'Boring Monkey' Craze... Virtual Land Sold Out for 400 Billion Won

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Approximately 400 billion KRW poured in within a single day to purchase virtual land in a metaverse (extended virtual world) game that has yet to be released. This occurred as Yuga Labs, a U.S. blockchain startup known for creating the famous non-fungible token (NFT) "Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)," announced the sale of virtual land ownership within the metaverse game, sparking fierce competition among buyers. Unlike last year, when interest in NFTs has waned this year, the success of this event is interpreted as reflecting the high interest in Bored Apes.

Only a 90-second video was released...

According to Bloomberg and others on the 1st (local time), Yuga Labs pre-sold an NFT called "Otherdeeds," which represents ownership of virtual land in the metaverse game "Otherside," themed around Bored Apes, on the 30th of last month. Users flocked to purchase Otherdeeds, which correspond to 55,000 virtual land parcels. Yuga Labs required the use of a cryptocurrency called "ApeCoin," first issued last month, for this transaction and set the price at 305 ApeCoins per NFT for the 55,000 NFTs. As a result, the sale was sold out, and Yuga Labs secured 16,775,000 ApeCoins.

Converted to market value, this currently amounts to approximately 287 million USD (about 360 billion KRW). At one point, ApeCoin reached its highest price, pushing the value of the sold virtual land up to 320 million USD (about 400 billion KRW). ApeCoin's price surged as users eager to participate in the virtual land transaction increased demand.

Yuga Labs Logo

Although the virtual land pre-sale took place, the metaverse game Otherside is still under development. Last month, Yuga Labs released a video about 1 minute and 30 seconds long, stating that they are developing the game Otherside. However, aside from it being a multiplayer game, no other information such as release schedules has been disclosed. Nevertheless, the massive influx of funds is attributed to the high interest in Bored Apes and the anticipation for the metaverse game themed around them.

What is "Bored Ape" all about?

Bored Ape is a virtual asset that emerged in April last year and has become the most popular collectible and investment target in the NFT trading market. There are 10,000 apes, each with different faces and outfits, giving them unique personalities, with individual NFTs sometimes valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Celebrities such as Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, and Eminem have consecutively purchased these NFTs, making headlines.

Unlike other NFTs, Bored Apes have characteristics such as forming a community through an elite digital club membership and providing intellectual property (IP) rights that allow commercial use. They create a tangible culture where holders feel solidarity; for example, setting their owned ape avatar as a Twitter profile can suddenly increase their follower count. Additionally, holders have the rights to commercially utilize their Bored Ape NFTs through the provided IP. These features make Bored Apes stand out compared to other NFTs.

These characteristics appear to have driven Yuga Labs' complete sell-out of virtual land amid a somewhat declining atmosphere in other metaverse and NFT transactions. Interest in NFTs has been subdued this year. The world's largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, recorded its highest monthly sales in January but has seen poor performance from February to April. Virtual land transactions have also declined; on the metaverse platform Decentraland, the number of transactions in the past 30 days dropped about 38% compared to the previous period. The number of Decentraland users also decreased by 16% during the same period.

Meanwhile, this virtual land sale also impacted the Ethereum network. As demand for purchasing Ethereum-based NFTs like Otherdeeds and ApeCoin surged, transaction fees applied to the Ethereum network soared. Yuga Labs issued an official apology after confusion arose among users due to the spike in Ethereum network transaction fees.