On June 18th, Sotheby’s, one of the world’s oldest and most renowned auction houses, is set to auction off a rare Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT and other non-fungible tokens from Yuga Labs.
The main attraction is a super rare Ape with ‘Solid Gold’ fur that was previously owned by the now-bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). There will also be four other Yuga Labs NFTs up for bids, including a Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT and two gold-furred Mutant Apes.
The top NFT for sale is Ape #8553, ranked 26/10,000 in overall rarity. Besides the Solid Gold fur trait, the Ape also sports a “Bored Pipe” mouth and a “Sushi Chef Headband.”
This isn’t the first time Sotheby’s has auctioned digital assets previously owned by 3AC. Dmitri Cherniak’s “The Goose,” a generative art piece, sold for a jaw-dropping $6.2 million in June 2023. While no one can be certain what price Ape #8553 will fetch in the upcoming auction, there have been some huge sales of Apes with the Solid Fur trait in the past.
Here are some other top sales of Solid Gold fur Apes:
- September 2021. Ape #3749 sold for 740 ETH, or around $2.9 million. It is ranked 11/10,000 in rarity, according to data from Rarity Sniper.
- October 2021. Ape #8817 was auctioned off at Sotheby’s for $3.4 million. Rarity Ranking: 16/10,000.
- November 2021. Ape #544 sold for 675 ETH, or around $2.86 million. Rarity Ranking: 33/10,000.
- February 2023. Ape #7090 was purchased by J1mmy.eth for 800 ETH, or around $1.3 million. Rarity Ranking: 62/10,000.
The Solid Gold fur trait is the rarest trait in the collection, with only forty seven Apes out of 10,000 possessing it. The rarity factor is the main reason Apes with this trait tend to demand such high prices. At the time of writing, the floor price for a BAYC NFT is 12.57 ETH, or around $47,750 with current ETH price.
Sotheby’s Continues to Be a Major Player in Web3
If you’ve been paying attention to Web3 the past few years, then you know this isn’t the first time one of the world’s most prestigious auction houses has involved itself in Web3. On the contrary, art houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have played a major role in propping up the NFT and digital art world in recent months and years.
Here’s a review of some of the top headlines from the world’s most esteemed auction houses:
Sotheby’s
- September 2023. Grant Yun’s ‘The Last Supper’ NFTs Set for Auction at Sotheby’s
- June 2023. Sotheby’s Celebrates 300 Years With Art Blocks
- June 2023. Sotheby’s to Feature 3AC Grails in Largest Ever Digital Art Auction
- June 2023. ‘The Goose’ Generative Art Nets $6.2M in Sotheby’s Auction
- May 2023. Sotheby’s Debuts Peer-to-Peer Fine Art NFT Marketplace
Christie’s
- March 2024. Christie’s & Robert Alice Team Up for Generative Art NFT Auction
- July 2023. Christie’s Teams with Gucci for AI NFT Collection
- September 2022. Christie’s Moves On-Chain with New NFT Marketplace
The announcement of the auction of a highly coveted Bored Ape shows that despite NFTs losing steam in recent years, digital assets still have a place at Sotheby’s. Although the full details of the auction have not been revealed yet, one thing is clear: This sale will test if the Bored Ape Yacht Club still has staying power in the fine art community. At Rarity Sniper, we’ll keep our eyes and ears open for any updates to the story.