Bessie Liu

ApeCoin DAO, the community that governs ApeCoin — the Ethereum governance token used to aid decision-making in the APE ecosystem — has voted against introducing two new NFT collections.



The proposal wanted to introduce two new NFT collections: Multi-Link Ape Coin Armory Club and Ape Coin Pet Club.



Each NFT collection would be made of <a href="https://forum.apecoin.com/t/aip-206-more-apecoin-holding-utility-and-growth-incentive-gift-and-create-multi-link-ape-coin-armory-club-and-ape-coin-pet-club-decentraland-otherside-sandbox-to-apecoin-bayc-and-other-yuga-nft-holders/10587">20,000</a> unique tokens, with existing ApeCoin holders receiving an airdrop of a non-unique version of the NFT.&nbsp;



NFTs would be linked to popular metaverse projects including Decentraland, Otherside and The Sandbox.



In total, the project would have cost the DAO $168,000.



Aaron Leupp, an ApeCoin DAO community member and author of the proposal, said that the project would “bring more massive utility to all NFTs by making them the first multi-metaverse linked wearable NFTs.”



In an on-chain <a href="https://snapshot.org/#/apecoin.eth/proposal/0xf08cc4304b694beac9d15153fe08a17f677f3b9afd80c8920d6f91e568e24fa2">snapshot vote</a>, results show that over 84% of delegates voted against the proposal, with almost 10% voting in favor and 6% choosing to abstain.



“Let me know if [there is] anything we can change you think could get your Yes vote next time around or more information we can give you on it that may have been missed if you have any questions,” Leupp <a href="https://twitter.com/AaronLeupp/status/1639729203162796032" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>.



Adding, “We have put a ton of money and work into this pitch alone, so worth the ask on our end.”



Leupp did not immediately respond to Blockworks&#8217; request for comment.



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No New NFT Collections for ApeCoin DAO, Community Says

Sebastian Sinclair

Metaverse crypto projects are enjoying a healthy surge this year, easily outstripping the decentralized finance (DeFi) segment.



Tokens tied to metaverse and gaming projects Enjincoin, Axie Infinity, Decentraland, The Sandbox, STEPN and Apecoin have all soared over a 30-day and year-to-date basis.



Overall, crypto’s metaverse sector is up 105% year-to-date as of 8pm, ET and 62% over the last 30 days, according to Index Coop’s Metaverse Index (MVI).



“Investors are becoming increasingly interested in Web3 games and platforms that they believe can take a fair slice of the games market,” Simon Kertonegoro, CEO of MyMetaverse told Blockworks.



The success of a single Web3 game or platform will be great for both industries but even more so for investors holding the right tokens, he said.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="Interactive or visual content" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/12693305/embed#?secret=3oagRZpmoh" data-secret="3oagRZpmoh" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="575" width="700"></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Metaverse crypto projects are easily outstripping DeFi assets year to date</figcaption></figure>



Decentraland’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/mana" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MANA</a> is leading the pack — up 150% this year while its 30-day performance is equally as impressive, gaining 90%.



For scale, bitcoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BTC</a>) is up 39% year to date and around 30% over the last 30 days, while ether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/eth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ETH</a>) is at 38% and 25%, respectively.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Enjincoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/enj" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ENJ</a>) has more than doubled since 2023 kicked off, as the token attempts to claw back a 90% drop from its November 2021 peak.</li>



<li>The Sandbox’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/sand" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SAND</a> has also doubled this year alongside Web3 lifestyle project STEPN&#8217;s <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/gmt" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GMT</a>. </li>



<li>Axie Infinity’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/axs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AXS</a> and Yuga Labs&#8217; apecoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/ape" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">APE</a>) have returned less, up 48% and 73% over the same period, respectively.</li>
</ul>



<a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research</a> analyst <a href="https://twitter.com/swmartin19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sam Martin</a> said while there was no one catalyst to explain recent performances, metaverse tokens were due for a bounce. The current move is a mean reversion to the upside.



“Metaverse-related tokens reached peak euphoria at the end of 2021 when Facebook rebranded to Meta,” Martin said. “In hindsight, it is now clear that the market priced in far too much growth in relation to the crypto niche’s underlying fundamentals.&#8221;



By comparison, DeFi assets such as uniswap (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/uni" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNI</a>), aave (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/aave" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AAVE</a>), pancakeswap (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/cake" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CAKE</a>), curve (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/crv" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CRV</a>), thorchain (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/rune" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RUNE</a>) and synthetix (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/snx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SNX</a>) are averaging around 42% returns over the last 30-days and 63% in 2023.



