summary: Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs. A set of 107 Apes sold for $24.4 million at Sotheby's in 2021. It was founded by 4 anonymous people,...
content: Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 unique Bored Ape Non-Fungible Tokens \- unique digital collectibles living on the Ethereum blockchain. They consist of NFTs programmatically generated from over 170 different traits including fur color, shirt, and headwear. BAYC was released in 2021 by a group of 4 anonymous founders. In 2022, the founders' identities were revealed to be Greg Solano, Wylie Aronow, Zeshan Ali, and Kerem Atalay. In September 2021, a set of 107 Bored Apes sold for $24.4 million in an online sale at Sotheby's auction house. In March 2022, ApeCoin DAO launched its own token separate from Yuga Labs known as ApeCoin. On October 31, 2021, the Bored Ape Yacht Club project's team held its first annual Ape Fest. The fest began in New York City and saw Bored Ape holders worldwide. The first event, APED NYC, at Bright Moments Gallery alone saw around 700 participants lined up outside the gallery. The Bored Apes have been featured on T-shirts sold at Old Navy and in a VMA-nominated music video by Snoop Dogg and Eminem. Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Post Malone own BAYC NFTs. Other high-profile holders include Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton. In March 2022, the team behind BAYC announced its upcoming metaverse, Otherside, as a collaboration with Animoca Brands. Overview Each Bored Ape is unique and programmatically generated from over 170 possible traits, including expression, headwear, clothing, and more. All apes are unique, but some apes have rarer traits than others. The apes are stored as ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and hosted on InterPlanetary File System. History The Bored Ape Yacht Club was launched on April 30, 2021. The creators are four friends using the following aliases: Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and Sass. They originally came up with a different idea for an NFT project, they had backgrounds in crypto and trading, so the concept quickly evolved into the idea of what would Apes do if they all were able to retire early after the Crypto Supercycle. From there the creative team pondered and created the Bored Ape Yacht Club. At the time of launch, the creators (who had put their life savings into the project) were worried that the project wouldn’t be successful since the pre-sale momentum suggested that the project may not have much momentum out the gate “We want to promote an active, creative community. Part of that means making sure that if you own an ape, you can throw it on a T-shirt, make a print, or create your own derivative NFT using your ape, and sell it. We give a full worldwide license only to the NFT holder to use, copy, and display the purchased art, as well as use it to make any creative, derivative works based upon the NFT.” — The BAYC Team BAYC Holders Benefits Bored Ape Kennel Club Yuga Labs has created several additional NFTs and benefits for Bored Ape holders. In 2021, they introduced two more collections — Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC). BAKC was not for sale and was offered for adoption to Bored Ape owners, who had to pay gas to claim a dog. The opportunity to claim Kennel NFTs only lasted a week. Mutant Ape Yacht Club Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) is a collection created by exposure to “a vial of mutant serum or by minting a Mutant Ape in the public sale,” according to the BAYC website. Every BAYC member was given a mutant serum, a potion that would turn their ape into a mutant version of itself. The mutant serums created the Bored Ape Chemistry Club. If the apes ingested M1 or M2 serums, they would still have their original traits. However, the M3 serum completely changed the look of an ape. Ape Coin ApeCoin was distributed among owners of BAYC NFTs and is set to be used as the primary token in a new ecosystem of play-to-earn games from Yuga Labs and Animoca Brands. Owners of BAYC NFTs were able to claim approximately 10,000 ApeCoin each. ApeCoin will also be used in the upcoming play-to-earn game Benji Bananas from Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands. Otherside Anyone who owned a Bored Ape or Mutant Ape was able to claim an Otherdeed within 21 days of the start of the sale. Furthermore, those NFT owners did not need to have a confirmed wallet that completed KYC checks, which included providing a user's full name and address, which was the requirement for non-holders. Mutant Cartel The Mutant Cartel is a movement and organization that seeks to enrich the Bored Ape Yacht Club universe and the value of its members, called Mutants, within it. It is an independent and autonomous entity that works