I love
@BoredApeYC and most of the people I’ve met through this journey — from Lisbon, to Vegas, to IRL meetups in Mexico City.
I’m not what many would call an “OG Ape.” I simply didn’t know about BAYC early enough, and when I did, the floor was out of budget.
But I’ve been around long enough to care deeply about where the club is going. I’ve been in spaces for years, built on
@ApeChainHUB , built around
@OthersideMeta , and connected IRL with both OGs and newer Apes.
I also believe that no matter how long someone has held an Ape, they should still have a voice in this community and should be heard, always.
I hear Figge’s point about focusing on increasing the holder base, and I think that is the right conversation. But it also makes me wonder: what does BAYC mean today, and what is the clear promise for someone joining now?
For me, BAYC was always the dream: a piece of digital history, a community, status, mystery, access, and the feeling of being part of something bigger.
But lately, a few things have been hard to ignore. 💔
Limited drops are cool, but many have turned into a race to buy whatever you can and flip it on secondary, especially now with the new P2P market. That leaves a lot of real, loving Apes without the merch they actually wanted.
VIP tickets, celebrity events, festivals, and special access are amazing — but how do we make them feel fair? There are roughly 5,599 BAYC holders, 12,139 MAYC holders, and around 15.4k–15.7k unique BAYC/MAYC ecosystem holders when you account for overlap.
At that scale, transparency matters.
Snoop Dogg´s event came and went. Arsham Voyager WL came and went. For many holders, there was little clarity on how those raffles worked. I understand keeping some mystery, but if access is one of the main benefits of the club, the system should feel understandable.
Now we hear that OG Apes, hold time, BAYC, MAYC, and BAKC may all get different raffle weights. I get the idea: collectors collect, and holding should matter.
But what is the real goal of this system?
If the focus is growing the holder base, shouldn’t the strongest incentives be around creating new value for joining the club today?
OGs absolutely deserve respect and rewards. No debate. But OG Apes already received massive upside through ApeCoin, MAYC, BAKC, Otherdeeds, Kodas, and years of opportunity.
So the question becomes: what is the new upside for the next wave of Apes?
Because right now, a newcomer has to ask:
What is the real difference between owning a BAYC, a MAYC, or a Koda?
Why pay $15k for an Ape if many benefits can be accessed through a much cheaper asset?
Is the value personal brand? I know highly respected people in the ecosystem who only hold a Mutant.
Is it status? Status used to be tied to a much higher floor and cultural momentum. Today, the perception is different.
Is it networking? You can attend ApeFest, go IRL, or even work your way into circles with delegated access.
Is it gaming? If Otherside is the focus, Kodas seem like one of the strongest ecosystem assets at a much lower entry point.
Staking is over, and now “soft-staking” sounds like we need to hold assets longer to have better odds at raffles.
But what happens if someone moves assets for security reasons?
What about collectors who like rotating Apes, trading into different looks, or owning different BAYCs over time just for the fun of collecting?
Do we want to reward collectors, or accidentally punish active collectors?
And again, where is the true value for newcomers? 🤔
Is it ApeFest? Best event I’ve ever been to, no question. But you can attend as someone’s 1 or with a MAYC.
Is it the Clubhouse? Amazing for people near Miami, but if you live outside the US, the value is less direct.
Could Apes eventually rent access to local people who want in? Maybe that creates real yield for holders.
But then we also have to compare it to actual IRL clubs. Soho House Pool House Miami is around $3,750/year. So where does BAYC’s real USD membership value sit?
Maybe BAYC should not be valued against traditional IRL clubs at all. But then we need to define what it is valued against.
And as
@waleswoosh ,
@CryptoGorilla and others have questioned: will holders ever have equity or more aligned incentives in the brand?
Where is that line between being a consumer, a member, a collector, and a stakeholder?
Also, where is the line between BAYC and MAYC?
If everything is basically the same, why is the floor so different? As a BAYC holder, I sometimes wonder: should I just own 12 or 14 Mutants instead? More assets, more tickets, more access points. From a purely practical perspective, it is not an irrational question.
I say all this with love for the club.
Reward OGs. Reward conviction. Reward collectors.
But please also make the value of becoming a new Ape clear.
What are the new incentives for newcomers or non-OG holders?
Because if that answer is not clear to the current 15k-ish ecosystem holders, how will it be clear to the next wave of people we want to bring in?
Are we segregating OG apes from 2 yearish apes, 1 yearish apes, 1 week apes?
Sustainable value is hard. New value is even harder. I have nothing but respect for the team trying. 🙌
But this is the question many of us have been thinking about for months.
Would love to hear some thoughts
@mfigge , would also love to hear your thoughts
@AdamWeitsman, and
@jbondwagon im sure you have some thoughts on this
Never leaving the club btw 😍