Early Holders Reflect on the Rise of BAYC: 0.08 ETH Spent to Mint in a Week, Community Surrounding with a Sense of Failure

Cryptocurrency influencer and NFT community ZenAcademy founder Zeneca shared his thoughts on Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) after the acquisition of CryptoPunks by Bored Ape Yacht Club. In reality, BAYC did not have a smooth sailing, taking a week to complete all the minting, but its inclusivity attracted a strong community in the early days. With the acquisition and token issuance, he also seems to be concerned about speculation and regulation, even feeling nostalgic for the early days of BAYC.

Original link: https://twitter.com/Zeneca_33/status/1504315918368845828

BAYC Minting Price: 0.08 ETH

When BAYC was launched, the NFT space was filled with FOMO and most people only had eyes for CryptoPunks. A large number of NFTs were trading at prices that were skyrocketing and unaffordable to the masses, which the author Zeneca found very distasteful.

The minting price for BAYC was 0.08 ETH, and although it sold out very quickly on the night of release, Yuga Labs had actually opened up minting for a week prior. Author's note: If memory serves me right.

A Community that Embraces Failures

Although the community began to take shape after minting, it revolved around an atmosphere of failed projects. Zeneca pointed out:

However, BAYC was more accessible and inclusive than any project before, not extremely inclusive, with a male-dominated leadership. At the time, this cool PFP NFT was only $150, and many people were able to create derivative BAYC works. We have never seen any IP project allow others to do so.

Zeneca mentioned that at that time, as well as now, people were posting their derivative BAYC works on Twitter and having a great time, creating not just a community, but a unique community.

The outcome of "#apefollowape" led them to carve out a new wave in the NFT space, distinct from the old waves such as CryptoPunks.

The Result of Rapid Growth: Double-Edged Sword

As the floor price surged, celebrities and whales flocked in, BAYC seemed to become somewhat like what they had resisted becoming originally, but Zeneca explained:

This wasn't like CryptoPunks, which initially prided itself on being elitist due to "free minting," but rather it had grown so large that it didn't seem like a community anymore. People also spent more time in new communities, although not as tightly knit, it had become a broader community. I believe the core spirit of the community still exists, or at least I hope it does, after all, that's what I loved about it initially.

He believed that BAYC started to exhibit some double-edged characteristics, as while it greatly helped in mainstream adoption, it also attracted all the wrong attention, such as the perception that NFTs = expensive ape JPEG images, but objectively, the earlier expensive ones were the pixelated style CryptoPunks.

Now, with KYC verifications, acquisitions progressing, BAYC seemed to be getting farther away from native crypto users and people who genuinely care about the project, not to mention the influx of venture capital making BAYC solidly a double-edged sword.

Mainstream Adoption Comes with Norms, Standards

The NFT space has undergone tremendous changes since last year, as Zeneca stated:

I bet most people who entered the crypto space in 2017, 2013, or even earlier mostly reminisce about the good old times. I've started to miss mid-2021, but this also means we are moving towards mass adoption, which will be accompanied by standards and norms.

He concluded and urged that the day after BAYC is released will be a frenzy, with rampant speculation and hype. Users should act rationally, not be swayed by FOMO, but this also presents an opportunity for BAYC to spawn more inclusive new projects, which could be very compelling in the coming weeks.