The First 'Bored Ape' NFT Game Costs $2,300+ For Three Weeks of Play (arstechnica.com) 52
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Owners of Yuga Labs' infamous "Bored Ape" non-fungible tokens (and related crypto tokens) get free access to a simple endless runner/tunnel racing game called Dookey Dash today. But some members of the "exclusive" Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) are already selling a chance to play the time-limited game for thousands of dollars on the secondary market. Listings on the OpenSea exchange show a current floor price of 1.49 ETH (about $2,293) for a "Sewer Pass" NFT that grants access to Dookey Dash until February 8. In less than 24 hours, the exchange has seen 8,394 ETH (about $12.8 million) in Sewer Pass transactions, with some passes selling for as much as 5.75 ETH (about $8,770).
While wash trading and/or crypto laundering could be driving some of those those Sewer Pass transactions, some players are clearly clamoring for access to Dookey Dash and are willing to spend to get it. But that demand isn't being driven by any sort of novel or transcendent gameplay experience that Yuga Labs is offering. Instead, NFT speculators are trying to use the game to get in on the ground floor of what they hope will be the next artificially scarce, high-demand digital asset.
In an extensive FAQ, Yuga Labs describes Dookey Dash as a "skill-based mint." That means a player's highest score in Dookey Dash is tied to the player's Sewer Pass NFT (one Sewer Pass allows as many attempts as a player can tolerate before the February 8 deadline arrives). Sewer Pass holders will then be able to trade their pass for a mysterious "Power Source" NFT during "The Summoning," which starts on February 15. The quality of those Power Sources will apparently be tied to each Sewer Pass' relative position on the game's final leaderboard, with rarer "traits" being associated with higher scores. The player at the very top of the leaderboard will be the only one to get the "Ultimate Power Source," whatever that means. [...]
While wash trading and/or crypto laundering could be driving some of those those Sewer Pass transactions, some players are clearly clamoring for access to Dookey Dash and are willing to spend to get it. But that demand isn't being driven by any sort of novel or transcendent gameplay experience that Yuga Labs is offering. Instead, NFT speculators are trying to use the game to get in on the ground floor of what they hope will be the next artificially scarce, high-demand digital asset.
In an extensive FAQ, Yuga Labs describes Dookey Dash as a "skill-based mint." That means a player's highest score in Dookey Dash is tied to the player's Sewer Pass NFT (one Sewer Pass allows as many attempts as a player can tolerate before the February 8 deadline arrives). Sewer Pass holders will then be able to trade their pass for a mysterious "Power Source" NFT during "The Summoning," which starts on February 15. The quality of those Power Sources will apparently be tied to each Sewer Pass' relative position on the game's final leaderboard, with rarer "traits" being associated with higher scores. The player at the very top of the leaderboard will be the only one to get the "Ultimate Power Source," whatever that means. [...]
Has to be (Score:5, Insightful)
money laundering.
Re: (Score:1)
I'm not sure. The point of money laundering is to take dirty money, which you can't spend without raising questions and invest/use it in such a way that you lose some of the money, but the rest of it looks like proceeds of legitimate business activity which you can spend freely. Taking huge sums of money and basically throwing it on a bonfire is not how money laundering works. Unless maybe these people genuinely think they can get something back by bying into this scam. Maybe we have really stupid money lau
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Actually now that I think of it, it could work if Yuga Labs were in on it. Criminals pay huge amounts of money for NFTs, Yuga would keep some of it and then give the rest back by purchasing some fake services from companies owned by the criminals. Would probably throw all kinds of red flags if there was an investigation into this.
Re:Has to be (Score:5, Informative)
Before NFTs, art was used as a money laundering vehicle. For the same reason: There's no "objective" value to it. If I sell this compact car to you for 500,000 dollars, obviously something is amiss. But 500,000 for this one-of-a-kind Monet? Well, some people may argue it ain't worth that much, but there's only one of them and I am absolutely in love with it and I want it. While odd, it's nothing that could trigger an investigation.
Until about 2021 when international money laundering regulations meant that any art sale above 10,000 will be examined very carefully. Immediately when this became known that it's gonna happen, the art market crashed. Wonder why...
In come NFTs. They ain't art. At least not according to the money laundering laws. So we have a new vehicle. And here's how you do it: First, of course, you need some dirty money. Second, an NFT. Create one, it's not like they're hard to make. Then you unilaterally decide that this thing is absolutely priceless and a must-have item. Why not, that's your opinion, who am I to tell you what to like? Art is subjective, right? So you sell yourself that piece of digital art. Actually, you sold it to an "anonymous buyer". Now you of course have to pay tax for that business transaction, you just got a windfall from your sale of this priceless piece of art.