Nasdaq-listed index DEFX, which tracks the performance of prominent DeFI cryptocurrencies, is up 58% year to date.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="Interactive or visual content" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/12693301/embed#?secret=1tYlfdshqa" data-secret="1tYlfdshqa" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="575" width="700"></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zooming out to one year shows metaverse tokens have had it rough</figcaption></figure>



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Metaverse Crypto Sector Bounces Hard, Outperforms DeFi

Shalini Nagarajan

David Canellis

Rising bitcoin and ether prices have offered short-term reprieve for battered crypto markets, but floor prices for Bored Apes and CryptoPunks have barely budged.



Both bitcoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">BTC</a>) and ether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/eth">ETH</a>) are up nearly 40% year to date, both reaching highs not seen in around five months.



On the other hand, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/bored-ape-yacht-club">Bored Ape Yacht Club</a> (BAYC) and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/cryptopunks">CryptoPunks</a>’ floor prices — representing the last sale price of the cheapest NFT in each collection — are down between 5% and 8% since Jan. 1, hovering at 66 ETH ($107,000) and 63 ETH ($102,000), respectively.&nbsp;



It&#8217;s worth noting that floor prices are generally denominated in ether, which has indeed appreciated in US dollars. So, some assets have seen softening floor prices to adjust for those rises; <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/azuki">Azuki</a>’s floor is up a meager 8% year to date while Art Blocks’ Chromie Squiggles’ has dropped 17%, per NFTFloorPrice.



Average sale prices, however, are faring better, even when denominated in ether. All aforementioned projects have seen upticks between 14% and 35% over the past 30 days, led by Azuki.&nbsp;



Those figures were propelled by trades at the top end of each collection — the most expensive sales for Chromie Squiggles, Azuki and CryptoPunks are up hundreds of percentage points over the past 30 days, while BAYC’s has dropped 27%.



Marketplace volumes have also surged since the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/nft-collector-sentiment-inches-up-in-december">start of December</a>, when about $160 million in NFTs flowed through venues like OpenSea and Blur, the buzzy new platform promising to reward NFT traders with a token airdrop on Valentine’s Day, next month.



Those marketplaces recorded nearly $231 million over the past week, per a Dune Analytics <a href="https://dune.com/queries/1549266/2594879" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dashboard</a>, marking their highest point since May — a 40% jump.



“This shows how NFT trading volume is subject to market sentiment and bitcoin’s volatility, after bitcoin experienced a 50% move over the past few weeks,” Marcus Sotiriou, market analyst at GlobalBlock, told Blockworks.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ApeCoin rallies alongside NFT volumes</h3>



While BAYC trade volumes have diminished 30% over the past 30 days, creator Yuga Labs has seen success with an adjacent NFT collection. Sewer Pass, launched on Jan. 18, is a free mint meant for existing BAYC and Mutant Ape Yacht Club holders.&nbsp;



Sewer Pass is a significant development for many speculators who wondered how Yuga’s ecosystem would develop beyond BAYC. It essentially provides access to a game called Dookey Dash, which is a component of Yuga’s ‘Jimmy the Monkey’ storyline. The game started on Jan. 18 and can be played until Feb. 8.&nbsp;



Sewer Pass NFTs have crossed $14 million in secondary sales volume, raking in $700,000 in secondary sale revenue (based on a 5% royalty for Yuga as of Jan. 20, according to <a href="https://www.galaxy.com/research/insights/top-stories-of-the-week-1-20-23/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Galaxy Digital</a>).&nbsp;



Those gains have been reflected in ApeCoin (APE), the cryptocurrency central to Yuga Labs’ in-development BAYC metaverse, which has jumped nearly 65% year to date.



Less positively, German automobile maker Porsche <a href="https://nft.porsche.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">debuted</a> its first NFT this week, but it failed to take off as its <a href="https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/1617723748685348865" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">floor price fell</a> within hours of the mint.



Updated Jan. 24, 2022 at 12:58 pm ET: Added context for floor price denomination.



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Bored Ape, CryptoPunk NFT Floor Prices Lag Bitcoin

Ornella Hernandez

<div id="highlights-block_63516e691fd01" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Rarible 2.0 includes an aggregated NFT marketplace and RARI token locking and rewards program</li>
 <li>The APE DAO is looking to delay its APE token-locking scheme pending a closer look at security</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



“What is an NFT?” is the Internet’s most Googled NFT question.



