Following a night of live music and other events, attendees of ApeFest 2023, the exclusive festival for holders of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTS, have reported searing eye pain and vision loss in numerous posts on social media over the weekend.

ApeFest, which is held annually, was in Hong Kong this year and took place on November 4th. The event is run by Yuga Labs and brings together every "Ape" who owns a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT.

As of the fall of 2023, a Bored Ape sells for on average, around $50,000, and sometimes even more depending on their rarity or other factors.

Yuga Labs put out an official statement earlier this morning, after a day of ApeFest attendees pushing the company to address the health risks flooded social media platforms such as X.

It seems likely that the problem was a lighting mistake and the wrong kind of UV bulbs were used for the stage, purportedly causing vision impairment.

Many took to X to make memes mocking Bored Ape holders and NFT culture, one of the internet's frequent punching bags since crypto art has become highly contentious among users online.

These posts made fun both of the incompetence of Yuga Labs and the apparent gullibility of Bored Ape holders. The last ApeFest, in 2022 in New York City, was also widely mocked online.

For their own part, members of the BAYC encouraged each other to seek medical attention and take care of themselves. The Apeholders who sought medical attention were diagnosed with "photokeratitis," or a burn of the eyeball.

Some posted that despite the unfortunate events, they still enjoyed ApeFest 2023.