A Bored Ape rolls out… cannabis?

Future. A Bored Ape Yacht Club-NFT holder licensed his Ape to a cannabis company… and it became a bestselling hit. That’s just one example of how Ape-owners are creating bonafide independent businesses around their Apes… and may prove that Bored Apes could become something of a decentralized, democratized Mickey Mouse.

Smoke an ape
The Bored Apes are growing.

• Richard Lee, owner of the Bored Ape Yacht Club #768 NFT that he named Crypto Painter, licensed his Bored Ape to California cannabis brand Backpack Boyz this past December.
• The cannabis line, Crypto Gelato, surprised the company by becoming an instant bestseller, selling out at multiple stores and at the Rolling Loud music festival.

Lee has since started talks with another (larger) cannabis company, two other non-cannabis-related deals, and even a possible licensing deal with a local political candidate (which feels like this Black Mirror episode). Financially speaking, not bad for a $3,000 investment.

Ape kingdoms
As you may have noticed, Lee’s Ape-licensing deal is not an official Bored Apes Yacht Club-backed endeavor… so how can he legally do this? Unlike other NFT collections, when someone buys a Bored Ape, they are actually purchasing the full rights to its image. So, owners can license the Ape’s likeness to their heart’s content.

That’s why Bored Ape’s branded skate decks and even a music video have popped up — each Bored Ape has the potential to become its own business.