ApeCoin.
It’s the talk of the town. All the major exchanges rushed to list it. And widespread fear of missing out (FOMO) triggered an insane price rally within in a busy and volatile 24 hours.
It’s gotten everyone’s attention. Including Ran’s:
But let’s take a step back. Because although everyone’s heard of ApeCoin by now, who really understands it?
By the end of this article, you’ll be in the select minority of people who actually know what’s going on.
TL;DR:
- What is ApeCoin?
- Why is it important?
- Should we be buying?
ApeCoin is an ERC20 token on the Ethereum network.
In simple terms, it will serve as a utility and governance token for the entire ApeCoin ecosystem.
The what?
We’re getting ahead of ourselves.
First, we need to explore the ApeCoin origins: the masterminds at Yuga Labs.
Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs is the gigabrained company behind the success of the most successful non-fungible token (NFT) collection of all time, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).
The BAYC was started by four friends who allegedly wanted to pay their moms back: Within a year, it was a huge global brand, and early buyers were made rich.
What followed was expansion: Yuga Labs has since absorbed some of the largest NFT collections in the space, including the pioneering CryptoPunks and Meebits.
But they didn’t stop there.
After the success of BAYC, it released the next installment of their Ape series, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC).
Through the purchase and use of NFT “serum”, Ape holders were able to mutate their BAYC NFTs and get the equivalent MAYC NFT. There were two levels of mutation.
Plus, Yuga also introduced the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC), where users could mint pets for their Ape(s).
These different collections and variations inspired holders to strive to collect the full set.
Yuga’s vision
None of this was done without a wider vision: Holders of these NFTs were granted exclusive member benefits too, like access to “the toilet”, a dApp allowing BAYC holders to add one pixel per 15 minutes to a picture of a digital toilet, essentially making up collaborative graffiti.
Then, they introduced a “members only” merchandise store for NFT holders.
How’s that for a masterclass in marketing and hype generation?
As a result, Yuga Labs has created one of the strongest (and most valuable) communities in the NFT space: a community that has been richly rewarded for its early conviction.
As if this wasn’t enough, now, Yuga Labs has a massive roadmap ahead, in which they plan to build up their brand and establish the company as the industry’s leader of NFTs and metaverse.
How big can this be?
Yuga Labs is expanding, creating what promises to be a hugely significant metaverse: MetaRPG (role-playing game).
And it’s got investors extremely excited.
MetaRPG will be home to BAYC LAND NFTs, existing and new Yuga Lab NFTs and an in-game marketplace (where you’ll be able to use your ApeCoin). There is also a play-to-earn (P2E) game underway, in collaboration with game developer nWay.
And MetaRPG’s native currency?
ApeCoin.
ApeCoin: What is it, what does it do, and why does everyone want it?
So, now for the actual APE token, which is already listed on major exchanges like Binance, FTX and KuCoin, and it is being airdropped to BAYC and MAYC NFT holders as we speak.
The total supply of ApeCoin is fixed at 1 billion tokens. There will be no minting (nor burning) functionality within the Ethereum-based smart contract.
APE will be the token for the entire Yuga Labs ecosystem: The main currency in the MetaRPG metaverse, a governance token used for voting on key decisions surrounding ApeCoin, as well as, potentially, being the foundation that all other NFT and metaverse projects build on.
Specifically:
- It is the token that will be used for governance within the ApeCoin DAO. The ApeCoin DAO is the Decentralized Autonomous Organization that will make decisions on the future of the ApeCoin. Simply put, if you hold APE, you will be able to vote on things, such as how the DAO’s treasury is spent.
- We know from the ApeCoin website that APE will serve as a utility token, and also as a decentralized currency for anyone within the APE ecosystem. So basically, this seems to point to the fact that you will be able to use the currency to purchase things within MetaRPG using ApeCoin, as well as it having some other still unknown utility.
