Bloomberg – The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a very popular set of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, A status symbol coveted by celebrities, athletes and venture capitalists alike.
Bored Apes are already the third most valuable NFT group, With $1.5 billion in sales ever, according to CryptoSlam blockchain data tracker. They have also opened early access to a new digital currency: ApeCoin.
ApeCoin launched Thursday in a type of launch known as an “airdrop,” whereby certain groups of cryptocurrency holders automatically receive tokens as rewards. In this case, a billion ApeCoins have been released, and Bored Ape NFT owners are in line to receive some loot.
The coin gives its holders influence over another native crypto entity known as a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO. The idea was to give the bored monkey community help shape the decentralized, blockchain-powered vision of the internet that venture capitalists often describe as web3. Bored Ape DAO will use the blockchain to enable and record voices on decisions related to community management.
However, together ApeCoin and the DAO have provided more fodder for some of the fiercest criticism of the influence and power of venture capitalists in this evolving space.
Typically, the more tokens a DAO participant has, the more they have a say in managing the pool. The venture capitalists who helped launch it, including Andreessen Horowitz and Animoca Brands, have been major beneficiaries of ApeCoins. They and other launch partners have 14% or 140 million confirmed tokens Bloomberg A spokesperson for Yuga Labs, creator of the Bored Ape Yachting Club.
These token holdings could give Andreessen Horowitz and Animoca a significant impact on the ApeCoin DAO, even though the group is supposed to be decentralized, with no specific entity in control. It was these kinds of moves that earned venture capitalists the wrath of the likes of Block CEO and Bitcoin enthusiast Jack Dorsey. Dorsey disagreed with Mark Andreessen Horowitz and Chris Dixon on Twitter about the excessive influence of venture capital firms on Web3, which Dorsey says goes against blockchain principles to promote distribution and decentralization in the can.. However, many venture capitalists, including Andreessen, are delegating voting on their holdings in the DAO to organizations such as student clubs in an effort to dilute their influence.
If Andreessen Horowitz and Animoca decide to sell their tokens and reduce their influence in the ApeCoin DAO, they may also make a good profit on something they got for free. The The price of ApeCoin has fluctuated widely since Thursday and was at $14.36 as of Friday afternoon, up 66% from the day before, according to CoinMarketCap. At this price, the amount of ApeCoin allocated to launch partners equates to more than $2 billion.
The launch of ApeCoin is just one small example of how venture capital is among the biggest winners from the rise of cryptocurrencies, having collectively pumped $32.5 billion into the industry in 2021, according to Pitchbook. Even if Andreessen Horowitz sold his ApeCoins, he was already involved in creating the ApeCoin DAO.
The launch of ApeCoin has other signs of a concentration of power. The four founders of Yuga Labs received 8% of the ApeCoins issued. As a company, Yuga Labs received 15% of the launch, which is equal to the total percentage given to owners of Bored Ape or Mutant Apes NFTs, which are part of the spin-off NFTs group.. The Jane Goodall Legacy, a charitable foundation, received 1% of the coins issued. ApeCoin DAO treasury received a 47% drop.
The mission also shows the growing influence of Yuga Labs in the NFT space. The company purchased the intellectual property of the CryptoPunks and Meebits groups from Larva Labs earlier this week.. Andreessen Horowitz is reportedly considering an investment in Yoga Labs that would value the startup at between $4 billion and $5 billion, according to the Financial Times.
ApeCoin DAO has a star-studded special board that will enact DAO decisions, which do not necessarily align well with the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies. They include big names in the crypto space such as Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and founder of venture firm Seven Seven, as well as Amy Wu, director of the investment arm of crypto exchange FTX.
The launch of ApeCoin — which had a trading volume of more than $9.2 billion in the 24 hours ending Friday night New York time, according to CoinMarketCap — may also raise some regulatory concerns, as it bears similarities to its public debut on the exchange.
Aaron Brown, Crypto Investor Writing for Him BloombergApeCoin DAO, he said, is “an alternative attempt to capture potential future business under the Bored Ape brand.”
“It’s akin to SPACs – money raised today for some potential business to be called later – without the legal protections around actual SPACs,” He said. “The project is controlled by a small group of people.”
– With the help of Olga Autumn.
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