Apeing Meaning

What Is Apeing?

Whether it is to express their emotions and opinions or define a phenomenon in the industry, the crypto community never fails to come up with some distinctive jargon and slang. . One such quirky term is apeing (ape),  which defines the act of buying newly launched crypto tokens, without having done prior research. Such impulsive decisions are often driven by the fear of missing out (FOMO) on potential gains. 

The term gained popularity during the 2020 DeFi Summer craze when DeFi projects launched one after another. A percentage of investors quickly realized substantial gains from investing in these projects shortly after they launched. Their success spread to social media platforms, where other investors aped their approach.

People ape in the hopes of making substantial returns or gaining early access to a promising project before the project becomes popular. While the project may yield high returns, it is a high-risk high-reward move that can result in significant losses should the project fail. For instance, investors can lose funds in DeFi scams, such as rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes, by investing in projects without doing extensive research.

Crypto Twitter may use the term to ask (and sometimes inform) others whether they are purchasing a new token or coin.  For instance, “What token are you apeing in 2024?” or “I think I’ll ape this token; the project looks quite promising.“