ApeCoin Surges 22% After Bored Ape Yacht Club Demos Otherside Metaverse

The price of ApeCoin has surged by over 22% in the past 24 hours, after Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creator Yuga Labs offered a lucky few players a first look at its Otherside metaverse.

ApeCoin is currently trading at around $6, after rising by 30% over the past week. ApeCoin’s explosive price movement follows an Otherside tech demo, or “first trip,” last Saturday, in which 4,300 members of the BAYC community who had bought ‘Otherdeeds’ (digital land deeds) were given an exclusive tour of Otherside’s ‘Biogenic Swamp.’

In a litepaper published shortly after Saturday’s tech demo, the Otherside developers announced that only Otherdeed owners and “selected third-party developers” can participate in the game during its first phase, and only then after going on a “First Trip.”

ApeCoin, which can be claimed by BAYC and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) holders, was launched by ApeCoin DAO earlier this year. The utility token powers spin-off projects from the BAYC universe, most notably the BAYC-inspired metaverse game Otherside. 

Scrambling for a golden ticket

Back in May, the Otherdeed mint briefly sent Ethereum gas prices to the moon after more than $157 million in Ether was burned in gas fees. 

Some reported paying more than double the sale price of 305 ApeCoin (APE)—approximately $5,800 at the time—in gas fees alone, while others saw their transactions fail but were still charged for gas. Approximately 56% of all Ether burned from April 25 to May 2 was caused by the mint.

Yuga Labs spent 90.57 ETH on refunds, according to Etherscan. The largest individual refund cost the company 2.6 ETH (roughly $7,500) while gas fees incurred by Yuga Labs during the refund process hit about $780. 

Following the refunds, Yuga Labs said “it seems abundantly clear” that it will migrate ApeCoin off of Ethereum and onto its own blockchain.