What is Mutant Ape Yacht Club?

Summary of Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs

Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) is an extension of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection.
The rarity of the Mutant Apes, the collection’s exclusive community access and unique membership perks have made MAYC a popular NFT collection.
With its active community, ambitious roadmap, strong team and growing list of partnerships, MAYC may continue to accrue value over time.

Two Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs and text "What is Mutant Ape Yacht Club?"

Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), a non-fungible token (NFT) offshoot collection of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection, is comprised of 20,000 unique Mutant Ape digital art images.

Half of the collection was sold in a public auction, while the rest were created by existing BAYC NFT holders who “exposed” their Bored Ape to a “vial” of airdropped “Mutant Serum.”

Each Mutant Ape created from an existing Bored Ape shares the original’s traits, but with mutated variations.

Mutant Ape Yacht Club was among the first NFT collections to reward an existing community of holders with a free and entirely new NFT.

Who created Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs?

Yuga Labs, the team behind the widely acclaimed and successful Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, created the Mutant Ape Yacht Club collection.

The Yuga Labs team consists of four pseudonymous friends: Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup and No Sass.

The team launched Mutant Ape Yacht Club on August 28, 2021, using a Dutch auction system where the price was gradually lowered from an initial price of 3 ETH, alongside an airdrop of Mutant Serum to existing BAYC holders. The public sale was a stealth drop and the precise launch time was not widely communicated in advance.

What makes Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs unique?

After selling out, BAYC quickly became one of the most prominent and popular NFT collections. Yuga Labs largely attributed the success of the collection to the highly engaged community that formed around it.

As a way to show their appreciation for their community, the Yuga Labs team delivered on the first phase of their project roadmap with the launch of MAYC, a new collection inspired by, and in part derived from, the BAYC collection.

While MAYC was primarily a reward for existing BAYC holders, the project also aimed to welcome newcomers into the established BAYC community.

The first 10,000 Mutant Apes sold raised $96 million within an hour of their launch. The remaining 10,000 Mutants were created from ‘Mutant Serums,’ airdropped to existing BAYC holders.

Serums are used in combination with an existing Bored Ape NFT and come in three different levels of scarcity:

M1
M2
M3 (the rarest)

There are 7,500 M1 serums, 2,492 M2 serums and only 8 M3 serums. Once the public sale of the first 10,000 MAYC NFTs concluded, BAYC holders were able to mint Mutant Apes for free (plus a gas fee) by exposing their Bored Ape to a vial of Serum by way of a smart contract.

Any Bored Ape can be exposed to an M1, M2 or M3 Serum vial once. The resulting Mutant Ape retains the core attributes of the original Bored Ape, but with uniquely mutated variations.

Applying a Serum to a Bored Ape visually mutates the Ape’s attributes in a variety of ways, from dripping skin and protruding neck growths to deformed teeth and bulging eyes. Other unique attributes may include a torn shirt, green slime pouring from the face or a creature worn as a hat.

All Serum ‘vials’ can only be exposed to a Bored Ape once and are burned upon use. The holder’s original Bored Ape is not altered or affected in any way during the mutation process that creates the Mutant Ape.

Why buy Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs?

There are several reasons why MAYC may be a worthy addition to your collection of NFTs:

Multiple ways to accrue value: Association with the Bored Ape Yacht Club, an exclusive and strong community, exclusive perks and the collection's rarity all have potential to drive demand and price appreciation.
A large and active community: Having an established private community helps make MAYC NFTs sought after by individuals looking to join an exclusive social group.
A clear project roadmap: The team has been transparent about the milestones and dates on their Roadmap 1.0. They have followed through on all deliverables and have already released a Roadmap 2.0 with key milestones.
A strong and reliable team: The team behind MAYC is the same team that launched BAYC. Having a solid and experienced team improves the odds of the project succeeding.
Partnerships may spur mass adoption: BAYC and MAYC are already household names in the NFT space. New partnerships with Animoca Brands and others may inspire further adoption across the world.

What makes Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs valuable?

MAYC’s value is derived from its active and engaged community, exclusive membership perks and the collection's rarity.

A strong community

The existing status and brand reputation of the BAYC ecosystem influences MAYC’s value.

Unlike NFT projects that are new to the market, newcomers investing in MAYC NFTs get instant access to an already formed, tight-knit and highly engaged community. The BAYC team has highlighted how vital its members are, attributing the collection’s success to the creative and helpful community.

Exclusive membership perks

Being part of an exclusive social club also comes with access to perks like:

Member-exclusive merchandise, such as limited edition clothing.
Access to a Discord forum where members engage with the community, receive updates and get sneak peeks at future plans.
Early access to other new perks. For example, a treasure hunt on the Roadmap 1.0 rewarded members with prizes such as new NFTs and ApeCoin tokens.

Future perks, such as the ability to earn tokens through BAYC's play-to-earn blockchain game, are currently in the works.

The rarity of the collection

Some Mutant Apes are more valuable than others based on their unique traits.

Mutant Serums, in turn, have a finite supply of 10,000 and can only be used once before they disappear, making them even more sought after. M3 serums are much rarer and more valuable than M1 and M2 serums.

Rarity is one of the main reasons that the CEO of blockchain startup Chain, Deepak Thapliyal, reportedly bought an M3 serum for close to $6 million.