There isn't a company that operates AN that doesn't want to be Disney.
How much money does Disney make by creating one IP image after another? According to statistics, in the world's top ten most profitable IP in 2021, Disney alone accounts for half, and the 5 IPs (Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse and his friends, Star Wars, Disney Princess and Marvel Cinematic Universe) are worth a total of $311 billion.
With IP at its core, Disney has established a closed-loop and comprehensive approach to monetization that covers all aspects that consumers can access, including theme parks, movie production, streaming, retail... Once Disney takes over, the individually created avatars will become horsepowered money printing machines, generating massive revenue at a rate that other companies envy.
The birth and prosperity of Disney is inseparable from the establishment of the modern copyright system, and the nickname "the most powerful legal department on the planet" is enough to illustrate the importance of the legal system to maintain Disney's prosperity. When the Web3 era arrives, the permissionless decentralized on-chain world, with the help of new technologies and organizational forms such as NFT, ERC20, DAO, etc., can the indigenous people of the on-chain world replicate a decentralized Disney, or even surpass Disney?
On March 17, the price of BAYC flooring exceeded 100 ETH. This means that the price of a "monkey head" is already around $300,000. Some see the hype and absurdity, while others see the team's IP operational prowess. The BAYC team is valued at $5 billion, a long way from Disney's $250 billion market cap, but the less than a year-old project has already given us a glimpse into the possibilities of Disney's Web3 version.
Mickey Mouse with boring apes
In 1923, Walt Disney sold his camera with the unfinished cartoon "Alice" movie movie to buy a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, the year he and his brother Roy Disney founded Disney Brothers Studios, and five years later in the car to Hollywood created the prototype of the mouse cartoon image Mortimer, renamed Mickey at his wife's suggestion, and since then, this legendary cartoon mouse has inspired generations of Disney characters.
Seneca, a Chinese illustrator who lives in New York, one of the most commonly influenced disneys in her generation, deliberately left a corner of her Manhattan apartment with a choice of brushes and paper, and was her own "studio," a cluttered studio in addition to the pile of watercolor paintings scattered across the floor, the game "Alice: In addition, Disney brought Return of Madness" to the screen 100 years ago, and Senega began his journey as an illustrator, the "rabbit hole." )。
Her wild imagination led Senegga to become the chief illustrator of Yuuga Labs, a fantasy world inhabited by a group of weary apes called the Boring Ape Yacht Club, which uses Web3 by default, like Mickey Mouse whistling and steamboats, occupying the childhood of everyone in the world.
Paradise and the universe
Every girl dreams of becoming a princess, and Disney gives them the means to make that dream come true. As soon as you walk in, you are the princess.
Mickey's first attempt to open Disneyland, the next few decades Donald Duck, Snow White, Dumbo, Iron Man, must join this world, stationery, daily necessities, clothing, you can access all the life is imprinted in Disney's design, these memories of the characters of Heaven lit fireworks today. They swear to defend every image to the death, but these concepts are clearly not popular in the Web3 world.
People had expected BAYC to be more open, and it was.
"Bayc membership costs the same for everyone," the BAYC team tweeted before the launch. With fair distribution and full authorization from owners, namely personal avatars and club memberships, the development of the community has become a spontaneous and passionate action of each member – as long as your personal avatar is an ape, then other "apes" will pay attention to you.
At that time, people wore their real apes on clothes, mobile phone cases, and even masks. BAYC gave them "your neighbor" or "you" rather than childhood idols they couldn't touch through the screen.
These Web3 youngsters are much crazier than expected, they are doodling in the toilet and partying offline. The strength of their condensation is no weaker than that of Mickey Mouse, which has been precipitating for a hundred years. "Apes" soon had their own amusement park, not only BAKC by the official air drop, but also MAYC by the use of potions mutant. These newly added elements are far from forming the current "ape-like" universe. With the opening up of commercial copyrights, more and more non-functional works began a second creation with boring apes as the core. The "zoo" fever of the entire non-functional product market is the most powerful driver.
He kept telling us: You don't have to envy the princess anymore to get to heaven, heaven is where you are.
Star Wars vs Punk
In 2012, Disney began expanding, acquiring Lucasfilm, founded by George Lucas, for $4.05 billion. Most Chinese readers may not be familiar with the studio, but you must know its IP: the world-famous Star Wars.
Due to cultural differences, Star Wars may just be a "well-known IP address" for Chinese audiences. For American audiences, it's a household name, a "classic" that has been passed down from generation to generation over the past 35 years. The value of Star Wars has long been not limited to movies, movies, toys, games, and derivatives, but also a milestone in the comprehensive operation of science fiction-themed IP.
Let's modify this story a bit and tell it again in the world of non-functional testing. What do you think?
A classic, long-established IP, a strong IP operator, a powerful combination of two well-known companies. Does this sound like BAYC and Crypto punk?
