The history of the voyage, from 2022 to today.
Founded in 2022 by SailorApe, a Bored Ape Yacht Club holder, Pirate Apes — also known as Bad Ape Pirates — was created as a community-first NFT project on Ethereum. Inspired by pirate lore and the BAYC community, it was designed for those who missed the yacht. The motto became: “First, Community… All else, The Sea!”
At launch, Yuga Labs had not yet introduced Made by Apes licences — those came in July 2023. Pirate Apes is an independent project and is not affiliated with the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Unlike other derivative projects it has its own traits, story and identity, with artwork curated by the Captain and the project's artist, Ilya.
The project built organic traction through giveaways, AMAs, poker nights and Discord raids. Pirate Apes officially minted on 1 August 2022 with a total supply of 5,700.
The launch used a hybrid structure built for accessibility, low gas and early supporter rewards: roughly 4,000 were claimed as free mints by OG and whitelist holders, while 1,500–2,000 public mints at 0.02 ETH raised around 30–40 ETH to support the team.
Following the core collection, the team launched the Sea Mutants expansion. Holders could mutate their Apes by consuming a Rum Tankard, Rum Bottle, Rum Barrel or Toxic Tankard. Rum minted at 0.02–0.03 ETH, with real-life rum included at the higher tiers.
The Drinking Event — when Apes could start transforming into Sea Mutants — was postponed slightly due to the Ethereum Merge.
Pirate Apes ran one of the early “phygital” experiments in the NFT space, partnering with Pirate's Grog to deliver real bottles of rum to OG holders. The top ten received a free custom rum chest.
But like any real pirate crew, the community is spread across every continent. The rum drew high praise; international shipping costs and alcohol taxes proved a challenge for some members. Roadmap 2.0 was published at the end of the year.
SailorApe and the team introduced $DBL on Ethereum, an ERC-20 utility token for the Pirate Apes ecosystem. Launched without a liquidity pool, it served mostly as the currency for bidding on Pirate Ape NFTs in community auctions.
SailorApe stepped back from daily management to devote more time to film production. He and his team left the space, but did not let the ship go under — they made sure to find responsible successors to take care of the crew.
Two long-standing community members, Crab-e-Bill and Gubeat, were promoted to Captains and the project was handed over to them. They earned widespread trust through transparency, strong crew treatment and a commitment to long-term sustainability. The Pirate Council was formed in the same month.
Under the new leadership, $DBL underwent a complete overhaul and the project focused on strengthening community governance. The Pirate Council was formalised as a board of long-time holders chosen to vote on and shape the project's future — it still sits today.
$DBL was redeployed on Polygon with dedicated liquidity, and a soft-staking portal let holders earn $DBL simply by holding Pirate Apes and Sea Mutants, turning it into a working utility token tied to NFT ownership.
The team launched Member-Ship NFTs for broader real-world-asset utility, granting access to PROOF platform token launches and revenue-sharing opportunities.
When issues arose with the PROOF launches, the Captains took full responsibility and refunded every Member-Ship purchase out of pocket. Holders still profited from secondary sales and accumulated rewards — a move widely praised across the community. The Member-Ship NFTs are retired and no longer active.
To bring fresh energy into the project, two long-time community members, Caleb and Nixxon, were appointed as new Captains. Both have been with Pirate Apes since day one and bring new ideas while keeping the brand's continuity.
Crab-e-Bill and Gubeat remain active as core members of the crew and the Pirate Council, guiding the project's strategic direction.
