2022 is a year that will go down in the books — for the leaps the crypto industry made in innovations despite an ongoing bear market and multiple notable macro shocks that struck the markets across the year. In the same vein, ApeX Protocol weathered the year's ups and downs on strong foundations and an absolute commitment to one vision: to shape a free and open ecosystem for all users to grow their wealth in a safe and trusted environment, where they can participate within an interconnected metacommunity.
ApeX Protocol underwent several changes and updates since launching early 2022, and we're proud of the milestones reached, all while ensuring that security remains the utmost priority — safe trading platform, safe ownership and safe trades.
A huge shoutout to all ApeXers and supporters of ApeX Protocol who've been an irreplaceable part of ApeX's journey thus far — join us as we go through the ApeX 2022 Rundown and take a look at what's to come in 2023!
At a Glance: Major Milestones
(1) The Launch of ApeX Pro
ApeX Protocol's biggest breakthrough — moving from the ApeX Elastic Automated Market Maker (eAMM) decentralized exchange (DEX) to non-custodial and permissionless derivatives DEX ApeX Pro that runs on an order book model. With an interface that is familiar to a majority of global traders, ApeX Pro was able to deliver unrivaled access to the cross-margined perpetual swaps market — offering enhanced usability, transaction speeds and efficiency without compromising the security and transparency that DEXs are known for. With five USDC perpetual contracts on the list and more scheduled to be added in 2023, ApeX Pro will soon truly be the derivatives DEX of choice for seasoned traders.
The importance of self-custody was ingrained into crypto pundits and rookies alike this year, bringing into question what true ownership means for the individual. From their trades, data, personal information to their digital assets and wallets, 2023 will likely see greater decentralization on all fronts. ApeX Pro is well ahead as its StarkWare integration ensures that traders will always be able to recover their funds and wallet even without ApeX Pro overseeing the process. It will continue to strengthen user ownership safeguards in the upcoming months.
(2) ApeX Pro on App
ApeX Pro was made available to traders on both desktop and mobile app simultaneously; it doesn't matter if you use iOS or Android or prefer to trade right before your laptop, ApeX Pro is accessible on all your devices.
(3) Trade-to-Earn: New $BANA Reward Token
ApeX Pro's flagship event Trade-to-Earn was introduced, a year-long program that will consistently distribute rewards to traders on ApeX Pro every single week without fail across 52 weeks. No extended epochs for your rewards to drop in your wallet — traders can receive ApeX Pro's new reward token $BANA after a weekly epoch ends and instantly swap them for USDC, add liquidity to a $BANA-USDC liquidity pool or hold them for $APEX token redemption (at the end of 52 weeks) to maximize their profits.
(4) Bybit Integration
In a bid to offer the best trading experience from CeFi and DeFi, ApeX Pro was successfully integrated on Bybit, allowing the crypto curious a seamless way to take part in a DEX without having to leave the familiar Bybit environment. ApeX Pro was made accessible to Bybit's 10-million strong user base, taking DEX adoption one step further in the DeFi race.
(5) ApeX Protocol x BitDAO Token Swap
ApeX Protocol will be partnering the world's largest decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) BitDAO by treasury size and proceeding with a token swap, successfully voted in by the BitDAO community in December. A total of 11,000,000 $APEX tokens will be swapped for $2,000,000 in USDC. ApeX Pro is also expected to prioritize future deployment on newly-launched modular Layer 2 network Mantle in the future.
A Shoutout to New Partners & Investments
ApeX Protocol's list of partners is ever-growing as we further expand the wider ApeX ecosystem. With ApeX Pro, we are excited to be working with StarkWare, Stork, X-explore, Pulsar, HG Ventures and more — there is no endpoint to new innovations and improvements on ApeX Pro, and working with some of the best entrepreneurs, thinkers and leaders in the space will allow us to continuously deliver a better ApeX Pro.
Diving into the Numbers
ApeX Pro saw record growth in total number of users, cumulative trading volume, total number of trades and in its user base, especially after the launch of Trade-to-Earn.
On a sidenote, ApeX Pro also debuted in the Top 10 DEX ranking list on CoinGecko.
2023: The Road Ahead
New year, new exciting perks and launches — here's what you can look forward to:
(1) Staking Program: We heard you! The $APEX staking program (and other exciting liquidity pools) will be unveiled very soon — so you can easily earn and save with your $APEX tokens anytime, anywhere.
(2) Referral & VIP Programs: Want referral perks or trading fee discounts (and other amazing perks)? Stay tuned to ApeX Pro for when we announce the launch of our Referral and VIP programs.
And don't forget, ApeX Pro is on a mission to forge a new Web 3.0 era with social trading — read more about how ApeX Pro intends to weave in SocialFi and the planned launch of its very own Soulbound Token (SBT), ApeSoul.
Wishing all ApeXers a new year filled with greater decentralized, permissionless innovations!