Key Takeaways
A BAYC derivative has seen its volume explode in the last two days following a viral YouTube video claiming the original collection is racist.
YouTube influencer Phillion called on BAYC holders to burn their NFTs and buy new, non-racist RR/BAYC ones instead.
RR/BAYC is a collection spun up by Internet artist Ryder Ripps, who had previously created CryptoPhunks.
Share this article
RR/BAYC, an NFT collection seeking to “recontextualize” the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series without imagery perceived by some as offensive, saw its trading volume explode soar after the release of an hour-long video by YouTube influencer Phillion criticizing the original collection.
“Recontextualizing” Bored Apes
A BAYC derivative is seeing its trading volume explode following a viral YouTube video.
The NFT collection, entitled RR/BAYC, is a derivative of the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). Created by internet artist Ryder Ripps, RR/BAYC saw its trading volume shoot up from 3.6 ETH on June 19 to 2,861 ETH on June 21 on OpenSea.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is the most popular NFT project of all time. Widely adopted by celebrities including Paris Hilton, Stephen Curry, and Jimmy Fallon, the cheapest NFTs of the collection reached an all-time high of 153.7 ETH ($420,430) on May 1.
The sudden interest in the derivative collection may be due to the release of an hour-long video entitled “BORED APE NAZI CLUB” in which YouTube influencer Phillion criticizes BAYC founders Gargamel and Gordon Goner for “trolling” people into buying NFTs which according to him contain secret Nazi, racist and colonial imagery.
The video ends with Phillion encouraging BAYC holders to “burn” their NFTs to protest against Nazism and to instead buy from the RR/BAYC collection, which Ripps claims to have put together to provide a non-racist and “recontextualized” alternative to the original BAYC images. The video had more than 440,000 views at the time of writing.
Phillion’s accusations were based on a January essay by Ripps. Ripps had previously hosted a Twitter space claiming the BAYC collection was racist; he is also the artist behind CryptoPhunks, a derivative of the CryptoPunks in which the historic NFTs are flipped (they look to the left instead of to the right).
RR/BAYC seems to contain the exact same art as BAYC, except for the fact that the collection only has 6,900 items (instead of 10,000). At the time of writing, its floor price is at 0.55 ETH.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
Share this article
The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
See full terms and conditions.