It is searched an average of 948,000 times each month around the world, CoinGecko research has revealed. The second-most-searched NFT question is: “How do you create an NFT?” — Googled an average of 287,000 times per month. 



Despite its search popularity, the NFT market took a heavy hit in Q3. CoinGecko <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/q3-2022-cryptocurrency-report?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=notification&amp;utm_campaign=Q3+2022+report" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> a 77% fall in total trading volume from Q2 to Q3 across the top five NFT marketplaces — OpenSea, Magic Eden, LooksRare, X2Y2 and CryptoPunks.



Another NFT marketplace, Rarible, is revamping its own offerings by launching a version 2 and integrating sustainable token incentives to boost its trading volume.&nbsp;



Those are among the notable stories that caught the eyes of the Web3 Watch crew.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rarible gets an upgrade</h3>



NFT marketplace and protocol Rarible has updated its ecosystem to introduce Rarible 2, an aggregated marketplace that pulls Ethereum listings from OpenSea, LooksRare, X2Y2 and Sudoswap.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The goal of aggregated NFT listings, according to the company, is to create a one-stop-shop for NFT collectors to find the best prices.&nbsp;



Rarible.com users can also now add multiple NFTs to their carts and purchase various Ethereum ERC-721 NFTs in a single transaction.



Additionally, the Rarible community — made up of RARI governance token holders and RARI DAO members — recently voted in favor of implementing a RARI locking feature as part of the Rarible 2 update.&nbsp;



Locking is the process of sending RARI to a token-locking contract in exchange for rewards. Token holders who lock up their RARI may receive more voting power in the protocol and get “veRARI” in return.



“Ve” stands for “vote-escrowed.” Rarible claims it is the first NFT company to integrate a vote-escrowed model (ve-model) approved by the RARI DAO.&nbsp;



Users who lock at least 100 RARI will have the ability to vote on Rarible’s weekly featured RARI rewards collections, govern the Rarible Protocol through the RARI Foundation, and benefit from 0% trading fees on items listed on Rarible.&nbsp;



The RARI DAO also approved a rewards program for traders. Rarible.com users who buy NFTs can receive RARI based on the royalties users pay for an item, also known as royalties cash back. Those who make an NFT listing from the weekly featured RARI rewards collection will be eligible to receive RARI.



Those who bought more than three NFTs from Rarible.com from July 1 to Sept. 30 may be eligible to receive 100 RARI via a retroactive airdrop.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ApeCoin staking delays</h3>



The ApeCoin DAO is considering whether to push back the launch of NFT and ApeCoin (APE) staking to allow for a bug bounty program.&nbsp;



A <a href="https://forum.apecoin.com/t/aip-draft-bug-bounty-program-for-aip-21/8792" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">proposal would allocate 1 million APE</a>, or $4.5 million, to potential bounties that will last two to four weeks. The idea was put forward by ApeCoin DAO special council member Maaria Bajwa on the project’s governance forum.



Staking is tentatively scheduled to go live on Oct. 31, however, if this proposal passes, the launch may be delayed yet again.



Horizen Labs, the company leading the development of ApeCoin DAO’s staking system, <a href="https://docs.apestake.io/#/README" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">released a seven-part document</a> this week that outlines the plan.



The document laid out the four staking pools that will be live when APE staking begins. There is a general ApeCoin pool in which anyone holding APE can stake. The total staking allocation for the ApeCoin pool is 30,000,000 ApeCoin.



No NFTs are required, but there is a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) pool for BAYC holders where collectors can stake up to 10,094 APE per Bored Ape they own. Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) holders will have their own pool and be able to stake up to 2,042 APE per owned Mutant.



There will also be a paired pool for those who want to stake a Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT (BAKC). Because a BAKC cannot stake ApeCoin alone, it must be combined with a Bored or Mutant Ape.



Horizen Labs also warns users who stake their Ape NFTs, any APE earned will live in the NFT, so if they sell an NFT with APE in it, they will lose their earned APE.



“Think of your BAYC or MAYC like a box that holds your ApeCoin,” Horizen Labs wrote. “If you sell the box, the new owner gets the box plus all of its contents. So, if you’re about to sell your BAYC or MAYC, WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU UNCOMMIT YOUR NFT PRIOR TO THE SALE.”



No word on whether the staking delay is related to the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-sec-probes-yuga-labs-degods-eliminates-nft-royalties/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SEC’s probe of BAYC progenitor Yuga Labs</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Embed your NFTs in a tweet</h3>



Twitter Blue subscribers have had the option to link their Ethereum wallets to their account and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/twitter-integrates-nfts-with-new-profile-picture-feature/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">display their digital collectibles or avatars as their profile pictures</a> since the beginning of the year. 



