Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) must have crossed your screen if you are active in the crypto space. If you use Twitter regularly, you must have seen users putting BAYC as their display pictures. The BAYC NFT collection has made it extremely popular in the crypto industry. The most expensive NFT from their collection was sold for a whopping $3.59 million. If you are also wondering about what BAYC is and why it achieved such a huge success, we can answer your questions. 

If you haven’t heard about BAYC, here is a quick overview — 

  • NFT is a Non-Fungible Token, where each token is unique and may represent anything from game collectibles, art pieces, real-life objects, etc. 
  • Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) consists 10,000 NFTs. Each member has ownership of a unique ape character along with access to an exclusive community. 
  • These characters are owned by several big names such as Eminem, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Curry, KSI, Lil Baby, Snoop Dogg, and Post Malone. 

The Story Behind The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Business 

With Bored Ape NFT, you get an avatar that is a type of picture. These pictures are commonly called “generative” images. This trend began with NFT pioneer Larvalabs. They created crypto punks avatars which is the oldest example of NFT before it became popular. 

Larvalabs built a set of avatar images via a random creation approach. This mix and match the character art aspects similar to a video game character generator. 

This method ensures that each image is distinct. The monkey trading starts after the original batch of NFT is acquired from the developers. The owners put them up for sale and see if there are many buyers. 

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) sales have surpassed 1 billion dollars and the current record price for a Bored Ape NFT stands at $3.2 million. 

If you think BAYC is a trading card collection with appealing ape cartoons, then you are wrong — it’s so much more than that. Some benefits of owning a BAYC NFT include — 

  • Owners receive commercial usage rights, and they can build products upon their NFT.
  • The tokens are like ID cards to online clubhouses. 
  • Each NFT will be an investment for the future, as it has a great resale value. 

The Team Behind 

The team behind BAYC was anonymous. They were known by their pseudonymous names — Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato, and No Sass. Since then, the team has started Yuga Labs which is an actual Web 3.0 company. 

Unlike other NFT projects before, Yuga Labs focused on building a sustainable NFT ecosystem. A part of their success can be attributed to their decision of building a community-focused blueprint for their brand. 

The entire BAYC revolves around a storyline that is set in the distant future. These rich and bored people have formed an exclusive club and they regularly hang out in the bar. The entire concept was from the minds of Gargamel and Gordon Goner.

Until February 2022, these two friends were anonymous, but they decided to come forward and their identities were revealed as Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow. The introduction of NFTs allows them to showcase their creative sides and contribute to the crypto movement at the same time. 

To achieve their goals, they took the help of two software engineers who are still known as Emperor Tomato Ketchup and No Sass.

Yuga Labs was focused on building a community-focused business, they build a system that creates more utility for NFT holders. Their goal is to keep pushing boundaries and redefining their NFT ecosystem. This is why their products and services are designed to maintain the exclusivity of the BAYC community. 

Why is Bored Ape Yacht Club So Popular?

Many people are amazed at how BAYC has built this popularity. If you are also thinking about what made them popular then here are a few reasons behind that. 

Firstly, the Hype — Celebrities like Post Malone and Steph Curry displayed Bored Apes avatars on their profiles and now everyone wants to try them. When people see them on Twitter profile pictures they instantly identify them as smart investors. 

The hype from celebrities has become a major social signal that is responsible for boosting the value of the project. Celebrities have been a driving force in boosting the popularity of BAYC. 

Second, the Utility — The developers have created an ecosystem that goes behind the ownership of NFT. They keep the owners asking for more, and this makes the drop extremely exciting. 

They have also launched the Bored Ape Kennel Club. It gives owners a chance to adopt a dog that mimics the features of their ape. Several other features allow the users a chance to exercise their utility. 

Third, the community — BAYC has built a community that has no parallel. They also conducted an Ape Fest from 31st October to 6th November in NYC. This was an “immersive gallery experience” at Bright Moment Gallery and it received an overwhelming response. 

In addition to the virtual experience, they also held a real yacht party attended by celebrities like DJ Kygo, Ryan Tedder, etc. 

These three components are behind the popularity and success of BAYC. The plus point is that all three components are in perfect combination lending the NFT a huge success, and they are just getting started. 

Otherside — The New Metaverse Project by Yuga Labs 

Otherside is a metaverse gaming platform where NFTs could be used as playable characters. However, Otherside services could only be bought with ApeCoin. 

ApeCoin is a token released by YugaLabs on the Ethereum system. This was sold at a flat price of 305 ApeCoin which amounts to $5,800. 

The demand was so high that gas or processing fees for NFT minting spiked for all users on Ethereum. Many users paid the gas fees, but they weren’t able to claim Otherside deeds. 

The actual cause of the gas war was oversubscription. Yuga Labs have claimed that demand on the Ethereum system has encouraged the migration ApeCoin to a private blockchain. 

Rarity Details of BAYC

7-day Volume  — 36,173.82 ETH

Total Volume  — 551,320.14 ETH

7 Day Avg Price  — 144.7 ETH

Total Owners — 6276 Owners

ETH here stands for Ethereum (cryptocurrency). 

The BAYC has been able to build a brand without advertising and marketing. They were able to harness this popularity by harnessing the power of community. It is the coolest NFT project for many people.