Following this week’s ApeCoin launch, the board members behind the ApeCoin DAO shared their vision and thoughts about the new buzzing cryptocurrency.
On March 17, ApeCoin DAO hosted a Twitter Spaces with its board members to share more insight on what’s to come of ApeCoin, the new crypto token supported by the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT community.
Farokh, the founder of Web3 media platform Rug Radio, moderated the discussion.
Nearly 43,000 people tuned into the chat Thursday evening. The board members dove into all things ApeCoin, from the crypto airdropping process to how the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) fits into the broader Web3 landscape.
Farokh might have described the Bored Ape community’s reaction best when he said of the first ApeCoin drop, “We all freaked out.” ApeCoin’s total supply is fixed at one billion tokens, and 62% of that is allotted to the ApeCoin community. Yesterday morning, 15% of the ApeCoin community supply became available to Bored Ape and Mutant Ape NFT holders via crypto airdrops.
As a reminder, here’s who sits on the inaugural ApeCoin DAO board:
- Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and founder of Seven Seven Six
- Amy Wu, head of ventures and gaming at FTX
- Dean Steinbeck, president and general counsel at Horizen Labs
- Maaria Bajwa, principal at Sound Ventures
- Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands
Passion for Crypto
Before hopping into the nitty-gritty, each board member discussed why they are so passionate about the crypto industry and, more importantly, why they are investing in BAYC. This initial ApeCoin DAO board will serve a six-month term before the DAO’s community votes on who should have a seat next.
“Seventeen years ago, I started Reddit, and I’ve watched these amazing communities get started,” Ohanian said on the panel. “What I’ve watched in the last two years and what’s really just crypto-pilled me is the fact that all of that great energy of disparate, online communities that I saw flourish on Reddit now has this extra layer of ownership, which is so powerful.
Ohanian bought his first Bored Ape last summer, and after connecting with BAYC’s communities on Twitter and Discord, he said the vibe reminded him of Reddit’s growth. Still, he sees the crypto industry’s potential as something the world has never seen before. This inspiration prompted him to join the Apecoin DAO board.
Other board members shared similar feelings of inspiration and optimism regarding what’s possible now and in the future.
“When I started going deeper into crypto, something really spoke to me,” Bajwa said. “The idea of distributed, trustless systems that are faster, better, more transparent, [and] more efficient than any of our existing systems today [gave me] that ‘aha’ moment, and I kinda started digging deeper in this space.”
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“Internet Culture Drives Culture”
NFTs, the metaverse, and blockchain are the hottest topics on the internet right now, and sometimes the lines between them blur a bit, helping new types of communities to form organically. Siu said ApeCoin is integral to expanding this emerging culture to incorporate more industries, including gaming and media.
As Ohanian put it: “Internet culture drives culture. Period.” And that’s never been more true in this decentralized, distributed era of ours.
Wu said that she sees a great responsibility in playing a part and supporting the expansion of Web3, which excites her most about her seat on ApeCoin’s DAO board, while Bajwa is bullish about the experiences that are unlocked when Web3 enables community members to become the stewards of the worlds they create.
In serving on ApeCoin’s DAO board, Bajwa hopes to catalyze the growth and adoption of the DAO ecosystem and show how efficiently these networks can run when fostered the right way.
“There are DAO models that work, and there are DAO models that haven’t worked in the past,” Bajwa said. “What’s most exciting about the Bored Ape community is that this is the first community I’ve felt is so determined and involved and really been an important part of building out what this entire brand has become today.”
Bringing ApeCoin to life
Yuga Labs, the company behind BAYC, adopted ApeCoin as the official token of the NFT project’s ecosystem. Steinback shared that the company will continue to be an essential member of the growing ApeCoin community. Still, including none of Yuga Labs’ founders on the ApeCoin DAO board was an intentional decision from the jump.
“There is a very strong desire to make it clear that the ecosystem is now in the hands of the community itself,” Steinback said.
As a token of its appreciation, Yuga Labs gifted the ApeCoin DAO a 1-of-1 NFT that features a blue version of the Bored Ape Yacht Club logo. Ohanian said the logo is a “collectively owned IP” and the decision as to what’s to be done with it rests in the community’s hands. This is the type of power and access that the ApeCoin DAO wants to continue to cultivate.
“Think of all the interesting stuff you’ve already seen happen across different projects,” Ohanian said. “It’s up to the community to figure out what to do with this IP. Does it end up merch? Does it end up in a co-brand with Supreme? I’m trying my best. That’s the fun part.”
Indeed, the community itself runs the whole show. But Steinback made sure to identify some of the DAO’s “launch contributors” as well, which the organization defines as “the companies and people that helped make this project a reality.” Some of those companies include Horizon Labs and Animoca Brands.
These companies helped construct the DAO and design the token and its utility; 14% percent of ApeCoin’s total supply will be distributed to these launch contributors.
ApeCoin Allocation
Boardroom already reported that the only way to gain membership into the ApeCoin DAO is by getting your hands on some ApeCoin. Bored Ape and Mutant Ape NFT holders got the first taste of that yesterday, and Steinback explained how the DAO approached ApeCoin allocations via crypto airdrops.
“The ratio between Bored Apes and Mutant Apes was determined by looking at the volume adjusted 30-day average floor price of each collection just before the launch,” Steinback explained. “It’s just the math of that 30-day average without any bias or prejudice. This method ensured the token claim was fairly distributed and wouldn’t distort the market prices of each collection in relation to each other.”
Steinback said using the average helped manage anyone trying to manipulate prices. Bajwa said the airdrop was an integral part of this process due to it being linked to the NFT itself instead of a snapshot, enabling a legitimately decentralized voting system. She said she hadn’t seen that model before — one that additionally helps fight against attempts to game the system and instead rewards long-term holders.
“Those are the people we want to build the ecosystem with,” Bajwa said.
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