Chapter 2: Levitate

It has been an incredible journey since our launch and looking back on all that we have accomplished, we feel proud but far from satisfied. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter. With it, we will be embarking on a new adventure that will take us to new heights.

In this article, we will take a look at our journey, and detail the next chapter by sharing our vision, outlining our brand values and touching on what is about to come.

For one to understand where they are going, they must appreciate where they came from. Let’s start by taking a moment to embrace that.

Chapter 1: Incubation

Our objectives for the first chapter were clear: Validate market opportunity following a stealth launch, validate community interest following the initial roll-out, battle test our DAO governance system and solidify our position in the NFT world.

Within this period, we have amassed +2300 ETH in trading volume, reached +3000 unique holders, grew our community, learned from our members, actively voted on DAO proposals, implemented multiple community-led strategies and transparently made the most of our DAO treasury.

The initial Incubation chapter was a success. It is time to buckle up for what’s next.

A New Era

We are entering a new era. We are evolving, we are growing, we are delivering, we are hiring, we are creating partnerships, and overall, we are maturing as a collective. Our brand is transitioning into something special and for us, this important time represents a shift. We are in a totally different phase than where we were months ago.

If you are reading this, that means you are one of the many passionate individuals that form the larger NFT community. The tight coupling between the cutting-edge technology we use and the social cohesion that takes place can bond masses in a fashion and speed that has never been done before. It is truly unique and we believe collectively, we need to raise the quality in this space. There is a constant wave of over-promising and under-delivering in the ecosystem. Many focus on mint and not a lot care about what comes after. Many projects rug and ignore feedback from their community. A handful absorbs, quietly builds and stands proud. As a member of this community, we believe you deserve more.

As we Levitate, we aim to become the one that stands tall. Through our transformation, we have constructed a consistent brand that mirrors our character, collaborated with top designers to bring it to real life, embraced our community and built. Starting with our values, here is a glimpse of what is about to come.

What We Stand For

Our vision is to create a diverse community of unapologetic, creative, innovative, out-of-the-box thinkers. Whoever believes what we stand for, can join. No permissions.

YAPES stand for pixel-perfect dope art. YAPES are unique, blunt and courageous. The art is an illustration of that. Every character is curated with care. Every detail of every Yung Ape is flawless. Where careless art pollutes the space, YAPES offer a breath of fresh air.

YAPES stand for community, community and community. Our community is brave, they are not afraid to speak up and challenge the status quo. Our top priority will always be the community. We are simply here to serve them and give them the tools to exceed their potential. None of this would have been possible without their passion.

YAPES stand for not cutting corners. We are experimental, we are innovative, we are not afraid. True innovation takes time. We do not rush into action for external reasons. We do not feel cornered to act. We build in comfort that derives from the trust in our talent to produce high-quality shit.

The brand embodies these values through a sharp, cutting-edge, fresh and unique look.

Represent

Many want to bridge digital with real-life assets, yet few accomplish it. Our community wants to represent what they believe in, it is only right we give them something to be proud of.

The new chapter comes with its own streetwear collection. Every item is hand-crafted and passionately curated. We have worked with best-in-class artists, production studios and experts to give the love this collection deserves.

The initial set of merchandise will consist of sneakers, skateboards, snowboards, hoodies and baseball jackets. They will be very limited in number and will be used for exclusive giveaways to broadcast our evolution.

Monitoring the interest and reactions of the community will provide us with the chance to gather customer feedback and iterate accordingly if needed. Once this is through, we will roll out a full-blown online store where masses can cop their favorite items.

Token

$YAPES token will be the latest but not final edition to our ecosystem. Following the DAO launch, it was the next milestone on our roadmap that we were striving towards. We have built an architecture that will be as gas efficient as possible while rewarding the long-lasting members of our community.

While anyone can leave our community with no permission asked, it is our duty to make sure the ones that stay for the whole ride are rewarded accordingly.

There will be an article published about the token close to the launch date where we will go into details of mechanics. There will also be an FAQ page published solely to address the questions that are raised. There will also be a set of tutorials to walk our members through the interface.

Exclusive Access

Further walking on the bridge between digital and real-life, YAPES will have access to exclusive events around the world. YAPES is a global community with loads of different members scattered throughout the globe We have created a YAPE MAP to understand where we have the density of our population.

We will be picking events, such as popular summer music festivals, to make sure YAPES can meet in real life and enjoy the utilities of being a member of this clan.

And More

We have more coming: Collaborations with known and respected artists within this space to produce 1/1 NFTs, countless partnerships, metaverse expansion and exclusive whitelist opportunities. Oh, and perhaps a new collection? We will see.

Thanks to the Incubation chapter and those who supported us through it, we were able to mature, we were able to learn and we were able to build.

Now it is time to Levitate.