How did the bored apes become the foundation of the metaverse?

Author: Lucy Harley-McKeown, The Block

Original Title: How Bored Apes became the foundation for a metaverse

Compiled by: Linqi, Chain Catcher

• Bored Apes emerged quietly and have now developed into a phenomenal culture that transcends the crypto circle.
• Imitation projects find it difficult to replicate the way "Bored Apes" and the new type of digital community cultivated by its holders operate.

"Imagined communities" is a term coined by political scientist Benedict Anderson in the early 1980s to assess how we define and perceive a nation.

He wrote, "To distinguish communities (or nations), not by their falsity or genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined."

Anderson believed that the concept of a nation is imagined because it contains a sense of communication or "horizontal comradeship" among people who often do not know each other and may have never met.

These words may seem abstract, even unrelated to the internet. However, when trying to understand the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), these abstractions may become familiar.

In the crypto world, it is hard to know what is real. Due to the liberal application of the term, "community" has lost much of its meaning.

But it is undeniable that communities have sprung up around ten thousand seemingly boring cartoon ape images.

This is largely thanks to the style created by the project creators, Yuga Labs. The company is now raking in profits, and "Bored Apes" have become mainstream. In just a year, the series has inspired Hollywood movies, TV shows, books, clothing lines, and even themed restaurants. This has also brought Yuga a valuation of $4 billion.

The company's success with the Ape series has set a standard for NFT collectibles and sparked countless imitation projects. However, it is nearly impossible for these imitations to replicate the community style envisioned by Yuga or the cultural impact it has already generated.

Gathering at a Destination

Yuga Labs was created by a team of four pseudonymous individuals: Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and No Sass. Earlier this year, Buzzfeed News revealed that Gargamel and Gordon Goner's real names are Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, respectively. Yuga Labs subsequently confirmed these identities, and Tomato Ketchup and No Sass also revealed their names as Kerem and Zeshan.

Goner told Rolling Stone last year that he and the other three co-founders were inspired by the emerging community of crypto enthusiasts on platforms like Twitter. He said that those interested in the NFT world are "eager to gather at a destination."

In fact, Apes are just the first step in the construction of a digital world.

The story officially began with a relatively obscure post on Twitter in April 2021.

Initially, the price of an Ape was 0.08 ETH. In April 2022, the floor price of the series reached a historic high of 152 ETH, then dropped to around 72 ETH in mid-June amid a market downturn.

In the early days, as Yuga worked to provide new ways for community members to engage with their Apes, NFT holders connected through Twitter.

Many Ape holders used their NFTs as their avatars, which helped them discover each other. The hashtags #ApeStrongTogether and #ApeFollowApe also guided more connections among Ape holders.

Veratheape, a member of BAYC, purchased her Ape shortly after the mint. She praised the "BAYC bathroom" (an online space for members only) as a place that brings users together. "It's a way for people to connect during the pandemic," Vera said, noting that she now regularly meets with other Bored Ape holders in person.

In the "BAYC bathroom," users can add a new pixel to a virtual "wall" every 15 minutes to create a group picture. These user artworks include pixelated depictions of Homer Simpson, Donkey Kong from Mario Kart, Charmander from Pokémon, and other video game characters. This space is the first aspect of the "utility" that Yuga has built into this NFT series, and it continues to evolve today.

(As of October 8, 2021, "BAYC bathroom." Image source: @dragonseller88)

Over time, some of the connections among Apes have also seeped into real life.

Bored Ape holders' parties coincide with major crypto conferences, such as Paris Blockchain Week or Bitcoin 2022 in Miami. Users must prove that their Apes belong to them when booking party locations and must log into their wallets to join the parties.

Vera said that some Ape holders wear clothing featuring their Ape designs to these events. "These real-life events are another layer of trust; you reveal yourself through them."

'NFT OG Culture'

Another thing that connects Ape holders is a shared sense of identity in the NFT world and even in popular culture.

"Bored Ape culture is NFT OG culture," explained another Ape holder, Leo Chen. "The 'bored' part is important because it is more expressive than punk. This is the first project that brings more emotion and detail to its NFTs," he added.

Yuga Labs CEO Nicole Muniz stated in an interview with D3 Network that the Bored Ape brand attracts those who "want to be on the cultural edge" and "want to participate in and experience the next innovative thing."

She said that decentralization is key to defining one's identity in Web3. Part of the reason is that Apes can establish an online identity independent of other structures. In practice, this means that Ape holders can do whatever they want with the intellectual property associated with their NFTs.

BAYC is unique among NFT projects because it allows Bored Ape holders to make any changes they like to the images. Other popular NFT projects, such as CryptoPunks, have very restrictive terms. (Yuga Labs acquired CryptoPunks in March.)

If Ape holders could not own their commercial rights, the world's first metaverse NFT pop band, Kingship, might never have come to be.

Kingship consists of one mutant ape and three bored apes, named Ape Noët All.

