Token Linked to Bored Ape Yacht Club Launches

A hotly anticipated token tied to non-fungible token (NFT) project Bored Ape Yacht Club has been announced. The project’s official Twitter handle highlighted the “ApeCoin” drop late Wednesday.

An accompanying press release took great pains to distance ApeDAO’s token launch from the Bored Ape Yacht Club, presumably for legal reasons. Club-style NFTs with perks for long-term members can start to resemble investment contracts, which, in the U.S., are overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). NFTs, at least so far, are not.

Yuga Labs plans to “adopt ApeCoin as the primary token for all new products and services,” but press materials insist that ApeCoin is really only the product of a new organizational unit called ApeCoin DAO.

The token will be owned and operated by ApeCoin DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that gives token holders governance rights over the DAO’s “Ecosystem Fund.” Holding ApeCoin is the only membership requirement for the DAO, according to the Twitter thread.

Web 3 celebs including investor Alexis Ohanian have said they’d be on the council initially overseeing the token’s governance.

According to the ApeCoin Twitter account, 62% of the token’s total supply will be allocated to the ApeCoin community, with 15% being available to claim in an airdrop on March 17.

A trademark filing for the token indicates a plan for the DAO to sell physical merchandise as well as virtual goods, including jewelry, books, clothing and beverages.