Within a few months of its launch in April 2021, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has become one of the main reasons why Wall Street should take the emerging market for non-fungible tokens (NFT) seriously, thanks to your recent sales. turnover of more than $ 1 billion.
Celebrities imitate BAYC
For the uninitiated, BAYC is a collection of 10,000 anthropomorphic ape cartoons with fancy clothes and disreputable expressions. Every ape is practically an image file that should be worthless in a sane world. Nonetheless, they have managed to raise staggering sums, sometimes from some of the most renowned celebrities in the world.
For example, Jimmy Fallon, a popular American television host, purchased the image of a Bored Monkey wearing a striped T-shirt and heart-shaped glasses for almost $ 220,000 in November of last year. And very recently, Academy Award-winning rapper Eminem paid almost $ 462,000 for an ape that looked a bit like him.
Meanwhile, one of the rarest boring monkeys, who had a golden fur trait, made $ 3.4 million at an online auction held by Sotheby's in October, breaking the record for another rare laser-eyed ape, which sold to Sandbox for $ 2.9 million a month earlier.
But what is the selling point?
The BAYC collection derives its value from NFT, proof of digital ownership registered on a public blockchain. Think of Bitcoin (BTC), but each "coin" is indivisible and unique in some way.
Meanwhile, most of NFT's projects, including BAYC, are settled through the Ethereum blockchain, priced at its native Ether (ETH).
But rarity isn't the only reason people pay millions of dollars for Bored Apes. In addition to owning a unique avatar, people also gain access to an exclusive membership club, enforced with tokens. That gives them access to an inner circle of elites, giving them more profitable status and opportunities.
APE FEST 2021 details posted on BAYC Discord:https://t.co/KjYGPhYWCP
โ ๏ธโต๏ธ pic.twitter.com/jvY38qf6NK
- Bored Monkey Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) October 1, 2021
Evan Luthra, the CEO and founder of EL Group International and exclusive member of the BAYC club spoke about the appeal of the elite association. The 26-year-old angel investor called membership "very strong for Wall Street people."
"I think there is a new celebrity joining the club every day."
Bored Ape collectibles also allow their owners to enter private message boards on Discord and gain privileged access to other NFTs.
Bored Ape Yacht Club "minimum price"
Bored Ape collectibles also allow their owners to enter private message boards on Discord and gain privileged access to other NFTs. And then there is a certain resale value attached to these NFTs, as seen in their ascending "floor price", which reflects the lowest offer that can be opened for collectibles.
As of January 7, the Minimum price BAYC It was 68 ETH, or around $ 217,800, 380% higher than its mid-August low.
Noelle Acheson, Head of Market Analysis at Genesis Trading, Credited BAYC for being more flexible in collaborations that cryptopunks, one of the only high-profile NFT collectible series to come before it.
These collaborations include a BAYC-inspired adidas team, the signing of a talent agency, a potential Bored Ape Music Group, and another related assets emerging around languid ape characters.
"So the concept of floor prices, which drives institutional investment in NFT, as well as its increasing use as collateral for loans, no longer just depends on how much investors believe someone else will pay in the future," explained Acheson, and I add:
"The minimum prices and the potential for appreciation of an asset now also depend on what else the NFTs can be used for, besides just showing."
Luthra agreed, adding that continued celebrity engagement with BAYC would further boost its recognition among retail and institutional investors alike. That can lead to higher demand for your NFT collection, which, in turn, would raise your floor price.
The "Meta" factor
Jelmer Rotteveel, co-founder of the NFT MoonwalkerFM series, attached one more bullish endorsement to BAYC's core valuation - the continuing hype around Goal, renamed from Facebook to support the social media giant's metaverse ambitions.
"With the emergence of Meta, we will enter a new form of communication and business," he told Cointelegraph, adding that NFTs would become an integral part of the metaverse sector, with users supporting unique digital avatars, such as Bored Apes, to interactuate. each other digitally.
Added:
"I think people will take a closer look at the developments of NFT projects like BAYC and just as it was seen with cryptocurrencies, they will step in one by one."
Acheson noted that Facebook / Meta committed to spending approximately $ 10 billion developing the metaverse, citing the proposal of its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. statement they would look for decentralized metaverse apps.
"Whether we believe it or not, investors are likely to think about getting ahead of those flows," he added.
Will Wall Street Imitate NFTs?
As noted, BAYC's net sales recently crossed the $ 1 billion mark, nearly 10% of what Apple earned in 2021. Meanwhile, the NFT sector as a whole processed sales worth $ 41 billion. million, which became almost equal to the global one. art sales in the year, Chainalysis data presented
Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management, accepted that many of his clients had been seeking exposure in the NFT space without having to crisscross through its daunting technology.
In response, bit by bit thrown out a dedicated fund last month, which tracks its own Bitwise Blue-Chip NFT Collections Index, a basket of NFT's ten largest collections weighted by market capitalization, and buys and preserves artwork from BAYC, CryptoPunks and others. NFT projects.
Related: The world of NFT is gradually closing the gap between niche and mainstream
The "NFT Blue-Chip Index Fund" is available only to institutional investors who invest at least $ 25,000 in the product.
Rebekah Keida, chief marketing officer at New York-based investment management firm XBTO, favored the prospects of including top-tier NFT projects like BAYC or CryptoPunks in Wall Street funds.
Keida says it would open the floodgates for accredited investors to pour thousands, even millions, of dollars into these digital projects.
"The opportunities provided by increased capital flow enhance the legitimacy of major NFT projects while allowing investors a diverse stake in crypto," he told Cointelegraph.
Luthra showed confidence in the ability of asset managers to follow Meta's foray into the metaverse sector, which, in turn, would benefit NFT projects like BAYC, saying:
"If Meta thinks the future is in the metaverse and that is where they are investing their time and energy, it makes logical sense for asset managers to roll out funds in the industry. As the space matures and more opportunities become available, I am confident. in which we will see many more funds related to the metaverse appear to capitalize on the opportunity. "
Meanwhile, Sami Chlagou, CEO of the metaverse game Cross the Ages, compared Meta's potential involvement in the NFT space to "lighting a lamp on the heads of investors who are far behind on this concept."
"Whether you think Meta's decision is good or bad, the truth is that when one of the largest social media groups open to innovation and known for shaking up our environment talks about a topic, it opens doors and wants to get involved" .
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every trade and investment move involves risk, you need to do your own research when making a decision.
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