NFT's have taken the cryptocurrency market by storm since 2021 and the NFT project leading the charge is Bored Ape Yacht Club.
These exclusive digital apes have caught the attention of celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Eminem as well as top Silicon Valley venture capital firms like Andreesan Horrowitz.
In this post we'll have a quick look at the story behind Bored Ape Yacht Club and why it has attracted so much attention and prestige.
At the end we'll even show you how to buy a Bored Ape, if your wallet can stomach the hefty price.
What is an NFT?
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a unique unit of data stored on a blockchain, that can be transferred, sold and traded.
Since each token is uniquely identifiable, NFT's are different from other blockchain tokens such as cryptocurrencies (i.e Bitcoin).
Once an NFT is minted (or generated), it's data is stored on the blockchain and every transaction, from sales to transfers is recorded on-chain.
This allows anyone to verify the ownership and transaction history of the NFT.
Some of the most popular blockchains for NFT's are Ethereum, Solana, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Fantom.
NFT's are stored using cryptocurreny wallets, so if you had a Bored Ape (an Ethereum NFT) you would store it on an Etheruem wallet like Metamask or a multi-cryptocurrency wallet like Trust Wallet.
What Is Bored Ape Yacht Club?
The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a collection of 10,000 ape NFT's on the Ethereum blockchain. Each Bored Ape has unique traits, with some traits being rarer than others.
The NFT collection was created by four pseudonymous founders via their company Yuga Labs in 2021.
The founders of BAYC are known as Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and No Sass.
Each Bored Ape is made up of seven possible traits including background color, clothes, earrings, eyes, fur, hat and mouth.
Below is an example of how some of these Bored Apes look:
Owning a Bored Ape gives you access to the Yacht Club, an exclusive social club.
As a member of the Yacht Club you'll get to mingle with other Bored Ape owners via the BAYC Discord group and real life events.
Additional benefits for Bored Ape Yacht Club members include:
- Access to additional NFT airdrops (past airdrops include mutant serum's & dogs)
- Real life events with celebrity guests and performers
- A Copyright licence for commercial use, allowing you to monetize your Bored Ape
- Access to The Bathroom, a collaborative art piece
- Access to the Apes vs Mutants Mobile Game
There's also been rumours about a potential "Ape Coin", token airdrop for BAYC holders.
Bored Ape Yacht Club owners profited massively from NFT airdrops, especially the Mutant Ape Yacht Club.
What is the Mutant Ape Yacht Club?
In August 2021, the BAYC team announced a Mutant Serum Airdrop for Bored Ape owners. The announcement was made on Twitter and Discord.
In total, 10,000 Mutant Serums were airdropped, one for each Bored Ape. BAYC holders can transform their Bored Apes into Mutant Apes by having them ingest a mutant serum.
Once ingested, the Mutant Serum is burned and the user receives a Mutant Ape in return. There are 3 tiers of serums, M1, M2 and M3.
When a Bored Ape ingests an M1 or M2 serum, it retains traits from the original ape but with a mutated twist.
Here's an example of a Mutated Bored Ape via the @NewMutantApes twitter account.
When a Bored Ape consumes an M3 serum (aka Mega Mutant Serum) the results are even more dramatic.
Here is an example of an M3 mutated Bored Ape, owned by Ethereum co-founder Taylor Gerring.
Keep in mind the Mutant Serum's were a free airdrop and the floor price for the Mutant Ape Yacht Club is 20 ETH, or $63,000 in February 2022.
The floor price for Bored Ape Chemistry Club (mutant serums) is 22.5 ETH or $70,000 in February 2022.
What is the Bored Ape Kennel Club?
Bored Ape Kennel Club is another NFT collection from Yuga Labs that Bored Ape owners could claim free of charge.
In June 2021, Bored Ape Owners were able to mint a Kennel Club Dog for free, only having to pay for the gas fee.
Any fees generated from secondary fees were donated to animal charities.
Like their Bored Ape counterparts, each Bored Ape Kennel Club dog is unique with various different traits.
