NFTs have achieved significant success in many domains, also thanks to marketplaces that offer numerous NFT collections. However, not all NFTs are designed for the same type of use and with the same target users. They were born as no more than digital art, but different projects started adding several utilities, making them more valuable by different means. For some NFT collections, owning the artwork is the price of admission to a certain community, having access to in-person events and experiences, exclusive discord channels, between other member benefits. These projects are becoming a sort of digital private members club.
How are NFT collections working like a members Club?
Take for example the first famous NFT project with these qualities, the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Well, one thing that you will note about it, apart from being super expensive, is that different celebrities are showing interest in buying it. The value of that artwork is increased by the community that they become a part of.
The Board Ape Yacht Club has only 10,000 NFTs meaning that only a specific group of people in the world can be a part of this NFT collection. To take things on to the next level, these projects offer several other benefits in the form of utilities that are also only available to those who own an NFT from that project, like access to events, benefits, or being a part of an exclusive Discord server.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club
The monkeys are mostly used on social media profiles, especially Twitter. Each Bored Ape is unique and programmatically generated from over 170 possible traits, including expression, headgear, clothing, and more.
When they made their debut, a Bored Ape cost only 0.08 ETH. Today, the cheapest Bored Ape costs around 90 ETH.
On the technical side, the apes are stored as ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and hosted on IPFS, the InterPlanetary File System which is a communication protocol and peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file system.
Ape and celebrities
The Bored Ape Yachtclub has positioned itself as an exclusive digital collection designed around an exclusive context: the yacht club. It targets rich users who also want to showcase their status through their social profiles or avatar in the metaverse.
For example, Justin Bieber purchased his first monkey on January 29, 2022 causing a new volume growth in the market. Bieber’s purchase was questioned by the NFT community as he paid about 4 times the “market value” assessed based on the attributes and rarity of the item, buying it for $1.3 million. Other celebrities who have been willing to purchase an Ape include Paris Hilton, Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Eminem, and rapper Snoop Dogg. New celebrity members and club news are published at The Bored Ape Gazette.
Following the trend, Sotheby’s has auctioned off 101 monkeys in recent months. Rolling Stones magazine also took up the challenge and created its first digital cover last November with its bored monkey wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sailor hat.
The roadmap
BAYC has a roadmap whereby Club services or features would be activated based on the percentage of Apes sold.
For example, upon reaching 20% sales, Caged Monkeys were released. 5 Caged Monkeys were randomly given to 5 Ape owners. Upon reaching 60%, the exclusive BAYC Store will be unlocked for members. It will feature limited edition t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other special products. And upon reaching 80%, the clubhouse image will become interactive and the mystery note will become readable, starting a scavenger hunt. The first person to solve the mystery will be rewarded with 5 ETH and a bored monkey.
The privileges
One of the benefits of owning the NFT is the free events the holders get to go to. The first Ape Fest included 5 events celebrated between October 31st and November 6th, 2021 in New York City, they included: Aped NYC at Bright Moments Gallery, Ape fest mutant Halloween party, Ape fest yacht party, Ape fest warehouse party, and VIP charity dinner. Tickets are free for Bored Apes and Mutant holders, proving it by providing a passcode.
Owning a Bored Ape also grants access to the “bathroom”, a collaborative graffiti board. It contains a canvas accessible only to owners of wallets containing at least one monkey. Like any bathroom in any bar, this is the place to draw, doodle, or write insults. Each Ape owner will be able to paint a pixel on the bathroom wall every fifteen minutes. The Bathroom is designed as a collaborative art experiment for the crypto universe. A canvas for club members only. Future areas and benefits will be unlocked by the community over time.
Just imagine being in the Discord Server where Eminem and several other celebrities are present because you also have a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. Well, this is just the beginning, and different projects are doing this in a different style. So, let’s take a look at how different ones are bringing attractiveness in different ways.
NFT collections with members benefits
There are dozens of NFT projects that are adapting to this trend of providing additional benefits and utilities to the owners. Here we mention a top few for you.
· Royal Society of Players
This is another NFT collection that brings the opportunity to connect with other owners of this NFT project. they also offer “From hosting virtual poker tournaments with Cash Prizes, to our community program awarding $100,000 in grants to members for hosting local activities, and our global meetups in key cities such as Las Vegas, Chicago, Frankfurt, Singapore, London, Los Angeles, etc – we strive to be the VIP platform of choice for NFT collectors spanning both the metaverse and real world.” It also comes with additional perks like real-world privileges, prizes, and benefits. Some of them are Starbucks as well as Lyft rewards.
· GOATz
The benefits owners get here are more related to the Metaverse. The owners can get exclusive access to take part in community grants and contests. Along with that, they can also have access to the “Maison De GOAT” in the Sandbox. Owners can combine two goatz forming a new personalized goatz in a process they call “The Forge”, by doing this they are also given a 100 sq meter plot of land within GOATzVILLE, a large estate inside TheSandbox metaverse. Access to airdrops also is among the other benefits.
· Gutter Cat Gang
By owning this NFT, you can access events in the Gutter City in Metaverse that is in the Sandbox. Other than that, you will also be an exclusive member of the Gutter Cat Gang community that is only based on 12,000 NFTs.
· CryptoPunk
One of the hottest NFT projects today. Several people say that owning a crypto punk means that you are wearing an expensive Rolex watch in real life that enhances your respect and status in the world. The traditional community benefits are also available.
· Metachamps
The Metachamps NFL is doing its part in changing Sports Collectables, specifically in the digital world. It brings 300 different GENESIS jerseys that are 3D in both AR and VR, and they are fully interactive as well. It acts as a club of sports artifacts collectors by only bringing 1-300 numbered jerseys.
The attractive part here is that the owners can have several exclusive perks, including the MVP title and free airdrops from each official collection launched. While the exclusive benefits only last for as long as you hold the jersey, the other benefits like airdrops and title are forever.
In one way or another, all of these NFT projects are working like a club where only a specific community of people has access to exclusive benefits.
Last thoughts
While some of the NFT projects are worth millions even when they provide no additional services, utilities, or benefits, there is a rising trend to follow this culture. This combination in the digital world and physical world can set new limits and bring up new communities.
Setting your NFT as your public profile picture has already become a status symbol, just like wearing some expensive Rolex Watch to show off your status and wealth. With different unique utilities from the NFT project in the future, we can expect things to be a lot different and attractive both in the physical and digital world.