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Ape meaning in crypto: what "aped", "ape in" and "apes" mean

What ape, aped and ape in mean in crypto, the earliest examples Know Your Meme found, how the word differs from the meme-stock "apes" and the NFT apes, with tone tags and examples.

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To ape, or ape in, means to buy into a token quickly and heavily, on hype or fear of missing out, with little or no research. "I aped" means I bought on impulse. Separately, "apes" is what meme-stock investors called themselves during the 2021 GameStop and AMC rallies.

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What ape means in crypto

To ape, or ape in, means to buy into a token quickly and heavily, on hype or fear of missing out, with little or no research. "I aped" means I bought on impulse; "aping into a launch" means buying in the first minutes, before anyone knows much. Wiktionary defines ape in as buying recklessly large amounts of an untried cryptocurrency, and Ledger Academy's glossary as investing in a new project without doing due diligence.

The image is the opposite of a careful investor: instinct over analysis. Know Your Meme explains the term as a play on apes as less intelligent creatures, and Wiktionary notes the self-deprecating flavor: it is usually said about oneself. The forms: ape (verb), aped, ape in, apeing or aping, and "ape" as a noun for the person doing it.

The word also turns up in research. A May 2024 Binance Research report on newly launched tokens observed that the chance of sustainable returns from "ape-ing" into new tokens is low, because many projects launch at high valuations and early private investors have already taken most of the upside.

How ape is used

Tone: mostly neutral or self-deprecating, sometimes a warning. "I aped" is a confession with a wink. "Don't ape" is a warning to slow down. About someone else, "they aped" is a description that usually waits for the result before deciding whether it is praise.

Illustrative example posts (written for this page, not quoted from anyone):

Where ape comes from

Know Your Meme says the exact origin is unclear. The earliest crypto example it documents is a post on X from August 27, 2020, showing a video captioned as "the fellas" apeing into a coin. On December 7, 2020, a post on Medium gave what Know Your Meme calls the first formal definition: investing in something quickly and with no research.

That timing fits. Ledger Academy ties the term's rise to the DeFi summer of 2020, when new protocols launched one after another and early buyers posted their gains, pulling others in without research.

In standard English, to ape is to imitate, especially badly, according to Wiktionary. The crypto sense keeps the animal, not the imitation.

Not to be confused with

Sources

Questions

What does aped mean in crypto?

"Aped" is the past tense of ape: I bought fast, often a lot, without much research. Wiktionary defines "ape in" as buying recklessly large amounts of an untried cryptocurrency. It is usually said about oneself, as a joke or a confession.

Is it apeing or aping?

Both spellings are used for the crypto sense. Know Your Meme files the term as "apeing" and treats "aping" as a common variant; in standard English, aping (imitating) is the usual spelling.

Why are meme stock investors called apes?

Wiktionary records "ape" as self-deprecating slang for a retail investor in meme stocks, especially on WallStreetBets, and the rallying line "Apes together strong" comes from the film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. AMC later gave its preferred equity units the ticker APE, which Fox Business noted is also the nickname of its most passionate retail investors.

Does ape in crypto have anything to do with Bored Apes?

Not directly. Bored Ape Yacht Club is an NFT collection launched in April 2021; the verb "to ape" was already in use on crypto Twitter in 2020. One 2022 article speculated that the collection inspired the word, but Know Your Meme calls that unconfirmed.

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