Solana Guides
Understanding the Points System
Ape Season 1 uses a volume-based points model across four product categories:
Perpetual Futures – Your main farming vehicle. Every dollar in trading fees generates base APE points. The exact conversion rate isn’t publicly disclosed (ApeX keeps the formula private to prevent gaming), but higher volume absolutely correlates with higher points.
Prediction Markets – ApeX’s binary options product where you bet on event outcomes (token price movements, protocol metrics, etc.). These generate points from participation fees and also count toward your Team Booster volume threshold.
Grid Trading Bot – Set up automated buy-low-sell-high strategies on volatile pairs. The bot’s trading activity generates points passively, though it doesn’t contribute to Team Booster calculations.
Protocol Vault – Deposit assets into the vault to earn yield from perpetual liquidation fees (recent snapshots showed APYs around 76%, though this fluctuates with market volatility). Vault deposits generate APE points without active trading, useful for capital you’re holding long-term anyway.
Your final APE allocation is: Base Points × All Active Boosters
This is where strategy comes in. Most farmers will just trade and maybe activate one or two boosters. The real alpha is stacking all seven multipliers to get 2-3× the points of casual participants.
Maximizing Your Boosters
Mantle Booster
How to activate: Make at least one deposit to ApeX via the Mantle network.
Why it matters: This is the easiest booster to unlock and provides a baseline multiplier for all your future activity. Even if you never trade on Mantle again, that initial deposit permanently activates the boost.
Pro tip: Bridge stables (USDC/USDT) to Mantle first since they’re chain-agnostic. You can always bridge them to other networks later if needed.
APEX Staking Booster
How to activate: Hold and stake APEX tokens (ApeX’s native governance token).
Why it matters: The booster scales with both stake size and duration. Someone who stakes 10,000 APEX for 12 weeks will significantly outperform someone who stakes the same amount for 2 weeks or keeps churning their stake.
Pro tip: Stake early and don’t touch it. The time-weighted component rewards long-term commitment. If you’re going to participate in Ape Season, commit your APEX stake on Day 1 and leave it locked through December 28.
Early Adopter Booster
How to activate: This is retroactive, if you traded on ApeX before Ape Season 1 launched (October 6, 2025), you automatically qualify.
Why it matters: Rewards OG users who were on the platform before the airdrop hype. If you don’t have this, you can’t retroactively earn it for this season.
Pro tip: If you don’t qualify now, remember this for Season 2. Getting even one trade in before the next campaign launches could unlock this multiplier.
Balance Power Booster
How to activate: Maintain high balances in your ApeX account over time.
Why it matters: This booster tracks your average balance across the epoch, not just snapshots. A trader with $10,000 held all week beats someone who deposits $50,000 the day before Wednesday’s snapshot and withdraws it Thursday.
Pro tip: If you have idle capital in a hot wallet or CEX, consider keeping it parked in ApeX even when you’re not actively trading. Vault deposits count toward Balance Power while also generating yield and their own points.
DEX Pioneer Booster
How to activate: Have trading history on other perpetual DEXes before joining ApeX. Eligible platforms include Hyperliquid, Aster, Lighter, and Paradex.
Why it matters: ApeX wants to attract experienced perp traders from competitors. If you’ve used any major perp DEX, you likely qualify automatically.
Pro tip: Connect the same wallet you used on other platforms. The booster should activate based on on-chain history. If it doesn’t show up after 24 hours, reach out to ApeX support with proof of your trading history.
Team Booster
How to activate: Join or create a trading team, then collectively hit weekly volume thresholds.
Why it matters: This is the highest-leverage booster, ranging from 1.05× at $1M weekly volume to 1.50× at $50M. The thresholds were slashed after Epoch 1, making them much more achievable.
Here’s the current tier structure:
- $1M weekly volume: 1.05× multiplier
- $3M weekly volume: 1.10× multiplier
- $10M weekly volume: 1.15× multiplier
- $20M weekly volume: 1.20× multiplier
- $30M weekly volume: 1.30× multiplier
- $50M weekly volume: 1.50× multiplier
Critical detail: Only perp and prediction market volume counts toward team thresholds. Grid bot and vault activity generate personal points but don’t help your team level up.
Pro tip: The boost applies to the next epoch, not the current one. If your team hits $50M in Epoch 5, you get the 1.50× multiplier for all of Epoch 6. This creates strategic timing opportunities, coordinate your team’s heaviest volume in the weeks before you personally plan to farm hardest.
Referral System
How it works: Share your referral link and earn 10% of all APE points your direct referrals generate, plus 5% of points from their referrals (two levels deep).
Why it matters: This isn’t technically a “booster” but functions like one for recruitment-focused farmers. If you refer 10 traders who each earn 100,000 APE, you get an extra 100,000 APE without additional trading.
