Apecoin Whitepaper

Apecoin is a cryptocurrency that rewards the BAYC community for buying and holding Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and other NFTs from the Yuga Labs ecosystem. With this $ape token, people can participate in the DAO governance structure and buy Metaverse land in the BAYC Metaverse.

APECOIN PROTOCOL
ApeCoin is an ERC-20 governance and utility token used within the APE ecosystem to empower a decentralized community building at the forefront of web3.

As the open-source protocol layer of the ecosystem, ApeCoin serves several purposes:

Governance: ApeCoin is the ecosystem’s governance token, allowing ApeCoin holders to participate in ApeCoin DAO.

Unification of Spend: ApeCoin is the ecosystem’s utility token, giving all its participants a shared and open currency that can be used without centralized intermediaries.

Access: ApeCoin provides access to certain parts of the ecosystem that are otherwise unavailable, such as exclusive games, merch, events, and services.

Incentivization: ApeCoin is a tool for third-party developers to participate in the ecosystem by incorporating APE into services, games, and other projects.

APECOIN ALLOCATION
The total supply of ApeCoin is permanently fixed at 1 billion tokens. No minting capability is exposed through the contract interface, thus the total supply will never increase. Similarly, the contract interface does not expose any token burning capability, so the total supply will never decrease.

In line with the standard practice, a portion of the tokens for contributors to the project will be initially locked. Locked tokens will be unlocked over a period of 48 months.

62% ECOSYSTEM FUND (BAYC/MAYC NFT holders and treasury/resources)
150,000,000 tokens to BAYC/MAYC – All unlocked for claim at launch
470,000,000 tokens to DAO treasury and resources – 117,500,000 unlocked at launch, then 7,343,750 unlocked per month for 48 months

16% YUGA LABS + CHARITY
150,000,000 tokens to Yuga Labs – Initial lock-up 12 months, then 4,166,666.67 unlocked per month for 36 months
10,000,000 tokens or equal value donated to the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation – Initial lock-up 12 months, then 277,777.78 tokens unlocked per month for 36 months

14% LAUNCH CONTRIBUTORS
140,000,000 tokens to launch contributors. Lockup schedules vary by contributor but fall into one of the following:

10,000,000 tokens upfront, 25,000,000 after 6 months, 25,000,000 after 12 months, and 25,000,000 after 18 months
Initial lock-up for 12 months, then 757,575.76 unlocked per month for 33 months
Initial lock-up for 12 months, then 833,333.33 unlocked per month for 36 months

8% BAYC FOUNDERS
80,000,000 tokens to founders of Yuga Labs – Initial lock-up for 12 months, then 2,222,222.22 unlocked per month for 36 months

APECOIN CLAIMING FOR BAYC AND MAYC HOLDERS
Tokens will be allocated to BAYC/MAYC members via the claim page starting on March 17, 2022 at 8:30AM ET.

To ensure a fair launch of ApeCoin to BAYC and MAYC NFT holders, the allocation is informed by the difference in floor price between each collection of NFTs, roughly the month prior to the token claim launch (02/07/22 to 03/08/22). Each Bored Ape or Mutant Ape NFT that has a companion Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT will be able to claim an amount of ApeCoin.

HOW IT WORKS
15% of the total ApeCoin token supply allocated to BAYC/MAYC holders for claim will be transferred to a smart contract. Ownership of the contract will be transferred to a multisig wallet, which will be responsible for:

initiating the BAYC/MAYC/BAKC claim period
ending the claim period 90 days after launch
taking ownership of all unclaimed APE tokens at the end of the claim period
transferring these unclaimed tokens to the Coinbase Custody wallets that constitute the Ecosystem Fund
The airdrop claim tokens associated with any NFT can only be claimed once.

APE FOUNDATION IP
The APE Foundation was gifted a 1 of 1 NFT by Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club. You can see it here. Yuga Labs has conveyed all rights and privileges to this NFT and its underlying artwork to the APE Foundation. The ApeCoin DAO can decide how this intellectual property is used.

FAQ

WHO/WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT ENTITIES AND NAMES, AND HOW DO THEY RELATE TO EACH OTHER?
Yuga Labs – Yuga Labs is a web3 company best known for the creation of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. It will be a community member in the ApeCoin DAO and will adopt APE as the primary token across new projects.
BAYC – The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of digital art crafted into NFTs where the token itself doubles as a membership to a swamp club for apes.
APE Foundation – The APE Foundation is the steward of ApeCoin, a legal entity that exists to administer the decisions of theApeCoin DAO.
ApeCoin DAO – A decentralized governance organization that will make decisions regarding Ecosystem Fund allocations, governance rules, projects, partnerships, and more. ApeCoin DAO membership is open to all ApeCoin holders.
APE – The symbol for ApeCoin token.

DOES THE FOUNDATION CONTROL APECOIN AND/OR THE APECOIN DAO? IF NOT, WHAT ROLE DO THEY PLAY?
The Foundation does not control ApeCoin or the ApeCoin DAO. The Foundation consists of an administrative Board, which exists solely to oversee the decisions of the ApeCoin DAO, as well as a third party project management team in charge of ensuring ApeCoin DAO decisions are implemented.

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is the best way to give every member of the community a vote on important decisions whether it’s a technical upgrade or a decision to fund a new idea. However, the reality is that today a DAO cannot sign a lease or hire people or make merch or whatever the community decides to do on its own. The Foundation is responsible for the day-to-day administration, bookkeeping, project management, and other tasks that ensure the ApeCoin DAO community’s ideas have the support they need to become a reality.

HOW WAS THE FOUNDATION BOARD SELECTED?
Certain members of the community that have strong operational experience were consulted on how to best structure the ApeCoin DAO. Several of these members voiced their willingness to join the Board to oversee the decisions of the community and are committed to upholding and furthering the decentralization of the ApeCoin DAO. The initial Board will serve 6 months.

WILL THERE BE A CHANCE FOR OTHER INDIVIDUALS TO JOIN THE BOARD?
Yes. After the initial 6-month term, DAO members will vote annually to keep existing or appoint new Board members. ApeCoin token holders (the DAO members) can also remove or replace a Board member at any time with a majority “In favor” vote.

WHAT ROLE DOES YUGA LABS PLAY IN ALL OF THIS?
Yuga Labs is a contributor to the APE Ecosystem and will assist in the creation of products and experiences for the ecosystem as a whole.

WHAT WILL THE CHARITABLE DONATION TO THE JANE GOODALL LEGACY FOUNDATION BE USED FOR?
The donation will help secure an invested endowment for the JGLF, the earnings from which will provide ongoing funding for the programs of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). These include the long-term research at the Gombe Stream Research Center in Western Tanzania (which has been conducted continuously for more than six decades), community centered conservation (Tacare) to preserve chimp habitat in six African countries, conservation science, and Roots & Shoots. Roots & Shoots empowers young people of all ages (kindergarten through university) to become involved in hands-on projects for people, animals and the environment and is now active in more than 60 countries.

HOW WERE THE TOKEN ALLOTMENTS FOR BAYC, MAYC, AND BAKC NFT HOLDERS CALCULATED?
The allotment of ApeCoin to NFT holders was a ratio based on the average floor price of BAYC and MAYC from roughly the month prior to launch (02/07/22 to 03/08/22).

WHY DON’T THOSE WITH ONLY BAKC NFTS GET A TOKEN ALLOTMENT?
BAKC NFTs are companion NFTs to BAYC and MAYC, meaning they don’t have utility on their own, only when paired with a BAYC or MAYC.