APES, a new gaming token on Solana, is firing on all cylinders, even as the sentiment in the crypto industry wanes.

APES (APES) rose to a record high of $0.042, significantly higher than its month-to-date low of $0.000050.

According to DEX Tools, its market cap jumped to over $33.8 million, while the number of holders increased to over 17,000. Most transactions on the network were bullish, with the number of buys exceeding 15,000.

APES, which was listed on Raydium (RAY) earlier this month, soared as it became the fourth-most popular asset on CoinMarketCap and the fourth most popular token in CoinGecko.

The token’s rise was further fueled by the developers’ announcement that they had secured listing deals with several tier-2 and tier-3 exchanges. Some of the exchanges that have listed APES include BingX, MEXC, and OKX.

However, their attempts to have the token listed on Bybit and Binance, two of the biggest exchanges have not worked out yet. 

APES is at the intersection of gaming and meme coins. Like popular tap-to-earn tokens such as Notcoin (NOT) and Hamster Kombat, users install the Telegram mini app and start accumulating falling bananas and completing simple tasks like following its social media pages.

These users can then convert these tokens into fiat currencies through exchanges. A key difference between APES and other Telegram mini apps is that the developers chose Solana (SOL) instead of rival blockchains. 

Solana has become a popular chain for meme coin and game developers because of its superior speeds, low transaction costs, and the popularity of its DEX networks like Raydium and Orca.

APES token faces capitulation risks

It is unclear whether the APES token has more upside after going parabolic in the past few days. In most cases, new tokens tend to rally after listing and then pull back as holders capitulate.

For example, Notcoin initially jumped by over 2,000% after listing and has now pared back most of those gains. Its market cap has moved from over $2.8 billion to $906 million. Similarly, Hamster Kombat’s pre-market futures have also dropped by over 80%. 

Therefore, there is a risk that the APES rally will fizzle out as its momentum wanes. If this happens, the token may drop to the psychological point at $0.016, its lowest swing on Aug. 29.