The Bored Ape Yacht Club is without a doubt one of the most well-known NFT creations. When it comes to PFP (profile picture) projects, BAYC is second only to CryptoPunks. It not only started the 2021 NFT avatar frenzy, but it also gave thousands of collectors an affordable alternative to Punks and a thriving community to call home.

PFP apes have been spotted all throughout the metaverse by any active member of the NFT community, but where did it all begin? What is the origin of these apes?

BAYC, like other undertakings, took a lot of time and work to complete. And this story in particular begins with a group of IRL friends who want to create something unique.

The four founders go under the pseudonyms Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and Nosass. The NFT community, being digitally native, was and is more than glad to accept anons within the top tier of producers and influencers.

Gargamel and Gordon Goner had been involved in crypto in some way (holding and trading) since 2017 prior to BAYC, but Tomato and Nosass were software engineers who were new to NFTs.

When the troop was first thinking about an NFT project, they discovered that their ideas for “art” were more appropriate for presentation on a bathroom wall than on a traditional canvas. Taking that concept further, they decided that the bathroom should be located within a bar, but one that was only open to club members.

Thus was established a Yacht Club, to be inhabited by the Apes of the Future: those who “aped” into crypto and NFTs. Years from now, the apes will be bored, spending the majority of their time at a bar with their friends. The founders were satisfied with that foundation.

The Yacht Club launch;

After spending their savings into the project, the Bored Ape Yacht Club was ready to open on April 29, 2021, with qualities determined, art obtained, and a minting contract written.

Priced at .08 ETH (Ugx. 774, 787) per ape for equitable distribution, things started slowly at first, but quickly snowballed, as they do with most things in the NFT realm, until they were sold out two days later, on May 1.

Two things happened over the next month: ape secondary sales began to take up quickly, and the developers began implementing their roadmap within the now-very-active BAYC community.

What happens in the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)?

You’ve undoubtedly realized by now that BAYC is about a lot more than PFP NFTs – and you’re correct! The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a true club, utilizing Discord as its gathering spot.

The only way to become a member of this exclusive club is to buy an ape on the secondary market. And, despite the fact that registration began slowly, the ape floor has grown to nearly 20 ETH at the time of writing.

Members of the club, on the other hand, will tell you that a floor ape is always worth the money, as the benefits of membership outweigh the loss of ETH.

The BAYC community has already earned a number of member rewards:

• Members own the rights to use their apes for commercial purposes. They can use the IP of the BAYC NFT they own to create and sell prints, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other items.

• BAYC also released their own merchandise, which was only available to ape owners. Prior to purchasing, members have to login in with their ETH wallet to prove ownership. Currently, #2 is in the works, as well as a collaboration with streetwear behemoth TheHundreds.

• The full supply of NFTs was airdropped solely to ape owners as part of a new project called the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC). 1 Ape = 1 Dog — and in the secondary market, the floor of BAKC almost immediately crossed 1 ETH.

• Members of the BAYC have a voice in which the project’s finances are spent, and so far, community initiatives have donated over 382 ETH (almost $4.5 million) to various charities and animal welfare organizations.

• More members-only features, such as a scavenger hunt, BAYC project narrative updates, games, and more, have been announced in recent roadmap updates.

Aside from the incentives, the BAYC is exactly how the developers intended it to be. Those who contributed early or decided to come in and join the crew will benefit from the exclusivity.

NFTs have allowed people from all walks of life to participate in a very exciting tech, culture, and financial movement, and BAYC is a prime example of that. The club’s climate is one of complete inclusion, with everyone from students to engineers, mailmen to millionaires.

The Future of Bored Apes

Months after its introduction, the BAYC community is still a vibrant, high-spirited area with a roadmap targeted at providing ongoing value to its members. Because time goes so quickly in the NFT environment, the question on everyone’s mind is “what’s next?”

Several members have had the opportunity to profit from their monkeys by selling them. And we’re talking about money that might change your life. Those who own the NFTs are in it for the long haul, and rightfully so.

Apes have become a status symbol in the same way as Punks have. Being an ape owner demonstrates that you’re part of a 5,000+ member club, with the added benefit of being able to identify your fellow apes on social media. Apart from members of the crypto and NFT communities, we’ve seen a number of celebrities, including Shawn Yue, Steph Curry, LaMelo Ball, and others, enter the non-fungible arena by purchasing an ape.

With the floor rising and interest spreading beyond the non-fungible community, apes may follow in the footsteps of Punks, serving as a legacy project that helps define the NFT environment. It’s vital to distinguish between the two since one sketched out the rules (Punks) while the other completely transformed the game (BAYC).

The NFT community’s “JPEG Summer” was dominated by Bored Ape Yacht Club, which was also the spark for the summer 2021 PFP project mayhem. As Punks continued to moon during the first half of the year, and Punk derivative ventures began to fade, BAYC filled a void in the collectible and art portions of the NFT market for uniqueness and substance.

Punks are unquestionably the gold standard for NFT projects, but they make up for it with an ETH worth much too high for most collectors to get even at floor rates. BAYC unquestionably established a standard for community-based projects, and we’ve seen a slew of others use its success as a model to follow in its footsteps.