ApeCoin in for Volatile Ride as Exchanges List Bored Ape Yacht Club-linked Crypto

The token plunged from $39.4 to $6.31 Thursday morning, according to Coinbase

article-image

Source: ApeCoin

share

key takeaways

  • Investors can now trade ethereum utility token ApeCoin on cryptocurrency exchanges
  • Reports emerged of scammers setting up phishing websites and Twitter accounts to mislead prospective token investors

Major cryptocurrency exchanges began listing ApeCoin (APE) Thursday — the token with performance closely tied to Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

Coinbase, FTX, Gemini and Kraken have all added APE to their platforms. 

David Ma, FTX’s head of listings, deemed the token a “high quality cryptoasset” that has garnered “great interest from the FTX community who were eager to take part in the Yuga Labs ecosystem.”

“[We] will continue to support projects that are innovative, beneficial to the crypto ecosystem and advance the adoption of blockchain technology,” Ma told Blockworks. 

Binance, Kraken and Coinbase did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

ApeCoin is an ethereum utility token, which is governed and launched by a decentralized autonomous organization — the ApeCoin DAO. Holding a token is the only requirement for DAO membership. 

“The token will provide access to exclusive merchandise, games and events happening in the ecosystem itself,” Binance said in a statement.

APE will serve as a decentralized protocol layer for new products and services that “drive culture forward into the metaverse,” according to ApeCoin’s website. Token holders can vote on how the DAO’s funds will be used. 

Loading Tweet..

During the token drop, reports emerged of scammers setting up phishing websites and hacking verified Twitter accounts to lure investors in and drain their digital wallets.

The ApeCoin token — airdropped to BAYC NFT holders — got off to a rocky start on exchanges Thursday. The token plunged from $39.4 to $6.31, according to Coinbase. The token traded at $8.26 at time of publication.

Starting Thursday, Ape NFT (non-fungible token) holders were eligible to claim 10,000 APE tokens, 15% of ApeCoin’s total supply. 16% were allocated to Yuga Labs and 8% to BAYC founders.

“Bored Apes showcase the modern playbook of ‘NFT first, token second,’” Yury Lifshits, CEO of DAO infrastructure company Superdao, told Blockworks. “More and more DAOs and all kinds of projects will do free NFT drops first, NFT sales second and token launch third.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Ethena Labs is leaping from its flagship synthetic dollar, USDe, to a full product suite—USDtb, iUSDe, and the Arbitrum-based Converge Chain—designed to marry crypto-native yields with TradFi-grade compliance. Our analysis shows how expanding into CME, ETF options, and tokenized Treasuries could lift protocol revenue from sub-$500 million in a bear case to several billion dollars if favorable regulation and institutional adoption align.

article-image

Bitcoin is still rising, 11 years after the documentary film The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin

article-image

Arch Labs CEO told Blockworks that the team plans to launch a native token, but declined to give details

article-image

CEO Mike Silagadze tells Blockworks that the US is “open for business” and why its DeFi bank offering is the first of many

article-image

Doing one thing well and leaving everything else out is often what disruptive technologies do best

article-image

Why an analyst is kicking off COIN coverage with “buy” rating