After acquiring crypto collections CryptoPunks and Meebits, Yuga Labs is preparing to launch its own Metaverse of MetaRPG games and sell digital land this month.
Yuga Labs, the developer of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), one of the most famous crypto collections in the blockchain industry, plans to expand beyond the NFT market with the launch of its own gaming Metaverse, where it will offer 200.000 virtual land lots, as it announced in a recent presentation (pitch deck) obtained by The Block. The NFT company projects revenues of up to $455 million a year from the sale of virtual land from its new platform.
Yuga Labs' Metaverse, called MetaRPG, will support the "bored apes" in its NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club. In addition, the platform will also support other existing NFT collections, most likely those recently acquired by the company, Cryptopunks y meebits, from Larva Labs. The metaverse will also integrate the ApeCoin token adopted by the Ape Bored ecosystem, the NFT community recently confirmed.
Yuga Labs has acquired the ownership rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits, two of the industry’s most important NFT collections, to align its development with the principles of Web3 decentralization. In light of this, the company has announced that it will soon transfer the commercial rights to these crypto collections to the holders of its non-fungible tokens.
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200.000 virtual land NFTs
Yuga Labs has not confirmed its plans to create a metaverse yet. However, The Block describes that the company will begin selling virtual land via NFTs this month. The total supply of virtual land in the MetaRPG metaverse, as stated, will be 200.000 NFT lots, which will be distributed in two phases. The second sale of virtual land non-fungible tokens is planned for August.
“We want to build something that expands the BAYC universe, but also invites the larger NFT community (and those who can’t be BAYC members) to join in.”, Yuga Labs said last week.
Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported Yuga Labs is in discussions for funding with venture capital manager Andreessen Horowitz, which could boost its valuation to $5.000 billion. If this funding round is successful, this would be the first institutional investment accepted by Yuga Labs.
Andreessen Horowitz has become one of the most prolific investors in the NFT sector, participating in companies and projects in the industry such as PleasrDAO, Yield Guild Games (YGG), Autograph, Lido Network, among others.
ApeCoin DAO, an organized community for Web3
Regarding ApeCoin, Bored Ape developers confirmed on Twitter the integration of the ApeCoin token into their ecosystem, which will serve to boost the construction of a decentralized community at the forefront of Web3.
ApeCoin (APE), based on Ethereum's ERC-20 standard, will be the official utility and governance token of the BAYC ecosystem. This token will be available to NFT holders starting today. The developers reported that ApeCoin will be managed by its own community, through the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) ApeCoin DAO, where they will be able to propose and vote on improvement proposals and decide on how the funds will be used within the ecosystem. To be a member of this decentralized community, the only requirement is to be an APE holder.
$127 million in NFT revenue
Yuga Labs is building the future of the crypto ecosystem and Web3 through NFTs. Earlier this year, the company indicated that non-fungible tokens “They mark the beginning of a new era of composability and ownership that we believe has the ability to fundamentally improve gaming experiences”.
Last year, Yuga Labs recorded net revenue of $127 million through the sale of NFTs.
BAYC and MAYC, among the most successful NFT collections
His Bored Ape Yacht Club crypto collection was launched in April 2021. Since then, it has become one of the most popular and in-demand collections in the NFT market. Bored Ape Yacht Club has generated a volume of 428.034 ETH (approximately $1.189 billion to date) since its launch, making it the second most valuable NFT collection after CryptoPunks.
In June 2021, Yuga Labs launched the so-called Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC), which are a collection of digital companion dogs also in NFT format. Then, in August, the company created its next crypto collection called Mutant Ape Yacht Club (Mayca), consisting of 20.000 non-fungible tokens, of which 10.000 originated from the Bored Apes and a mutant serum given to each owner. This crypto collection is the third most successful in the NFT market, with a total volume of 262.933 ETH (approximately $730,7 million).
Source: opensea
In mid-December, Yuga Labs teamed up with Gmoney and PUNKS Comic to bring German clothing brand Adidas into the world of NFTs. The company has also successfully held an auction at the prestigious Sotheby's, where it sold a batch of 101 Bored Ape NFTs for nearly $25 million. Bored Ape #1401 was auctioned for $640.000 at Christie's auction house late last year.
BAYC and MAYC members have enjoyed different exclusive events for members of these clubs, such as the Ape Fest, gaming competitions, among other things.
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