Pro tip: Target the DEX Pioneer crowd. Experienced perp traders from Hyperliquid or Paradex are more likely to generate meaningful volume (benefiting your referral earnings) and they’re already familiar with leverage trading, so they won’t need hand-holding.
Advanced Farming Strategies
The Team Booster Play
With the new thresholds, a coordinated group of 5-10 serious traders can realistically hit $50M weekly volume and secure the 1.50× multiplier. Here’s how to approach it:
Week 1-2: Get your team to $50M to establish the 1.50× for Week 3. Even if individual members aren’t farming heavily yet, front-load the volume to activate the maximum boost.
Week 3-10: This is your core farming period. Each team member trades normally while benefiting from the 1.50× multiplier. The compounding effect is significant—every dollar in fees generates 50% more APE than it would solo.
Week 11-12: Wind down gradually. If you’ve maxed out your personal volume targets, you can ease off while maintaining enough team activity to keep the 1.50× active for anyone still farming hard.
Remember: team volume resets weekly. Don’t assume Monday’s $40M carries over to Tuesday if Tuesday is the start of a new epoch.
Multi-Product Farming
Most traders will focus purely on perps because that’s what they know. But spreading activity across all four products can generate more total points:
Perps (60% of your activity): Your main volume driver. Focus on liquid pairs with tight spreads to minimize slippage while maximizing trade frequency.
Prediction Markets (20%): These are great for team volume since they count toward the Team Booster. Pick events with clear binary outcomes and reasonable odds—you’re farming fees, not trying to build a prediction portfolio.
Grid Bot (15%): Set up bots on volatile midcaps. A properly configured grid can generate 20-50 trades per day without your involvement, accumulating points passively.
Vault (5%): Park any capital you’re holding long-term. The yield is a bonus, but the real value is points generation without active trading risk.
The Mantle-Balance Power Stack
Here’s a tactic that activates two boosters with one move:
Deposit a meaningful amount (relative to your capital) via Mantle on Day 1. Don’t withdraw it. Let it sit in the Protocol Vault earning yield while your Balance Power booster compounds over 12 weeks.
If you need liquidity for trading, deposit additional capital from other chains rather than withdrawing your Mantle stack. This maintains maximum Balance Power while keeping the Mantle Booster active.
The vault’s yield (generated from liquidation fees) is variable but tends to spike during high-volatility periods. Check APY weekly, if it jumps above 100%, that’s a signal that market conditions are favorable for aggressive perp trading too.
Timing Your Volume
Points are snapshotted every Wednesday at 08:00 UTC. But remember: the Team Booster applies to the following epoch, not the current one.
If you’re planning a heavy volume week, coordinate it for Epoch N so you get the boosted multiplier in Epoch N+1. For example:
- Epoch 5 (Nov 3-9): Your team grinds to $50M volume by Tuesday night
- Epoch 6 (Nov 10-16): You personally hammer perp trades all week with a 1.50× multiplier on every fee dollar
This is especially valuable if you have limited capital or time. Rather than spreading activity evenly across 12 weeks, you can concentrate your trading into 2-3 epochs where you’ve pre-secured maximum boosters.
Fee Structure & Costs
ApeX uses a maker-taker fee model:
- Maker fees: 0.02% (you add liquidity with limit orders)
- Taker fees: 0.05% (you remove liquidity with market orders)
For a $10,000 position:
- Maker fee: $2
- Taker fee: $5
Important: Only positive fees count toward APE points. If you’re using advanced strategies that generate maker rebates (negative fees), those trades won’t contribute to your allocation.
ApeX covers gas costs for trading, so the fees above are your only costs beyond standard bridging fees to get funds onto the platform.
There are no monthly subscriptions, no hidden withdrawal fees, and no minimums. The platform is genuinely gas-free for trading activity.
Comparison to Other Perp DEXes
The standout here is the multi-product approach. While Hyperliquid and GMX are pure perp platforms, ApeX gives you multiple ways to generate points even if you’re not comfortable leverage trading.
Is ApeX Safe?
ApeX Omni is a non-custodial DEX, meaning you maintain control of your funds through your connected wallet. The platform doesn’t hold your private keys—all trades execute through smart contracts.
Security highlights:
- Integrated with Bybit in 2022 (shows institutional backing and vetting)
- Audited smart contracts (check their docs for specific audit firms)
- No history of major exploits or hacks since launch
- Gas-free trading reduces attack surface (no user-signed gas transactions that could be manipulated)
Risks to be aware of:
- Perpetual futures are high-risk by nature (leverage amplifies losses)
- Bridge risk when moving funds onto the platform (use reputable bridges)
- Smart contract risk (exists for all DeFi platforms, though ApeX’s track record is clean)
Standard DeFi safety practices apply: don’t deposit more than you’re willing to lose, start small to test the platform, and never share your seed phrase with anyone claiming to be ApeX support.
