NFT Collector Pranksy Claims BAYC Got Pricing Structure Right, Images Suitable for Avatars
NFT collector Pranksy stated that "BAYC ruined NFTs." He mentioned that this potentially groundbreaking technology has been overshadowed by avatar projects, leading the public to equate NFTs with ape projects, resulting in years of copy-pasting in the market.
He later revised his wording to say that it is BAYC's success that has ruined future potential, not the fault of the founders. The NBA Top Shot and Beeple's $69 million sale had already set the wheels in motion. BAYC got the pricing structure right, and the images are suitable for avatars. He claimed that the continued success of this format has changed the direction and perception of NFTs, squeezing out space for other experimental projects.
BAYC co-founder Greg Solano directly countered this. He said Pranksy sold apes that "could have been worth $500 million" for a few million dollars, subsequently promoting numerous low-quality copy projects. Solano also noted that Pranksy has founded several NFT companies, which have now been removed from his profile, and wrote: "Be the change you wish to see, or enjoy the house BAYC bought you."
Community posts state that Pranksy minted 1,250 Bored Apes in 2021 and sold them in batches during the price rise. Solano's post received about 2,000 likes, roughly seven times that of Pranksy's original post. The $500 million figure is Solano's estimate of peak holdings, not a completed transfer price. According to third-party markets, the total floor price for the entire set of 10,000 has fallen below this number.
Bored Ape Yacht Club was launched by Yuga Labs in 2021 and became a pricing model for avatar NFTs, leading to land, tokens, and collaborations. The floor price dropped from about 128 ETH in May 2022 to around 6 ETH, a decline of about 95%, with daily transactions around 58 ETH. Critics attribute the proliferation of copy projects to Blur's airdrop mining and OpenSea's cancellation of creator royalties in the royalty war.
This is a narrative controversy, not new minting or financing. Early minters have sold to later collectors during the price rise, with Solano describing unrealized peak holdings as abandoned wealth, while Pranksy claims that category attention has obscured the technology. Benefiting are addresses that minted at low prices in 2021 and sold, while those who entered at high floors now face thin transactions. Copy projects divert attention, not Yuga's revenue.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Pranksy is an early minter from the avatar cycle in 2021, with community records showing he minted 1,250 Bored Apes and sold them in batches during the price rise. Yuga Labs, co-founded by Greg Solano and others, turned 10,000 apes into membership avatars that later generated about $300 million in hours through Otherside land sales, issued ApeCoin, and acquired CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs. After 2022, the floor price dropped from about 128 ETH to around 6 ETH, and the company entered layoffs and brand contraction instead of continuing to expand the category.
The funding path is to first convert minting rights into secondary cash. Pranksy locked in realized gains of several million dollars, while Solano's $500 million refers to unrealized peak holdings, not a delivery price. Later buyers take over based on membership, airdrop, and collaboration expectations, while copy projects divert attention along the same avatar template. Yuga's resource mobilization expands single images into land, tokens, and acquired legacy collections, with revenue stopping at the sale date and holders exiting at floor transactions.
In contrast, the 2017 CryptoPunks and Beeple's $69.34 million Christie's sale in March 2021. Punks first made on-chain collectibles into scarce avatars, Beeple set auction records for single digital art pieces, and BAYC turned replicable membership images into a mass entry point. NBA Top Shot has already proven that limited exciting moments can sell out by season. The industry is now in a contraction phase after control: avatars are no longer expanding, royalties have been canceled in the competition between Blur and OpenSea, and transactions are priced based on attention rather than usage.
This is a transfer of pricing power. The public price of NFTs is no longer determined by contracts or artistic experiments, but by which set of avatars occupies personal profile spaces. The mechanism is that successful samples have educated the category into apes, and capital has subsequently replicated the issuance structure, rather than replicating the technical use. Early minters lock in cash through sales, while later holders bear the narrative tide at the floor. Founders rebut realized profits with unrealized peaks, and both sides contest who has the right to define this cycle.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
- Samples define categories, replication dilutes samples.
- Realized profits are those in hand, unsold are stories.
- Attention can be priced, but usage cannot be retained.