No idea who was dumb enough to dump all that money on me, officer, but I hope it's not a crime to make tasteful, artsy pictures and offer them to those unfortunates who cannot create art themselves but crave it.
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Oh, and before someone asks: Yes, a select few very important steps are missing. But this is not "how to get your drug money cleaned up 101", ok? And I would be very thankful if nobody filled in the blanks.
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Immediately when this became known that it's gonna happen, the art market crashed. Wonder why...
This is a really bad causality fail. The art market closely follows the wider economy. Not only is a crash expected during an economic downturn, the crash actually occurred (in early 2020) *before* the anti-money laundering rules were introduced coinciding with the wider COVID economic effects. And even worse for your point when the laws were were introduced in 2021 the art market massively rebounded along with the wider economy with many pieces of art fetching record prices in 2021 and 2022.
You're still ri
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Before NFTs, art was used as a money laundering vehicle.
And then it was classic cars: why else would someone pay solid six-figures for an American car?
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Maybe 'cause you got that money back in 3-5 year only by being able to change the oil yourself instead of going to a licensed garage where you pay through the nose for that privilege... remember, the old cars, that you could actually change a spark plug yourself without having to convince it that you are licensed and trained to do that so you can charge 200 bucks for it?
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Maybe 'cause you got that money back in 3-5 year only by being able to change the oil yourself instead of going to a licensed garage where you pay through the nose for that privilege... remember, the old cars, that you could actually change a spark plug yourself without having to convince it that you are licensed and trained to do that so you can charge 200 bucks for it?
People were paying 6 figures for cars at auctions that they could get for 4 or 5 figures on Craigslist. Being able to do your own oil changes isn't worth $200k.
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Frankly they suck as a way to launder money compared to paintings or NFTs or NFTs of paintings.
Most governments have already ruled (Score:3)
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that why you set your arcade game to be 40 quarter (Score:2)
that why you set your arcade game to be 40 quarters an play and then kill the player for the smallest fuck up.
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Money laundering is to hide illegal proceeds. Any method that does this while losing less money gets used. Thus, crypto coins, especially if you believe (incorrectly) that transactions can't be tracked. And in this "industry" record keeping is sparse, controls are limited, and there's no oversight. So I need to pay my drug dealer around $1000 - I buy an NFT for that amount, transfer to the dealer, and he sells it the same or next day; if it lost money and was only $900 well that's ok, he got paid. It's f
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It's centered around the whole bored ape money laundering deal, so what else could it be?
On the other hand... (Score:2)
$2,300 is about how much you would spend on a new gaming rig that can play Star Citizen. And it only runs for 10 minutes before crashing.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
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By proxy ... .. those who have been convinced to buy them, and want to offload them to others ...
NFT's are mostly promoted by two groups
and more importantly those who invested in ETH, and want people to buy and sell NFT's so the transactions increase the value of their ETH ...
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And of course that third group of the wise investors who are way, way smarter than anyone else and want to buy $MyCoin. $MyCoin is the new and much better shitcoin, it's no pyramid scheme, we operate under the trapezoid of profit!
Re: Has to be (Score:2)
Has to be SHIT! (Score:2)
It's LITERALLY, as in a literal manner or sense, about wasting time diving through SHIT, i.e. the Doo of the title...
In hope of reaching a Key to a box, again of the title, which opens a box of potential treasure... said key being, originally, stuck up a monkey's asshole. [youtu.be]
And the "only way to it" is by diving through the sewer.
I am certain anyone and everyone with a lick of sense recognizes the opportunities this opens to an early investor in this piece of monkey shit.
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Much of this is also pump and dump. These NFT clubs are often Discord channels where they share what they're going to release, they all buy and resell amongst each others while telling outsiders "look at how fast the prices are going up" and then sell it all leaving the marks left holding the bag. There's no inherent value here and these clubs know it, but there's always money to be made off of the gullible. They can always point to someone else in the club and say "see how rich he got in only a few mont
\o/ (Score:2)
Monetising retardation.
Seen your tulips (Score:2)
Don't want 'em.
And the incessant whine continues (Score:4, Funny)
And the incessant whine continues
What a sad fucking existence. (Score:3)
And you can't even cash out because it just drives the value of your "assets" down.
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But I'm smart! Not booksmart, I'm street-smart! I know when I see a good deal and I have to get in on the ground floor this time around!
