ApeCoin is seeing some serious volatility.
In the past few hours, the token linked to the popular NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), enjoyed a short-lived rally before sinking. This was after the world’s richest man put up a Twitter profile photo that features a handful of Bored Apes.
A Rollercoaster: APE Soars Then Dips
ApeCoin (APE) is the governance token that is used to vote on a multitude of proposals made within the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem.
According to data pulled from CoinMarketMap, APE was trading at around $14.39 earlier this morning. The BAYC-affiliated token then surged over 18% in the span of minutes to trade as high as $17.46, before dropping to its current price of $15.43.
The wild price fluctuation came after the soon-to-be-owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, changed his avatar on the social media platform to a collage of Bored Apes.
APE was on a roll last month on the back of speculation that Yuga Labs, the startup behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, would be using it as a currency for the sale of digital plots of land in its so-called Otherside metaverse initiative. The price of the token, however, retraced after the launch despite the record-breaking land sale. What’s more, as investors rushed to grab a piece of the virtual real estate, the gas fees of Ethereum — the network where the sale was conducted — skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.
The weekly chart doesn’t paint a bullish picture. Since last Wednesday, ApeCoin has fallen 13.4%. Additionally, the token is still far off from its historic high of $26.70 set on April 28.
The Elon Musk Effect
It’s not known whether Elon Musk owns APE or any Bored Ape non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Tesla and SpaceX chief later tweeted a commonly-used comment from NFT skeptics, stating “I dunno … seems kinda fungible.”
It’s worth mentioning that this is not the first time Musk is toying with the cryptocurrency markets. He has a long history of engaging with the crypto community on Twitter. He’s particularly a big supporter of canine-themed cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) and has constantly sent its price flying with casual comments and memes.
After recently purchasing all of Twitter for $44 billion, many believe Musk will incorporate DOGE into the social media giant. He recently suggested using Dogecoin to authenticate Twitter users and reduce spambots on the site.
