ApeCoin DAO to Fund Bored Ape News Site for $150,000

While the NFT market at large may be slowing down, a Bored Ape-focused news outlet is getting a big boost thanks to the ApeCoin DAO’s treasury. 

ApeCoin DAO—a decentralized organization that uses the cryptocurrency ApeCoin as its governance token—has voted in favor of funding the news site The Bored Ape Gazette.

The proposal, also known as AIP-70, passed with flying colors. Over 1.1 million ApeCoin tokens voted in favor and 149,000 ApeCoin tokens voted against the Gazette’s proposal to allocate $150,000 to fund its site, which covers news about the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs as well as Mutant Apes (MAYC), Kennel Club (BAKC), and Otherside, Yuga Labs’ upcoming metaverse game.

The funds are expected to last for one year.

The money will go toward paying its sole writer and editor Kyle Swenson $7,000 a month to create more written content, with an increased focus on ApeCoin DAO news and the creation of a bi-weekly Bored Ape Gazette newsletter. 

NFTs—unique blockchain tokens that signify ownership—have seen massive investment since the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs were first minted in April 2021. The BAYC collection alone has seen $2.3 billion in total volume traded, according to CryptoSlam data. And its creators, Yuga Labs, achieved a massive valuation of $4 billion back in March.

The proposal also details plans to add price trackers for ApeCoin as well as trackers for activity on the BAYC, MAYC, BAKC, and Otherdeed Ethereum NFT collections. Remaining funds will go toward paying freelancers $100 a story, with the aim of hiring writers from the ApeCoin DAO community. 

“This is a community paper that should be written by members of the $Ape community!” the proposal reads.

The small site has plenty of room to grow. According to SimilarWeb data, The Bored Ape Gazette has only seen 52,400 total visits since its launch over a year ago in June 2021.

A site written by BAYC supporters and funded by ApeCoin DAO raises questions over an obvious risk of biased reporting, considering Swenson is a longtime BAYC holder himself.

“Objective reporting is important to me,” Swenson told Decrypt via Twitter DM. “The Gazette will always be a voice for the community and I work hard to be balanced when covering any story.”

“The Gazette doesn’t promote, it reports the news that Apes need to know,” he added. 

Swenson, based in Orlando, Fla.,  was a two-time Dow Jones News Fund intern at the Orlando Business Journal, and was the editor in chief of the independent Knight News covering the University of Central Florida. Prior to launching The Bored Ape Gazette, he was known for "Thrifting With Kyle," an online clothing reseller and community.

As for what his goals are moving forward, Swenson wants to filter through the “noise” that can proliferate on social media.  

“My goal is never to tell people what to think," Swenson said. "My goal has been and always will be to bring the community the important information that they need to make their own decisions.” 

ApeCoin DAO has not yet responded to Decrypt’s request for comment.