What is the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC)?

The Bored Ape Kennel Club (often abbreviated as BAKC) is a collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain, created by Yuga Labs.¹ Launched in June 2021, the collection features unique digital artworks of cartoon dogs, each with a distinct combination of randomly generated traits.² The BAKC was not sold directly but was offered as a free companion NFT to every owner of a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT, one of the most prominent and valuable NFT projects in the world.³

The project served multiple purposes: to reward the existing BAYC community, to introduce a new dynamic to the Yuga Labs ecosystem, and to support a charitable cause through initial secondary market royalties.⁴ While initially conceived as a companion piece, BAKC has since evolved to have its own utility and value within the broader Yuga Labs universe, including its integration into the ApeCoin ecosystem and the Otherside metaverse.⁵

History

Launch and Distribution

The Bored Ape Kennel Club was launched on June 18, 2021.³ In a move designed to add value for existing community members, Yuga Labs made the entire collection available to be claimed for free by anyone holding a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. For each BAYC NFT an individual owned, they could “adopt” one BAKC NFT, paying only the Ethereum gas fee required for the transaction.⁶ This distribution method, known as an “airdrop,” was a novel strategy at the time for expanding an NFT ecosystem.

The claim period was open for one week. All 10,000 BAYC holders were eligible, but by the end of the claim period, only 9,602 BAKC NFTs had been minted, leaving 398 unclaimed. These unclaimed NFTs were subsequently sent to a burn address or otherwise removed from circulation, making the total supply 9,602.⁷

Charitable Initiative

A core component of the BAKC launch was its commitment to charity. Yuga Labs announced that a 2.5% royalty fee from all secondary market sales on OpenSea would be donated to animal charities for the first six weeks following the launch.⁴ The primary beneficiary of this initiative was Wright-Way Rescue, a no-kill animal shelter based in Illinois.⁸ Donations were also facilitated through The Giving Block, a platform that enables non-profits to accept cryptocurrency donations.⁴ The initiative was a success, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cause. Reports from the period indicate that over $291,000 was donated as a result of the secondary market royalties.⁹

Collection Details

Each BAKC NFT is a unique piece of digital art representing a dog with various attributes. While the Bored Apes have a distinctive, stoic look, the Kennel Club dogs were designed to be their loyal companions. The art style is consistent with the BAYC universe, created by the same team of artists.

Traits and Rarity

The rarity and, consequently, the market value of a BAKC NFT are determined by the combination of its traits. There are over 170 possible traits across several categories, including:¹⁰

Background: The color of the background (e.g., Army Green, Purple, Blue).
Fur: The type and color of the dog’s fur (e.g., Trippy, Zombie, Golden Brown).
Eyes: The appearance of the eyes (e.g., Sad, Angry, Robot).
Mouth: The dog’s expression or what is in its mouth (e.g., Grin, Bored, Tennis Ball).
Head: Accessories on the dog’s head (e.g., Fez, Party Hat, Police Motorcycle Helmet).
Neck: Items around the neck (e.g., Service Vest, Gold Chain, BAYC Collar).

The “Sleazy” background and the “Blood-Soaked” fur are among the rarest traits in the collection, making NFTs with these attributes particularly valuable to collectors.¹¹

Market Performance and Value

Upon its launch, the BAKC collection immediately saw significant trading volume on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea. As a free claim for BAYC holders, any sale price represented pure profit, incentivizing a liquid market. The floor price, the cost of the cheapest available NFT in the collection, quickly rose, reaching several Ether (ETH) within weeks.

The collection’s value has remained closely tied to the performance of the broader Yuga Labs ecosystem and the NFT market as a whole. One of the most significant sales involving the collection occurred in September 2021, when a bundle of 101 Bored Ape Kennel Club NFTs was sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $1,835,000.¹²

Like most NFT collections, BAKC experienced peak valuation during the market bull run of late 2021 and early 2022. However, it was also affected by the subsequent market downturn that began in mid-2022 and continued through 2024. As of September 2025, the floor price for a Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT is approximately $1,150 (0.45 ETH), with a total market capitalization of around $11 million.⁷

Utility and Ecosystem Integration

Beyond its status as a collectible, the Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT provides owners with access and utility within the expanding Yuga Labs ecosystem.

ApeCoin Airdrop

One of the most significant benefits for BAKC holders came in March 2022 with the launch of ApeCoin ($APE), the official governance and utility token for the APE ecosystem. While BAYC and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) holders were the primary recipients of the $APE airdrop, those who also held a BAKC NFT received a bonus allocation of tokens. The pairing of a BAYC with a BAKC yielded 10,950 $APE, while the BAKC itself accounted for 856 $APE of that total.¹³ This event solidified the BAKC’s role as a value-adding component of the ecosystem.

