ApeCoin geo-blocks US stakers; two Apes are available for $1M each. Marketplace launched

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The U.S. was added to the list of countries that are prohibited from using the upcoming ApeCoin staking website. The related DAO claims that regulations are to blame. News ApeCoin (APE), holders based in the United States could miss out on staking reward after the U.S. was placed on a list of countries that are prohibited from using an upcoming website for ApeCoin staking. The related DAO claimed that regulations are to blame. Horizen Labs, a blockchain infrastructure company, posted the news on Nov. 24, saying that “unfortunately, in today’s regulatory environment, there was no other option.” “Ape Staking Update. Big thanks to the talented community developers for their helpful improvements. We were delayed by Bug Bounty AIP, so we reduced the pre-deposit period to one week to maintain our original 12/12 go live. Alternative front-end sites are now live. See card. pic.twitter.com/mgmP7X3SwQ– Horizen Labs (@HorizenLabs) November 24, 2022
Canada, North Korea and Syria are all on the block list. Russia, Iran, Cuba and the Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine, Crimea and Donetsk are also included. The website was only meant to allow users to interact with the Ethereum-based open source smart contract. Other interfaces, such as DeFi platforms and exchanges, are being developed by other parties. “Zeneca,” a prominent Twitter user, stated that people from geo-blocked regions by ApeStake.io can still stake by interacting directly with the smart contract or using an alternative interface without geo-blocks. People in restricted regions can also use virtual private networks (VPNs) to disguise their location. This decision was likely made by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s October probe into Yuga Labs, the creator of APE. The regulator is looking into whether the company’s nonfungible tokens, (NFTs), act more like securities and subsequently violate federal laws. However, some Bored Apes still fetch high prices even during Crypto Winter. An NFT from Yuga Labs’ flagship Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection sold for 800 Ether (ETH), or almost $950,000 at the time of sale on Nov. 23.BAYC #232 was sold to pseudonymous NFT collector “Keungz” — who seemingly has multiple Yuga Labs NFTs according to their OpenSea profile — by Deepak Thapliydal.Thanks @dt_chain for the good deal?#NewNFTProfilePic NFT by @BoredApeYC pic.twitter.com/CgIy73fBx5– Keungz ? Memeland YGPZ?? (@keung) November 23, 2022
pic.twitter.com/mem2ZsXNkt– Zach pic.twitter.com/mem2ZsXNkt– Zach Zheerwagen.eth (@ZHeerwagen) November 23, 2022
According to Heerwagen, the marketplace “respects royalties and heavily reduces fees.” According to Heerwagen, a 0.25% cut of each sale is kept in a multisignature wallet and used for DAO initiatives.