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The founder of BAYC refuted Nazi's accusation: What is the design inspiration of BAYC?

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Although the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) has confirmed that this is not true, trolls are still spreading ridiculous conspiracy theories online and using them to sell fake NFTs.

Original title: "A letter from the Founders"

Original author: Gordon Goner

Original compilation: 0x9F, BlockBeats

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As you may have heard, we have been the target of a wild disinformation campaign. We, a Jew, a Turk, a Pakistani, and a Cuban, were accused of being ultra-secret Nazis.

Although the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) which exists to protect Jews around the world from this hate and slander has confirmed this Not true, but trolls are still spreading ridiculous conspiracy theories online and using them to sell knockoff NFTs.

We've responded to a lot of this crap before (here and here). Others have come forward and pointed this out in detail: https:/ /twitter.com/The_True_DanK/status/1539089935558492161?s=20&t=a_QHmnHB3bjuwKxo0d6Fmg

We have no further response The details of these allegations, because frankly, they are far-fetched. It's not normal that we woke up this morning to find one of our respected podcasters talking about this conspiracy theory. It made us feel like it was time to step up and end this.

So here we go:

1. Why is our NFT series themed around apes?

In the crypto world, people have long affectionately referred to themselves as apes, which is why some of the rarest and The most valuable NFT is the ape, which dates back to 2017.

We love the idea of creating an NFT series around apes who got rich from the crypto boom and also got very… …boring. What's a bored ape to do? Maybe a trip to a secret club in a swamp.

2. What is the design inspiration of BAYC Logo?

We never wanted to take ourselves too seriously, so the exterior of the club was dirty and broken. Everything about BAYC is designed to convey an uninhibited and absurd spirit.

This is a "yacht club" that has literally fallen apart and is in the heart of the swamp. As such, it needed a logo that was both dirty and glamorous. We chose the skull of an ape to help convey how boring these apes are - they're "bored to death".

The following is an email from Gordon to the designers who collaborated with us on Logo design, listing our inspirations - punk, Streetwear and skateboard references, maritime flags and pennants, old yacht club flags and more. BAYC is a club, so it made sense for us to have a patched version of the logo, and we borrowed from other yacht club logos and motorcycle club patch designs.

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I'm sure the trolls will find a way to associate the "S.B.C." pennant here (or something!) with something hateful, but that's just us Found some vintage yacht club banners. Here is the filename we gave it: vintage-yacht-club-flag-blue-framed-7398.jpeg

Because The BAYC logo has become the main point of this troll, so it's worth listing what the Anti-Defamation League had to say on the topic when we reached out:

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"Nazi's Totenkopf is a very specific graphic design of a skull and crossbones, and monkey skulls bear no resemblance to it, unless all skulls resemble each other to some degree. ” – Mark Pitcavage, senior fellow at the ADL Center on Extremism. (The full article here) .

3. Tell me about the name of the company, "Yuga Labs"?

We are nerds, Yuga is the name of a villain in The Legend of Zelda: A Triangular Force of Gods 2, he Has the ability to turn yourself and others into 2D artwork. For an NFT company, such a name makes perfect sense. We also know that "Yuga" means "age" in Sanskrit. Gordon spent ten years practicing Hinduism, and according to Hinduism, "Kali Yuga" is the era we live in. The ADL laughed off suggestions that the term "Kali Yuga" had anything to do with white supremacy.

4. What was the inspiration for the founder’s pseudonym?

Before launching BAYC, we scrambled to come up with our aliases. We wish we had spent more time on it, because it's weird to say "Hi, I'm Tomato" when you're in a meeting with someone important at a big company.

Emperor Tomato Ketchup is the name of an album by Stereolab. It's a good record, peaking at No. 51 on Pitchfork's list of the best albums of the '90s. Tomato, who has been an avid vinyl collector for years, thought the name was funny.

Sass didn't choose his name because Gordon would get very sassy with him in the morning Sassy Sauvignon Blanc, a dry Sauvignon Blanc from Fox Gordon), became an inside joke.

Gordon Goner - "Goner" stems from Gordon's frequent illnesses and hospital visits over the past 10 years, during which time he began to think I am a "goner (dead person)". Plus, he thinks the name "Gordon Goner" sounds cool, like "Joey Ramone."

Garga chose this alias because he is a big StarCraft fan (and hates "Smurfs", This is called someone who cheats the ladder system in the game). That's why his bio on the BAYC website only reads "Obsessed with StarCraft. Eats Smurfs." Also, he found out shortly before BAYC went live that his wife had never seen the Smurfs cartoon, which he thought was crazy , so they started watching at that time. Plus, his friends always lash out at him for going bald prematurely.

There are other assertions on the troll's website, each more ridiculous than the other. Let's take a quick look at a few of them:

None of the founders were good at passwords or puzzles. We are not good at these. We had to ask a company called Exaltation of Larks (founded by a smart guy named Greg Pliska) to help us create our BAYC treasure hunt. All the answers to the scavenger hunt have to do with apes because... blah. For example, Guenon is a type of monkey. Aperol has APE in its name.

Garga has been a book editor for many years and Gordon is a huge fiction fan. Our job is to think deeply about narrative in terms of Hemingway's iceberg theory or Wittgenstein's theory. Also, yes, Garga wrote a dissertation on Roberto Bolano. Roberto Bolano, one of the most famous Latin American authors of the past 50 years, is widely loved in the literary world.

BAYC was not launched on the day Hitler died. A reporter got the date wrong in an earlier article, and trolls have been citing it ever since. Second, when starting a company, who would have thought of the day when Hitler died? This is crazy.

One of the craziest things was when this troll posted about Garga's wife, implying that she was "alt-right", Because of the word "cowabunga" in her Instagram bio. Garga's wife is Mexican-American, and she loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as do thousands of others.

Overall, we think it's crazy that these conspiracy theories can flourish. This really showcases the power an unhinged troll can have.

We see our community rallying behind us and we are grateful for that - them and the past year with us It was clear to everyone we worked with (not to mention those who knew us all our lives) that this was all bullshit. We appreciate all the love and support.

Thanks, Gordon, Garga, Tomato, Sass.