EXCLUSIVE: 'Ape Talk' At Benzinga's Future Of Crypto — Why 'Absurdity' Of Bored Ape NFTs Makes Sense

Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs soared in popularity last year as celebrities and athletes steadily adopted the artwork and used the NFTs as identifying images across social media platforms. But what is a Bored Ape and why are people still spending so much Ethereum ETH/USD on these "monkey pictures?"

On Wednesday, a group of well-known BAYC holders spoke about why they think it makes sense to own Bored Apes at Benzinga's "Future Of Crypto" event in New York City.

How We Got Here: It all started with a bunch of NFT fans sharing common stories about their love for digital art, Futureproof CEO Hunter Orrell said: "Over time it turned into this movement."

"At the beginning there was nothing special about Bored Ape Yacht Club besides the people that owned it. It was just the community," he added.

The founders of BAYC expanded the project into multiple collections and found new ways of engaging with the community. Then other projects started to mimic the club, Orrell said. 

And that might be why this project is considered the gold standard in the NFT space, alongside the iconic CryptoPunks collection. 

Laura Rodriguez, co-founder of The Miami Ape, said, "If you're doing the same thing that someone else is doing, it's not going to work out."

The BAYC founders continued to create and find ways to bring value to holders of its NFTs instead of doing the same stuff as the rest of the space, she said: "I think that's what set them apart."

They Aren't Just Pictures!: Another thing that differentiates the project from so many others is that BAYC owners have full intellectual property rights over their NFTs. 

PostVerrone, the former VeeFriends moderator, explained that if you own one of the Bored Apes, you can use it to start your own brand or business. 

"I'm starting a law firm with my Ape," PostVerrone said. 

One BAYC NFT could be worth a lot more than the next based on rarity of traits within the collection, but the NFT can also generate value based on what one does with the Ape in terms of branding, he said. 

See Also: Why Are NFTs Valuable?

Josh Ong, co-founder of Bored Room Ventures, noted that the concept can be hard for the average person to wrap their head around.

"You have to recognize there is an absurdity to the monkey picture," he said: but what is a membership card supposed to look like?

BAYC members can take their individual characters and build them into whatever kind of brand they can imagine, Ong said. In his case, he has been able to license one of his Bored Apes and generate returns beyond what he originally paid. 

"So when people are like 'that picture is stupid' I think what they are forgetting is that behind that picture there is not just a remarkable company that's building value back to its members, but an incredible community of members who are also empowered through individualized IP," Ong said.

Check out the full event below: