The APEX token has skyrocketed over 600% in the past week, marking a new yearly high in 2025 and riding the momentum of the decentralized perpetuals exchange token rally.
Yet, concerns are mounting as analysts point to potential red flags, including signs of significant insider buying.
Why Is ApeX Protocol’s (APEX) Price Skyrocketing?
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For context, APEX is the native token of the ApeX Protocol, a multichain decentralized derivatives protocol. The token has been in the market for quite some time, hitting an all-time high of $3.83 in May 2024.
While it experienced many ups and downs afterward, last week’s massive pump was particularly notable. On September 26, APEX’s value jumped 262% from $0.53 to $1.92. A collaboration announcement between ApeX, Mantle, and Bybit triggered the pump.
By the weekend, APEX has reached $2.7, marking its highest price since late June 2024. The rally gained further traction after the ApeX Protocol launched a token buyback program.
“Beginning next week, 50% of ApeX Protocol’s daily revenue will be allocated to repurchase APEX tokens from the open market, combined with the $12,000,000 committed. Over time, this allocation will gradually increase, reaching up to 90% of all revenue,” the team posted on September 28.
Nonetheless, the altcoin underwent a correction. BeInCrypto Markets data showed that APEX dipped 24.67% over the past day. At the time of writing, it traded at $1.74.
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Despite the drop, APEX’s explosive rally has earned it a spot among the top trending coins and the top weekly gainers on CoinGecko with a 600%+ appreciation.
Is APEX’s Rally Sustainable, or Just Market Manipulation in Disguise?
Meanwhile, the price rally has raised concerns among some market watchers.
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“Two days ago, I asked if bybit was involved with APEX and the support said nope. Today bybit ceo tweets about em, time to scam exit i guess. Changing version two days after is devils work,” a user said.
On-chain analyst DeFi Tracer drew parallels between APEX and ASTER, arguing that both tokens followed the same pattern of thin supply and hype-driven pumps.
He claimed only about 4% of ASTER’s supply was in circulation, with the rest concentrated in six founder wallets, making manipulation easier.
The analyst suggested APEX mirrored this setup, with Bybit CEO Ben Zhou’s announcement of the Mantle–ApeX collaboration sparking a jump in market cap from roughly $25 million to $300 million. According to him, ‘heavy insider buys’ played a role in fueling the rally.
“Wallet: 0xb88f3bc2ad32d3d256e26347d1ad24332a18185d. Holding:- 413k $APEX = ~$1 million. This wallet was pushing the token up. Heavy manipulation with pools and buybacks, this wallet is part of it,” the analyst noted.
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On top of the buyback, ApeX launched Ape Season 1 with a pledge to distribute 69 million Ape Points over 12 weeks.
“Your Ape Points directly determine your share of the future airdrop,” the team added.
Nevertheless, again, the market commentators voiced skepticism over the move.
“This post announcement dump really looks like APEX team is unloading their bags, so their $12 million buyback is at much lower prices before the next scam pump,” a user wrote.
Thus, while APEX’s meteoric rise underlines how market catalysts can trigger explosive rallies in the crypto market, mounting concerns cast a shadow over the sustainability of these gains.
