The crypto-community continues to show their love for Non-Fungible Tokens as 101 NFTs from the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection were sold for a record bid of $24.4 million at the British auction house, Sotheby’s.
Bored Ape NFTs Breaks Records
The first bundle of 101 NFTs from the Bored Ape Yacht Club sold for a whopping $24.4 million, which is the biggest sale ever in the NFT space. It was followed by another, where a set of 101 NFTs from the Bored Ape Kennel Club collection sold for $1.8 million. Therefore the auction house has auctioned off 202 Bored Ape NFTs for a total of $26.6 million. The set of anthropomorphic apes comes with different combinations of features like clothing, accessories, and facial expressions. Plus, the buyers would also have the option to generate six new “mutant” apes. The auction was kickstarted on September 2nd by the creators of the popular NFTs, Yuga Labs, and soon reached a bid value of $19 million.
The Exclusive Bored Ape Yacht Club
For the uninitiated, an NFT is a piece of digital art, usually, in the format of an image, video, or in-game item, that is assigned to a particular owner through blockchain technology. While the NFT can be experienced digitally by anyone, only the buyer will be recognized as the official owner. In the case of the Bored Ape NFTs, the buyers also receive the intellectual property rights for the images. Additionally, the NFT owners also get to be members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which provides access to exclusive merch drops, bonus NFTs, and an online graffiti board.
NFTs Pulling In Traditional Art Collectors
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 unique computer-generated cartoon apes and is among the top three NFT projects on Etheruem-based NFT marketplace OpenSea. The collection was released in April 2021, after which the apes skyrocketed in popularity. The caution at Sotheby’s isn’t the first time that Bored Ape NFTs had a record-making sale. Last week, another NFT from the collection featuring a sailor cap, gold fur, and laser-beaming eyes sold for a record $2.6 million.
According to contemporary art specialist at Sotheby’s, Michael Bouhanna, a growing number of traditional art buyers are turning towards NFTs.
He further added,
“People were talking about a bubble in March, in June, etc, and then we see that the market is even stronger today so I think they’ve been proven wrong … I think it’s a very organic market with great collectors who have great appreciation of art”.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
