A Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holder and yacht owner launches Bored Yachts Club, a community project that provides yacht rental opportunities exclusively for NFT owners.
Everyone knows what the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is. It’s only one of the biggest NFT projects ever created. And what’s even more amazing about this 10,000-strong NFT collection is how this bunch of apes that look utterly disinterested has caught the attention of so many NFT enthusiasts, from ordinary investors to big-name celebrities, athletes, and more.
However, while there is plenty of Bored Apes to choose from, there is a dubious lack of boating opportunities, especially for something that claims to be a “yacht club.” And that’s just what a BAYC NFT holder, who also happens to be a yacht owner, plans to remedy with Bored Yachts Club.
What Is Bored Yachts Club?
The Bored Yachts Club is an initiative of Jad Comair, founder and CEO of Melanion Capital, a French investment firm that launched a Bitcoin-themed ETF focused on crypto industry companies in 2021. And in an interview, Comair intimated that he started investing in Bitcoins in 2014 before he started his firm.
“Thanks to Bitcoin, I was able to buy my first yacht,” he said, referring to the “Lady Amanda,” which will be the “face” of the Bored Yachts Club. So, what is the Bored Yachts Club?
Its goal is to be a decentralized, NFT-gated yachting platform. Members of the club can rent actual yachts anywhere they are in the world, and the best thing is, its proceeds will go to charity. And while the initiative will start with one vessel, the “Lady Amanda,” the ultimate goal is to pool more yacht owners over time. These yacht owners would get to choose the charity to which the funds/proceeds will be directed.
Is BAYC Tied to Bored Yachts Club?
The Bored Yachts Club is not an official offshoot of the BAYC NFT project. Nevertheless, BAYC’s parent company, Yuga Labs, has given holders of BAYC NFTs a broad license to use their artwork to create derivatives. And while most BAYC NFT holders used theirs to produce toys, labels, apparel, and a fast food restaurant theme, Comair used his BAYC #634 as a real yacht’s fictional captain and mascot.
As an art collector, Comair considers his BAYC NFT as a form of digital identity. However, more than that, he sees the potential business opportunities that come along with it.
Using his Bored Ape #634, which he has christened John Blackeye, he hopes to lure NFT fans to buy into his Bored Yachts Club idea. As a kicker, Comair will hold an NFT drop, probably on Ethereum, later this year.
The drop will comprise 8,200 NFT passes corresponding to three different benefit tiers. These NFT passes will give holders access to a platform offering rentable yachts. Since the Bored Yachts Club is not tied to Yuga Labs or BAYC, participants need not be BAYC NFT owners to buy or use the NFT membership passes.
According to Comair, he conceptualized the idea of a decentralized platform for yacht rentals before he purchased his BAYC NFT. Still, he believes that things happened serendipitously, as the vibe of his business idea and his Bored Ape fits the thematic pairing to a T.
“The community’s name is Bored Ape Yacht Club,” he said. “In my opinion, there were some yachts missing.”
Hence, Comair plans to supply whatever is missing. “Lady Amanda,” his 30-meter long yacht, is filled with water toys and sails the Mediterranean. Those who will sign up to become members of the Bored Yachts Club could bid on rental windows, and the proceeds will go to a charity of the yacht owner’s choice. Otherwise, they can have the community do the choosing for them.
Comair hopes the Bored Yachts Club will attract more yacht owners worldwide, as it will help hit two birds with one stone—allowing them to fill up empty charter windows and support various charities in the process.
“It’s amazing how much emptiness you have in this whole industry,” he said of the yacht rental business. “The idea is to fill this gap—you have empty boats and people who do not have access to these boats.”
However, yacht rental and support for charities are not his only ambitions for Bored Yachts Club. Comair also hopes to raise the profile of yachting to draw “disruptive technologies” into the industry. “We don’t have the Tesla of yachting,” he added.
While Comair’s short-term goal is to launch the BAYC-themed, NFT-gated Bored Yachts Club, his long-term goals include creating a YachtCoin token and allowing yacht owners and brokers to profit from potential token price increases and NFT pass royalties.
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