The emergence of NFTs saw the rise of two prominent collections which are the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC). These are one of the most talked about NFTs and have been explained here in this article citing their differences and similarities.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) are two types of NFTs collections. Before we discuss each of these collections individually, let us first establish what an NFT is.
What are NFTs?
Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are unique digital tokens that can be used to demonstrate ownership of various assets and items, including digital works of art, documents, and digital titles. An NFT can be a single piece such as digital artwork or a collection of various digital pieces such as the BAYC.
Although NFTs have existed for five years, the nonfungible token bubble didn’t really start until 2021. The most common complaint of NFTs is that they are pointless because photographs may be saved for free with a simple right-click.
To understand why NFTs are not just any type of picture or digital art and know their uniqueness, read on top 15 most expensive NFTs sold in 2022
What is BAYC?
A non-fungible token (NFT) collection called Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), sometimes known as Bored Apes or Bored Ape, was created on the Ethereum network.
Yuga Labs is the parent organization of Bored Ape Yacht Club. There were four members of Yuga Labs at the time, all of whom used aliases.
The two co-founders are Gordon Goner and Gargamel, and two buddies, No Sass and Emperor Tomato Ketchup assisted with the development.
After being initially minted on April 20, 2021, the project went live with a pre-sale on April 23, 2021. Owners of a Bored Ape NFT are given access to the image’s intellectual property rights.
Yuga Labs has both on-chain and off-chain aspirations for its Bored Ape Yacht Club brand. (That is, both in the actual world and on the blockchain.) Similar to how bitcoin represents the overall crypto industry, BAYC has over the past year emerged as the face of NFTs.
Yuga Labs unveiled Ape Coin, its own cryptocurrency, in March 2022. At the debut, all Bored Ape owners received an airdrop of slightly over 10,000 Ape Coins, which were then valued at about $100,000. The main form of payment on Otherside, the metaverse platform that Yuga Labs is creating, will be Ape Coin.
Over $300 million in land for the metaverse has already been sold by Yuga Labs in a matter of hours after its launch.
The Bored Apes are assimilating themselves into fashion outside of the real world. Adidas and BAYC will soon collaborate on both digital and real clothes.
Through strategic alliances, the Bored Ape Yacht Club brand has emerged in the food, gaming, music, and tech industries as Mastercard look to introduce an NFT-customized debit card that will bear BAYC avatars.
What makes Bored Ape Yacht Club Unique?
Like every other NFT, BAYC derives its worth less from its utility and more from perception and branding. Success in an NFT collection such as the BAYC is very individualized. Sometimes, it is a combination of
- Public appeal
- Celebrity shilling
- Utility
Public appeal
A collection’s surrounding community plays a crucial role. NFTs serve as membership cards for groups of holders. People will be less inclined to sell their NFT the more valuable they perceive their membership in that group to be.
BAYC holders were given access to “Ape Fest,” a festival that featured performances by Amy Schumer, LCD Soundsystem, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem. These kinds of events make the BAYC distinctive.
Celebrity shilling
When well-known persons own NFTs like BAYC, it inspires others to do the same. Bored Ape had a surge in sales and hype after music star and celebrity Justin Bieber invested in it. The NFTs market thrives on hype.
Utility
The majority of NFT initiatives make some form of utility claim, which indicates that they do more than just serve as profile pictures. Access to play-to-earn games or the choice to stake an NFT in return for a related cryptocurrency are two examples of this.
For instance, the Bored Ape Yacht Club established the Bored Ape Kennel Club, which allows owners to “adopt” a dog NFT with characteristics that resemble those of the Bored Apes.
What is Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC)?
An offshoot of the Bored Ape Yacht Club is the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, an NFT initiative. In order to broaden the BAYC ecosystem and attract more members by giving more people the chance to earn tokens, Yuga Labs established it in August 2021.
To give Bored Ape NFT holders a second NFT that is largely distinct based on Bored Ape qualities and attributes, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collection was developed. They are collectively referred to as Mutant Apes.
Additionally, to increase accessibility and enable new members to join the Bored Ape Yacht Club, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collection was developed.
Mutant Ape NFTs have developed into highly valued assets in their own right as a result of this process.
20,000 pieces of digital art make up the MAYC NFT collection, which is twice as many as the original BAYC collection. With an average cost of $24.42K, MAYC is one of the most expensive NFT collections available.
What Makes Mutant Ape Yacht Club Unique?
The restricted number of NFTs in the Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collection as well as the Mutant Serum make it special. Either by purchasing Bored Ape NFTs and modifying them with a serum (more on serums later) or by purchasing a Mutant NFT directly, you can join the community.
Every Mutant has distinctive characteristics that set them apart. More expensive NFTs will have more exclusive features.
Similar to BAYC, the MAYC stands out owing to its private community and Discord, which is home to crypto whales and celebrities.
The Mutant Serum
Imagine this serum as a digital tube containing a mystical liquid that bored apes can consume to transform into mutated apes. The vials for the Mutant Serum come in three categories.
These are the three M-type mutants—M1, M2, and M3—that are considered the pinnacle of the ecosystem. The least expensive is the M1. At the time of its introduction, this serum was available in 7,500 vials. It produces a Mutant that resembles the original Bored Ape in terms of appearance. M2 costs more than M1 overall, with 2,492 vials available at launch. Additionally, it produces a mutant NFT like its bored ape. The most expensive one is M3.
The Mutant Serum has the following qualities:
- After receiving the serum injection, your Bored Ape remains intact. You simply receive another one.
- One M1, M2, or M3 serum injection per Bored Ape. An Ape cannot use additional M1 serum if it has already injected M1.
- Serums burn immediately after usage.
Similarities between the NFTs of BAYC and MAYC
Both the BAYC and MAYC NFTs are similar in that:
- They are from the same creator
- They are expensive
- They have private communities of owners
- They have a mutual connection
Differences between BAYC and MAYC
| BAYC | MAYC | |
| Creation Date | April 2021 | August 2021 |
| No. of collection | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| Mutation | – | Present |