(Kingship, source: Universal Music Group)

Celine Joshua, who works in content and strategy at Universal Music, orchestrated the deal. She plans to lead a team to create new NFTs, music, and "community-based" products. Bored Ape and Mutant Ape holders will have early access to all Kingship NFTs, experiences, and narrative options.

There is also an Ape named Jenkins the Valet, along with a book being ghostwritten by a famous author, with about 4,100 Ape holders signing on to participate in the project.

After the initial BAYC mint, SAFA (@seeapefollowape) and Valet Jones created this character in May 2021. It only took an idea and a few thousand dollars to directly purchase an Ape, including a $2,000 community grant from Yuga.

(Original avatar of Jenkins the Valet)

Valet Jones said, "We started discussing the idea that NFTs could function like characters, existing completely independently of the managing accounts. It's like they can exist on their own."

In the past year, Jenkins has gained a Hollywood agent, a loyal fan club, and now a group of investors. The project has raised $12 million in venture capital from investors such as a16z, Dapper Labs, and musician Lionel Richie. Additional funding comes from the sale of "writers room" NFTs, which users paid 0.04 ETH during the initial mint.

According to Jenkins' Twitter profile, he is writing the first "community generative NFT" book, a "tell-all" memoir that will be ghostwritten by author Neil Strauss.

The content of Jenkins' new book will come from the holders of the series NFTs, as well as from the holders of the writers-room NFTs. This club provides an online portal where members can vote on storylines and license their own IP for the book. According to annotations on OpenSea, its supporting NFT holders control "the story that defines the metaverse." The project will allocate exclusive membership apparel for different levels of members and grant varying degrees of autonomy based on the NFTs purchased.

"We wholeheartedly believe that the next generation of household names will be born on the blockchain," Valet Jones said.

Ape Planet

The growing empire of Jenkins the Valet series NFTs may be a glimpse into the future. Whatever the metaverse is, Yuga has been trying to build it since shortly after launching Bored Apes.

First, it introduced new characters.

In June 2021, Yuga created the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC), a new derivative series of BAYC. This was relatively novel at the time but has since become quite common.

The second project launched in late August, marking the next iteration: Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC).

Yuga Labs created 20,000 MAYC NFTs. Of these, 10,000 would reward new NFTs based on the traits of the Bored Ape held by the holders, designed around mutations that occur when Apes are exposed to different strengths of "mutant serum." The other 10,000 would be designed as lower-priced mutant Apes to encourage new users to purchase and enter the Bored Ape ecosystem.

Next, Bored Ape issued its own token: ApeCoin. It was launched in March this year in partnership with Animoca Brands, which is also one of Yuga's many investors. After launching the token, Yuga again rewarded its community through an airdrop. Of the 1 billion tokens issued, 150 million were airdropped to BAYC holders' wallets.

"ApeCoin DAO is supported by the Ape Foundation, which will help the community build blockchain games and services, host events (in the metaverse or real life), and create digital and physical products… and anything else you can think of," Yuga stated at the time.

ApeCoin reached a market cap of $7.5 billion at its peak and has been listed on major exchanges. As of mid-June, its market cap was $1.4 billion. Additionally, ApeCoin grants its holders the right to participate in the governance of the ApeCoin DAO.

Digital real estate is the next area Yuga Labs aims to enter. In May this year, Yuga held a land sale event for the blockchain-based virtual world Otherside. The project sold out all 55,000 "Otherdeed" NFT lands within three hours of public sale. This buying frenzy caused significant congestion on Ethereum.

The product only accepted ApeCoin as payment, priced at 305 ApeCoin, which was worth about $5,800 at the time of mint, generating approximately 16.7 million ApeCoin ($317 million) in revenue, setting a record for NFT mints. The remaining 45,000 tokens were airdropped to existing holders of BAYC and MAYC NFTs.

Where Does Otherside Lead?

As for Otherside and Yuga Labs itself, where they will go from here is uncertain. Yuga Labs declined to comment for this article.

As always, the details will determine success or failure. With the launch of the latest Otherside metaverse project, people seem to be starting to question Yuga's evolving business model and its partnership with Animoca.

As Twitter user @punk6529 pointed out, Otherdeeds are the key to acquiring land in Otherside and are the first items in the Yuga universe that do not grant their holders commercial rights. The new contract only provides non-commercial powers, with Animoca as the counterparty.

Meanwhile, Kodas in Otherside can only be obtained by purchasing a piece of land. Their owners are granted commercial rights to these NFTs, but with more restrictions compared to the previous BAYC contract.

In contrast to the concept of Bored Apes and Mutant Apes—owning the NFT means owning all its rights—the power is constrained by the agreement, which limits Koda owners from creating their derivative NFTs.

This indicates that Yuga's digital reality will be subject to intellectual property restrictions. But what other features will it have? What kind of commercial activities will occur? Will it support access through AR or VR? Will it be exclusive to Yuga NFT holders?

One thing is clear: the foundation will be the "imagined community" of Yuga Bored Apes and its loyal holders.