How High can Bored Ape Yacht Club go?

In some ways, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) paved the way for the crossover between crypto and pop culture. The non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are pictures of cartoon apes with unique features, have attracted investments from the likes of NBA star Stephen Curry to billionaire Mark Cuban. This hype has driven the prices to extremely high levels. However, many wonder if there is room for even more growth for the NFT project. 

What is Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)?

BAYC is an NFT project of 10,000 unique photos. Each is a headshot of an ape, but each NFT has defining characteristics that make it unique and define its rarity. Each ape’s clothes, background and eyes, among features, determine its overall rarity. The rarer the ape, the more it sells for. This is a common practice among NFT projects, giving each holder a distinctly unique NFT.

While each ape is unique, some have characteristics that raise the rarity and price. Some of the most sought-after characteristics are laser eyes, solid gold fur and a king’s crown. There are far fewer NFTs with these traits than others. For example, out of the 10,000 NFTs in existence, only 46 boast solid gold fur. The cheapest ape with gold fur goes for more than $3.3 million, while cheaper apes sell for around $300,000. While all BAYC NFTs are extremely expensive, some have rare features that make them even more expensive. 

BAYC Prices

While it is impossible to determine an exact market capitalization for an NFT project, estimates place the total value of all the NFTs in the project between 1,000,000 ETH and 1,500,000 ETH. This amount equates to $2.8 billion to $4.1 billion. However, these are estimates that are based on transaction history.

All time, over 540,000 ETH — around $1.5 billion — has been spent on BAYC NFTs. In the past 30 days, the average selling price has been just below 140 ETH ($390,000), and 442 NFTs have sold. 

Bull Case for BAYC

A best-case scenario for BAYC NFTs would be a huge increase in the floor price. For this to happen, BAYC creators Yuga Labs would have to make some pretty huge announcements regarding plans for the future. For example, when ApeCoin, the token that powers the ecosystem, launched, the floor price shot up around 40% almost overnight. Many were hoping to secure the airdropped tokens from the release.

Yuga Labs has hinted at attempting to enter the gaming and metaverse spaces, as well as plans for interoperability with other large NFT projects. If it is able to create real use cases in the metaverse or gaming world, then the market could see the price spike again. 

Bear Case for BAYC

A worst-case scenario for BAYC would be a complete crash in the floor price. This could happen in multiple scenarios. First, if Yuga Labs cannot continue to create new projects and becomes stagnant in terms of growth, then BAYC could suffer. Many BAYC holders are holding in hopes of future uses and rewards, so a lack of these could result in a massive sell off.

Additionally, BAYC is housed on the Ethereum chain. If the Ethereum Merge does not go well and many begin to shift towards other blockchains, then a BAYC sell off would lower the floor price. 

Where to Buy BAYC

BAYC NFTs cannot be bought on a centralized exchange. Instead, they are transacted on NFT marketplaces, typically built on Ethereum, but also on other smart contract blockchains. The most popular marketplaces to buy Bored Apes are OpenSea and Looksrare. To buy your own Ape, head over to OpenSea and connect your wallet to the exchange. You can then use Ethereum to bid on or purchase an NFT.

How Long Will it Take for BAYC to Reach a $500,000 Floor Price?

As of October of 2022, the floor price of BAYC was 76 ETH. As a result, the project doesn’t look like it could ever reach $500k.

Overall, a $500,000 floor price is certainly not out of the question, but it would require some major announcements from Yuga Labs for it to happen. Plus, the overall crypto market will need to recover from the depegging of Terra. It’s also important to consider that early holders have received more than $500,000 of value from investing in a Bored Ape –– they received over $150,000 in ApeCoin, a Mutant Ape worth around $90,000 and metaverse land worth around $30,000 all for owning their Bored Ape NFT.

Where to Store BAYC Safely

A wallet essentially allows users to access decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on the blockchain. NFTs fall under this classification, so a wallet is needed to purchase and hold an NFT. When holding high-value NFTs, it’s crucial to hold these assets in a hardware wallet to avoid getting hacked. 

Best Hardware Wallet: Ledger

Hardware wallets are physical devices that store the private keys needed to send crypto. If the physical device is not present, the funds inside the wallet are locked. Hardware wallets are often regarded as the safest way to store crypto and NFTs.

Ledger is a brand of hardware wallet that supports all Ethereum-based NFTs. It offers Nano S and Nano X models. The Nano S offers rudimentary features while the Nano X supports ease of use with Bluetooth connectivity and a larger screen. However, you need to pair your Ledger hardware wallet with a software wallet to trade NFTs. 

Best Software Wallet: MetaMask

Software wallets store private keys online. While this is not as safe, MetaMask is a software wallet that takes extra steps to ensure security of funds.

MetaMask encrypts all information on its servers. Information is accessed through a password, which can also have two-factor authentication. You can attach a hardware wallet to your MetaMask to make your trades efficient and safe.

Bonus Section: Keep an eye out for new projects from Yuga Labs, which can increase the demand for Bored Ape NFTs and impact the price. 

Current Crypto Prices

The crypto market has fallen quite a bit since the depegging of Terra, and projects like BAYC are suffering more than ever. It may take quite a long time to see that value rise to the surface again.

Is BAYC a Good Investment?

While Bored Apes are some of the most sought-after NFTs in the space, they are still a fairly speculative investment. They have limited use cases, and the price could crash at any moment. With that said, there is still a chance of them appreciating. If you are willing to take on the high risk and the size of the investment, then it may be a viable option.

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