–
Yuha Labs, the maker of the crypto tokens Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC), sold $320 million worth of virtual land on Saturday. It was the largest sale of its kind ever. The ethereum blockchain, the second largest in the crypto universe after bitcoin, saw transaction costs rise spectacularly.
–
The BAYC crypto tokens are non-fungible tokens (NFTs), unique codes on a blockchain that refer to digital objects, in this case virtual land. The codes act as property titles and are traded on the blockchain, a global network of computers that keeps track of transactions.
–
The BAYC transactions took place in the cryptocurrency ApeCoin, whose value had risen last week ahead of the land sale. The sale involved 55,000 lots in Otherside, a metaverse under construction and the latest creation of the Bored Ape brand. Otherside is a game environment in which it is possible to buy virtual plots of land. Events can be organized or games installed on that land.
–
–
Each lot cost around $5,800, calculated at the $19 rate the ApeCoin had on Saturday. The lots are represented by NFTs called Otherdeeds. They could only be bought with ApeCoin.
–
When using the blockchain ethereum, the blockchain on which the transactions are recorded, ‘gas fees’ or transaction costs must be paid. Due to the busy activity they rose to about 2 ether. That’s about $6,000 converted. That was more than the price of the property title itself.
–
Yuga Labs apologized on Twitter, suggesting it would launch a separate ApeCoin blockchain. The high gas fees were also a problem for many other applications that use ethereum.
–
voting rights
The ApeCoins that raised the sale will not be put into circulation for a year. Major owners of the coin are venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz and Animoca Brands. The latter company, which also operates the virtual blockchain world The Sandbox, indicated that it would also buy land from Yuga Labs.
–
Yuga Labs hopes that ApeCoin will be used in all kinds of ‘web3 apps’. Web3 stands for a decentralized organization, in which applications are not in the hands of traditional companies but of the holders of crypto tokens. Critics note that in practice decentralized apps and virtual worlds are often controlled by a limited number of companies.
–
The ApeCoins that raised the sale will not be put into circulation for a year.
–
The owners of the ApeCoin can use the coin to access events, services, virtual goods and games. The token grants voting rights in the ApeCoin DAO, a decentralized organization whose members can make decisions and make proposals. Leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has announced it will accept ApeCoin.
–
The virtual world Otherside is not yet open. The specialized company Improbable helps with the construction of that environment.
–
–
/data/photo/2020/06/21/5eef4470606d2.jpg "Odd Even on the Bogor Peak Route Valid Today")