Whilst these dogs were free to claim, the current floor price for a Bored Ape Kennel Club dog is 8.85 ETH or $28,000 at current ETH prices.
How much does a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT cost?
Bored Ape Yahct Club experienced exponential growth in only a few months. Bored Apes were minted at a price of 0.08 ETH each in April 2021.
At the current time of me writing this (February 2022) the floor price for a Bored Ape on Opensea is currently floating between 99-100 ETH.
When you take the current price of Ethereum ($3,150), that means that the cheapest Bored Ape cost you $310,000.
The high price tag for a Bored Ape is one of the reasons why it has attracted so much attention from the media, celebrities and institutional investors.
A lot of Bored Ape's have sold for over six figures and some have even netted a seven figure price tag.
The most expensive Bored Ape sold so far was BAYC #8817 which sold for $3.4 Million via Sotheby's Metaverse in October 2021.
Why has Bored Ape Yacht Club become such an expensive and sought after NFT collection? We'll look at the reasons why in the next section.
Why Is Bored Ape Yacht Club so popular?
Bored Ape Yacht Club has risen in popularity due to two main reasons.
The first reason is flex culture, Bored Apes are seen as status symbols due their high price tag, limited supply and exclusive perks.
Bored Apes are like digital Rolexes, allowing owners to show off their wealth and social status through ownership.
Now that Twitter has enabled verified NFT profile pictures via Twitter Blue, we can expect this trend to continue.
The second and most important reason for the rise of BAYC's popularity is it's potential as an investment asset.
Bored Apes had a mint price of 0.08 ETH the 29th of April 2021. Since the price of ETH on that day was in the $2,700 range, we can assume it cost around $210 - $220 (excluding gas fees) to mint a Bored Ape.
Compared to the floor price for a Bored Ape today ($310,000), BAYC owners who held onto their apes have profited 1,400x on their investment.
Bored Ape Yacht Club has managed to maintain it's six figure floor price, even during bearish sentiments in the crypto market.
Recently, US venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz is also reportedly in financing talks with the BAYC creators.
According to The Art Newspaper, Yuga Labs is looking to sell a multi-million dollar stake in a new funding round that could value BAYC at between $4 Billion and $5 Billion.
Whilst the talks are ongoing, if the deal goes through, this would mark the first institutional investment in an NFT project.
How to buy a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT
To buy a Bored Ape NFT you need Ethereum/ETH (at least 100 ETH) and a Metamask wallet.
You can buy ETH from CEX (available worldwide including USA) or Bitpanda (Europe only).
Next, send your ETH to your Metamask wallet and head to over to the Bored Ape Yacht Club Collection on Opensea.
Once you're there, you can scroll down to see the Bored Apes for sale starting from the cheapest one.
You can also browse for a Bored Ape based on it's price and traits using the filters on the left sidebar.
A lot of the apes are sold in auction style, which means you have to place a bid to buy one.
However there are many Bored Apes which can be bought straight away, without bidding.
If you want to buy an ape outright instead of placing a bid for one, click "Buy now" under the "status" filter.
If you don't mind, you can leave that filter unchecked and just browse for an Ape.
Once you select a Bored Ape that you want to buy, click on the image and it will take you to a page where you can buy the NFT or make an offer by placing a bid.
If you buy the Bored Ape outright or the seller accepts your bid, the Bored Ape NFT will be transferred to your Ethereum address.
Conclusion
Bored Ape Yacht Club has established itself as a blue chip NFT brand, through innovation and exclusive membership perks.
Access to meetup events, airdrops and exclusive games has proven that utility is just as important to NFT owners as rarity.
Will you be the next one to ape in?
I hope you enjoyed this story; feel free to check out the useful resources below:
CEX Exchange — Good exchange to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon (MATIC), Binance Coin (BNB), and more from anywhere in the world with cash. Available worldwide, including the USA
BitPanda — If you live in Europe, one of the best exchanges to buy cryptocurrencies with cash, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), and many more. Only available in Europe
You can also keep up with me on Twitter and if you need a content writer for your website, publication, project or campaign, contact me on cryptonitewrites@gmail.com.