Bitcoin Price Is Set for Monthly Drop While ApeCoin Whipsaws NFT Token Fans

Bitcoin price is poised to see its first monthly decline since January with rising borrowing rates curtailing investors’ appetite for riskier assets.  The largest cryptocurrency by market value fell Friday to below $40,000, and is down nearly 14% in April. Ether, the next largest token, was also lower, and has slumped around 13%. 

“Bitcoin, despite all the positive news on adoption by institutions, still failed to gain traction higher on the poor macro backdrop, specifically rate hikes in the U.S.,” said Teong Hng, chief executive of Hong Kong-based crypto investment firm Satori Research. “Interest from retail has also decreased as we see the funding rates between futures and physical collapsed.”         

Meanwhile, ApeCoin, a token tied to the popular Bored Apes NFTs, is whipsawing investors amid a relatively sluggish broader crypto market. Launched in the middle of March, the coin has a market value of about $6.4 billion. 

Demand for ApeCoin soared this week in the anticipation of the token’s virtual land sales in its metaverse, which is scheduled on May 1. It traded in a range of $16 to $26.91 this week, and was at $22.12 on Friday, according to data from CoinMarketCap.  

“The spike was driven by over $40 million in perpetual swap liquidations in the last 24 hours, mostly concentrated in short positions on OKX, Binance and FTX,” said Joshua Lim, head of derivatives at New York-based Genesis Global Trading.    

“We’ve seen a pick up in borrowing demand and derivative interest in APE/USD options as trading firms anticipate some reversion in price after the land sale ends,” Lim said.