ApeCoin Nears All-Time Low as Bored Ape Ethereum NFT Prices Plummet

ApeCoin, the Ethereum-based token tied to Yuga Labs’ namesake NFT collection, is firmly in the doldrums alongside its Ape-themed analogs following a tumultuous week for the broader crypto markets.

The token has slipped 30% over the past seven days amid market turbulence sparked by growing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Extending losses over the past year, the price of ApeCoin has plummeted 74% since this time last April to a current price of $1.19, according to CoinGecko.

ApeCoin’s brush towards its all-time low price of $1.01 (set last October) comes as the token’s official steward, the ApeCoin DAO, weighs several proposals from community members. Notable initiatives include establishing a “dominant presence” at an upcoming NFT conference in Portugal and a rewards app for ApeCoin and Yuga NFT holders.

Meanwhile, the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s floor price, representative of the cheapest NFT from the collection listed for sale on a marketplace, has fallen 67% over the past year to $33,000 (11 ETH) from $103,000 (52 ETH), according to data from NFT Price Floor. 

That leaves the floor price for Bored Apes within 1 ETH striking distance of other notable PFP collections, including Pudgy Penguins, CyberKongz, and Grifters by XCOPY—despite broader headwinds in the NFT market over the last year-plus.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club became synonymous with NFTs as pricey, digital status symbols in 2021 and early 2022. And as Yuga Labs’ Otherside game took aim at the metaverse, for example, Bored Apes peaked in floor price, reaching a minimum price of 152 ETH, or $429,000 in April 2022.

ApeCoin is expected to be the de facto currency for Yuga Labs’ new projects, including the Otherside, which has held limited playtests but has yet to open up to players on an ongoing basis.

In February, Otherside General Manager Eric Reid addressed the project’s pace in a blog post, acknowledging that “people are skeptical—if not downright pissed—from the lack of regular information on Otherside.”

“Building something like Otherside is measured in years, not weeks or months,” he continued. “Building the platform and refining our long-term vision has been challenging.”

Earlier this month, the Bored Ape community was confronted with a cultural loss. Two years after it opened, the Los Angeles-based burger joint Bored & Hungry shuttered its doors, hanging up its hat—for the time being—on monetizing IP from the NFT collection in the United States. But there are locations still open in Asia.

Edited by Andrew Hayward