 on the Metaverse marketplace of Sotheby, a digital platform for extraordinary and rare NFTs. BAYC #8817 consists of the Solid Gold Fur trait making it a rare variety of the non-fungible token. Other traits of a #8817 token are the Wool Turtleneck and Silver Hoop Earrings.   

Utilities and Benefits 

Compared with others, utilities are one of the unique features of the Bored Ape NFT. Creators of Bored Apes have access to a private Discord group where they can network, chat, and develop relationships with the Bored Ape members, like celebrities with a Bored Ape. Also, the Ape holders can access "The Bathroom," allowing them to make a drawing every 15 minutes on a digital bathroom wall that functions as a community board. 

A few utilities that have made Bored Ape Yacht Club appealing include ApeCoin DAO, ApeCoin, and future metaverse events and games. ApeCoin is an official asset for the Bored Ape ecosystem, and users can use it to buy BAYC's event tickets, merchandise, and others. ApeCoin DAO (a decentralized autonomous organization) members, each ApeCoin holder, govern the treasury of DAO and decide on upcoming projects by voting on proposals. 

In 2022, BAYC introduced ApeCoin and adopted it as a currency for the BAYC ecosystem. Soon after that, the BAYC distributes ApeCoin to BAYC NFT holders. With ApeCoin, users can participate in the governing process and interact with the Bored Ape ecosystem. The ApeCoin DAO team will manage further development on the team's road map, like developing blockchain games, introducing physical products, and hosting digital events in the metaverse. 

In 2021, the BAYC partnered with a blockchain gaming firm Animoca, to release a play-to-earn game utilizing the BAYC NFT. Animoca has developed famous play-to-earn games valued at over $5 billion, like the Sandbox. 

Also, through the partnership with Bore Ape Yacht Club, Adidas aims to cast a 3D Bored Ape character in the future Metaverse game. The aim is to foster 3D interaction among users via collectibles.

Bored Ape Yacht Club has transformed into a PFP (profile-picture) NFT. It has set a new pace and standard for other non-fungible token collections with the different utilities it has added and aims to include in its collection. Yuga Labs has launched products created on blockchain and physical products associated with the Bored Ape collection.