The company’s flagship collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), launched in April 2021, with each NFT doubling as a membership to the community. Inspired by the early crypto adopters who aped in, struck gold, yet always seemed bored – 10,000 Bored Apes were minted for roughly $200 at the time.
The NFT collection sold out in the early morning of May 1st, 2021, and an incredible community began to form almost immediately.
That community soon multiplied with the creation of 10,000 dog companions for the apes (Bored Ape Kennel Club) and 20,000 Mutant Apes (Mutant Ape Yacht Club), half of which were minted via a first-of-its-kind mechanic involving serums.
2022 was a year of rapid growth for Yuga. The Yugaverse expanded beyond BAYC with the announcement of Otherside, a gamified metaverse. Popular NFT collections CryptoPunks, Meebits, and 10KTF also joined the party, bringing new IP, reach, and community to Yuga.
Through all of this growth and innovation, the team has continued to prioritize the web3 values of decentralization and ownership. Yuga has been a pioneer at every turn, including hosting exclusive festivals, events, merch drops, and collaborations accessible to holders of NFTs.
Most notably, Yuga decentralized the IP rights of Bored Apes, Punks, and Meebits, granting holders rights to the underlying art. This created opportunities for the community of NFT holders to leverage the utility of their NFT - creating their own brands and communities.
BAYC has become the world's most recognizable NFT collection and Yuga itself has become the fastest-growing startup in web3.
All roads lead to Otherside – the first metaverse that includes the community in the development process. Otherside rejects the walled gardens and closed networks of traditional gaming spaces in favor of interoperability and access, inviting everyone to play and create.
april
april
Garga texts Gordon, “Let’s make a NFT”
Yuga Labs, LLC is formed
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is announced on Twitter with the first roadmap
The BAYC pre-sale begins. All 10,000 NFTs are available to mint for 0.08ETH
Collaborative bathroom wall launches, the first thing drawn is a penis
june
First community grant winners announced: Jenkins The Valet, Josh Ong, & others
Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC), companion dog NFTs, available for free for BAYC holders
BAKC dogs revealed
First donation to animal charities from BAKC royalties (final number over $1M)
2021
2022
january
january
Nicole Muniz, aka V Strange, introduced as CEO
Apes v Mutants Mobile Game
march
Yuga donates $1M to Ukraine
CryptoPunks and Meebits join the Yugaverse
Yuga adopts ApeCoin as the primary token
6.25% of Yuga Labs’ holdings of ApeCoin are pledged to the Jane Goodall Foundation
Otherside, a gamified metaverse, is announced
Yuga closes $450M in seed funding at $4B valuation
March ‘22 merch
april
BAYC x Superplastic
Ape NFT holders are eligible to claim Otherdeed NFTs
august
IP licenses for CryptoPunks and Meebits are released to the community
Snoop & Eminem perform “From the D to the LBC” at VMA’s
september
Founders are on Guy Raz’s podcast, ‘How I Built This’
Otherside second trailer
The first CryptoPunks newsletter, Punks Post, is published
october
BAYC Community Council announced
Sandbox Experience Miami 2035
Punks.app restoration project starts
$1M pledge to arts and education in hometown of Miami
BAYC x McBess x DudesFactory merch
2022
FUTURE