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Alright, folks, grab your popcorn because this one’s a doozy. Picture this: back in January, when the NFT world was on life support, an anonymous trader decided to go all-in and snatched up over 100 Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs.
But hold your applause. In the rollercoaster world of crypto—and especially NFTs—things can always go south.
Bored Apes Sliding Down
Fast forward a few months, and the floor price of Bored Apes has plunged even deeper, leaving our daring trader nearly $2 million in the red. This pricey misadventure was spotlighted by the pseudonymous crypto sleuth, Cirrus, over the weekend.
In a dramatic sweep throughout mid-January, this trader hit the popular NFT marketplace Blur and vacuumed up 111 of the cheapest Bored Apes—what the cool kids call “sweeping the floor.” Not stopping there, they scooped up another 12 in the following months. Each Ape was bought for between 22 and 25 Ethereum (ETH), translating to about $56,000 per NFT on average.
Now, let’s rewind a bit. It’s easy to see why our trader thought this was a steal. Remember the glory days? Back in early 2022, Bored Apes were the toast of the town, flaunted by celebs, talk show hosts, and even your local smoothie shop. The floor price at one point? A whopping $429,000. Individual Apes were selling for millions.
But then came the great crypto winter of 2022, which knocked BAYC off its pedestal. While some OG NFT collections, like CryptoPunks, have managed to stay afloat with sales exceeding $12 million each, Bored Apes have been in free fall.
BAYC Price Floor
As of now, the floor price for BAYC is chilling around 13 ETH, or $41,000, per CoinGecko. That gutsy buy-in? It’s racked up over $1.85 million in unrealized losses for our anonymous trader. They’ve offloaded a few Apes but still clutch onto 107 of them.
Whether holding onto these digital primates will pay off remains a mystery. Since their descent began in May 2022—coinciding with the crypto market crash after UST and LUNA’s epic meltdown—Bored Apes have yet to claw back any significant value.
The Rise of Bored Ape Yacht Club
To fully grasp the gravity of this trader’s loss, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. The Bored Ape Yacht Club was launched in April 2021 by Yuga Labs, quickly capturing the imagination of the NFT community with its unique, hand-drawn primate avatars. Initially, 10,000 Bored Apes were minted, each with its own distinct combination of traits and accessories.
The project stood out not just for its art but for the perks it offered holders. Owning a Bored Ape meant more than just having a cool profile picture—it was a ticket to an exclusive club with access to members-only benefits, like virtual meetups, real-world events, and additional NFT drops. This sense of exclusivity and community appeal turned BAYC into more than just an NFT collection; it became a cultural movement.
As celebrities like Stephen Curry, Jimmy Fallon, and Eminem joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club, flaunting their Apes on social media and TV shows, the collection’s popularity skyrocketed. Prices surged, and the Bored Apes became the ultimate status symbol in the crypto space, with some NFTs selling for millions of dollars.
However, the NFT market is notoriously volatile, and BAYC’s meteoric rise was always susceptible to a dramatic downturn. The onset of the crypto bear market in 2022 hit hard, and BAYC was no exception. Despite the project’s continued efforts to innovate and provide value to its community, the broader market conditions have kept prices suppressed.
So here we are, with an anonymous trader holding onto a sizable chunk of Bored Apes, hoping for a reversal in fortunes. Whether BAYC will bounce back to its former glory or continue to wade through choppy waters remains to be seen. For now, the tale of the Bored Ape trader serves as a cautionary reminder of the high stakes and wild rides that define the world of NFTs.
Featured image by K. Mitch Hodge
