ApeCoin (APE) moved up over 80 percent to $0.1965 on April 24, a rally ignited by a leadership change at creator Yuga Labs and a timely, million-dollar leveraged bet by a single trader.
"We spotted this insider before $APE surged 80%! He is now up $713K," the on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain reported on X, highlighting a wallet created just for the trade.
Data from Lookonchain shows the anonymous trader sold 75 ether, worth approximately $174,000, on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid before opening a 5x leveraged long position on 9.19 million APE tokens. The position, valued at $1.03 million, was sitting on an unrealized gain of $713,000 as of 19:17 UTC, fueling speculation of informed trading. The token’s 24-hour trading volume reached nearly $300 million, a 2,130 percent increase.
The rally’s sustainability now tests key resistance, with the token still trading roughly 99 percent below its 2022 all-time high. The price action comes after months of trading in a tight range near $0.10 and will depend on whether new leadership can revive the ecosystem and attract broader NFT market volumes.
The catalyst for the renewed interest appears to be the promotion of longtime product head Michael Figge to Chief Executive Officer of Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection. The change, which occurred around April 16, saw co-founder Greg Solano move to chairman. The news was met with public support from influential holders like billionaire BAYC collector Adam Weitsman, who reiterated his confidence in the new management. Figge’s appointment coincides with plans for new ecosystem products, including a proposed over-the-counter desk for high-end NFT liquidity.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
