bored ape yacht club

NFT Trading Surges 8X Boom from the Popularity of Bored Ape Yacht Club,Pudgy Penguins and CryptoPunk

Non-fungible token (NFT) has seen a surge in market trading volume in the last two weeks, thanks to the craze of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins, as well as the classic NFT CryptoPunk.

According to the August 17 report of the encrypted data provider Coin Metrics, the daily number of sales and buyers on NFT trading platform giant OpenSea’s sales reached 60K last week, which is far higher than March’s boom of NFT market, which is almost eight times higher compared to March.

Source: Coin Metrics

OpenSea’s transaction volume has surpassed $1billion in August.

In addition to the exchange trading volume, several NFTs have also drawn the public’s attention. Among them, on July 30, an anonymous buyer purchased 104 CryptoPunks with a total value of approximately $7 million as a long-term store of value means.

Sources: Coin Metrics

CryptoPunks are the earliest collections in the early NFT market. Around 2017, the two earliest NFTs to be created and to gain popularity were CryptoPunks and CryptoKitty. CryptoPunks contains 10,000 cute animations of human bodies and animal characters.

In addition, many animal-based NFT projects, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins, have drawn public attention.

Sales of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) soared after announcing that it would be exhibited at Christie’s auction. Since then, BAYC’s sales have reached millions of dollars, and the base price has reached more than 15 ETH.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10000 unique Bored Ape NFTs— unique digital collectables living on the Ethereum blockchain.

The trading volume of Pudgy Penguins reached a peak of $13.5 million on August 13.

The Coin Metrics report pointed out that most mainstream NFTs are usually priced in ETH, so the fluctuation or the volatility of ETH prices will impact the trading volume on the NFT market, and a sudden increase may deter new entrants NFT market. However, higher NFT sales may help attract new users to the Ethereum blockchain.

Blockchain.News reported on August 16, ape-themed Non-Fungible Token project, CyberKongz has taken the lead amongst all protocols for the highest Ethereum burn rate in the past 24 hours, according to the burning leaderboard provided by Ultrasound.

Major Fat Finger Error as BAYC NFT Acquired for $3K Instead of $300K

A major “fat finger” transaction error in the growing blockchain world took place over the weekend with a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT mistakenly listed for 0.75 ETH (worth approximately $3,000) instead of 75 ETH (worth over $300,000).

CNET interviewed the owner of the NFT named Max who explained that the buyer was smart enough to pay a hefty fee through the help of a bot to expedite the transaction.

“How’d it happen? A lapse of concentration I guess,” Max said. “I list a lot of items every day and just wasn’t paying attention properly. I instantly saw the error as my finger clicked the mouse but a bot sent a transaction with over 8 eth [$34,000] of gas fees so it instantly sniped before I could click cancel, and just like that, $250k was gone.”

Errors like this are not uncommon in the blockchain world with Blockchain.news reporting a user paying $9500 in fees for a transaction of $120. In March this year, BlockFi, a Bitcoin reward-earning investment platform mistakenly paid out millions of dollars worth of BTC instead of sending 700 Gemini Dollars to a set of users.

Some fat finger errors often end up non-detrimental as the affected party can appeal to the beneficiary’s benevolence. While Max was unlucky as the BAYC was promptly listed on OpenSea for 59.99 ETH (worth $238k), an exchange got the refund of $24 million mistakenly paid as a gas fee for a transaction of $100,000 back in September per a Bloomberg report.

The irreversibility of costly transactions in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) ecosystem complements other woes such as susceptibility to hacks that these emerging protocols are often subjected to. These woes all forms the subject of criticism from detractors and serve as a call to action for developers to work on redesigning some of the protocol’s architectural designs to help mitigate future impacts.

Yuga Labs Acquires IP Rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits

Yuga Labs, the startup behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection, has acquired the Intellectual Property (IP) rights to the CryptoPunks and Meebits collections from LarvaLabs.