alongside the BAYC to spin a complementary narrative universe. ApeCoin In March 2022, ApeCoin (APE) was released with NFT holders able to claim free tokens. ApeCoin is basically a reward for holding one of the Club’s NFTs. About 15 percent of the total ApeCoin supply was airdropped to Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders upon the token's launch. Another 14 percent of the supply went to BAYC founders; 14 percent went to ApeCoin launch contributors, and 16 percent was distributed to Yuga Labs and the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation. Eventually, a billion ApeCoins will be in circulation; about 28 percent of that total is already in circulation. As part of the creation of ApeCoin, BAYC has also created a new DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) to govern how ApeCoin functions moving forward. DAO members can propose changes to ApeCoin that they want, including things like fund allocations and partnerships. Any ApeCoin holders can join the DAO, though only a few select members function as the DAO's Board. The Board has pulled in some high-profile figures like Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, and Amy Wu, head of ventures and gaming at FTX. In August 2022, Gucci announced it is accepting ApeCoin as a form of payment through BitPay's blockchain tech. Customers can use the coin for in-store purchases in select boutiques in the United States. The Trial of Jimmy the Monkey In September 2021, Bored Ape Yacht Club released its roadmap 2.0, which included the introduction of the Trial of Jimmy the Monkey. Despite much speculation, little is known about what the trial will involve. The co-founder of BAYC, Garga, stated in an interview that the team wanted to return to the "silliness, strangeness and fun and novel mechanics" that they had in the early stages of the company. On November 25, 2022, the BAYC Twitter page excited the community by announcing that the trial would begin on Christmas Day. On December 22nd, 2022, a two-minute short film was released which depicts a party attended by BAYC characters, including Jimmy the monkey and Curtis the Captain. The focus points are a mysterious box that is presented by a BAYC knight and the apes trying to get the key to the box. It is not clear what the key or the box are for, but there are hints in the short film of time travel and the existence of multiple versions of Curtis. The Trial of Jimmy the Monkey is just the first of six phases of the BAYC roadmap, which will run from December 21 to February 8. BAYC Community Council The Bored Ape Yacht Club community council is made up of seven members who have actively contributed to the club since its inception. The council aims to represent the club at large and provide new perspectives. The council members include: Josh Ong Sera Laura Rod 0xEthan 0xWave Negi Peter Fang. Each member has a specific focus and experience, such as community building, event planning, and technical expertise. The council will work to foster the growth and development of the BAYC community, including organizing events and facilitating communication and collaboration among members. The council will also serve as a liaison between the community and the BAYC team. Notable Sales The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs sold out in 12 hours and hit CryptoPunks pricing on May 2, 2021. On August 11, 2021, Bored Ape Yacht Club 3749 was sold for 400 ETH on OpenSea. Based on the price of Ethereum at the time of sale, the total paid was $1.29 million by OpenSea user Boothy. The collector also previously purchased Bored Ape Yacht Club 9507 for $175,140. What makes 3749 particularly desirable is a combination of features that add to its rarity and collectability. For example, 3749 is one of just 3% of Apes that sport a black t-shirt, one of 3% with a sea captain's hat, and one of 4% with a grin on its face. It is also one of just 69 that has laser eyes and one of just 46 that has solid gold fur. On August 8, 2021, Bored Ape 7345 was sold for 210 ETH or around $663,000. The same day, Bored Ape 8877 was sold for 175 ETH or around $553,000. On August 5, Bored Ape 7090 was sold for 199 ETH or around $628,000. As of August 11, 2021, the current floor price is 13.24 ETH or around $42,715 for a Bored Ape. On August 23, 2021, Bored Ape 1734 sold for 420 ETH ($1.3M). The same day, KSI announced he bought one of the collection's NFTs. On August 28, Stephen Curry bought a BAYC NFT 7990 with a blue-fur ape wearing a brown tweed suit with green zombie eyes for 55 ETH ($178,000). On September 2, a BAYC 7090 ape with solid gold fur was sold for 600 ETH ($2.27M). Sotheby's will auction off two lots of NFTs during an auction lasting from September 2-9, 2021. The first lot contains 101 Bored Apes and 3 M1 and 3 M2 mutant serums from the recently launched Muta