The excitement around the Bored Ape Yacht Club was in full force earlier this year when famous people “aped into” the expensive Ethereum NFT collection. Some people have even utilized their apes to design goods, restaurants with animal themes, live performances, and other things.
But in the midst of the cryptocurrency bear market, the excitement has subsided, and in recent weeks, the cost to join the exclusive club has been steadily declining. Additionally, a “floor” Bored Ape, like the one singer Justin Bieber paid $1.3 million in ETH to purchase in January, is now available for a minuscule fraction of that cost.
According to information from NFT Price Floor, the floor price for the Bored Ape Yacht Club as of this writing is around 58.2 ETH, or roughly $69,800. This is the cost of the lowest NFT that is currently offered on a marketplace. The floor price fell under $60,000 for the second time this month on Monday, but it gradually increased all day on Tuesday.
The floor price in USD has decreased 33% since the beginning of November, which has been difficult for the Bored Apes. The prominent cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s failure last week seems to have an effect on the NFT market, bringing down cryptocurrency prices and affecting NFT values as well, although other well-known projects aren’t suffering as much as the Apes.
Another “blue chip” NFT project owned by Yuga Labs, CryptoPunks, had a 23% decrease in its floor price this month to roughly $79,800 (66.5 ETH) in November. Its price in ETH is almost exactly the same now as it was on November 1; the only difference is the ETH value in USD. The Bored Ape floor, on the other hand, went as low as 48 ETH on Tuesday morning after falling from 66.6 ETH to 58.2 ETH.
The anticipation around the release of NFT land plots for Yuga’s Otherside metaverse game caused the Bored Ape floor to peak at roughly $429,000 (152 ETH) in late April, ahead of the cryptocurrency market meltdown. Owners of the bored ape had just paid out on the March ApeCoin launch and were about to get free Otherside territory, making the NFTs seem like endless presents.
However, the crypto meltdown resulted in a speculative frenzy around NFTs that is now gradually waning, which has caused a large decline in Bored Ape prices over the previous six months. In terms of USD, the admission cost for a Bored Ape is now around 84% cheaper than it was at its high in April.
A unique profile photo (PFP) like the Bored Ape Yacht Club may be owned by someone using an NFT, a blockchain coin. Users who purchase one of the project’s 10,000 NFT avatars have access to a closed community, events, special goods, possible token drops, and the opportunity to sell their own NFT artwork.
Following a wave of buying in late 2021 and early 2022 that included people like Jimmy Fallon, Steph Curry, Madonna, Eminem, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Snoop Dogg in the club, we haven’t seen any notable recent instances of celebrities flowing into the project during the collapse.
In retrospect, the price decline has also made some of the seven-figure Bored Ape purchases stand out even more. Justin Bieber, a singer, bought an ape in January for $1.3 million (500 ETH), a purchase that was questioned at the time by crypto influencers who said that he spent too much for an ape with extremely common qualities.
Farokh Sarmad, co-founder and presenter of Rug Radio, tweeted: “Who the hell is advising Justin Bieber’s NFT purchases, and how can I get in contact to sell them [floor] NFTs for 500 ETH?”
According to Rarity Tools, based on its characteristics and qualities, it is classed as the 9,810th rarest Bored Ape, implying that, without a connection to a well-known celebrity, it would likely sell for the floor price.
Today, the price of an equivalent Ape may be around 1/19th of that in USD or about 1/9th of that in ETH. Even while owners like Eminem and Snoop Dogg have continued to prominently utilize their Apes following Bieber’s acquisition, it’s possible that this was the peak of the celebrity Bored Ape boom.
Although sales of apes totaled $6.5 million on Tuesday, a 135% rise from the day before, it seems that the lowering prices are boosting them.
NFT startup Proof’s director of research, pseudonymous crypto analyst Punk9059, tweeted that the Bored Ape floor price often declines as owners worry about NFT liquidations from BendDAO, an NFT loan service, but then sales increase and the floor price rebounds as people buy up the NFTs.
A newer NFT marketplace called Blur, which is geared for “pro traders” and doesn’t impose creator royalty fees or collect a marketplace fee, was also mentioned. According to Punk9059, such a setting “[creates] a lot more flips” among Bored Ape merchants.