On March 12, YUGA Labs, the parent company of BAYC, announced the acquisition of the CryptoPunks and Meebits NFT series developed by Larva Labs. Yuga Labs plans to provide the holder with full commercial rights to both NFT series. Yuga Labs is committed to bringing additional utilities to the CryptoPunks and Meebits families and will fully listen to the community before deciding on our next steps.
CryptoPunks, the "antique" NFT, if the popularity of the Web3 world is well known, even repeatedly breaks the cycle, and its impact once spilled over to the Web2 world. Yuga Labs' acquisition of CryptoPunks is similar to Disney's acquisition of Star Wars.
Recently, Larva Labs' various community-insensitive practices have sparked controversy among netizens. But CryptoPunks are hard to shake — after all, CryptoPunks have historical value that no project can replace. Yuga Labs is undoubtedly trusted by the community.
A classic IP with a long history, a controversial team, a rising star. For many, Yuga Labs' acquisition of CryptoPunks is undoubtedly one of the best outcomes.
As Lucasfilm's CEO said of the Star Wars acquisition, "One of my greatest pleasures over the last 35 years has been watching Star Wars pass from generation to generation. It's time for me to hand over Star Wars to a new generation of filmmakers. Now, CryptoPunks has also ushered in his moment of succession.
When a good IP meets a Yuuga Labs team that is good at "doing things", can Yuga's ability to operate ip bring power to CryptoPunks? At its best, perhaps as Disney did after acquiring Star Wars: "The best content mix combined with Disney's unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustainable growth and drive significant long-term value."
Web2 vs. Web3
That's how the Disney World story ends. But Yuga Labs' ambitions are far from simple.
In October 2021, most older NFT projects began to stagnate in the face of continued impact from fresh blood. Airdropping non-mandatory currencies does not seem to solve this urgent problem, and issuing tokens seems to be the only straw. CoolCat, Pudgy, groupiies, DeadHeads, Animetas and others have all begun to re-plan their roadmaps. Content is basically the core of issuing tokens and integrating into the Defi gameplay. Some companies can guarantee earnings. There are open P2E games.
When everyone was expecting BAYC to give a satisfactory answer, they poured cold water on everyone.
"When to issue tokens is a common question we are asked in the community. First of all, uploading ERC-20 Token is very easy and only takes a few minutes to complete. But how to build a legitimate token and take responsibility for it to make it sustainable is the most difficult thing. Not to mention how to use and manage tokens, we need to bring benefits to BAYC's community members while also bringing BAYC's economy into a broader perspective. This is what we need to do for our community members and the wider non-functional language community. ”
Three months later, the BAYC series surpassed CryptoPunks at the base price, officially becoming the largest leader in the NFT market.
Five months later, 5 days after Yuga Labs announced its acquisition of Crypto Punks and Meebits, ApeCoin was born.
On March 17, BAYC's parent company, Yuga Labs, officially announced the launch of ApeCoin, an APECoin for the APE ecosystem to support the construction of decentralized communities.
With governance, unified spending, ecosystem access and incentives, ApeCoin supplies a total of 1 billion coins, of which 62% belong to the Ecosystem Fund (150 million will be airdropped to BAYC/MAYC NFT holders) and 16% to Yuga Labs and the charities it supports. 14% to project contributors and 8% to the four project co-founders.
The airdrop will start at 8:30 a.m. on March 17. The airdrop rules show that holders of bored Ape NFTs alone can receive 10,094 tokens; Those who only own mutant apes get 2042 tokens; Holding Bored Ape and Kennel Club at the same time can earn 10,950 tokens; Owning both Mutant Ape and Kennel Club allows you to earn 2898 tokens.
In addition, Yuga Labs established the Ape Foundation. According to the statement, the ownership of ApeCoin belongs to apeCoin DAO, and the Ape Foundation is only the "steward" of ApeCoin. ApeCoin DAO members can vote on the governance and use of ecosystem funds, and holding ApeCoin is the only requirement for ApeCoin DAO members.
At this point, Yuga Labs, which has been working on building the community, has finally completed the most important part of building web3 maps. Some say Yoga Labs has chosen the safest path to become the Disney of the Web3 era. Some say bayc has opened up the current market woes and opened up a new path. In any case, it is undeniable that a great world is about to emerge that will change existing rules and create a new order.
end
In the era of space exploration, humans went into space for the first time and landed on the moon. Imagination grows freely in boundless space, and spatial themes become the main themes of literary works. Faced with a vast market space, Lucas created classic IP such as Star Wars, which has continued to develop in the field of screens, games and spin-offs for more than 40 years. A good IP can incubate its own culture, community, and even circle. Although the era of space exploration is over, the influence of Star Wars has not diminished.
And when we are in the historical window period when encryption technology has profoundly changed human society, will the original IP of the encrypted world be like "Star Wars" to breed its own cultural attributes? With top IPs like BAYC and Cryptohunks, Yuga Labs is at least becoming the Disney of Web3. And how to make better use of these high-value IP, the wisdom of the Yuga team has been tested.