ApeCoin (APE) Surges 6% After Coinbase Announces Support for Perpetual Futures

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will now offer ApeCoin perpetual futures on its international exchange and Advanced platform.

According to an announcement on October 24, the new market will open on or after 9:30 AM UTC, October 31. ApeCoin futures will be available with up to 20x leverage.

Coinbase’s new listing follows a strong week for ApeCoin, which surged by 118% on October 20. The token’s price rose sharply after the launch of ApeChain, a Layer-3 blockchain built on the Arbitrum Orbit ecosystem.

ApeChain Launch Fuels ApeCoin Rally

ApeChain, which is designed to enhance the scalability and performance of ApeCoin, was launched on October 24. The blockchain serves as a Layer-3 network over Arbitrum, which is itself a Layer-2 network over the Ethereum blockchain.

The launch of ApeChain, which was first announced in June, has sparked interest from crypto enthusiasts and investors, further boosting ApeCoin’s market performance.

In just three hours after the launch, ApeChain recorded $5 million in trading volume, according to data from Camelot DEX. This surge in activity led to a 3000% increase in APE’s total on-chain volume, which neared $1 billion shortly after the blockchain’s introduction.

ApeChain introduces several key features, including Automatic Yield Mode, which allows APE holders to earn passive rewards without the need for active staking, thus simplifying the process of earning returns.

The launch of this feature, which saw ApeChain’s user base grow from 83 users to over 3,000 in a short time frame, was also crucial in attracting users to the network.

Cross-Network Bridge and Increased Utility

ApeCoin, which now serves as ApeChain’s native gas token, fulfills several roles within Yuga Labs’ ecosystem, which is best known for its Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.

Besides being used for paying transaction fees, voting in the ApeCoin DAO, and acting as a payment method in Yuga Labs’ offerings, a recent smart contract update also introduced the LayerZero Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard.

This standard enables the creation of OFTs, which are designed to be fully fungible and transferable across different blockchains. The first OFT to be deployed on ApeChain is ApeCoin itself.

With the combination of the ApeChain launch and the upcoming listing of ApeCoin futures on Coinbase, APE price is positioned for further market momentum. However, in the 24-hour frame, the altcoin is down by nearly 3.5%.