One of the most widely discussed NFT collections in 2021 was the Bored Ape Yacht Club. The NFT collection seems to attract even more attentions in 2022. The team previously developed the idea of creating a native cryptocurrency, ApeCoin, which would power the entire ecosystem. Early this March, Yuga Labs announced that the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection can get the benefits of its very own cryptocurrency, Ape Coin. Yuga Lab is the company overseeing the intellectual property behind the Bored Apes.
In this article, we aim to take a closer look at ApeCoin developed by Yuga Labs. Here is all we need to know about it.
History of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs was founded in 2021 and their first NFT collection was Bored Ape Yacht Club which got lots of fortune in the market. The project mint began on April 23, 2021, and all the Apes provided sold out in roughly 24 hours. Each ape was sold on the primary market for 0.08 Ether, or around $200 USD. Today, the floor price of Bored Ape Yacht Club is about 99 ETH. It definitely is one of the most successful NFT collection in the world.
To improve the collection, Yuga Labs actively developed its community and hosted events and celebrity members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club who owned these new NFTs. Yuga Labs also has created other NFT collections including Mutant Apes, CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Kennel Club and Meebits. However, only Mutant Apes and Bored apes receive the advantages with the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
What is ApeCoin?
Simply saying, ApeCoin is the native cryptocurrency of the BAYC ecosystem, which specially designed to be the decentralized protocol layer for various initiatives led by Yacht Club. This ERC-20 token is a particularly cryptocurrency developed on the Ethereum blockchain. Like any other “fungible” cryptocurrency, an ApeCoin should be worth exactly as much as any other ApeCoin.
Right after its launch, almost every major centralized crypto exchange, such as Binance, FTX, Huobi, KuCoin, Bybit and Kraken, listed ApeCoin to be traded freely. At the end of the very first day of trading, the market capitalization with ApeCoin reached almost $1 billion.
Who is behind ApeCoin?
Along with the press materials, the ApeCoin website clearly explains that Ape Coin DAO launches the ApeCoin; therefore, all APE holders may join the DAO as a members and make decisions through voting as a community.
The Ape Foundation is a subcommittee which handles day-to-day DAO administration, proposal management and “other tasks that ensure the DAO community’s ideas have the support they need to become a reality.” In fact, it is the legal backing for ApeCoin DAO.
The Ape Foundation subcommittee further serves as ApeCoin DAO’s “board.” It oversees certain proposals and consists of five high-profile crypto investors: Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian; Amy Wu, who leads the crypto exchange FTX’s venture arm; Maaria Bajwa, of Sound Ventures; Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu; and Dean Steinbeck of Horizen Labs. While each board member gets a six-month term, the DAO members will be able to vote on future members.
The APE Coin Protocol
ApeCoin is an ERC-20 token designed to gain the purposes of governance, and it also brings utilities when used within the APE ecosystem. The open-source protocol serves for a few purposes in the ecosystem:
- Incentivization: ApeCoin serves as a tool for developers to take part in the ecosystem by incorporating it in their products, games, services, and so forth.
- Governance: As the main purposes behind ApeCoin, governance allows holders to participate in the DAO.
- Access: ApeCoin provides access to parts of the ecosystem which are not available without the cryptocurrency, such as merch, events, games, etc., all exclusive to holders.
What can I do with Ape Coin?
At the time being, ApeCoin serves mainly for speculation and governance of the DAO. However, some games also seem to take the advantage with using ApeCoin. Benji Bananas, developed by Animoca Brands is also adopting ApeCoin as a kind of in-game currency. Users spend ApeCoins to buy a Benji Bananas Membership Pass and earn “special tokens” in-game.
It seems that Yuga Labs has more plans for ApeCoin throughout the ecosystem. The cryptocurrency is going to be used as Yuga Labs de facto currency for all new projects so that users can do much more with the token.
How to buy ApeCoin
If you wish to buy ApeCoin, you definitely need to find an exchange that supports both fiat and cryptocurrency.
- Always check the cryptocurrency exchanges that supports APE. Cryptocurrency exchanges ask for various fees, security and payment methods. Therefore, it seems essential to find one which is the right fit for you.
- Create an account on an exchange. Sign up for an account on the account creation page, where you can fill in your details, starting with your name and email address.
- Deposit funds into your account. You may fund your account with a bank transfer, pay with a credit or debit card or deposit cryptocurrency from a crypto wallet to buy ApeCoin.
- Buy ApeCoin. Complete your ApeCoin purchase and then find the best wallet to store your precious coins.
How to buy Ape Coin on Crypto.com
What are the most compatible wallets with ApeCoin?
ApeCoin can be stored in both hardware and software wallets. A good choice for hardware wallet could be Ladger Nano S, which is one of the most affordable. The Ledger Nano S is a multicurrency wallet and allows you to conveniently store thousands of different cryptocurrencies all on the same device. Since ApeCoin is an ERC-20 token, you can easily store it on Ledger along with almost all other tokens.
MetaMask, on the other hand, is the most parctical software wallet used with Ethereum and Layer-2 solutions. All platforms on Ethereum supports MetaMask which makes it an easy to use and trustable wallet for ApeCoin too. It is very easy to install MetaMask on Google Chrome and use it as an extension, a convenient option for users who wish to use DeFi or buy and sell NFTs.
Bored Ape Yacht Club ApeCoin Airdrop
Either owning a Bored Ape or a Mutant in your collections, you can claim your tokens anytime during the 90-day claiming period starting March 17, 2022. The holders of either Bored Apes or Mutant Apes can claim for about 15% of the 1 billion token ApeCoin supply. Although %15 is a large percentage, the majority of tokens goes to the ApeCoin DAO treasury, founders and companies that helped the coin launch.
According to the official website, Bored Ape holders can get precisely 10,094 tokens per ape. Mutant holders, however, only get 2,042 tokens per NFT. Bored Ape Kennel Club which is the third companion collection made by Yuga Labs offers holders an extra 856 ApeCoin only when they also own a Bored Ape or Mutant Ape. YugaLabs decided on this allocation by taking a snapshot of each collection’s floor price and using the ratio between them.
Is ApeCoin a Good Investment?
Buying ApeCoins not only means to invest in Yuga Labs, but also in NFTs and Ethereum blockchain as a whole. Therefore, an increase in any of these leads to improvement with ApeCoin. As the NFT market suggests, Bored Ape Yacht Club set the standard in the NFT industry and has clearly improved since the last winter with providing innovations and adding utility to its ecosystem. Lots of talent with Yuga Lab’s team convince many investors to trust the project’s ability to deliver on its roadmap and, consequently, make profits in NFT market.
