THE $450m NFT METAVERSE BY BAYC

YugaLabs, the pioneers of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), is creating a Metaverse called 'Otherside' after purchasing leading Non-fungible token (NFT) collections, like Cryptopunks, and Meebits from Larva labs. The Metaverse so far has started strong with funding of up to $450m from contributors like Animoca Brands, Coinbase, and Moonpay… Learn more in the body of the article.


The BAYC founders have acquired Cryptopunks and Meebits NFT collections from the creators, Larva Labs in addition to their previous ownership of the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC). To form an MMORPG Metaverse which they're calling 'Otherside'.

The project is meant to be an interoperable world for gaming that connects the holders of the largest NFT collections in virtual space. Although a date has not been disclosed as to when it will be in operation, investors have begun to show interest.
In a tweet, the pioneers of the project gave their opinion of the NFT metaverse, stating that they believe NFTs come with a new era of composability and ownership that provides the opportunity to improve gaming experiences. NFTs make it so much easier to acquire assets and record data of those assets whether in the Metaverse or the physical world, and Yugalabs knows how to go about improving gaming with the provision of NFTs. On the other hand, YugaLabs has also launched a currency called ApeCoin to serve as the primary currency for the NFT Metaverse and all YugaLabs holdings.


Andreessen Marc, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, a major firm behind the funding of many web3 projects, like Coinbase, Opensea, and a host of others is also involved in the current $450m funding of the NFT metaverse. Marc who is a member of the board of directors of Meta expressed disbelief at the notion that Meta can be the future of the Metaverse seeing as people don't get involved and socialize in a world simply by zoom meetings and greetings.

He said; “There’s a dystopian future where Meta is this kind of dominant digital experience provider, and all of the money and control goes to that company.”

There is a chance that Yugalabs and other web3 companies will be the ones to globally kick-start the Metaverse dream through the development of the gaming industry with NFTs since not a lot of people believe Meta is the best instrument for the realization of the Metaverse dream because it does not present a proper gaming plan.

Greg Solano, a co-founder of Yugalabs also noted that humans only get acquainted when they have to rely on one another for survival, which is where the gaming world plays a major role, he said; "People won’t bond from spending time together in a shared virtual space with nothing going on. Instead, people bond from being in positions where they have to collaborate.

You only play with people and make friends because you’re getting your ass kicked, ''Basically, we don’t think deep social experience comes from essentially a Zoom chat and walking around saying ‘hi." He said.

YugaLabs is pushing forward with their plans of an NFT metaverse and went ahead to express appreciation for Matt Hall and John Watkinson, co-founders of Larva Labs, revealing that they admired the work they put into cryptopunks and felt honored to shepherd cryptopunks and Meebits brands into their NFT metaverse.

In the process of acquiring the NFT collection containing 423 Cryptopunks, and 1171 Meebits worth about $1billion, the BAYC creators gave leeway to the creators of the acquired NFTs to continue running Larva Labs and creating projects for the web3. The founders are not required to join YugaLabs and they retain the rights to keep the company running independently of BAYC. In the long run, the company plans to grant Cryptopunks and Meebits holders the same commercial rights that members of the BAYC, MAYC, and BAKC hold to further align these NFTs with the web3 values.

YugaLabs has seemed uninterested in pushing these collections into the club model like the BAYC but hope to retain them as a historic collection, with the club models being the center of the universe they create. They explained that the community would be involved in the planning stages and decisions because they believe that NFTs are about culture, so the community around them must collaborate for growth. The Metaverse potential founders disclosed their plans on their website.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

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The founders of BAYC are embarking on a very daring project which is bound to impact the gaming system massively by improving game experiences. The ability to own property makes a game more attractive and engaging for the players. The NFT metaverse Is an opportunity for NFT holders to create their preferred environment.



Author: Gate.io Observer: M. Olatunji
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