- The token will grant holders-only access to exclusive games, merchandise, events and services. So, if you believe that the ApeCoin ecosystem as a whole will flourish, holding some could pay off.
- Third-party developers will be able to integrate ApeCoin into their own projects. This is huge, because it means that other NFT and non-NFT projects could use ApeCoin as a currency. Yes, ApeCoin could (“could” being the key word here) emerge as the one metaverse coin to rule them all. And already, integrations are up and away: Animoca Brands has already announced they will be integrating ApeCoin in their upcoming P2E game, Benji Bananas.
Yuga Labs is set to fully adopt ApeCoin as the “primary token for all new products and services” that are created by Yuga Labs, including the upcoming play-to-earn game which is being created in collaboration between BAYC and nWay. In the teaser image shared by the BAYC twitter account, we can see a giant Mech Ape, which we will talk about further down.
The ApeCoin DAO
Along with ApeCoin comes the ApeCoin Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), formed to keep the ApeCoin ecosystem fair, inclusive, open, and above all, decentralized. It is currently overseen by five members of the community, but new board members will be voted on and rotate every six months.
Holders of the token will be able to vote on APE Improvement Proposals (via the APE Improvement Proposal Process) on issues such as:
- Ecosystem funds allocations and spending.
- Governance rules.
- Projects.
- Partnerships.
- Voting for new board members.
The current board is made up of industry titans.
Source: https://apecoin.com
What else do we know so far?
Well, there was a recent leak of one of the pitch decks.
The team came out to say that it was outdated, but nevertheless, many of the stages seem to align with what has been playing out.
BAYC LAND
Plots of land within the MetaRPG metaverse are called BAYC LAND.
As seen in the leaked investor pitch deck, Yuga Labs are planning on releasing 200,000 plots at a price at 1 ETH a piece.
30% of the allocation will be given to BAYC and MAYC holders, and 70% will go on public sale.
The total amount of revenue expected to be accumulated from the BAYC LAND sale is around $178 million.
The roadmApe…
According to the leaked pitch deck, here’s the plan:
- March: The APE token being released (as it was), the sale of the first 100k plots of Land (not yet) bringing in an estimated $178m of revenue, and there may be some sort of merchandise drop.
- May: There will be an Airdrop of “Koda” NFTs, which will bring in $2.3m from secondary sales. There will also be something called the Trezor Hunt.
- June: Something called the APE Fest, and more merch.
- August: A mysterious event called “The Trial of Jimmy The Monkey”, along with the next 100k plots of Land going on sale.
- September: The “Mecha Dog”, a monetization plan for BAKC, with a projected net profit of $16m within 2022, as well as the Ultimate Mecha Ape, projected to be bringing in $50m in 2022.
- Then a biggie: The “Mecha Dog vs Mecha Monkey Invasion” P2E game, which will monetize BAYC.
- December: After one hell of a year, one hell of a potential merch drop.
Okay, what now? Should you buy?
Given Yuga Labs’s success in the past, it’s hard not to feel the FOMO.
Here’s the situation as we see it:
If Yuga Labs manage to pull off creating the kind of huge, decentralized metaverse that everyone is hoping for, with ApeCoin at its center, the investment opportunity for APE could be massive.
Like, really massive.
As for buying now?
Let’s put it this way, how many tokens have pumped like crazy following major listings, and continued indefinitely, without the chance to settle down and reprice at an appropriate level?
Very few, if any.
Banter’s take
It’s hard not to be excited about ApeCoin: Done right, and sparing any major disasters, it could be a contender as the underlying foundation in the NFT and metaverse space.
How’s this for a bullish comparison? ApeCoin could be as important for the NFT and metaverse space as smart contracts were for Ethereum.
And, if it proves to be as successful as it wants to be, the MetaRPG could very well be the massive decentralized metaverse that everyone is clamoring for.
MetaRPG represents the very opposite of Meta: A decentralized, community-governed metaverse with a loyal, vibrant community at the very heart of the action.
