Ape In! Sale Achieves $26.2 Million At Sotheby’s

The first dedicated and the most significant sale of Bored Ape Yacht Club collectibles ever offered for sale – achieved $26,228,000, marking the highest total for an NFT auction held at the auction house. Featuring two lots created by Yuga Labs, 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs sold for $24,393,000 while 101 Bored Ape Kennel Club NFTs brought $1,835,000. The online sale saw bidders from 8 different countries with a majority of them new to Sotheby’s. 

Each lot was comprised of 101 NFTs and the successful bidder of the 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club also received 6 additional NFTs, 3 M1 and 3 M2 rare Mutant serums, allowing them to generate a new “Mutant Ape” from one of the existing Apes in the collection, for a total of 107 NFTs.

Ape In! Sale Achieves $26.2 Million At Sotheby’s

Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s Co-Head of Digital Art, commented: “The Bored Ape Yacht Club project is one of the most exciting and creative NFT collectibles since the launch of CryptoPunks, and has become a major force in pop culture. Solidifying their importance, today’s extraordinary result is a defining moment for the NFT market and a testament to the enthusiasm and the strength of the close-knit BAYC community.”

Ape In! Sale Achieves $26.2 Million At Sotheby’s
An algorithmically-generated cartoon image of an ape, number 5731 in a set of 10,000 collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called the Bored Ape Yacht Club, made by the U.S.-based company Yuga Labs, in this digital image, 2021. Mandatory credit Courtesy Sotheby?s /via REUTERS

One of the fastest-growing NFT phenomenons, Bored Ape Yacht Club has generated hundreds of millions in total market volume since its debut in April across the original BAYC collectibles as well as its Bored Ape Kennel Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club collectibles. Notable owners include musician Jermaine Dupri, sports star Stephen Curry, and consumer brand AriZona Iced Tea. Together with CryptoPunks, BAYC represents a major trend where NFT art is community-driven, as buyers use their NFTs as social media avatars and access-only membership passes.

Ape In! Sale Achieves $26.2 Million At Sotheby’s
An algorithmically-generated cartoon of a dog, number 6371 in a set of 10,000 collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called the Bored Ape Kennel Club, made by the U.S.-based company Yuga Labs, in this digital image, 2021. Mandatory credit Courtesy Sotheby?s /via REUTERS
Sothebys

Sotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby’s has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection, artist, estate & foundation advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby’s also presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art Division, and three retail businesses: Sotheby’s Wine, Sotheby’s Diamonds, and Sotheby’s Home, the online marketplace for interior design.