Now another pilot will allow select NFT marketplaces to test out the Tweet Tiles feature, a tweet format that allows users to display their NFTs directly within tweets, alongside title and creator metadata.



OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs and GuardianLink’s Jump.trade marketplaces are the first five with the ability to embed NFTs. If the pilot proves successful, it could be rolled out to all Twitter users and NFT collectors.&nbsp;



Originally, Tweet Tiles was tested with publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, so any tweeted links or images appeared more visually appealing and mobile-browser friendly.



Twitter’s move follows Meta’s rollout of <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/meta-to-expand-nft-feature-to-select-facebook-instagram-users-this-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFT display features on Instagram and Facebook</a>. Creators and businesses around the world are able to connect their digital wallets and share NFTs on both social media platforms since August. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Guinness’ ‘Cryptomania’</h3>



The 2023 edition of Guinness World Records included a record for CryptoPunks as the most expensive NFT collectible after entrepreneur Deepak Thapliya acquired CryptoPunk #5822 for 8,000 ether, or $23.7 million, in February this year.



Manchester City’s token, launched in 2021, was recorded as the most valuable fan token, and filed under its own fan tokens category in the book.



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Web3 Watch: Rarible Revamps Marketplace, ApeCoin DAO Adds Bug Bounty

<div id="highlights-block_62db1728d9d73" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Ether now makes up 18.7% of all cryptocurrencies, its highest point since May</li>
 <li>Bitcoin dominance dropped slightly after leading altcoins outperformed the top digital asset</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Cryptocurrency prices glittered — at last — bright green over the past week, giving the industry a long-awaited reprieve from the brutality of the ongoing bear market.



Digital assets have added nearly 16% to their collective capitalization since last Friday, representing nearly $143 billion in nominal value.



Altogether, cryptocurrency is now worth $1.045 trillion, per TradingView’s Total Crypto <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/CRYPTOCAP-TOTAL/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Index</a>, down 52% from the start of the year.



But gains were seen practically across the board, with almost every top-100 cryptocurrency by market value making ground.



LDO, the governance token for liquid staking community Lido, led the pack with an 80% price explosion. The project this week <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/lido-brings-staked-ether-to-layer-2s/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pledged</a> to expand across the entire Ethereum layer-2 landscape.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/10714343/embed#?secret=ahcV3g6yLK" data-secret="ahcV3g6yLK" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="575" width="700"></iframe>
</div></figure>



Long-serving blockchain forks came in second and third. Ethereum Classic (ETC) surged 75% amid speculation that ether miners might move to the network following its impending switch to proof-of-stake, while Bitcoin Gold (BTG) added 50% to its price without any clear narrative.



LDO, ETC and BTG were respectively trading 46%, 24% and 42% below their prices from the start of the year, as of 12 pm ET.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Stablecoin dominance shrinks alongside bitcoin’s</h3>



Yuga Labs’ ApeCoin (APE), set to power its upcoming <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-yuga-labs-takes-voyagers-to-the-otherside-while-minecraft-bans-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Otherside metaverse</a>, grew by 43% off the back of a well-received demo; DeFi ecosystem Gnosis’ native token GNO jumped 38%; ether (ETH) spiked 35%.&nbsp;



Recent data from Glassnode shows ether deposits on crypto exchanges have hit a four-year low, as holders pile into the network’s Merge contract in anticipation of yields. Bitcoin (BTC), on the other hand, rose 15% — from about $20,600 to $23,700.



APE, GNO and ETH are now respectively down 22%, 73% and 56% in the year to date. BTC has tanked 49% so far in 2022, which has been defined by some of the most turbulent macroeconomic conditions of the past few decades.



“Yes, the European [Central] Bank raised rates for the first time in a long time. Yes, the Federal Reserve is also cranking up rates. And, yes, liquidity is getting tighter. This has been punishing for Bitcoin and risk assets more generally,” Ganesh Swami, CEO of blockchain data firm Covalent, said.



