69. The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) – the story of the popular NFT collection!

Do you still remember the year 2021? Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, we associate it with non-convertible tokens. Back then, they were one of the hottest trends to conquer the digital asset sector. They even gained global recognition, and the collections issued outperformed each other in an effort to become the best.

Unsurprisingly, the rising popularity of NFT led to a great demand and an even greater supply. One such popular source at the time was the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). Why have monkeys become so popular that the internet is buzzing about them? Which monkey is the most expensive? In today’s article, we have a closer look at this interesting collection of non-exchangeable tokens.

What is a collection of monkeys?

When we get right down to it, the Bored Ape Yacht Club is one such virtual club, reserved only for members of the upper classes. Of which, in turn, there will never be more than 10,000 – why? Because the entire ape collection comprises so many NFT. The tokens represent collectibles and are built on the Ethereum blockchain in the ERC-721 standard. Each Bored Ape gives its owner club membership and access to unique benefits reserved for a select few.

Each ape in the collection has its own unique features. The characters differ in their clothing, headgear, facial expressions or expressions. The monkeys are one of the most popular designs from NFT PFP. Many celebrities have invested in the project and benefited from its unique advantages.

The collection itself was launched in 2021 and strangely attracted worldwide attention. Interestingly, BAYC was not a spectacular success. It took up to 12 hours to sell out, which is described as “a very long time” in the cryptocurrency world. Today, however, the collection is valued at a large amount of USD.

How did the collection come to be founded?

BAYC was founded by four people, all from Miami, Florida. The first founders managed to remain anonymous for almost a full year before their identities were revealed. They are Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow.

According to the sources, the two met through their shared love of literature and began working together. BAYC was their vision, and the two say themselves that they were inspired by the philosophical idea of the ineffable. Greg and Wylie certainly did not work alone. They were reportedly assisted by programmers Emperor Tomato Ketchup and No Sass. Granted, the two programmers had reportedly never worked on NFTcollections before, but they managed to create several monkeys that were undoubtedly very successful. Their main motivation, they claim, was to create some tokens and test their skills. Why monkeys? Supposedly, everyone liked the animals.

None of the monkeys were drawn individually. The pieces were carefully designed by artist and designer All Seeing Senca. The pieces and design were then put into a random generator and minted. The design itself is meant to represent future millionaires whose only occupation is boredom, spending their time on a yacht, drinking alcohol and talking about their businesses. The collection is also meant to represent early cryptocurrency investors who entered the industry with an open mind, grabbed good designs and bought a Lamborghini.

So you already know why this collection is so sought after. Owning a token from this collection is more than just a regular NFT. Being a member of the Bored Ape Yacht Club is a real social status.

Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton or Stephen Curry – that’s only a small part of the celebrities who belong to this elite club. For a while, pictures of these bored monkeys appeared on the profile pictures of most celebrities. No wonder – the cheapest monkey has a ‘mere’ six-figure number. Just a few cents…

The Bored Ape Yacht Club was a great success. Not only in the crypto industry, as the collection was collaborated with the brand Adidas, among others. Since BAYC’s inception, two other ape collections have been launched – Mutant Apes Yacht Club and ApeCoin.

Unfortunately, as is common in the cryptocurrency industry, such expensive and successful collections very often fall victim to hacker attacks. This is also the case with the collection we are discussing today. Over time, there have been a lot of questions about the security of the monkeys themselves. No wonder – not everyone wants to invest their hard-earned money in something that can be stolen easily and quickly.

The collection has also been accused of consumerism and late capitalism. And all because of the way it was created.

Bored Ape Kennel Club

The makers of the collection seem to lack clubs in Miami. Owners of Bored Ape NFT had the opportunity to adopt a club dog from the Bored Ape Kennel Club collection. The said collection was launched in 2021. At that time, adopting a dog was completely free. Members who wanted to adopt such an NFT only had to pay a gas fee. The Bored Ape Kennel Club collection was never offered for sale. The only way to get them is to own an NFT Bored Ape.

While we are talking about the Ape Kennel Club, we should also mention the Mutant Monkeys. The drop of this collection took place on 20 August 2021. The community was just thrilled with the idea and the way it was implemented.

Mutant monkeys can be created in two ways. By exposing Bored Ape NFT to Mutant Serum, or by minting tokens directly during a public auction. Mutants are the final stage of BAYC membership.

Summary

The Ape team is constantly exploring new possibilities. Although most of the project’s roadmap is behind us, we do not expect the developers to rest on their laurels and stop creating anything new.

The project is regularly making changes and entering into new partnerships. No wonder – the owners of the monkeys also have the commercial rights to their NFT in addition to the tokens. So they will mobilise the team for further development!