Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is the most iconic NFT collection; it's set the standard for others to follow. The nearest rival CryptoPunks, based on nothing more than artwork, was taken over by BAYC's creators, Yuga Labs, in March 2022. This acquisition has created the biggest juggernaut in the NFT world; no other project comes close in size.
BAYC 's success depends on its ability to evolve, pivot, and provide value to its holders. While many projects offer artwork and no more, BAYC has significantly contributed to the NFT world. They airdropped NFTs from other projects (such as Bored Ape Mutant Club and Bored Ape Kennel Club) to BAYC NFT owners, provided in-person events, and developed online games for its members. Yuga Labs allows the holders to use the NFT they own to create and sell merchandise.
As part of this ability to grow, in March, Yuga Labs collaborated with the collective named ApeCoin DAO to drop ApeCoin ($APE) token.
ApeCoin acts as a digital currency in the same way as many other cryptocurrencies. People will be able to spend ApeCoins on upcoming products and services BAYC will offer, including the Play To Earn game launching in 2022. The hope is that ApeCoin may evolve beyond the BAYC ecosystem in the future.
There is a difference between Apecoin and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are native coins derived from their perspective blockchain. Apecoin does not have its blockchain and resides on the Ethereum mainnet; it's considered a token rather than a coin.
ApeCoins are not too dissimilar to Axie Infinity Shards (AXS), the native governance token of the Axie Infinity network. Axie Infinity players can buy, sell and trade using Axie Infinity Shards.
A total of 1 billion ApeCoins were available; the allocation was as follows:
15% to the holders of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Mutant Club holders,
15% to Yuga Labs,
14% to the partners that helped launch the tokens,
8% to Yuga Labs founders,
1% to charitable events,
47% to ApeCoin DAO
ApeCoin DAO is part of the Ape Foundation, the governance behind the token. They have the power to manage the everyday running, project management, and bookkeeping of the token system. Holders of the ApeCoins and the DAO can dictate the ecosystem's future, thus making ApeCoin a decentralized system.
ApeCoin DAO consists of leaders from the Social Media, gaming, and crypto space. These people include Alexis Ohanian (from Reddit), Amy Wu (from FTX), Dean Steinbeck (from Horizen Labs), Maaria Bajwa (from Sound Ventures), and Yat Siu (from Animoca Brands).
The BAYC project and Yuga Labs are separate entities from the ApeCoin DAO. If BAYC and Yuga Labs were closely connected, the project would come under the scrutiny of The Securities and Exchange Council of the United States. The Securities and Exchange Council is the government organization responsible for regulating Securities and protecting investors. To date, the organization has not focussed on NFT projects.
On launch, the price of ApeCoins started at almost $40 per token. During the day, the token fell to around $6 as people who received free tokens sold their share. A few days into the launch, the price of the ApeCoin sits at around $11. The vast market cap size has meant that ApeCoin is in the top 50 of all cryptocurrencies.
The token was available on all major exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, KuCoin, and FTX. It's unusual for new tokens to be widely known, but the popularity of the BAYC meant exchanges readily accepted ApeCoin onto their platform.
Original holders of BAYC NFTs were given 10,094 tokens for each NFT they held. This translates to nearly $400k at the price height and $60k near the bottom.
ApeCoins show that the Bored Ape Yacht Club project continually provides the holders with utilities. These utilities translate into social and financial gain. Unfortunately, the NFT space is riddled with scams and rug pulls. But Yuga Labs have set the blueprint for what makes a fantastic NFT project, an aspiration for other projects to follow.
No one can predict the price movement of digital currencies; there are no guarantees of price increases. The ecosystem created by Yuga Labs is continually expanding rapidly; it's probably a good bet to suggest ApeCoins are potentially a significant investment.
As always, do your own research before investing.
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