Most Influential 2021: All Seeing Seneca

The digital artist All Seeing Seneca, the creative lead behind the Bored Apes Yacht Club, has seen her creation reach escape velocity. The collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFT), tied to portraits of primates in human garb, function as tickets to the Bored Ape social club on Discord.

The article is part of CoinDesk’s 2021 Most Influential list.

Her artwork is everywhere – on Times Square billboards, on profile pictures for thousands of ape-holders on Twitter (including Jimmy Fallon, Steph Curry and Post Malone) and even on an upcoming album release planned by Universal Music. It’s far from the only “profile picture” NFT project, but it has struck a cultural chord. More than $1 billion worth of apes – including the psychedelic sister project Mutant Apes and Bored Ape Kennel Club – has traded since April.

Additional info: Gargamel and Gordon Goner, the pseudonymous founders of Bored Ape Yacht Club, were friends with an interest in literature before releasing the apes. Gargamel completed an MFA, and Goner was an MFA dropout (due to health concerns).

Read more: The Bored Ape Founders Haven’t Yet Joined the Yacht Club