Ape token was airdropped to Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYT) NFT holders on the 16th of March, 2020. The Ethereum-based token was distributed among holders of both the Bored Ape NFTs and the Mutant Ape NFTs, excluding those who hold Kennel Club NFTs.
However, holders who possess either the Bored Ape NFT or Mutant Ape NFT and the Kennel Club NFT, receive some bonus tokens. These tokens are claimed on the official ApeCoin website https://apecoin.com/.
BAYC is a profile picture NFT project created by a pseudonymous company called Yuga Labs. It was created by four individuals. The two core founders go by the pseudonyms ‘Gordon Gomer’ and ‘Gargamel’ who eventually became known as Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow. The two lead engineers/co-founders who go by the names ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’ and ‘No Sass’ remain unknown.
BAYC NFTs were first minted on April 23rd, 2021, and sold out on April 30th, 2021. During their launch, they had a mint price of 0.08ETH, however, it has now become the most successful NFT project behind Cryptopunks, with the cheapest now over $280,000 with a market cap of about $2.8 billion.
About Ape tokens
On the 16th of March 2022, BAYC launched its official native token, ApeCoin. The token is intended to make a transition from NFTs, into gaming and commerce. At its launch, 93 million out of 1 billion tokens minted, had been sold.
ApeCoin is distinct from the Yuga company behind the BAYC. The ApeCoin is a part of the ApeCoin Decentralised Autonomous Organisation which has Yat Siu, Amy Wu, Maaria Bajwa, Dean Steinbeck and Alexis Ohanian managing the development of the DAO for 6 months. After the 6 months tenure, holders of the ApeCoin can then use their governance ability to select the next set of managers for 1 year.
Prior to the launch of the token, the BAYC Collection witnessed a fall in price from an average of $317,000 to $220,000. However, after the launch, the prices rose from $220,00 to $321,000. Other collections like the Mutant Ape Yacht Club and the Kennel NFT also witnessed some price changes before and after the launch.
At the launch of this token, other fake ape tokens like APEcoin.dev also launched. This parodic coin currently has a market cap of $1.5 million and is valued at $0.145. And while CoinMarketCap sends out a warning against these tokens, other exchanges like Gemini, HitBTC, Binance US, OKX and FTX agree to make the ApeCoin Token available for trading.
A tweet from the official ApeCoin Twitter account stated that the tokens airdropped had to be claimed by all BAYC ecosystem NFTs within a 90-day period. All original Bored Ape holders will receive 10,000 tokens, while the Mutant Ape holders receive 2,000 tokens.
In total, 15% of the overall tokens in supply will go to NFT holders, another 16% goes to Yuga Labs, 14% goes to other contributors to the project, 8% goes to the BAYC founders, 1% goes to the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation in support of real Apes and finally, 47% will be granted to the DAO treasury and resources.
At the time of writing, the token is trading for as low as $10.73, which is a major fall from its all-time high at $39.40, However, it has gained some stability at $8.90, against its all-time low of $6.48. Although the token is still very new, it ranks at 76, based on its market cap.
What are the uses of APE tokens?
ApeCoin is a governance token that is also used for transactions and payments on Web3 apps. As a governance token, ApeCoin will be used to vote on community proposals relating to the token. Proposals like the selection of the people involved in the operation of the DAO, staking rewards and ecosystem fund allocation will be voted on through the token.
One of the major goals with the release of the token is the increase of its utility both on and off Web3 platforms. Companies like SaltWater Brewery in Florida and E11EVEN Residencies in Miami now accept payments in ApeCoin.
In the crypto gaming industry, Animoca Brands and nWay have both agreed to integrate APE into play-to-earn games. Animoca will be integrating it into a ‘secret project’ with the BAYC, while nWay will implement ApeCoin as rewards into a play-to-earn game based on BAYC. However, ApeCoinDAO stated that some functionalities like upcoming games and certain services will be reserved for APE holders.
CONCLUSION
BAYC is a big project and although it has met a number of criticisms due to the pseudonymity of the Yuga Labs founders, it has, overall, met a favourable market since the time of its inception to date. In order to tackle the aspect of investing in pseudonymous companies, future investors are urged to put in a little more effort into getting the names of the owners as these details are never entirely hidden.
Since its launch, the token has shown some great progress and possibilities. Due to its history and affiliations, the predictions for its success are more positive than that of its failure. For these reasons, ApeCoin is seen as a relevant token that should be added to your wallets once it is available on more exchanges.
