You're right - Apes are Cryptopunks plus hype. The whole reason we're beefing is you're arguing that BAYC are "something entirely new" when the value proposition for BAYC, according to you, is basically that of the Porsche Car Club of America, minus Porsche.

Is a Cryptopunk art?

I see CryptoPunks as an important road sign in human history, and a front-row ticket to history to be made. To me, CryptoPunks indicate a point in time when technology unlocked the arts. Eventually, I’ll pass my CryptoPunk on to my daughter or donate it to a museum. Until then, I’ll look at it as something new that signifies a world on its way.

I do not for a minute question your fundamental assumptions about CryptoPunks. They aren't pretending to be something they're not. Gentle reminder: I'm pretty much always the one arguing NFT normie use cases because bloody hell, you can't buy a Breitling without one and haven't been able to for a couple years now. Something entirely new? That Twitter thread is a clever kid with a newsletter who:

- minted a bunch of NFTs rather than getting on Substack

- sells them instead of using Adsense

- such that they unlock the whole page rather than previews when there's a token in a connected wallet

- and resold on the secondary market

- or burned within a time window for a pro-rated refund

...while BAYC:

When they sold 500 tangible hats to ape-holders in June, the guys spent days packaging products in Gargamel’s mom’s backyard in Florida. “Immediately, some of them sold for thousands of dollars,” Gargamel exclaims. “It was a $25 hat. We were like, ‘Holy shit, we can be a Web3 streetwear brand. What does that even look like?’ ”

Cryptopunks. Plus hype.