Why the hell am I still broke, I have to wonder...
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"I'm street-smart"
"That means he knows what street he lives on." --Calvin
'NFT game' (Score:5, Funny)
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Some idiot tried to argue with me the other day that people who leave crypto are "weak hands". Such kind of demonization of people who leave, and the pressuring of people to stay, with the same guilt/shame/ostracization tactics, makes them pretty much a cult.
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I just had a 3+ day back n forth right here with a crypto bro who tried to argue unsuccessfully that crypto is just like any other investment with real world metrics determining the fmv.
He seemed to believe it but clearly didn't understand the most basic financial concepts. If he represents the typo crypto "investor" then it's no wonder NFT ape video games are making millions over night.
Re:'NFT game' (Score:5, Informative)
Well, that's the market crypto scam is in. People who understand basic financial concepts either invest their money in real investments or abstain from it for the same reason - they know basic financial concepts.
If you want people to buy into pipe dreams and shitcoins, you need to target those that don't understand how money works, while at the same time thinking they're vastly cleverer than the rest of the world.
Has anyone ever started to check how large the overlap between cryptobros and conspiracy nuts is? I have a hunch that the Venn-diagram of them is a circle.
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Yeah he tried the whole bit about how I just don't understand the new finance and basically called me a boomer and all that rhetorical dodgy nonsense people use when they've got nothing.
He flat out lied twice about what either of us had previously said despite the whole thread being right there. He tried to declare victory twice based on me not responding to things I'd repeatedly addressed. It was amusing. The one thing he wouldn't do is demonstrate even a casual connection between crypto prices and real
Limits of bored ape (Score:2)
You had no idea where are the limits of truly bored apes.
Oh this is clever (Score:3)
It uses the same bullshit to dupe people into buying into it that capitalism does, and we know that this scam works great! So if you fail, it's not because the system is faulty (like the old one), no, if you can't make it big, you're just not good enough. Look, there's others who made it, they were good at the game and they broke the bank, you failed? That's not the system's fault, it only means that YOU are to blame, YOU are not good enough. It's by no means that it's rigged for the ones on top of the pyramid scheme, nosirrrr, not at all, it's just that you have to get better, invest more, try harder!
I tell you, this is gonna work. And every time someone gets swindled out of his money and complains, he'll just be told to get gud and be laughed at to add insult to injury.
Someone get the soda, I'll prep the popcorn. This is gonna be good fun. At least if you're not involved and just watching.
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Wait, what, you mean the leaderboard top 100 was determined before they wrote the game?
Say it isn't so! I clutch my pearls at the very thought there might be any form of dishonestly among those nice crypto boys!
Self selecting stupidity (Score:4, Interesting)
It's kind of amazing they don't get busted tbh. Logan Paul for example basically ripped off a bunch of people for millions with a similar scam game and yet he's still walking around without any repercussions. And for every Logan Paul there must be 50 other similar NFT / crypto scams going under the radar.
Just have sell my NFT link collection first (Score:3)
I just wasn't sure about where I could find the money to join in, being on welfare now and all, but I am sure I can sell my enormous collection of NFT hyperlinks to JPEGs of monkey's bottoms for a vast sum.
It sure cost me enough.
First? (Score:3)
Buddy... the first 'Bored Ape' NFT game ended quite a while ago. Everyone lost. You got nothing. Good day sir.
Re: (Score:3)
I've got an opportunity for you.
Oompa loompa doompity dee.
But you must pay for this NFT.
Re: (Score:3)
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Well, that's the thing, the Duped Apes hope to get their money back and try to sell their Bored Apes as some sort of time share deal to even more stupid apes.
Bigger idiot theory hard at work...
How is this stuff still investable (Score:2)
Having watched the value of most of these NFTs utterly collapse why would anyone do this.
Only reasons I can think of
- Conspicuous consumption, that person who really wants to show the rest of us poor sods who are sorrowful grocery store prices are eating into our fun money, that they have money so much wealth and free time they can just set money on fire.
- Some sort of fraud, laundering, or tax evasion scheme.
Its not like investing in some technology, or company marketing a product or service which failed i
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The NFT / crypto scams work off people's sense of greed that the price of some random hyped garbage can only go up, that it's time sensitive so these fuckwits
There's a sucker born every minute... (Score:3)
So it's yet another pyramid scheme then? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Normal (Score:1)
Bored apes usually throw shit at people.
Oooooook!
Who would pay for this? (Score:2)
"A fool and their money are soon parted" (Score:2)