FINTECH | CRYPTOCURRENCY
APECoin (APE) is a new decentralized project cryptocurrency modeled after the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) from Yuga Labs, which is quickly gaining attention.
APE is a coin many investors are looking at and making investments in, but is it a valuable asset or just another “flash-in-the-pan” project currently being pumped that will soon disappear when whales are tired of playing with it?
A decentralized protocol layer for community-led initiatives that drive culture forward into the metaverse. — APECoin Official Website.
Alternatively, could it provide value other than to the BAYC members to buy lucrative non-fungible tokens (NFT)?
What’s the history and technology behind the APE BEP-20 token that could make it a worthwhile investment? Who are its founders? Should you put a few dollars into the project to see where it is going, or will it quickly flame out?
I will attempt to answer these questions by pouring through several sources including podcasts, Tweets, and YouTube video to give you a better idea if you should an investment.
FYI — The official APE website says, “Ape at its core a meme token…”
APE History
A team of developers created APE in early 2018. Their vision was a more user-friendly and scalable cryptocurrency. APE is based on a Bitcoin protocol but modified to make it easier to use and faster.
Although the original founders of Yuga Labs (this has been denied by the APECoin DAO) were heavily involved in the creation of APE, “…a carefully coordinated marketing campaign has taken great pains to dissociate ApeCoin from any one conventional corporation.” — Coin Desk.
Understandably, those involved with an APE token that sells for less than $20 would want to distance themselves from the “elitist” BAYC. Not to say that any of the members think that way, but it would be easy for a small-time investor to look at the BAYC as elitists.
“We embrace the fun and importance of innovation in the crypto space by incubating and developing unique platforms. GO APE! — APECoin Official Website.
What Is a DAO?
A Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) “…is a way of organizing people and their interests on the internet using the blockchain. The blockchain is a public ledger system that exists only on the internet. It uses a complex cryptography system to ensure that everything written to it (“blocks”) is verifiable.” — Fast Company.
This is a group of people with a common interest. In the case of the Ape Foundation or Ape ecosystem, the aim is to build a fair and equitable infrastructure for APE token holders to “collaborate through open and permissionless governance.”
Let’s say, for instance, a billionaire founder decides that the “mining” process uses too much energy and is not good for the environment. They could not simply make a unilateral decision to suspend mining. They must put it to a vote within the DAO.
That administrative council is the “decision-maker” for the APE Foundation and provides its bookkeeping, day-to-day command and control, project management (PM), and other operations and processes to ensure the APE community has the service and support necessary to make its concepts reality.
The DAO allows users to vote on proposals to improve the APE network. This gives APE holders a say in developing and improving the currency.
ApeCoin Technology
ApeCoin uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to validate transactions on its blockchain.
“Proof-of-Work (PoW) is a decentralized consensus mechanism that requires members of a network to expend effort solving an arbitrary mathematical puzzle to prevent anybody from gaming the system. Proof of work is used widely in cryptocurrency mining, for validating transactions and mining new tokens.” — Investopedia.
APE’s PoW algorithm is called ‘Lyra2REv3’. Lyra2REv3 is a modification of the original Lyra2RE algorithm created by the Vert Coin team.
“The Lyra2REv3 hard fork was an emergency measure to abolish ASICs on the Vert Coin blockchain.” — Where to Mine.io.
The main advantage of Lyra2REv3 is that it is designed to be resistant to Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) miners. This means that APE can be mined with Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which are more widely available and affordable than ASIC miners.
Other coins and tokens besides Vert Coin (VTC) (trading at $.26) using the Lyra2Rev3 are Hana Coin (HANA) (trading at $0.00043) and Global Token (GLT) (trading at $0.00059).
NFT Marketplace
APE has also built an NFT marketplace (MonkeyFirm) into its protocol. The NFT marketplace will allow users to buy, sell, and trade NFTs. This will give APE holders a method to purchase unique digital items.
There are also games, comics, and other services upcoming, according to the APECoin official website.
The APE Team
The APE team comprises experienced developers with software engineering, cryptography, and marketing backgrounds.
The official word is that the BAYC project and Yuga Labs were not involved in creating the APECoin.
Some prominent DAO “board members” are Alexis Ohanian, a Reddit co-founder, Amy Wu from FTX, Dean Steinbeck from Horizen Labs, Maaria Bajwa from Sound Ventures, and others. Each DAO member is elected for six months.
What’s more essential is that you don’t need to own an APE NFT to be an APE DAO member. Owning APE tokens makes you a voting member with the same privileges as anyone holding the same number of tokens.
Why Is APE Unique?
APE is unique because it is one of the few cryptocurrencies based on the BTC and Lite Coin (LTC) PoW protocol but is ASIC resistant. This means that APE can be mined with GPUs, which are much more widely available and affordable than ASIC miners.
Another similarity to BTC used by APE is the Segregated Witness (SegWit) protocol. SegWit allows for smaller transaction sizes and improved scalability.
“SegWit fixed transaction malleability by removing the signature information (otherwise known as the “witness” information) and storing it outside the base transaction block. With that, signatures and scripts can be changed without affecting the transaction id.” — Coin Desk.
#APE moving to $20? Of course, everyone thinks their coin is “going to the moon.”
APE uses the Lightning Network for fast and cheap payments. Also, APE’s block time is 2.5 minutes faster than BTC’s 10-minute block time. This means that APE transactions are confirmed faster than Bitcoin transactions.
APECoin Data Current as of 24 Mar ‘22
“The live ApeCoin price today is $13.20 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $2,611,035,192 USD. We update our APE to USD price in real-time. ApeCoin is up 7.79% in the last 24 hours. The current CoinMarketCap ranking is #38, with a live market cap of $3,662,751,153 USD. It has a circulating supply of 277,500,000 APE coins and a max. supply of 1,000,000,000 APE coins.” — Coin Market Cap.
APE to USD Conversion Chart All-Time
As you can see, APE has never reached its initial coin offering (ICO) price, though it is back above the $10 level.
APE Is an Up-and-Coming Crypto Token
In conclusion, APE could be an excellent investment for anyone looking for a more user-friendly and scalable cryptocurrency. Its technology is sound, and its team is experienced and dedicated to making APE a success.
Despite the benefits inherent in the APE project over BTC, BTC is an established, well-respected cryptocurrency, and APE could very well become irrelevant in a few weeks or months.
It would be best to temper your expectations with this token and tread lightly. However, there’s no reason you cannot make a small, affordable investment, and keep an eye on its progress.
In the two days I have been studying it and doing research, it has gained nearly $3.00 per token, which is quite a lot for an inexpensive coin. It went from $10.37 to $13.20.
APECOIN HUGE PRICE UPDATE!! APECOIN PRICE PREDICTION AND ANALYSIS! APE COIN CRYPTO
However, this movement could simply be due to the efforts of “pump-and-dumpers.” Think about the Game Stop (GME) days where the subreddit group pumped GME back from the verge of bankruptcy.
Granted, that could have been the boost the stock needed to keep it relevant long enough to find some profitable projects to join.
Although many hope the APE token will continue to spiral upward, the reality is that the odds are against it.
DISCLAIMER: This article is for entertainment and informational purposes only. It should not be considered financial or legal advice. Not all information will be accurate. I am not a financial adviser, and you should consider anything I write as informational and friendly banter to show you what is possible if you invest your money in these vehicles. However, there are no guarantees. Consult a financial professional before making any significant financial decisions.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure statement for additional information.
Stephen Dalton is a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor. Also, a Top Writer in Nutrition, Travel, Fiction, Transportation, VR, NFL, Design, Creativity, and Short Story.
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