As announced by the startup, the unveiled acquisition implies that Yuga Labs now own the CryptoPunks and Meebits brands, copyright in the art, and other IP rights for both collections, along with 423 CryptoPunks and 1711 Meebits.

The emergence of LarvaLabs back in 2017 changed the capabilities of the Ethereum blockchain and re-aligned what potentials are inherent in the network, one that has been showcased with increased trading volumes in recent times. The acquisition has been tagged as a fusion of CryptoPunks, which represents the history of NFTs, and Bored Apes, arguably, the collection that pushed the world of digital collectables into the future.

As detailed in the announcement, the deal was brokered organically between Yuga Labs’ Partner Guy Oseary and the LarvaLabs founder Matt Hall and John Watkinson. Despite the acquisition, the CryptoPunks creators will not be joining Yuga Labs; instead, they will continue developing the ecosystem around the two iconic collections.

“Yuga Labs are the innovators of the modern profile picture project and the best in the world at operating these projects. They are the ideal stewards of the CrytoPunks and Meebits. In their hands, we are confident that they will continue to be vital, thriving projects in the emerging decentralized web,” the LarvaLabs founders said in a statement.

As part of its plans for acquiring the LarvaLabs’ collections, Yuga Labs said it will be “granting CryptoPunks and Meebits holders the same commercial rights that BAYC and MAYC owners enjoy.”

Drawing on its industry network, Yuga Labs will also be pushing forward the brand image of the LarvaLabs collections such that they will be incorporated in various Web3.0 projects moving forward. While it outlined its plans to continually go forth the utility of all the collections under its brand, Yuga Labs said it will be doing so by heading to the needs of its diverse communities.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Enters the Movie Scene, Pairing with Coinbase

Seen as the face of the non-fungible token (NFT) market, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has entered the silver screen based on a series of animated short films called “The Degen Trilogy.”

Bored Apes will serve as characters in the film to be hosted by the new media arm at Coinbase. The crypto exchange is expanding its scope by testing the field of film production.

The first three episodes of the series will be aired at an NFT industry event called NFT.NYC is slated for June.

For consideration in the series, Bored Ape owners have been asked to submit their apes together with character descriptions to be scrutinized by a Hollywood casting director.

William Swann, the marketing director at Coinbase, noted:

“You can think of this as a love letter to the NFT tech that has provided so much creative liberation for artists. We really look at (Bored Apes) as sort of our North Star in the NFT space. They’ve created such a massive and engaging community.”

Upon release, the Coinbase website will serve as the gateway to accessing the films because viewers will be required to create a Coinbase wallet.

The series will also tie in with the launch of Coinbase’s NFT marketplace, according to Swann.

He added that the Bored Apes would not be the only NFTs aired on the big screen because Mutant Apes by Yuga Labs, the blockchain startup behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, would get similar treatment.

Nicole Muniz, Yuga Labs CEO, stated:

“We’re seeing how NFTs are evolving to be vehicles of access and participation in networks, games, merchandise and now interactive entertainment. This is a breakthrough project and we’re excited to see how this shapes the future of Web 3 for all communities.”

Meanwhile, Yuga Labs raised funds worth $450 million in March. As a result, the funds effectively placed the blockchain startup at a $4 billion valuation. The team aimed to inject the funds into building a media empire that would predominantly feature NFTs.

This fundraising came days after Yuga Labs unveiled a metaverse project dubbed the “Otherside”. The teaser featured an animated Bored Ape NFT smoking Tobacco in what appeared to be a metaverse-themed world.

The Bored Ape made connections with other Yuga Labs-backed NFT collections housed in what looked like a spaceship.

Three Bored Ape Owners Sue OpenSea over Security Loophole of Stolen NFTs

Three Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Non-Fungible Token (NFT) owners, namely Timmy McKimmy of Texas, Michael Valise of New York, and Robert Armijo of Nevada, are suing legacy NFT trading platform OpenSea for the loss of their NFTs on the exchange.

