ApeCoin, the Ethereum-based token set to power Yuga Labs’ ambitious Otherside metaverse game and other apps, slipped to an all-time low on Tuesday as the firm’s “blue chip” Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection faced renewed pressure as well.
Known for its link to the valuable Bored Ape profile pictures (PFPs), ApeCoin fell as low as $1.77 late Monday and into early Tuesday, according to CoinGecko. As of this writing, the token had rebounded to $1.84—but it was still down 1% over the past day and 9% during the last week.
The meteoric rise of Bored Apes Yacht Club NFTs in 2021 and 2022 established its 10,000 simian-centered collectibles as icons of Web3 for mainstream audiences. But as the market for PFPs falters more broadly, assets associated with Yuga Labs’ smash hit appear to be falling back to earth.
Headwinds for ApeCoin come days after Yuga Labs showcased elements of its Otherside game at an exclusive event, where 40 NFT owners and superfans roamed fresh sections of its virtual realm. For some, it was a chance to don their Bored Ape as a virtual avatar for the first time.
ApeCoin hit the market in March 2022 at a price of $8.54 and surged as high as $26.70 the following month. Bored Apes also reached a peak minimum price of 152 ETH or $429,000 in April 2022 as Yuga’s Otherside game prepared to launch NFT-based land plots that will let players customize their own spaces in the online world.
The newfound low for ApeCoin represents a more than 93% decline from its all-time high, and a 73% plunge from $6.67 a year ago. Still, the coin is ranked #65 among all other tokens in terms of market capitalization, per data from CoinGecko, with a total value of $675 million.
Jeremy Cohen, an influencer who goes by Pauly on Twitter, lauded ApeCoin’s recent slip as “poetic justice.” He is currently locked in a legal battle with Yuga alongside artist Ryder Ripps and faces allegations of trademark infringement. The lawsuit’s trial began in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Monday.
In early July, Bored Ape prices buckled to multi-year lows—the collection’s floor price (or the price of the cheapest NFT listed) scraped past $52,000 worth of Ethereum. The cheapest-listed Bored Ape went on to climb as high as $67,000 worth of Ethereum in July, but it has since sunk back down to $54,000 worth, according to NFT Price Floor.
Yuga Labs adopted ApeCoin after it was launched by the ApeCoin DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization. The APE Foundation, which serves as the token’s “steward,” also acts as the DAO’s day-to-day administrator, per its website.
Yuga Labs’ metaverse game is underpinned by Otherdeed for Otherside NFTs, the aforementioned titles for virtual plots in the upcoming game. The cheapest NFT from the collection has fallen to just over $1,100 worth of ETH, down from a peak of $9,900 worth in May 2022, according to NFT Price Floor.
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