The hacktivist group Anonymous has kept the most successful NFT project, Bored Apes Yacht Club powered by Yuga Labs, on the radar for allegedly using racist, fascistic, and even pedophilia-related symbolism in their digital art, which they have now addressed in a video.
The group has made allegations that BAYC NFTs “are infected with not one or two but with dozens of examples of esoteric symbolism and dog whistles reflecting nazism, racism, simianization, and pedophilia support.”
According to the group’s statement, it was important to assess all angles “before publicly citing our take on the allegations” as it reviewed countless documents and interviewed several key figures.
So, it can confirm “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that the BAYC and Yuga Labs are guilty of concealing these esoteric symbols. It also warned against reducing its accusations to “conspiracy theory”, saying that those who do so are “simply ignorant”, “not versed” or “at a financial conflict of interest”.
In the video, Anonymous addresses holders, BAYC and Yuga Labs’ Investors, Partners, and High Profile Enthusiasts, as well as Yuga Labs itself.
It asks the NFT holders, “Why are you just standing around not saying anything?” and urges them to take action and seek retribution.
Ryder Ripps, a conceptual artist, had raised a similar issue in early August about the strange similarities between BAYC images and Nazi iconography.
Anonymous stated that for the rest of the year and well into 2023, it will assign a team “whose sole job will be to bring awareness to the findings and questions about the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.”
The content will be translated into at least four other languages, covering four major NFT markets outside of the United States.
The group sought investors, partners, and high-profile celebrities such as Andreessen Horowitz, Mark Cuban, Neymar Junior, Kevin Hart, and Shaquille O’Neal, as well as big brands such as Lion Tree, Adidas, Tiffany & Co. along with crypto companies MoonPay, Coinbase, and others.
“Are you in support of these ideologies? Would you support a company accused of embedding these ideologies in a cryptic manner within their own brand?” it asks.
In a Medium post in June, Yuga Labs Co-founder Greg Solano denied similar claims against his company, saying, “We’ve become the target of a crazy disinformation campaign accusing us — a group of Jewish, Turkish, Pakistani, and Cuban friends — of being super-secret Nazis.”
Solano stated unequivocally at the time that the allegations of racism levelled against his diverse team were unfounded.
The Anonymous group went on to accuse Yuga Labs of failing to respond to these allegations with complete clarity or closure.
Inviting Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, co-founders of Yuga Labs, to participate in a live discussion, Anonymous asked “Did you think you could embed and inject these sick concepts simply because you understand esotericism and accelerationism better than the rest of the world? Let’s see how you hold up answering questions from someone who is just as initiated and versed as you are”.