Otherside Metaverse

Yuga Labs is developing a gamified, interoperable metaverse project called Otherside. It has been confirmed that Bored Ape Kennel Club NFTs, alongside Apes and other Yuga Labs collections, will be integrated into this virtual world. Official materials from Otherside state that BAKC holders will be able to use their dogs as playable characters within the game, giving them direct utility beyond simple ownership.⁵

Controversies

Logo Plagiarism Accusation

Shortly after its launch, the Bored Ape Kennel Club faced accusations of plagiarism regarding its logo. The logo, which featured a stylized wolf skull, bore a strong resemblance to a drawing tutorial titled “how to draw a wolf skull” created by the art company Easy Drawing Guides.¹⁴ After the similarities were highlighted by the community and media outlets, Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano acknowledged the issue, stating the logo was created by a freelance artist. Yuga Labs subsequently removed the logo from its website and social media, and it is no longer associated with the project.¹⁵

Broader Yuga Labs Investigations

The BAKC collection has also been indirectly affected by broader legal and regulatory scrutiny faced by its parent company. In October 2022, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had opened an investigation into Yuga Labs to determine if its NFTs, including those in the BAKC collection, could be considered unregistered securities.¹⁶ However, by July 2024, reports indicated that the SEC had closed its investigation into Yuga Labs without recommending any enforcement action.¹⁷

The company has also been involved in a high-profile trademark infringement lawsuit with artist Ryder Ripps, who created a derivative collection called RR/BAYC. While this lawsuit does not directly involve the BAKC, it has contributed to the ongoing legal and public relations challenges for Yuga Labs.¹⁸

Critical Reception

The Bored Ape Kennel Club is widely seen within the NFT community as a successful example of how to expand a digital brand and reward early supporters. By providing a free, value-adding asset, Yuga Labs strengthened the loyalty of its core community and created a new market of assets that complemented its flagship collection. The charitable component of the launch was also widely praised for using the burgeoning NFT space for social good.⁸

However, like all NFT projects, BAKC is subject to the broader criticisms leveled against the industry, including concerns about its environmental impact (though the Ethereum network’s transition to Proof-of-Stake has mitigated this), the speculative nature of its market, and the risk of financial loss.¹⁹

References

Yuga Labs. (n.d.). Bored Ape Yacht Club. Bored Ape Yacht Club. https://boredapeyachtclub.com/
Vainshtein, A. (2022). How to create an NFT like Bored Ape Yacht Club? Altar.io. https://altar.io/blog/how-to-create-an-nft-like-bored-ape-yacht-club/
Decrypt. (2021, June 19). Bored Ape Yacht Club Follows CryptoPunks to Christie’s Auction. https://decrypt.co/74033/bored-ape-yacht-club-follows-cryptopunks-to-christies-auction
Yuga Labs. (2021, June 18). “Club Dog. Apes, it’s time to adopt a four-legged friend…” Twitter. https://twitter.com/BoredApeYC/status/1405903433169739776
Otherside. (n.d.). Otherside | Build, explore, and connect. Otherside. https://otherside.xyz/
Showcase. (2022). Bored Ape Kennel Club NFTs – A Complete Guide. Showcase. https://showcase.com/bored-ape-kennel-club-nfts/
CoinGecko. (2025). Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT Price, Stats, and Analysis. CoinGecko. https://www.coingecko.com/en/nft/bored-ape-kennel-club
Wright-Way Rescue. (2021, July 1). “WOW! We are so overwhelmed by the generosity of the @BoredApeYC community.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/WrightWayRescue/status/1410714201389285376
NFT Evening. (2022). Bored Ape Kennel Club: Everything You Need To Know. NFT Evening. https://nftevening.com/bored-ape-kennel-club-everything-you-need-to-know/
NFT Metria. (2025). Bored Ape Kennel Club traits and attributes rarity. NFT Metria. https://nftmetria.com/collection/bored-ape-kennel-club/traits
Buy NFT. (2021). Bored Ape Kennel Club Rarity and Ranking. Buy NFT. https://buynft.com/nft-collection/bored-ape-kennel-club
Sotheby’s. (2021). Ape In! | 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club, 101 Bored Ape Kennel Club. Sotheby’s. https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/ape-in/101-bored-ape-yacht-club
ApeCoin. (2022). ApeCoin Claim. ApeCoin. https://apecoin.com/claim
Easy Drawing Guides. (n.d.). How to Draw a Wolf Skull. Easy Drawing Guides. Retrieved September 17, 2025, from https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-a-wolf-skull/
Hart, R. (2022). Bored Ape Yacht Club Creators Sued For Allegedly Ripping Off Logo. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/02/08/bored-ape-yacht-club-creators-sued-for-allegedly-ripping-off-logo/
Robinson, T., & leggings, O. (2022, October 11). SEC Probes Bored Apes Creator Yuga Labs Over Unregistered Offerings. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-11/sec-probes-bored-apes-creator-yuga-labs-over-unregistered-offerings
Sidhartha, V. (2024, July 15). SEC Closes Investigation Into Bored Ape Maker Yuga Labs. Bloomberg Law. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/crypto/sec-closes-investigation-into-bored-ape-maker-yuga-labs
Cho, W. (2023). Yuga Labs Prevails in closely watched Bored Ape NFT Trademark Lawsuit. The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/yuga-labs-bored-ape-nft-trademark-lawsuit-1235405404/
Calma, J. (2021). The climate controversy swirling around NFTs. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/15/22328203/nft-cryptoart-ethereum-blockchain-climate-change