Why ApeCoin [APE] refuses to budge even as staking pool increases

• Over 2 million ApeCoin was added to the pool for staking on 20 March.
• APE price movement has, however, remained lackluster as APY decreased

With an enticing Annual Percentage Yield (APY), ApeCoin [APE] unveiled its staking feature in December 2022, where it immediately drew over $30 million in bets on the first day. Despite the passage of several months since its introduction, investors remain committed. 

Read ApeCoin’s [APE] Price Prediction 2023-24

A lot at stake

A recent Etherscan track of an address revealed an intriguing transaction. According to the available data, the address purchased about 2 million USDT on 20 March and then used them to purchase ApeCoin. The fascinating aspect of the observed transaction was that the purchased APE was subsequently staked.

When the APE staking function originally went live in December, it brought 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 staked their tokens in the contract with APE tokens.

The APY for the BAYC pool was 121.81% and that of ApeCoin was 65.87%, according to data from ApeCoinstaking.io. At the same time, APY for MAYC and Bored Ape Kernel Club [BAKC] were at 132.28% and 133%, respectively. The percentage yield was quite high at inception, but gradually decreased over time.

The APE stakes totaled over 54 million, worth over $216 million, and represented over 13% of the supply in circulation.

Traders take short positions

Short positions have dominated the market since December, according to historical funding rates data from Coinglass. The moment the staking function was introduced and launched, it corresponded with the dominance of short positions. 

Source: Coinglass

Nonetheless, short holdings had decreased as of this writing, but they still held the dominant position across several exchanges. In addition, the recent APE unlock may have encouraged traders to initiate short positions against APE and the high APY, which could negatively influence the price.

How much are 1,10,100 APEs worth today?

ApeCoin price retraces to the pre-staking period

The daily timeframe chart for APE showed that the price saw an uptrend when the staking function was enabled. The price then retraced to where the upward trend had begun. As of this writing, it was trading at around $4.167, with a gain of over 2%.

Source: TradingView

The chart also confirmed that the bear trend set in February was yet to reverse. ApeCoin was on 40 on the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which put it below the neutral line.