Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape NFTs, raises nearly $285 million worth of crypto in a virtual land sale

Last month, we wrote about Yuga Labs after the creator of the “Bored Ape” series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) raised $450 million in funding to build an NFT metaverse. The round, which was led by a16z crypto, with participation from top-tier game studios, brings the company’s valuation to $4 billion.

Coming off its fresh funding round, Yuga Labs announced today it has raised about $285 million worth of cryptocurrency by selling tokens that represent land in a virtual world game it says it is building.

NFT is a type of cryptographic token on a blockchain that represents a unique digital asset that represents real-world objects — such as art, music, real estate, and beyond — and can’t be replicated.

In an online sale on April 30, Yuga Labs said it sold NFTs called “Otherdeeds”, which it said could be exchanged as plots of virtual land in a future Bored Ape-themed online environment called “Otherside.” The demand for high-profile NFTs has grown in recent months. The company said on Twitter that all the 55,000 Otherdeeds listed for sale at 305 ApeCoin each had sold out.

In a post on Twitter, Yuga Labs said:

“The Otherdeed NFT mint is sold out – we are awestruck at the demand shown tonight. Apes and Mutants, the opening of the 21-day claim period is being delayed until the price of gas drops to reasonable levels. We’ll tweet when the claim opens.”

The Otherdeed NFT mint is sold out – we are awestruck at the demand shown tonight. Apes and Mutants, the opening of the 21-day claim period is being delayed until the price of gas drops to reasonable levels. We’ll tweet when the claim opens. https://t.co/iRz64lklbv

— Othersidemeta (@OthersideMeta) May 1, 2022

Yuga Labs CEO Nicole Muniz said the company is partnering with “a few different game studios” to bring Otherside to life. Unlike BAYC, the Otherside game will also be available to non Bored Ape holders. The company said it plans to create development tools that allow NFTs from other projects to work inside their world. “We’re opening the door to effectively a walled garden and saying ‘Everybody’s welcome,’” the company said.

Meanwhile, Yuga Labs is not the only company selling lands in the virtual world. Last year, just a few weeks after the Facebook announcement, a plot of digital land in the metaverse was sold for a record $2.43 million, making it the world’s most expensive virtual real estate. In January of this year, a Snoop Dogg fan paid $450,000 to be his next-door neighbor in the metaverse.