Added Swami: “It will remain difficult until the Fed can bring down inflation, or if the Fed just gives up on fighting inflation. Either way, it will likely be a difficult few months for markets, especially if Europe’s energy crisis worsens.”&nbsp;



He expects bitcoin to surge once quantitative easing eventually resumes.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">📉 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ethereum?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ethereum</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$ETH</a> Balance on Exchanges just reached a 4-year low of 19,101,804.604 ETH Previous 4-year low of 19,542,080.378 ETH was observed on 21 July 2018 View metric:<a href="https://t.co/1dCpD2ey8E">https://t.co/1dCpD2ey8E</a> <a href="https://t.co/9rVGJT6czc">pic.twitter.com/9rVGJT6czc</a>&mdash; glassnode alerts (@glassnodealerts) <a href="https://twitter.com/glassnodealerts/status/1550016557442637824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Still, only three top-100 cryptocurrencies (sans stablecoins and wrapped tokens) lost value over the past week.



Arweave, the token that drives the decentralized storage protocol of the same name, fell 1%; Solana-powered decentralized exchange (DEX) token serum dropped 4%; and VR digital asset CEEK sank nearly 21%.



In fact, ether’s recent rally has brought its dominance (which measures how much of the digital asset market is ETH) to its highest point since May, having jumped 16.5 percentage points to 18.7%. Bitcoin dominance fell slightly, from 43.5% to 43.1%.



Stablecoin dominance also dropped as traders exited their safe havens in search of profits. The top four stablecoins — Tether, USD Coin, Binance USD and MakerDAO’s DAI — together made up 14.2% of crypto last Friday; now down to 12.35%.



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Ether Dominance Rises as Altcoins Outperform Bitcoin

<div id="highlights-block_627a77c81b5d9" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Co:Create is a B2B-facing entity that advises Web3 brands</li>
 <li>Other participants in the seed round include VaynerFund, Packy McCormick’s Not Boring Capital, Amy Wu, RTFKT and fractional.art</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led a $25 million seed round to fund the launch of Co:Create, a new protocol that intends to support the growth of NFT projects and enable them to launch their own native tokens. VaynerFund, Packy McCormick’s Not Boring Capital, FTX’s head of ventures and gaming Amy Wu, RTFKT and fractional.art participated in the round.



Ever since Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) launched <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/apecoin-in-for-a-volatile-ride-as-exchanges-list-bored-ape-yacht-club-linked-crypto/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ethereum utility token ApeCoin</a> (APE), the larger Web3 community is seeing the potential of tying a token to the performance of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). ApeCoin is a governance token for the Ape DAO that launched within BAYC’s first year, and was recently <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/solana-and-ethereum-suffer-weekend-disruptions-thanks-to-nft-mints/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">required to participate</a> in a virtual land sale.



Blockworks spoke to Tara Fung, the co-founder and chief executive officer at Co:Create, who said that the trend of native tokens “is here to stay.”



“There&#8217;s a lot of potential that NFTs hold that still needs to be realized. And it&#8217;s indicative of the fact that the space is quite nascent,” Fung said, adding that she hopes Co:Create can “serve as a core component of the tooling and infrastructure layer to support other creators&#8217; visions.”



In addition to providing the tools and infrastructure for Web3 brands to issue native tokens, Co:Create aims to manage and engage communities through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) while incentivizing the growth of dApp ecosystems around their collections.



According to Fung, Co:Create is about unlocking the potential of NFTs and going beyond drops and sales. Fung is bullish on the power of decentralized governance, citing ApeCoin as an example of a tool that is bringing the BAYC ecosystem to a wider audience through its metaverse and gaming strategies.



In a statement shared with Blockworks, Chris Dixon, general partner at a16z crypto, said the Co:Create protocol “puts creators on the right path to designing and implementing the most challenging components of successful NFT communities.&#8221; He added that the industry is “only beginning to appreciate what a motivated and engaged NFT community is capable of.”



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A16z Leads $25M Raise for NFT-focused Co:Create Protocol

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_624303ca02aa1" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The token has a current market cap of $2.4 billion and a fully-diluted valuation of $14.2 billion</li>
 <li>Yuga Labs announced a seed round of $450 million on March 22</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Nexo announced on Tuesday that investors can earn yields on the newly launched Bored Ape Yacht Club-inspired ApeCoin (APE) — billing itself as the first cryptocurrency platform to do so.&nbsp;



Users can earn up to a 12% annual percentage rate (APR) for holding <a href="http://0x4d224452801aced8b2f0aebe155379bb5d594381" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ApeCoin</a> with the company, and may use APE as collateral for loans.



Nexo’s exchange is also offering a 0.5% cashback incentive on APE purchases.



The announcement closely follows Yuga Labs <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bored-ape-yacht-club-creator-secures-whopping-450m-seed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">capital raise</a> of $450 million —- bringing the Bored Ape Yacht Club creator to $4 billion valuation.



