Bored Ape Yacht Club’s ‘Golden Key’ NFT Sells For $1.6M

Yuga Labs and Bored Ape Yacht Club’s ‘Golden Key Sewer Pass’ is less than a month old, but it’s already found a new home courtesy of an ambitious buyer this week. One of the more rare 7-figure NFT purchases these days, the acquisition of the ‘Golden Key’ came at a hefty price tag of 1,000 ETH.

When we look back in retrospect, will the move signal another major inflection point in web3 culture and gaming?

Let’s dive into the details surrounding the one-of-one NFT’s purchase.

If It Glitters, It’s Gold

We first highlighted the story of the ‘Golden Key’ when covering Yuga Labs’ game ‘Dookey Dash’ in late January. The Yuga Labs title required a Bored Ape (or Mutant Ape) Yacht Club NFT to purchase a “Sewer Pass” to play (though secondary markets did their thing, commanding 2-3ETH), and many pro and semi-pro esports players were (and have been) offering ‘boosting’ services to help more casual players earn a better score.

At that time, professional esports player Mongraal – who had long been a tier 1 pro in Fortnite’s EU region – was making a splash racking up insane scores in the Dookey Dash game. When the initial period closed in February, Mongraal had the highest recorded score – and was the rightful winner of the golden key.

Over the past couple weeks, NFT native collectors submitted various bids for what’s largely considered the first true ‘one of one’ Yuga Labs NFT. The winning bidder, however, was NFT collector Adam Weitsman with a 1,000 ETH bid – worth roughly $1.6M at the time of sale. The sale reinforces many’s continued belief in Yuga Labs – both from the buying and selling parties. Both Mongraal’s skill and commitment to the game for several weeks, and Weitsman’s financial value placed on the NFT – there is clearly plenty of bullish perspective still in the NFT space.

Esports professional Mongraal sold his Yuga Labs 'Golden Key' NFT for 1,000 ETH this week. | Source: ETH-USD on TradingView.com

The Golden Key: How It Measures Up

Mongraal confirmed the sale of the key in a tweet on Monday, and you can find the OpenSea link HERE to view the NFT and it’s transaction log.

I have agreed to sell the key for 1000 ETH to @AdamWeitsman. Super nice guy and thrilled the sale went through with him.

A special thank you to @yugalabs for hosting an incredible competition. I look forward to competing in future events. Royalties will be paid in full.
1/2

— Mongraal (@Mongraal) February 27, 2023

The sale represents what could signal a major turning point in gaming – though one that could take some time to fully digest. Epic Games – the creator and owner of Fortnite – has slowly scaled down payouts from Fortnite competitive tournaments; if Yuga Labs and other web3 mainstays can develop a GameFi ecosystem that rewards players, it could draw eyes and ears from players (and spectators) of current traditional competitive titles.

Don’t expect CS:GO to go anywhere anytime soon. But small strides can amount to bigger waves – and there’s plenty of fish pushing for small but meaningful strides in this space.