The Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) was created by Yuga Labs, the same team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). The MAYC is an extension of the BAYC collection, and holders of BAYC NFTs were able to create a Mutant Ape by "exposing" their Bored Ape to an airdropped vial of Mutant Serum. MAYC NFTs share many of the same visual characteristics as BAYC NFTs but have a mutant twist. Rarity traits for Mutant Apes include fur, facial expressions, and accessories.[1]
Founders:
Yuga Labs, the team behind the BAYC collection, created MAYC.[1] The Yuga Labs team was started by four friends, who go by the pseudonyms Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and No Sass and Seneca.[2]
Greg Solano, aka Gargamel, is a Miami-based writer and editor with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Virginia. He co-authored a book about the World of Warcraft and states that he has been interested in cryptocurrency since 2017.[3][4]
Wylie Aronow, aka Gordon Goner, is a Miami native. He shares Solano's interest in literature and cryptocurrency.[3][4]
Kerem, aka Emperor Tomato Ketchup, is an engineer who graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in computer science.[4]
Zeshan, aka No Sass, is a computer science graduate from the University of Virginia.[4]
Seneca is the lead artist behind the BAYC and MAYC collections.[5]
Launch:
MAYC was launched on August 28, 2021, through a Dutch auction system. The starting price was 3 ETH and was scheduled to decrease by 0.01 ETH every hour for the next nine hours. However, the auction ended after one hour, when all 10,000 Mutant Apes were minted at a final price of 2.79 ETH.[6]
Bored Ape Yacht Club holders were airdropped a vial of Mutant Serum, which could be used to mutate their BAYC NFT into a MAYC NFT. The public sale was a stealth drop, meaning the precise launch time was not widely communicated.[1]
Each NFT represents ownership of a specific Mutant Ape and provides access to various benefits and privileges within the MAYC community.[1]
ApeCoin is an ERC-20 utility and governance token used to govern the MAYC ecosystem and grants members access to services within and outside the ecosystem. Holders were allocated 2,042 APE tokens per MAYC NFT held when ApeCoin was distributed in March 2022.[7][8]
Minting Structure:
The MAYC minting structure allocated 10,000 Mutant Serums to BAYC owners via an airdrop. The other 10,000 Mutant Serums were put up for auction to the public. When a Bored Ape is combined with Mutant Serum, the Bored Ape mutates into a new Mutant Ape NFT (the original Bored Ape NFT is preserved). The resulting Mutant Ape retains the core attributes of the original Bored Ape, such as its facial features and body type. It will also possess various visual mutations, such as changes in skin color, hairstyle, and accessories. Each Mutant Serum can only be used once and is burned after application.[9]