APE is an Ethereum utility token, its creators say, which is to be governed by a decentralized autonomous organization — the ApeCoin DAO.



There are currently five active proposals for voting — called AIP for ApeCoin Improvement Proposals. One proposal — <a href="https://forum.apecoin.com/t/aip-2-voting-process/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AIP-2</a> — governs the voting process itself.



Holding a token is the only requirement for DAO membership, but the Cayman Islands-based ApeCoin Foundation has the final say on implementation. Each AIP states that “implementation may be immaterially or materially altered to optimise for security, usability, to protect APE holders, and otherwise to effect the intent of the AIP.”



APE will serve as a decentralized protocol layer for new services that “drive culture forward into the metaverse,” according to ApeCoin’s <a href="https://apecoin.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website.&nbsp;</a>



“The token will provide access to exclusive merchandise, games and events happening in the ecosystem itself,” crypto exchange Binance, which listed APE, said in a statement.



The token, which after its initial price discovery has traded between about $9.60 and $15.35, currently has a market cap of about $2.4 billion, according to <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/apecoin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinGecko</a>.&nbsp;



“With APE as a currency that allows you to own land and resources and create assets in an interoperable gaming metaverse, Yuga [Labs is] going full metaverse, not just a viral NFT collection,” Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of Nexo, said in a statement to Blockworks.



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Nexo To Allow Investors To Earn Yields on Bored Ape-inspired Token

<div id="highlights-block_6233aa2d186d2" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Investors can now trade ethereum utility token ApeCoin on cryptocurrency exchanges</li>
 <li>Reports emerged of scammers setting up phishing websites and Twitter accounts to mislead prospective token investors</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Major cryptocurrency exchanges began listing ApeCoin (APE) Thursday — the token with performance closely tied to Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).



Coinbase, FTX, Gemini and Kraken have all added APE to their platforms.&nbsp;



David Ma, FTX’s head of listings, deemed the token a “high quality cryptoasset” that has garnered “great interest from the FTX community who were eager to take part in the Yuga Labs ecosystem.”



“[We] will continue to support projects that are innovative, beneficial to the crypto ecosystem and advance the adoption of blockchain technology,” Ma told Blockworks.&nbsp;



Binance, Kraken and Coinbase did not immediately respond to requests for comment.&nbsp;



ApeCoin is an ethereum utility token, which is governed and launched by a decentralized autonomous organization — the ApeCoin DAO. Holding a token is the only requirement for DAO membership. 



“The token will provide access to exclusive merchandise, games and events happening in the ecosystem itself,” Binance said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/binance/status/1504517856041517059?s=20&amp;t=zeUwumuq6w7IgxFEBtDJxA">statement</a>.



APE will serve as a decentralized protocol layer for new products and services that “drive culture forward into the metaverse,” according to ApeCoin’s <a href="https://apecoin.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>. Token holders can vote on how the DAO’s funds will be used.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Introducing ApeCoin ($APE), a token for culture, gaming, and commerce used to empower a decentralized community building at the forefront of web3. 🧵&mdash; ApeCoin (@apecoin) <a href="https://twitter.com/apecoin/status/1504201556165644298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



During the token drop, <a href="https://twitter.com/apecoin/status/1504279186684395526?s=20&amp;t=5SVxPWLLp7n9bsjT5oZLBQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a> emerged of scammers setting up phishing websites and hacking verified Twitter accounts to lure investors in and drain their digital wallets.



The ApeCoin token — airdropped to BAYC NFT holders — got off to a rocky start on exchanges Thursday. The token plunged from $39.4 to $6.31, according to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/price/apecoin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a>. The token traded at $8.26 at time of publication.



Starting Thursday, Ape NFT (non-fungible token) holders were eligible to claim 10,000 APE tokens, <a href="https://twitter.com/apecoin/status/1504201558917095427?s=20&amp;t=PSguvdOok_ExBJuLTKPR4g" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">15%</a> of ApeCoin’s total supply. 16% were <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/03/17/ape-token-tied-to-bored-ape-yacht-club-nfts-sinks-80-in-opening-hours/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">allocated</a> to Yuga Labs and 8% to BAYC founders.



“Bored Apes showcase the modern playbook of ‘NFT first, token second,’” Yury Lifshits, CEO of DAO infrastructure company Superdao, told Blockworks. “More and more DAOs and all kinds of projects will do free NFT drops first, NFT sales second and token launch third.”



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