Rarible Proposes No-Fee Bored Ape NFT Marketplace for ApeCoin Users

Magic Eden’s pitch to build an exclusive Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT marketplace for the ApeCoin community has some competition: marketplace protocol Rarible has launched its own proposal idea to ApeCoin (APE) holders, undercutting Magic Eden with a zero-fee offer.

Rarible shared its proposal idea on Wednesday, pitching an ApeCoin-centric NFT platform that will charge no marketplace fees for NFTs that are listed natively by holders. The marketplace, powered by the open-source Rarible Protocol, would also aggregate listings from other notable marketplaces—including OpenSea and LooksRare—to boost liquidity.

The proposed marketplace would focus on NFT collections tied to Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape ecosystem, including the original Bored Ape Yacht Club, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Kennel Club, and Otherside.

Additionally, the ApeCoin DAO could vote on additional projects to include. A DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is an online community created around shared goals or interests, with membership often represented via tokens. ApeCoin holders are members of the ApeCoin DAO and can vote on proposals related to the ecosystem.

ApeCoin launched in March as an Ethereum-based token meant to power metaverse experiences and other Web3 applications, including Yuga Labs’ upcoming Otherside game.

The proposal details other features, including fiat currency payments via MoonPay, dedicated support, and the ability to place a collection-wide offer. Rarible said that it can launch the marketplace within four weeks of DAO approval at zero cost. It has launched marketplaces for other NFT projects in the past, too, including V1 Punks and Degenerate Ape Academy.

Magic Eden’s proposal, filed on August 9, suggested an ApeCoin marketplace with a 1.5% base marketplace fee, which could be knocked down to 0.75% based on certain variables: a 0.5% discount for buying with ApeCoin, plus another 0.25% discount for users who own an NFT from specific Bored Ape-related projects.

An NFT is a blockchain token that can represent ownership in an item. In the case of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, each NFT represents one of 10,000 unique avatars, plus holders can use their owned images to create commercial projects. The Bored Ape Yacht Club has yielded more than $2.3 billion worth of secondary trading volume to date.

Rarible is a long-running Ethereum-centric NFT marketplace that has gradually expanded to other chains. Magic Eden, meanwhile, is the largest marketplace in the Solana ecosystem, and it launched support for Ethereum NFTs earlier this month.

So far, they’re the biggest players proposing an exclusive NFT marketplace for ApeCoin users, but they’re not alone. Snag Solutions, which develops a white-label marketplace protocol, also pitched an NFT marketplace on August 9.

It has since adjusted its pitch, and is offering an 0.5% marketplace fee when NFTs are purchased with ETH, or 0.25% with APE. According to the proposal idea, 0.25% of all fees will be sent back to the ApeCoin DAO’s treasury. Snag Solutions initially asked for $50,000 to cover development and auditing fees, but has since offered to launch the platform at zero cost.

At this stage, all three proposals are in the idea stage. From there, they could be rewritten into a formal proposal and put up for a vote. If successful, the ApeCoin community could have its own custom Bored Ape NFT marketplace in the near future.