ApeCoin ape

ApeCoin (APE) is an ERC-20 governance and utility token used to empower a decentralised community building a metaverse called ‘the Otherside’.

The APE fungible token was launched by Yuga Labs and is an extension to the wildly successful NFT collection, the ‘Bored Ape Yacht Club’. When incorporating Yuga Labs ownership rights, the entire ApeCoin Ecosystem now incorporates multiple top NFT collections and one fungible token:

• CryptoPunks (IP owned by Yuga Labs)
• Meebits (IP owned by Yuga Labs)
• Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)
• Mutant Ape Yach Club (MAYC)
• Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC)
• $APE

The private company Yuga Labs are a Web3 creative lab and creators of BAYC. From a legal standpoint, they are acting as normal community members and token holders in relation to ApeCoin.

The APE Foundation is the steward of ApeCoin and facilitates decentralized and community-led governance. The Foundation consists of an administrative board, which exists solely to oversee the decisions of the ApeCoin DAO, as well as a third-party project management team in charge of ensuring ApeCoin DAO decisions are implemented. The Foundation has a 5-Ape Board of Directors, including Alexis Ohanian
(Co-founder of Reddit; GP Seven Seven Six), Amy Wu (Head of Ventures & Gaming at FTX), Maaria Bajwa
(Principal at Sound Ventures), Yat Siu (Co-founder & Chairman of Animoca Brands), Dean Steinbeck
(President & General Counsel at Horizen Labs). After an initial 6-month term, DAO members will vote annually to keep existing or appoint new Board members. The goal is for the Foundation to become more decentralised over time.

The ApeCoin DAO exists as the decentralised governance mechanism for managing a globally dispersed community and will make decisions regarding Ecosystem Fund allocations, governance rules, projects, partnerships, and more. ApeCoin DAO membership is open to all ApeCoin holders.

The ApeCoin token (APE) is an ERC-20 token with a 1 billion maximum supply that is permanently fixed. APE was announced on Mar. 17, 2022, with approximately 13.3% of the tokens in the initial circulating supply. It is a governance and utility token used within the APE ecosystem.

Based on the leaked pitch-deck of Yuga Labs the public learned a little about the potential utilities for the APE coin:

• Currency: To be the in-game currency inside their metaverse. 
• Governance: To be used as a governance token to vote on proposals and determine the direction of the metaverse.
• In-game: APE can be used to influence in-game decisions. For example, APE holders can direct or choose new stories, paths or adventures in new games in the ecosystem. 
• Value up to interpretation: Holders could have a range of uses entirely dependent on the community. 
• Community creations: The metaverse growth is largely up to the decentralised community who will be willing to invest time and energy rather than just money.

APE distribution is as follows: Ecosystem Fund (62%), Yuga Labs + Charity (16%), Launch Contributors (14%) and BAYC Founders (8%) with various. Within the Ecosystem Fund, 150M tokens were airdropped to NFT holders; Bored Ape only (10,094), Mutant Ape only (2,042), Bored Ape + Kennel Club (10,950), Mutant Ape + Kennel Club (2,898).

In a novel concept, Yuga Labs have turned BAKC NFTs into ‘Companion NFT’, stating; “BAKC NFTs are companion NFTs to BAYC and MAYC, meaning they don’t have utility on their own, only when paired with a BAYC or MAYC.”

APE holders manage the ApeCoin DAO. APE holders can vote on proposals or craft and introduce proposals to take actions that include allocating community treasury funds, making license exemptions, and promoting protocol development and adoption.

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