Tag: Yuga Labs

Categories
Bored Ape Yacht Club Crypto News NFTs Regulation

SEC Investigates Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs 

bored apes

Yuga Labs Inc., the company behind the wildly successful non-fungible token (NFT) collections Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) is being investigated by the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a report from Bloomberg. 

Speaking to Bloomberg, an anonymous source claims that the SEC is looking into whether Yuga Labs’ NFTs should be regulated like stocks and should therefore comply with disclosure laws applicable to traditional securities. 

The SEC will apparently also be examining Yuga Labs’ governance and utility token, Ape Coin (APE), which has been distributed to holders of their NFTs.

Case to Clarify Status of NFTs

The main issue of law that the SEC is seeking to clarify in this case is whether or not NFTs should be regulated as securities. 

An earlier report from Bloomberg published in March of this year had previously revealed the regulator had started looking closely at the NFT market generally, so an investigation specifically into Yuga Labs, one of the most prominent market participants, is not entirely surprising.

Yuga Labs One of the Largest Players in NFT Space

Since launching in 2021, Yuga Labs has grown to become one of the largest and most successful players in the burgeoning NFT collectibles space. The company’s Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection, which depicts cartoonish apes, soared in value following their release, hitting a record sale price of a whopping US$3.4 million dollars in October of 2021.

To support Yuga Labs’ growing NFT ecosystem, the Ethereum-based Ape Coin governance token was released and distributed to NFT holders earlier this year through a separate body known as the Ape Foundation. Ape Coin was released by this foundation rather than by Yuga Labs due to regulatory concerns. 

Around 62 percent of Ape Coin was distributed to community members, with 15 percent going to NFT holders. A sizeable percentage also went to Yuga Labs and the founders of BAYC. 

At the time of writing, data from Coin Gecko showed Ape Coin was down around four percent on the news of the investigation.

Yuga Labs “Happy to Cooperate“

Yuga Labs claims it’s happy to cooperate with the SEC’s investigation and understands the regulator is keen to learn more about the booming crypto industry:

“It’s well-known that policymakers and regulators have sought to learn more about the novel world of Web3. We hope to partner with the rest of the industry and regulators to define and shape the burgeoning ecosystem. As a leader in the space, Yuga is committed to fully cooperating with any inquiries along the way.”

Yuga Labs Spokesperson, speaking to Bloomberg

The SEC hasn’t spoken publicly about this case, but based on other cases it’s clear the regulator believes virtually all crypto assets should be viewed as securities and adhere to relevant securities law. 

SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, has repeatedly stated that he believes many forms of crypto could pass the Howey Test — the standard under US law used to determine if an asset is a security, which centres around an investor pledging money to an enterprise with the intention of making profits from its efforts. 

Categories
Bored Ape Yacht Club GameFi Markets Metaverse

ApeCoin Pumps Almost 50% on Release of ‘Otherside’ Metaverse Demo

A thrilling “first trip” into the gamified metaverse associated with the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has boosted the price of ApeCoin (APE) by around 50 percent.

Data from CoinGecko shows APE rallied in the days following a demo of the Otherside metaverse, and it is up more than 43 percent over the past week. 

APE has been on an upward trend since reaching its all-time low of US$3.10 in June this year – but it’s still down more than 77 percent from its all-time high of US$26.70 in April. 

First Voyage into ‘Otherside’ Metaverse Stirs Excitement

The Otherside metaverse was co-created by metaverse tech company Improbable and Yuga Labs. Yuga Labs flagged its metaverse project and the sale of virtual land in March as a means to expand its Bored Ape ecosystem – one of the most expensive and successful NFT collections launched – guaranteeing strong interest.

Around 4,500 people explored the immersive virtual world via a demo held on July 17, which sparked genuine excitement and helped hike the value of $APE:

The demo was exclusively open to owners (known as Voyagers) of an Otherdeed non-fungible token (NFT). Otherdeed NFTs went on sale earlier in 2022 and essentially represent a plot of land and associated resources in the Otherside world. 

Gameplay Central to Otherside Experience

ApeDAO launched $APE in March to a mixed market reaction, while stating its purpose was to “drive culture forward into the metaverse”. That now seems to be being realised given that $APE is required to access Otherside and purchase game-related assets. 

According to the Otherside project’s litepaper, initially users (aka Voyagers) will engage with the virtual world through a narrative-based gameplay.

All Voyagers are invited to take part in Voyager’s Journey, an 11-part storyline surrounding a mysterious Obelisk that has appeared in the Otherside universe. Team up with other Voyagers, develop your own experiences on your slice of the Otherside, and discover and shape what can be harvested, crafted, traded, bought and sold.

Otherside litepaper

Tech demos like the one that triggered the price increase for $APE are the first stage of the Voyager’s Journey. Future “trips” inside Otherside are planned to accomodate more Voyagers, with dates to be announced via Otherside’s social media.

Categories
Bored Ape Yacht Club Metaverse NFTs Tokens

Bored Ape Start-up Plans Metaverse Project Including Virtual Land NFTs and APECoin Token

Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), has announced its intentions to sell a large quantity of virtual land. The goal of the sales is to broaden the community and raise approximately US$178 million toward the progress of Yuga’s gaming-focused metaverse project, MetaRPG:

Big Plans for Bored Apes

Yuga Labs is predicted to generate net revenues of US$455 million in 2022, with the profits from virtual land sales likely to form a large part of this sum. In phase one of its metaverse initiative, Yuga intends to sell 200,000 plots over two sales, to take place this month and in August.

Moving into the metaverse will help Yuga Labs diversify its revenue streams and move away from BAYC NFTs. Yet not everyone in the Twitter community is convinced:

Despite the scepticism of its plans, Yuga has supplied onlookers with a name for the metaverse initiative alongside some basic information. The project is called MetaRPG and will be gaming-focused and compatible with a range of NFTs. An in-game app store will allow players to create characters via NFTs and use them in games.

It’s also worth noting that APECoin is the proposed token for Yuga Labs’ metaverse. The currency will be usable in the in-game store and will encourage bartering and trading among players.

At this very early stage, there are little to no details of how exactly users may be able to participate in Yuga Labs’ latest venture.

Bored Apes: Rights and Partnerships

The Bored Ape Yacht Club has always been a notable presence within the NFT and crypto community. However, the creative minds behind BAYC have been busy over the past year expanding its horizons. In late 2021, the project announced a partnership with Adidas to enter the metaverse after the sports apparel brand paid US$156,000 for a single Ape.

More recently, Yuga Labs acquired the rights to two other hit NFT collections – CryptoPunks and Meebits. The company purchased both the commercial rights and intellectual property rights and has plans to award full commercial rights to NFT holders.