COTAS stands for Citizens Of The Ape Society. The latest collection minted by Cardano’s #1 project is a digital passport that will give you perks within the ecosystem, specifically the landmarks within the Ape City.
What the COTAS really is, is a passport that will allow you to receive perks, discounts, and other named privileges within The Ape Society’s City
I am going to break down the utility of the passport. Hopefully, this will help you better understand what COTAS is and why I think this may end up being the best value in the entire Ape Society ecosystem.
First, Some Background
Let’s take a look at the Ape’s City, where (maybe) most of the benefits of holding a passport will be.
Within the city, there are 35 districts. In 11 of those districts, there are, or will be landmarks that will allow anyone to participate using a variety of currencies. These districts also comprise cabins, in which apes and non-apes can do a lot of different things. You can buy frames, stake apes, and non-apes for daily emissions of our $Society Token, the communities utility token.
There have been 2 of the 11 landmarks announced, but the DAO (Run by all members of The Ape Society like me) is also building an amphitheater that will have games and other cool things to do.
You will not need a passport to participate in the services the landmarks provide. These landmarks are available to anyone
I could (and probably should) do an entire article on the cabins, but the passports are not likely going to be interacting with the cabins (maybe).
The Passports
The passports are digital citizenship documents. When a landmark goes live, you’ll get a stamp for that landmark automatically added to the passport, which will give you perks related to that landmark. This is made possible by one of the latest upgrades to the Cardano blockchain, CIP-68. I’ll talk more about this further down.
Landmarks are going to be a kind of digital venue of sorts. You’ll be able to visit the landmarks virtually and interact with the applications within that area.
What’s really cool (in my opinion) about these passports is that they allow holders of NFTs from virtually any other NFT blockchain to connect that token to the Ape City via a wallet. You’ll be able to buy $Society tokens on Ethereum and other chains and use them within the Cardano landmark ecosystem. It’s also rumored that some landmarks will be cross-chain friendly, where people would be able to use ETH or Matic to transact.
As you participate in activities in each landmark you’ll build points that will eventually allow you to have your passport upgraded to give you even more benefits.
Here’s a hypothetical example of what this process may look like.
Bedford Trading Company, the first landmark (in the Koatwoolf district) will be a futures market that will likely start with the price of ADA (up or down). BTC will eventually be much larger than just this, but the team will likely start small.
If you have a regular passport, you will automatically receive perks not available to regular users. As you use it more, you accumulate “points”. Eventually, you’ll get your stamp upgraded to receive additional benefits.
There will be several level-ups until you max out, where you’ll receive the best perks for as long as you hold the token. Those could be discounts, early access, or whatever the landmark’s perks offer. FYI, if you sell the token, the new owner will need to start the leveling-up all over.
The Factory is the second announced landmark, which is already active in the Shiahib district. The factory is a launchpad for new projects (with TAS Founders acting as mentors during the pre-minting process.) Maybe passport holders will receive discounts or white lists for minting projects.
The Golden Ticket
TAS minted 10,000 passports, and 500 of them were premium passports that max you out for all the best benefits of the landmark’s utility from day one. With the golden passport, there’s no need to build “points” trying to get more perks.
Where The Magic Happens – CIP-68
The reason The Ape Society is able to offer these upgradable, updatable tokens is thanks to CIP-68, which is a Cardano Improvement Proposal. The proposal passed and that made the COTAS mint possible. The team worked with Saturn NFT to build these tokens. The implications of CIP-68 will, in my opinion, change the way we interact with NFTs. The upgrade allows NFTs on Cardano to be Dynamic. The implication of this CIP is immeasurable.
Why I Think This Token May Bring So Much Value
Blockchains are made to be used. These passports bring unique utilities to the holder that non-holders won’t have. I believe even a moderate participant in the landmarks’ activity will yield a lot of good value. I don’t know the hard details, but I’ve made some guesses above. The thing about my guesses is that AF1 (Ape Force One, the three TAS founders) is way more creative at this than I am. I think I’m setting a low bar on what this utility will eventually bring.
One thing I have learned during the past year with The Ape Society is its supreme utility. In my opinion, this may be their best long-term utility yet.
Should you get one? I can’t make that decision for you. Never take financial advice from a .jpg ape, especially when he’s talking about his biggest holdings.
