The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a popular collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain that has taken the crypto world by storm. The BAYC collection consists of 10,000 unique digital art pieces, each of which is a digital representation of a bored-looking ape with various traits and accessories. The BAYC NFTs have gained popularity due to their scarcity, uniqueness, and the community that has formed around them.

But how did the Bored Ape Yacht Club come to be?

To understand its origins, we must go back to the prehistory of the project. In 2017, a group of developers called Larva Labs created a project called CryptoPunks. CryptoPunks consisted of 10,000 unique 8-bit pixel art characters, each with their own distinct traits and accessories. The project was an instant hit, and the NFTs quickly became some of the most sought-after digital assets on the Ethereum blockchain.

Fast forward to 2020, and the NFT market was starting to gain steam once again. One of the people who took notice of the success of CryptoPunks was a user on Twitter who goes by the name "Boardroom." Boardroom was a fan of CryptoPunks, but he wanted to create something new and different.

Boardroom began tinkering with the idea of creating a new collection of NFTs, one that would be more than just digital art. He wanted to create a community around the NFTs, a group of like-minded individuals who could come together and share their love for the project.

After months of brainstorming, Boardroom came up with the idea for the Bored Ape Yacht Club. The project would consist of 10,000 unique digital art pieces, each of which would be a bored-looking ape with various traits and accessories. But more than that, the project would be about creating a community.

Boardroom enlisted the help of a team of developers, and they began working on the BAYC project. They spent months designing the apes and coming up with unique traits and accessories for each one. They also created a website where users could view and purchase the NFTs.

The BAYC project launched in April 2021, and it was an instant success. Within days, all 10,000 apes had been sold, and the project had raised millions of dollars. But more than that, a community had formed around the project. BAYC owners began coming together on social media, sharing their apes and forming friendships with each other.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club has since become one of the most popular NFT projects on the Ethereum blockchain. The project has spawned countless spinoffs and imitators, but none have been able to capture the magic of the original.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club has since become one of the most popular NFT projects on the Ethereum blockchain. The project has spawned countless spin-offs and imitators, but none of them have been able to capture the magic of the original.

Of course, the project itself has repeatedly fallen into a series of scandals and theft of ideas. For example, they recently got into a controversy with their collection's logo, which was very similar to the previously registered logo of Easy Drawing Tutorial, which specializes in drawing tutorials for children, originally released the logo in April 2021.

What happened then?

Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club, have been previously involved in a scandal concerning the Nazi symbols present in their BAYC collection, as well as accused of stealing a logo used in one of their collections from an artist on nftevening.com. Despite this, Yuga Labs has decided to borrow an idea from the young startup fold12.

This week, the project launched the first NFT auction on the Bitcoin and Ordinals protocol network, featuring a one-of-a-kind 300 piece NFT collection arranged on a 12x12 grid, representing the organization of data on the Bitcoin blockchain. The collection is compressed using the webp algorithm, allowing for a 10x compression ratio and thus lower fees when storing the images on the Bitcoin network.

The collection is entirely hosted on the Bitcoin network and has earlier confirmation of its release than Yuga Labs, both on the Bitcoin network and in the Ordinals protocol registry, with the earliest mint being the first.

To participate in the auction, users must create a wallet and deposit Bitcoin. Afterward, they can place bids on the images. Each auction for an image lasts 20 minutes and is extended for another 20 minutes if a new bid is made.

At the same time, Yuga Labs announced the launch of the exact same project using their marketing and PR capabilities. As with the logo, where they tried to say that they were not involved and all the blame lies with the freelance designer who "borrowed" the logo from the Easy Drawing Tutorial website.

While Yuga Labs used to constantly have their collections copied, resulting in numerous BAYC and MAYC clones, they are now effectively creating a clone of another project. It is interesting to see which of the two projects will gain greater popularity. It is certain, however, that both collections will attract a lot of public attention.

What is fold12?

Fold 12 is an innovative NFT collection that represents a unique blend of art and technology. This collection is composed of 300 one-of-a-kind pieces that will be auctioned on the Bitcoin blockchain. What sets Fold 12 apart from other NFT collections is its structure: the 300 NFTs will be arranged on a 12x12 grid, symbolically mirroring the way data is organized on the Bitcoin blockchain.

The artwork of Fold 12 is a result of the creative efforts of artist known as FOLD. FOLD utilized various cutting-edge techniques to create these generative artworks, including 3D modeling, algorithmic construction, and sophisticated rendering tools. The NFTs in the Fold 12 collection will feature both 3D elements and hand-drawn components, creating a truly unique and visually stunning experience for collectors.

Remarkably, this collection has already managed to gain its milestones for collectors from all over the world. The first NFT from Fold12.com was already purchased at auction for 2 BTC. And the popularity of this art from the artist FOLD is only growing.

The collection itself may not be the only one from this artist, and I highly recommend following the project's Twitter so as not to miss possible collaborations with other artists and famous brands.

In order to take part in the acquisition of this collection, you need to go to the site and wait for the next minute. Not everyone will get the opportunity to be the first, so you need to monitor when the next release takes place.

Who knows, maybe we will see a new crypto Banksy soon?

Conclusion

Of course, NFT collections can bring a new vision to the art world, allowing the creation and ownership of unique and verifiable digital assets. This represents a significant departure from the traditional art market, where physical works of art are sold and valued based on subjective factors such as beauty, rarity, and historical significance.

But just like in the traditional market, you need to be prepared for the fact that the ideas of the works can be copied, because the price for them can exceed millions of dollars. Be careful and draw your own conclusions.