The popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT project just announced the new ApeCoin token to the anticipating public. ApeCoin ($APE) was designed to encapsulate Web3 projects with an aim to empower a community built around culture, gaming, and commerce. 

Many Bored Ape fans have been waiting for this moment, so when the official tweet came on Wednesday, the news spread fast. The ApeCoin project will be owned and managed by its DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). To become a member of the DAO community, one only has to hold ApeCoin. Token holders would subsequently receive governance rights over the project’s funds. 

The ApeCoin ($APE) now serves as the BAYC’s official currency. Supported by Ape Foundation, the DAO project will help to encourage blockchain integration for event hosting, producing digital products, and empowering an array of games and services. Among these products include beverages, clothing, books, and jewelry.      

The Bored Ape Yacht Club also announced that they would be gifting a 1/1 NFT complete with a BAYC blue version logo to the DAO. This NFT encompasses full IP rights of the project’s logo, in which the DAO shall decide how the IP will be used. 

In addition, details of the tokenomics of the 1 billion apes include:

• 16% goes to the Yuga Labs team  
• 15% to owners of Bored Apes & Mutant Apes collection  
• 8% to the BAYC founders
• 14% to launch contributors and perhaps investors
• 47% as part of the DAO’s ecosystem fund will be released over time 

This news comes days after the club’s parent company Yuga Labs purchased the intellectual property (IP) rights of CryptoPunks. This event alone catapulted the price of the bored apes, jumping 18%, while simultaneously pushing CryptoPunks down 6%. 

However, the team behind the Yuga Labs project were hungry for more. As part of the deal, Yuga Labs also took over the Meebits IP, which was also created by Larva Labs, alongside CryptoPunks. The Meebits are a collection of 20,000 3D unique characters modeled after the likes of the original pixelated NFT bunch. However, these guys add a special punch to the design. Just imagine an ultra-futuristic version of the punks, but in 3D form and built from voxels. 

To those paying close attention, it’s apparent that Yuga Labs is keeping a somewhat safe distance from the ApeCoin launch. The entities involved in the ApeCoin DAO have no affiliation with Yuga Labs. 

One thing’s for sure. The NFT craze is not going to be winding down anytime soon. Yuga CEO Nicole Muniz recently revealed her thoughts on the project:

“I don’t know how big Bored Ape Yacht Club can be, that’s not to say that I don’t imagine it to be big, but I think — I hope — Yuga will be big and that we will be able to create lots of things that are unique and special and speak to the greater community in different ways,”