As reported by ARTNews, the duo of McKimmy and Valise similarly lost their NFTs through a known security vulnerability in OpenSea’s code, while Armijo’s loss was through a social engineering attack which, according to him, was made possible based on OpenSea’s negligence.

“Even though McKimmy didn’t have his NFT listed for sale, OpenSea requires you to connect a wallet, and so people can see what NFTs are in that wallet and can make offers on unlisted NFTs,” Ash Tadghighi, McKimmy’s lawyer, explained. “Exploiting a security vulnerability, the hacker made an offer, hacked the code, and accepted the offer on behalf of Mr. McKimmy. So he basically sold it to himself and within the hour sold it to another user.”

The angry Bored Ape owners are filing for negligence on the part of OpenSea and are demanding all relevant damages, including what they lost as a result of not having their Bored Apes with them when APECOIN was distributed to holders of the NFT.

Bored Ape Building an Enviable Ecosystem

The lawsuit filed by the Bored Ape owners is coming at a time when Yuga Labs, the startup behind the most prestigious NFT collection is rolling out a number of ecosystems value for owners of any of its collections, including the Bored Apes and CryptoPunks, which it just acquired among others.

As reported by Blockchain.News, Bored Ape is entering the movie scene in a collaborative move with Coinbase Global Inc. While the startup recently raised $450 million to fund its visions for the other side metaverse, the three Bored Ape owners may lose more in the long run if the lawsuit is not addressed in their favor speedily.

Proposal for ApeCoin to Move Away from Ethereum Favoured by APE Whales

It has been a few months of reckoning for members of the ApeCoin community as transactions are often subjected to high gas fees as the project is built atop the Ethereum network.

Yuga Labs, the startup behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) brand, has proposed to move ApeCoin away from Ethereum to its own blockchain, a proposal that holders of the APE are currently contesting.

According to an ongoing community voting hosted on Snapshot, ApeCoin DAO wants a reversed decision from what Yuga Labs proposed. Per current voting statistics, many APE whales are against the proposals of ApeCoin DAO to remain on Ethereum for the time being.

The voting commenced on June 3 and is poised to end on June 9 and thus far, those in favour of moving away from Ethereum have overwhelmed those who want to stay. With APE tokens being used as the yardstick for the voting, the statistics showed a total of 1.4 million APE tokens are in support of moving the community to a new blockchain, while 1.1 million APE tokens are in favour of staying.

There are still a few more days for the vote to pass, and it can significantly determine the flow of future products from Yuga Labs or when the Otherside metaverse will become fully operational.

Despite the fact that the Ethereum blockchain presents many challenges for users, many protocols still favour it in part for the legacy it has built and the imminent future for the protocol. From its current Proof-of-Work (PoW) network, the Ethereum Foundation is now in the final stages of its switch to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which will happen sometime in August.

The rationale behind the ApeCoin DAO proposal to maintain the Ethereum blockchain is perhaps hinged on the benefits that the new protocol dubbed Ethereum 2.0 will herald in the near future.

Yuga Labs to Raise $50m by Launching New NFT Collection "Mecha Apes"

Yuga Labs, the startup that developed the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), plans to launch a new NFT series, “Mecha Apes”, by the end of this year, according to a filing on Sept. 15.

The new collection of NFTs is aimed at raising $50 million and 100,000 metaverse parcels.

Previously, Yuga Labs successfully raised $600 million by selling its NFT series “Otherdeeds for Otherside” at an initial price of $6,000.

Team Yuga continues to expand its reach in the emerging Web 3.0 and metaverse worlds by acquiring IP rights to the CryptoPunks and Meebits series.

Yuga Labs has been low profile on releasing the NFT series. Still, the company has launched a Mecha Piece as a product in the Otherdeeds virtual land, and Yuga Labs has not disclosed any information about the Mecha Apes collection.

