If you spend a great amount of time on Twitter, chances of coming across the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are high. You probably paid less attention to an ape that is costing millions of dollars. The BAYC is a collection of 10000 unique Bored Ape NFTs— unique digital collectibles living on the Ethereum blockchain. Celebrities and companies have taken the attention of the bored bored apes.
When Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and No Sass, developers, launched the BAYC in April 2021 one bored ape priced 0.08 ether (around US$190). The ape collection costs have since then gone up with the cheapest costing 49 ether (US$231 000). The most expensive one costs US$1.55 million some nineteen days ago. Brands, influencers, and celebrity involvement have been fuelling the value of bored apes to rise in the past seven months.
Some of the celebrities that have bought the bored apes include Stephen Curry, Future, and DJ Khaled. Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show host bought a BAYC at US$145 000 on 8 November; Post Malone bought two of them; Steph Curry, NBA superstar bought one in August; and also the Youtuber Logan Paul bought two. Chainsmokers and Marshmellow did not want to be left out in purchasing the BAYC. Such participation from celebrities drove up the value of BAYC. Artist, Timbaland also partnered with BAYC to form Ape-In Productions (AIP) as a new platform for entertainment with the goal of discovering and amplifying music artists while unlocking creative content through premium NFTs.
Brands are also racing to make deals with the BAYC. Europe’s largest sportswear, Adidas is already moving towards a four-way NFT collaboration with BAYC and also involving comic series Punk Comic and the cryptocurrency investor Gmoney. The Hundreds streetwear brand has also collaborated with the Bored Ape Yacht Club and is already making hoodie sweatshirts, t-shirts, and other products with the apes. English rock band, Rolling Stones also announced its first-ever digital cover NFT created in partnership with BAYC.
BAYC has become one of the most valuable Ape NFT on social media especially on Twitter. The collection is likely to increase the value more before it goes down. Next time you come across the BAYC, just know that what you are looking at is an expensive NFT.
