Who is behind the most expensive BAYC auction in history?
In October 2021, BAYC #8817 sold for $3.4 million at Sotheby's auction to an anonymous mystery buyer. This is also the most expensive BAYC ever sold.
According to Twitter user @waveninja 1 , the auction may not be as simple as it seems. The final purchaser of this auction is actually inextricably linked with Yuga, the parent company of BAYC. a16z, Marc Andreesen and Chris Dixon were all involved.
Odaily for waveninja 1this tweetimage description
(BAYC Auction Association Diagram)
In October 2021, Sotheby's auctioned BAYC#8817 from the collection of j1mmyeth. An anonymous buyer, Rhincodon, was the final bidder for $3.4 million. Rosie Perper interviewed Rhincodon exclusively for Hypebeast, and finally the winner was revealed: Brandon Buchanan.
However, Hypebeast's reporting is misleading.
Buchanan did not purchase the BAYC for personal use. The buy was an investment by Meta 4 Capital, a firm founded by Buchanan.
This distinction is important because a16z played a key role in funding Yuga Labs (creators of BAYC) and Meta 4.
On October 21, 2021, Meta 4 announced the establishment of a rare NFT fund led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Earlier this year, a16z’s Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon personally invested $1.1 million in a test fund, paving the way for the Meta 4 NFT Fund I.
Five days after the release of a16z, "Rhincodon" (Meta 4) won Sotheby's Golden Ape auction. The transaction was supported by a $6 million loan from Genesis.
Sotheby's Celebrates Record-Breaking Auction, Meta 4 Investors Receive Proportional Shares in Bored Ape #8817.
In the following months, a16z went on to lead a $450 million round in Yuga Labs. With the funding announcement in March 2022, Chris Lyons, President of Web3 Media at a16z, joined Yuga Labs' board of directors. Meanwhile, Yuga closed its "Party Round" funding...
See, one of Yuga's Party Round investors, Nabyl Charania (aka "NCIZZLE"), is also the other founder of Meta 4.
Curiously, Charania was omitted from media reports. So why isn't Charania being interviewed about the Meta 4 record BAYC buy-in?
Odaily Note: Currently, this question has not been answered. Odaily will continue to pay attention to this matter and update the follow-up progress.