In March, the team also floated the ApeCoin (APE) token, which rose to become the best performer, as detailed by Blockchain.News.

Yuga Labs proposed to move ApeCoin from Ethereum to its own blockchain, and Ape holders are currently competing for this proposal.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Creators Launch Bitcoin NFT Collection

Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), have announced a new collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called TwelveFold. The collection features 300 tokenized computer-generated artworks on Bitcoin, with each artwork representing a base 12 art system localized around a 12×12 grid. Yuga Labs designed the collection to explore the relationship between time, mathematics, and variability using the Bitcoin blockchain. The TwelveFold collection is set to go up for auction later this week.

Yuga Labs explained the concept behind TwelveFold in an accompanying blog post, saying the collection is an allegory for the cartography of data on the Bitcoin blockchain. The post further explains that satoshis are the smallest individually identifiable units of a Bitcoin and that an inscribed satoshi can be located by tracking when that satoshi was minted in time via the Ordinal Theory protocol.

The move to launch a new NFT collection on Bitcoin comes amidst falling search interest for NFTs, as indicated by Google Trend data. However, NFT trading volume data from February suggests that the market is still strong, with $997.14 million worth of global NFT sales for the month.

In other news, the Golden Key NFT, won by Twitch streamer Mongraal in a Dookey Dash competition hosted by Yuga Labs, has been sold for 1,000 Ether to Adam Weitsman, BAYC NFT hodler and CEO of scrap metal shredding company Upstate Shredding. The Golden Key is bound to unlock something special from Yuga Labs, although the specific details have not yet been revealed.

Polygon Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind Ethereum layer 2 scaling network Polygon, has partnered with South Korean multinational conglomerate Lotte Group to host the firm’s NFT projects. The partnership will see Lotte’s avatar-based NFT project BellyGom ported over to Polygon from the Klaytn network and rebranded as BellyGom season two. The NFTs offer hodlers benefits relating to Lotte’s product and service lines, such as shopping discount coupons and hotel vouchers. The move adds to Polygon’s growing list of partnerships with major brands such as Starbucks, Adidas, Adobe, and Prada. Lotte intends to develop its Web3 initiatives in partnership with Polygon, aiming to expand its NFTs to a global audience and develop “a new NFT business model rather than simply issuing NFTs.”

Yuga Labs Appoints Former Activision Blizzard COO as CEO

Yuga Labs, the company behind popular NFT collections, Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, has announced the appointment of a new CEO, Daniel Alegre. Alegre joins the NFT startup following his resignation as the President and COO of Activision Blizzard, a gaming giant responsible for popular gaming franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Candy Crush.

Alegre’s LinkedIn profile indicates that he has extensive experience in the gaming, entertainment, and technology industries. He previously worked for the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann for nearly six years before joining Google, where he served in various leadership positions overseeing operations in Asia Pacific and Latin America, as well as global shopping revenue and retail ecosystem engagement.

Alegre’s appointment was announced by Yuga Labs in December, and he officially joined the company on April 1. In a press release, Alegre expressed excitement about the company’s pipeline of products, partnerships, and intellectual property, stating that they represent a massive opportunity to define the metaverse.

However, Yuga Labs faces a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States in December, which accuses the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club of misleading investors about the financial benefits of Yuga securities. The lawsuit also claims that celebrity promoters were used to lure in more investors. Investors who bought Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks between April 23, 2021, and December 8, 2022, may be entitled to compensation, according to Rosen Law Firm.

Apart from this, Yuga Labs co-founder, Wylie Aronow, took a leave of absence in January to prioritize his health following a congestive heart failure diagnosis. It is unclear when he will be able to resume his responsibilities.

Alegre’s appointment has been considered a bold move in the NFT industry. Kieran Warwick, co-founder of the blockchain role-playing game Illuvium, stated that Yuga Labs’ new hire is “big for all of GameFi,” suggesting that Web3 gaming will spark the next crypto bull run.

