There’s been a lot of online hype about the Bored Ape Yacht Club, but there’s also plenty of advice on crypto market forums to avoid being an “ape”. 

Are these terms related to each other? What does it mean to be an ape in crypto? Read on to find out more about this term!

What Does “Ape In” Mean In Crypto?

At its simplest, to “ape in” crypto means to buy a new blockchain cryptocurrency coin. However, it’s typically used in a derogatory manner to refer to blindly buying without doing a lot of research about the coin.

Here’s an example of how it may be used: “I can’t believe they aped into that! Nobody knows anything about the developer or the art projects!”

It’s widely believed that this term came from the internet meme “apes together strong”, a line that comes from the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. This meme was widely used in a joking way by those buying meme stocks, encouraging buyers to band together and push prices higher through united action.

This term soon trickled into cryptocurrency exchange as crypto buyers exchanged advice during deep dips and sudden peaks in prices. While buyers jokingly motivated each other to hold fast or join by saying “apes together strong”, they would derisively refer to people jumping on buying new coins as “apes”.

This term is not related to The Bored Ape Yacht Club. 

What Is The Bored Ape Yacht Club?

In April 2021, Yuga Labs launched a project that exploded into one of the world’s biggest art blockchains. Known as the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), this NFT project consisted of ten thousand unique cartoon ape images.

The initial selling price of each Bored Ape NFT is estimated at 0.068 ETH or roughly $200 in Ethereum. Just one day after the launch, all of Bored Ape Yacht Club’s NFTs were sold and the prices continued to rise. Nowadays, a Bored Ape NFT can cost as much as 740 ETH. That’s millions of dollars for one unique image!

Recently, Bored Ape Yacht Club introduced ApeCoin, an Ethereum-based token that also allows users to vote on initiatives and get access to other ecosystem perks. 

Why Are Bored Ape NFTs So Expensive?

One reason why Bored Ape NFTs are so pricey is because of all the high-profile purchases made by celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Bieber, and Serena Williams. Another is the exclusive access that owning Bored Ape NFTs grants to its holders.

Purchasing a Bored Ape NFT is akin to paying a one-time fee for a club membership. Once you have one, you can join BAYC’s Discord server where you can hang out and chat with celebrities like Steve Aoki and Stephen Curry.

There’s also an art space in the server known as The Bathroom where members can scribble anything they want – just like a public bathroom. Ape NFT owners can draw a pixel every 15 minutes, making this one of the few collaborative creative projects for NFT art.

The special access to unique NFT collectibles is also a big draw. In the case of MutantApe serum vials, these were even given for free to server members while the public had to wait and pay 3 ETH per vial. That’s several thousands of dollars worth of free stuff that you get simply for holding the NFT.

What Are ApeCoins?

ApeCoins (sometimes spelled APE) is Bored Ape Yacht Club’s native cryptocurrency. Built on Ethereum’s ERC20 token standard, this coin is already listed on several major crypto exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, FTX, and KuCoin.

The current supply of APE Coins is set at 1 billion tokens, with no capability to increase supply by minting more tokens. Unlike blockchain game currency, there’s no burning capability for ApeCoins.

Apart from having a trading value, this cryptocurrency offers access to the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem. This includes exclusive games, events, and merchandise.

APE Price Statistics

ApeCoin’s initial offer price on March 17, 2022 was at a comfortable USD$7.40 per ApeCoin. In just 24 hours, it quickly climbed up to $17.17. The value of an ApeCoin remained at USD$14 within a week of the cryptocurrency’s launch.

Since its launch, ApeCoin has become one of the top 70 cryptocurrencies traded around the world and even cracked the top 40 during its first 24 hours of trading.

In Conclusion

Before buying a coin, don’t just ape in or pounce on an ape token! Do your research on its tokenomics or you just might find yourself paying through the nose for a disastrous idea.

If you want to join the Bored Apes though, that’s a plan that requires tens of thousands of dollars in Ethereum and gas fees. Still, you may consider it worth it for the club’s social scene and exclusive collectible NFTs. Do your research and check online forums before making a pricey crypto purchase!