The debut of ApeCoin, the Ethereum-based token developed for the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT ecosystem, in March was met with tremendous excitement (and substantial financial rewards for BAYC holders). The price of APE tokens is uncertain as investors await the release of approximately $115 million in rewards for the project's supporters.
Other articles, such as those discussing the integrity of ApeCoin and Ethereum's recent Merge, may also spark your interest.
On Saturday, Sep 17, the ApeCoin DAO treasury released 25 million APE tokens to "launch contributors," or the anonymous "businesses and individuals that helped make this project a reality," as the website puts it. Launched on March 17, the 25 million tokens will become available in six months.
At the current price of $5.73, that's around $115,000,000 worth of tokens entering circulation, increasing the total supply by about 8%. The total quantity of ApeCoin is 1 billion tokens, although only around 318 million APE are really in circulation at the moment. After the first release in March, the remaining content will become available over the subsequent four years.
Who exactly is included in the launch contributors category is not known. On the other hand, a fresh report from Delphi Digital, a crypto industry research company, suggests that investors in Bored Ape Yacht Club founder Yuga Labs, which raised $450 million at a $4 billion value in March, may be on the list.
As far as we can tell, Yuga Labs isn't listed as ApeCoin's founder since doing so would violate regulations. The ApeCoin DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, governs the ApeCoin Foundation, which is the "steward" of the token. The ApeCoin DAO is basically an online community united online around a common aim with membership based on tokens.
It is unclear if these contributors will keep or sell their tokens, but the market's reaction to the token unlocking is being called into doubt as a result of the forthcoming increase in the circulation quantity. CoinGecko data shows that the price of APE has decreased by about 9% in the last 24 hours before unlocking, indicating that investors are selling in anticipation of the unlock. Over the last month, it has dropped by 26%.
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The issue that begs an answer worth a million dollars is whether or not launch donors will sell their tokens once they are made available. According to Delphi's writers, this will cause intense selling pressure on APE. "No one knows, but if they are long-term investors in Yuga Labs, there is a decent possibility that they will hang onto most of the unlocked tokens," the author writes.
However, with the likely imminent debut of ApeCoin staking, there may be tremendous motivation for launch donors to hold onto their tokens. As awards are distributed, the quantity of APE will increase, leading to inflation. Its current pricing can't be sustained without an influx of new purchasers.
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