Bored Ape NFT auction on Sotheby's closes with $6 million premium

The Sotheby’s auction of 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs closed at $24.4 million — more than $6 million above the originally anticipated price. 

As The Block previously reported, the lot of BAYC NFTs had an estimated price range of $12 million to $18 million. Bids exceeded $19 million three days before the auction closed, and ultimately surpassed its higher-end estimate with $24,393,000. 

“What an historic moment for the club: the @Sothebys auction of 101 Bored Apes has closed at over $24m. Congratulations and THANK YOU to the whole ape community. To the buyer, I think we speak for everybody when we say: WELCOME TO THE CLUB,” the official BAYC account tweeted Thursday.

The collection of 101 BAYC included apes with rare properties, such as solid gold or trippy fur, an unshaved face, and pizza hanging from the mouth. 

BAYC was originally created by the startup Yuga Labs and involves 10,000 NFTs randomly generated from over 170 unique properties. An ape cost 0.08 ETH at first launch but now has a floor price of 40.42 ETH on the NFT marketplace OpenSea. 

Interest in BAYC gained traction in August of 2021, reaching its all-time high trading volume of $132.14 million on August 22, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard.