What Is Bored Ape Yacht Club?

Launched in April 2021 by Yuga Labs, the Bored Ape Yacht Club has become one of the most sought after collections in NFT art. Costing $200 at their launch, Bored Ape NFTs now go for over $400,000.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection consisting of 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs found on the Ethereum blockchain. Similarly to CryptoPunks (which is the original NFT collection), the Bored Apes is an NFT project that has a library of NFT art comprised of characters with a variety of unique traits and individual characteristics.

Bored Ape NFTs are "editions", meaning that these non fungible tokens are a one-of-a-kind piece of digital art. Because they are a part of a collection, they become somewhat like collectible trading cards.

Large collectible editions, such as BAYC and CryptoPunks, are typically created through a process which generates new variations algorithmically via a computer program. Creators will design the template and put together variations by mixing and matching different traits.

These traits include earrings, different coloured backgrounds, a selection of hats, a variation of coloured furs, as well as a broad variety of clothing styles.

Who Is Behind BAYC?

At the launch of the Bored Ape NFT, Yuga Labs was made up of four people that went by pseudonyms. The two co-founders being Gordon Goner and Gargamel, and their two friends Sass and Emperor Tomato Ketchup, who both helped with the development of the NFT.

It was revealed in February of this year by a BuzzFeed article that the people behind the pseudonyms Gordon Goner and Gargamel are Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow. After the article outing two of the four founders to the world, Sass and Emperor Tomato Ketchup revealed that their true names are Zeshan and Kerem.

The Rise Of Bored Ape Yacht Club As Unique Digital Collectibles

Drawing inspiration from CryptoPunks, the Bored Ape Yacht Club has skyrocketed in popularity since it was introduced in April 2021. At its release, the mint price of a BAYC NFT was 0.08 ETH, which at the time was the equivalent of $192, and it took only 12 hours to sell all 10, 000 within the collection. Nowadays, the cheapest Bored Ape found on OpenSea will set you back a cool $425, 000 (145 ETH). Since then, these apes have gone onto become somewhat of a status symbol, initially within the NFT space but now amongst celebrities too.

BAYC holders include Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton, as well as Justin Bieber - who made headlines when he spent a whopping $1.29 million on a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT back in February.

Celebrities such as Timbaland and Eminem have also jumped on the bandwagon and invested in these unique digital collectibles, displaying their Bored Ape NFT as their profile picture on Twitter.

Branching out from the metaverse, and into the mainstream - BAYC have already collaborated with Gucci and Adidas, not mentioning a Rolling Stones cover in June of this year.

What Make Bored Ape Yacht Club So Valuable?

As mentioned, the short answer is that being an owner of a Bored Ape and displaying it for the world to see is a status symbol. Much like owning a piece of original artwork by Picasso himself, it is a non fungible object which can never be replaced, and it's because of this that brings it value, and with that comes status. It's only now that this same notion is transcending into the virtual world through digital artwork and content that NFTs and other unique digital collectibles are now being seen as status symbols too. Whether you agree with it or not, is entirely down to you. But there's no denying its presence, which only seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

The BAYC And The Otherside

During an announcement in March 2022, the team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Yuga Labs, revealed a project known as 'the Otherside' was to be available to the public in April of this year. But what is it?

This is the largest product to be launched by Yuga Labs, and is essentially a metaverse project doubling as a gaming platform, distinguishing itself by only currently being accessible to BAYC owners, whereas other metaverse platforms are open to all online users.

What's next for BAYC?

Along with its very own metaverse, Yuga Labs has other big plans for the Bored Ape brand, starting with the introduction of their very own cryptocurrency - aptly named Ape Coin, and will be the main currency to be used within the Otherside. Lucky Bored Ape holders were airdropped 10, 000 Ape Coins at the launch, estimated to be worth around $100, 000 at the time.

As well as branching out into fashion with Gucci and Adidas, the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT is making its name known in the food industry too, with its very own restaurant in Los Angeles.

And if all that isn't enough, then there's mobile games and BAYC figurines available too.

There really is no stopping the Bored Apes. With plenty going on, it's hard to understand why they're bored in the first place.