In conclusion, Yuga Labs has appointed a new CEO, Daniel Alegre, to lead its NFT startup that created the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks collections. Despite facing legal challenges and the absence of one of its co-founders due to health issues, Alegre’s appointment has been hailed as a significant move in the NFT industry.

Bored Ape Yacht Club wins legal battle, Mandala Metaverse selects Polkadot, Square Enix partners with Elixir Games, and Cricket Stars launches on Tezos

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creators Yuga Labs have scored a key win in their long-running court battle with Ryder Ripps, the co-creator of copycat NFT project RR/BAYC. Yuga Labs initially filed a complaint against Ryder Ripps and co-founder Jeremy Cahen back in July 2022, alleging that the duo had engaged in trademark infringement, false advertising, and unfair competition, among other things. In a pre-trial summary judgment ruling on April 21, a U.S. district court in central California found that Ripps and Cahen had infringed Yuga Lab’s trademarks with their RR/BAYC NFT collection. The Court further ruled that Yuga Labs is entitled to an injunction and damages, the latter of which will be determined at trial. The case highlights the importance of protecting intellectual property rights in the burgeoning NFT market.

In other news, Mandala Metaverse has chosen Polkadot to host its first major NFT drop on April 28. Mandala Metaverse is a story-based project that has content spanning across TV, graphic novels, gaming, and AR. Its gaming elements have been developed in Epic Game’s Triple-A quality Unreal Engine. The drop, called the “Cryptonauts,” features different avatars that will serve as playable characters in the game. The artwork was illustrated by comic artist Bruce Zick, who has worked on projects for giants such as Disney and Marvel. The decision to take the Cryptonauts NFTs to Polkadot is a significant development for the platform, which is not traditionally known for hosting gaming and NFT projects. The move underscores the potential of Polkadot’s future-proof NFT applications and its ability to offer innovative ways to use NFT assets.

In addition, Square Enix has partnered with Web3 infrastructure firm Elixir Games to bring blockchain gaming to the mainstream. The move was announced on April 19, but specific details on the partnership are sparse at this stage. Elixir Games hosts both traditional and Web3 games on its platform, and also offers Web3 distribution features for its partnered games, such as NFT sales and marketplaces. As such, Square Enix will likely take advantage of those features when launching games via Elixir. This partnership is a significant development for the blockchain gaming industry, as it brings the mainstream gaming industry closer to the world of Web3.

Finally, a free-to-play multiplayer NFT cricket strategy game called “Cricket Stars” has been launched on the Tezos blockchain. The game is being led by Tezos India, an organization that focuses on developing projects on Tezos, in partnership with esports game publisher GoLive Games. The game offers player cards that can be used to affect the game or traded on the marketplace. It also offers player vs player modes, knockout tournaments, and esports tournaments. Despite the name, no licensing deals with actual cricket stars appear to be in place. The launch of Cricket Stars on the Tezos blockchain is a positive development for the platform, as it highlights the versatility of the technology in the gaming industry.

Overall, the developments in the NFT and blockchain gaming space are indicative of a growing interest in Web3 technologies. The Bored Ape Yacht Club legal victory is a significant win for the NFT market, as it reinforces the need for creators to protect their intellectual property rights. The launch of the Cryptonauts NFT drop on Polkadot highlights the platform’s potential for future-proof NFT applications. The Square Enix and Elixir Games partnership brings blockchain gaming closer to mainstream gaming. Finally, the launch of Cricket Stars on Tezos highlights the versatility of blockchain technology in the gaming industry and its potential for broader adoption.

As Web3 technologies continue to evolve and mature, it is likely that we will see more significant developments in the NFT and blockchain gaming space. The integration of these technologies into mainstream industries, such as gaming and entertainment, is an exciting development that could have far-reaching implications for the future of digital content creation and distribution. As more creators and developers experiment with these technologies, it is likely that we will see new and innovative use cases emerge that push the boundaries of what is possible with NFTs and blockchain gaming.