ApeCoin, STEPN Drop 15% as Gaming, Metaverse Tokens Plunge

It’s a bright red day across much of the crypto market as Bitcoin and Ethereum losses have sent shockwaves throughout the ecosystem. And it’s gaming and metaverse tokens that are among the biggest bleeders over the last 24 hours, including ApeCoin (APE) and STEPN (GMT).

ApeCoin, the Ethereum-based token of the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem, has dropped more than 15% over the last day per data from CoinMarketCap, with a total weekly plunge of 23%. APE, which will power the upcoming Otherside metaverse game, has been especially volatile since its March launch.

Meanwhile, the price of Solana-based move-to-earn game STEPN’s GMT governance token has fallen 16% over the past 24 hours, with roughly the same decline this past week. Even news of a partnership with Spanish soccer club Atlético de Madrid couldn’t keep STEPN’s token from shedding significant value today.

Those are two of the biggest examples as of this writing, but there are others. Axie Infinity’s AXS governance token has fallen nearly 13% today, Ethereum metaverse game Decentraland’s MANA token is down 12%, and Enjin Coin (ENJ) has dropped more than 11%. Another notable metaverse game, The Sandbox (SAND), is down 10%.

They’re all trailing the broader crypto market, which has shed 8% of its value today. Top coins Bitcoin and Ethereum have both dipped about 8% today, as well, setting off a cascade of liquidations that may have helped torpedo wider crypto market sentiment.

Today’s downward crypto market swing has been blamed in part on calls for further Fed rate hikes in September, along with declining activity in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. As of this writing, nearly $605 million worth of positions have been liquidated over the last 24 hours as crypto prices continue to tank, per data from CoinGlass.

Looking more broadly at NFT-related tokens, there are other big losers in today’s market. Flow (FLOW), the token of the blockchain behind NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day, is down 15% today and nearly 24% this week. That’s despite yesterday’s public launch of NFL All Day following a lengthy closed beta testing phase.

Notable blockchain platforms for NFT collectibles like Tezos and Polygon have seen sharper declines than the market average today, as well, down 11% and 10% respectively.