Over 2 million ApeCoin was added to the pool on March 20 for staking.
However, APE’s price movement has remained lackluster as APY fell
With an enticing annual percentage yield (APY), ApeCoin [APE] unveiled its staking feature in December 2022 where it immediately raised over $30 million in bets on its first day. Despite the passage of several months since its launch, investors remain committed.
Read ApeCoins [APE] Price Forecast 2023-24
Much is at stake
A recent Etherscan trace of an address revealed an intriguing transaction. According to the available data, on March 20, the address bought about 2 million USDT and then used it to buy ApeCoin. The fascinating thing about the observed transaction was that the purchased APE was subsequently deployed.
When the APE staking feature originally went live in December, it raised nearly $30 million in just 24 hours. Horizen Labs’ staking approach rewarded ApeCoin, Bored Ape Yacht Club [BAYC]and Mutant Ape Yacht Club [MAYC] NFT holders who have staked their tokens in the contract with APE tokens.
The APY for the BAYC pool was 121.81% and ApeCoin’s was 65.87%, according to data from ApeCointaking.io. Simultaneously APY for MAYC and Bored Ape Kernel Club [BAKC] were 132.28% and 133% respectively. The return rate was quite high at the start, but gradually decreased over time.
The APE stake totaled more than 54 million, worth more than $216 million, and represented more than 13% of the supply in circulation.
Traders are taking short positions
Short positions have dominated the market since December, according to historical funding rate data from Coinglass. When the staking feature was introduced and launched, it corresponded to the dominance of short positions.
Source: Coinglass
Nevertheless, short holdings had declined at the time of writing, but they still held the dominant position on several exchanges. In addition, the recent APE unlock may have encouraged traders to take short positions against APE and the high APY, which could negatively impact the price.
How much are 1.10.100 APEs worth today?
ApeCoin price goes back to the pre-strike period
The daily timeframe chart for APE showed that the price saw an upward trend when the stake feature was enabled. The price then returned to where the uptrend had begun. At the time of writing, it was trading around $4,167, up more than 2%.
Source: TradingView
The chart also confirmed that February’s bear trend had yet to be reversed. ApeCoin was at 40 on the Relative Strength Index (RSI), dropping it below the neutral line.
This post Why ApeCoin [APE] refuses to budge even as the stakeout pool increases
was published first on https://ambcrypto.com/why-apecoin-ape-refuses-to-budge-even-as-staking-pool-increases/
