Digital collectibles gaining serious traction
An NFT in the Bored Ape Yacht Club series changed hands for 49,99 ETH or more than $132,000, making it one of the most expensive NFTs sold in the past 24 hours. At the same time the entire NFT collection seen its trading activity increase 32%, reaching a total of $1,94 million from 560 sold NFTs.
Bored Ape #8023 stands out from most other apes because it has two rare properties. This ape wears a Trippy Captain’s Hat, which only 0.65% of all apes have. In addition it has Trippy Fur (0,77%). Thanks to these properties, Bored Ape #8023 is now the most expensive NFT in the series.
Bored Ape Yacht Club launched less than a month ago during a weekend, and sold out pretty fast as collectors jumped in. In the past 30 days the project has been responsible for $15,44 million in volume. It’s safe to say that interest in Bored Ape NFTs is increasing, judging by the fact that 12% of all trading volume happened in the past 24 hours.
Community and membership
The project presents itself as a community effort. Everybody could buy an ape for 0.08 ETH, and there are 10,000 NFTs in total. The Bored Ape NFT doubles as a membership card of the Yacht Club, which is an online community that’s shaping up in recent weeks.
Furthermore, NFT owners have commercial rights over their own ape NFTs. As a result they can make all kinds of content and commercialize this. In addition community members are looking at creating 3D avatars based on the Bored Apes, making games in The Sandbox and exclusive merchandise only for Bored Ape owners.
NFTs more than collectibles
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are often seen as collectibles or artworks, but they can be much more. In the case of premier NFT collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club, NFTs give people access to communities. Owning a Punk or a Bored Ape becomes a status symbol within a certain niche. Furthermore, these NFTs can give the owners exclusive access to content, investment opportunities and community of like-minded people.
It’s not without reason that NFT owners use their unique collectibles as avatars on social media. A Bored Ape, a Meebit, CryptoPunk or Hashmask can becomes someone online identity, paving the way for the concept of digital identities in virtual environments.
Therefore, if you’re wondering why people pay lots of money for one of those characters, it’s not only about scarcity, rarity and investment opportunities. But also because these NFTs represent status within a community of individuals that are innovating concepts around digital identities and representation in the metaverse.