What is ApeCoin (APE)?

Anyone who has been in crypto for a while now would surely have heard of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs)–each one featuring a unique “bored-looking” cartoon ape attired in wildly different ways. The whole collection itself was generated by an algorithm which made some ape styles and adornments rarer than others. It is the rarity of these attributes that make some of the items worth quite a hefty sum. The most expensive one to date–with golden fur and a party whistle in its mouth–sold for 852.39 ETH or about $3.4 million at the time of sale.

BAYC was developed in 2021 by Yuga Labs, one of the dominant names in the world of NFTs at the present. Since then, BAYC has amassed a loyal following including high profile celebrities such as Stephen Curry, Eminem and Madonna, who were all reported to have purchased their own Apes. All in all, the BAYC collection has generated over  $2.3 billion in sales since it launched, involving over 31 thousand transactions. 

To further engage with and incentivize the growing BAYC community, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was soon established with its own governance and utility token–ApeCoin (APE). 

Yuga Labs is one of the companies at the forefront of ushering in the metaverse and Web 3.0 development. Aside from BAYC, Yuga Labs also developed other wildly popular NFT projects such as CryptoPunks and Meebits. 

NFTs are blockchain tokens which are coded to be unique and cannot be replicated nor simply exchanged for another–unlike “fungible” cryptocurrencies wherein one token is just as good as another token of the same kind. 

As such, NFTs can be made as representations of art, and can be ascribed a subjective value based on its desirability and collectability. In the NFT art sector alone, global sales reached $2.57 billion in 2021 and has even attracted major auction companies such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

Other applications of NFTs exist in gaming such as to create unique in-game items or in creating digital assets used to ascribe ownership such as with domain names. 

APE is an ERC-20 token which allows its holders to participate in the governance of the APE ecosystem. With APE, you can vote on such matters involving projects, partnerships, and allocation of ecosystem funds. 

Holding APE can also unlock special features and benefits within the ApeCoin DAO such as access to special events or merchandise. 

APE can also be staked in third party platforms to earn passive income such as in major exchanges or on some metaverse gaming platforms.  

APE has a fixed supply of 1 billion tokens all which have already been pre-minted but with only 299 million in circulation. It also has a market capitalization of $1.3 billion as of July 2022 . APE does not have a burning mechanism, but its remaining supply is released at regular vested intervals to the ApeCoin DAO, NFT holders, charity foundations and founders. The full supply is expected to be diluted only by March of 2024. 

Ready to start with crypto?

Start your trading journey by downloading the PDAX mobile app.

DISCLAIMER: The statements in this article do not constitute financial advice. PDAX does not guarantee the technical and financial integrity of the digital asset and its ecosystem. Any and all trading involving the digital asset is subject to the user’s risk and discretion and must be done after adequate and in-depth research and analysis.