Celebrities buying colorful, personalized jumpsuits at exorbitant prices. We talk about the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). They are not real monkeys, but an exclusive collection of NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) that only stars like Paris Hilton, Eminen, Justin Bieber, Jimmy Fallow and The Weeknd can buy.
Yuga Labs is the company that got rich by selling cartoon apes to rich people. He created an NFT that is a non-fungible good: things with unique characteristics that cannot be exchanged or replaced. For example: works of art. On the other hand, fungible goods are replaceable like money.
Bored Ape Yacht Club is basically a collection of tokens non-fungible. He showman Jimmy Fallon and socialite Paris Hilton launched Bored APE to fame when they talked about them on the show “The Tonight Show”, from NBC. They said to each other: “I already bought a jumpsuit”.
Buying a Bored APE means status. It is acquiring an exclusive NFT and translates into becoming a member of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a swampy club on-line for apes. But it doesn’t come cheap to be part of that elite. It cost Jimmy Fallon $220,000 for his jumpsuit, Eminem $462,000, and Justin Bieber paid $1.3 million.
Who created Bored APE?
The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection emerged in April 2021 when Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow said: “Let’s make an NFT”, inspired by cryptocurrencies. That first limited edition sold out on May 1 of that same year; and immediately a community began to form.
In 2022, the Yuga Labs startup closed initial financing for $USD 450 million and is now valued at $USD 4 billion. Its motto is: “Shaping the future of web3 through storytelling, experiences and community”. Yuga also hosts exclusive festivals, events, product launches, and collaborations for NFT holders.
Soon the community multiplied with the creation of companion dogs for Bored APE owners, available for free. They also activated mutant apes (Mutant Ape Yacht Club). In 2021 Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow organized the first ApeFest annual in New York on a yacht. That same year, Adidas entered the metaverse with a Bored APE.
In 2022 Yuga acquired the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections from Larva Labs with the promise that they would grant all commercial rights to the NFT owners. Additionally, the Yugaverse expanded beyond the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) with the announcement of Otherside, a gamified metaverse.
The main artist of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is All Seeing Seneca. On her Instagram and Twitter she presents herself with the phrase: “And I once made an ape.”. She already debuted in Art Baselthe main fair of the international art market, where representatives of the most important galleries in the world meet.
Controversies of the Bored Ape Yacht Club
For the creators of Bored Ape, Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, the road to success has not been one of rose petals or cotton wool. In recent months they experienced turbulence when some of the celebrities sued the company Yuga Labs because they felt defrauded.
Justin Bieber and Madonna were sued for promoting Bored APE NFTs and helping to artificially and deceptively increase the value of NFTs, causing digital works to be purchased at inflated prices. And it has not been the only controversy. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Yuga Labs to clarify whether sales of its digital assets violate the law or not.
Starting a business has not been easy for Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow. But they are extremely active and are constantly thinking about how to grow their business in the world of NFTs, tokens non-fungible. If they can, you too can make your own NFT and sell a unique and original digital item.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.