Once you have delegated your APE, there are things you need to consider going forward. 

• Firstly, you may want to estimate your APE staking rewards using the Apecoin Staking Calculator to determine your expected rewards over your holding period.
• As a participant in the Ape ecosystem, you will have the opportunity to vote on Apecoin Governance Proposals. While your contribution and vote are highly valuable to the ecosystem, it won’t affect your rewards.
• You will lose your staked APE if you sell your NFT while you still have APE staked. So, if you’re about to sell your BAYC or MAYC, WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU UNCOMMIT YOUR NFT PRIOR TO THE SALE.

ApeCoin staking is a smart contract-based mechanism that allows holders to earn rewards by holding and locking up their APE in one of the four available pools. Unlike traditional staking models that use a validator set, ApeCoin staking does not involve the selection or management of validators, and rewards are distributed to stakers based on pre-determined conditions set by the ApeCoin protocol.

The Staking Rewards on APE consist of predetermined emissions set by the Apecoin DAO:

Inflation on the Apecoin Network: During the first year of staking, 100 million APE will be dispersed as incentives throughout staking pools. This implies that APE holders who choose not to stake will get diluted over time.

There are four pools available:

APE Staking Pool: 

You can stake and start earning rewards as long as you have APE in your wallet. There are no NFTs needed. The APE pool’s total staking allotment is 30,000,000 APE.

BAYC Staking Pool:

To join the BAYC Staking Pool you need to be holding your BAYC NFT in your wallet. There is a maximum stake of 10,094 APE for every BAYC that you hold. The BAYC pool’s total staking allotment is 47,105,000 APE in year one. 

MAYC Staking Pool:

To join the MAYC Staking Pool you need to be holding your MAYC NFT in your wallet. There is a maximum stake of 2,042 APE for every MAYC that you hold. The MAYC pool’s total staking allotment is 19,060,000 APE in year one. 

BAKC Staking Pool:

To join the BAKC Staking Pool you need to partner your BAKC with a BAYC or MAYC to earn rewards. your MAYC NFT in your wallet. The BAKC pool’s total staking allotment is 3,835,000 APE in year one.

You will lose your staked APE if you sell your NFT while you still have APE staked. 

Think of your BAYC or MAYC like a box that holds your APE. If you sell the box, the new owner gets the box plus all of its contents. So, if you’re about to sell your BAYC or MAYC, WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU UNCOMMIT YOUR NFT PRIOR TO THE SALE. ‘

This will ensure a clean deposit into your wallet of both your staked and earned rewards. If you happen to sell your NFT and forget to uncommit it, the new owner has the ability to uncommit it, and as the NFT is transferred to the new owner, so too will transfer your staked APE and rewards.

Whilst we want to ensure staking is as safe and transparent as possible, there are still things to consider regarding whether a specific staking option is right for you.

Slashing risk: There is no slashing risk for APE staking.

Protocol security risks: There is an inherent risk that the protocol could contain unknown bugs, this risk applies not only to staking but also the investment in APE.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of all the risks related to staking.

APE is the native token of the ApeCoin network that is used to carry out the key functions of the platform as detailed below:

Token Utilities

Staking: Users can temporarily lock up APE in staking pools to earn rewards.

Governance: APE is used to vote on AIPs (Ape improvement proposals) in the ecosystem. Participating in idea submission, commentary, proposal submission, and voting is restricted to ApeCoin DAO members. Holding ApeCoin is the only requirement for membership in the DAO.

The maximum supply of APE is capped at 1 billion tokens. The supply is increasing as tokens unlock based on their vesting schedule, the full supply is expected to be unlocked by May 2026.

Initial token distribution

The Initial token distribution of APE is as follows:

• 15% is allocated to BAYC/MAYC NFT holders.
• 47% is allocated to the ApeDAO treasury.
• 10% is allocated to Yuga Labs.
• 6% is allocated to Charity.
• 14% to launch contributors.
• 8% to BAYC founders.

Funding Rounds:

• $450M was raised in the Seed round in March 2022.