Basics
The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), launched in April 2021, has rapidly become one of the most sought-after NFT collections, renowned for its enthusiastic and lively community. Yuga Labs, known for creating the BAYC collection has integrated ApeCoin (APE) into its offerings, making it their primary token for all new products and services. APE is a utility and governance token of the decentralized APE community, built at the forefront of Web 3.0. Token holders can access exclusive features of the APE ecosystem, including games, events, and services, and vote on governance proposals on the ApeCoin DAO. The APE Foundation supports the governance of APE.
What Is ApeCoin?
The APE ecosystem's utility and governance token is ApeCoin, which supports the decentralized protocol layer of the APE community, designed for Web 3.0. The token is an ERC-20 with a total supply of 1 billion tokens; community members control and build it. ApeCoin DAO, a decentralized organization, lets all APE holders participate in voting on governance decisions related to the token.
Moreover, APE is the primary token used by Yuga Labs for all new products and services. Yuga Labs is the creator of the trending Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, as well as the intellectual property of two popular NFT projects, CryptoPunks and Meebits.
What Is the APE Ecosystem?
Yuga Labs, a web3 company that is widely recognized for its successful creation of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, will become a member of the ApeCoin DAO community and integrate APE as the main token for all new projects. As part of the ApeCoin launch, those who held Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs were able to collectively claim 15% of the total ApeCoin supply, which is equal to 150 million tokens out of the 1 billion tokens in circulation. Therefore, the APE ecosystem includes all products and services utilizing ApeCoin, as well as the community of ApeCoin holders.
How Does the APE Ecosystem Work?
ApeCoin or APE was established specifically for use within the expanding APE ecosystem. The APE Foundation supports APE, while ApeCoin DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that allows all APE token holders to engage in governance decisions. Members can determine how to allocate the Ecosystem Fund, establish governance rules, select projects and partnerships, and more. After proposals are voted on, the APE Foundation executes community-led governance decisions.
The APE Foundation acts as the legal guardian of the DAO and promotes the equitable and inclusive growth and development of the APE ecosystem. The Foundation includes a Board, consisting of five individuals from the tech and crypto communities, including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the community's goals are realized. Since it is a decentralized Board, the initial members will serve for six months, with APE holders voting annually for new Board members.
Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT Collection
The APE ecosystem's first NFT collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club or BAYC, was launched in April 2021. BAYC is comprised of 10,000 unique Apes on the Ethereum blockchain, each with its own distinctive appearance, style, and level of rarity.
Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT Collection
In August 2021, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) minted 10,000 mutant Apes that were sold to the public. This NFT collection features up to 20,000 mutated versions of the original BAYC Apes, with each BAYC holding the ability to create a single mutant Ape from a single serum type. There were 10,000 mutant serums airdropped to original BAYC holders, with three tiers of serums that could add rarity to traits. The use of different serum tiers allowed BAYC holders to generate different types of mutant Apes, but the serum disappeared after each use. MAYC was also an effort to welcome new members to the APE community.
Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT Collection
Every member of the BAYC is eligible to adopt a Club Dog NFT from the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) collection for free. BAKC is made up of 10,000 dog NFTs, each with its unique attributes and rarities. To get a free Club Dog NFT, BAYC NFT holders need to pay only a gas fee.
What Is the Purpose of APE Tokens?
In the APE ecosystem, ApeCoin is a multi-functional token. It is not only a governance token for the ApeCoin DAO, but it also provides APE holders exclusive access to various features, including games, events, merch, and services.
Additionally, third-party developers can utilize APE in their projects as incentives. For instance, Animoca Brands adopted APE as an incentive for players in its play-to-earn mobile game, Benji Bananas. Players can obtain a Membership Pass (called a 'Benji Pass') NFT that allows them to earn unique tokens while playing the game. These tokens can be swapped for ApeCoin.
Conclusion
The community is looking forward to more use cases for ApeCoin as Yuga Labs adopts it as the primary token. In the future, APE holders can earn money by staking. There could also be GameFi apps and partnerships with other NFTs owned by Yuga Labs.