APE vs ETC
ApeCoin and Ethereum Classic scored on the same 25 variables, ranked against the same 251 tokens, with every gap between them shown.
Scoring pass 18 Sept 2026. Market snapshot 7 Oct 2026.
What separates them
APE scores 102 of 250 and ranks 129th of 251. ETC scores 90 and ranks 192nd. APE leads by 12 points, which is a real gap, though small enough that one variable moving would close much of it. APE takes 14 of the 25 variables, ETC takes 3, and 8 are level.
The framework rates APE WATCH and ETC PASS. Two tokens close enough to compare do not have to land in the same band, and where they do not, the divergence table below is where the split comes from.
No single variable separates APE and ETC by as much as 3 points. They are close on the framework's terms, which makes price, liquidity and the supply position below the only grounds for choosing.
Both score 3 or below on Protocol Revenue, Revenue Trend, Buyback and Burn, Real Staking Yield, TVL Trend, BTC Alpha Potential. A weakness both sides share is not a reason to prefer either. It is a reason to check whether the category itself carries the problem.
ETC still has 24.7% of its eventual supply to enter circulation against 0% for APE. On the same market capitalisation, a buyer of ETC is taking the 1.33x dilution path and a buyer of APE the 1x one.
ETC is valued at $1.32B against $146.9M for APE, a 9.0x difference. The smaller of the two scores higher on fundamentals, which is the disagreement worth understanding before either position is taken.
All 25 variables, head to head
Both tokens were scored by the same framework in the same pass, so the numbers are directly comparable. What a comparison adds over two separate pages is the gap: a 6 against a 6 is a non-event, a 9 against a 3 is the reason to hold one and not the other.
Cash flow
| Protocol Revenue | 3 | 2 | APE +1 | |
| Revenue Trend | 3 | 2 | APE +1 | |
| P/S Multiple | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Real Staking Yield | 3 | 1 | APE +2 |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Vesting Schedule | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Buyback and Burn | 2 | 1 | APE +1 |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 4 | 3 | APE +1 | |
| Insider Selling | 5 | 6 | ETC +1 | |
| Holder Concentration | 4 | 5 | ETC +1 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 3 | 2 | APE +1 | |
| Active Users | 4 | 3 | APE +1 | |
| Developer Activity | 5 | 4 | APE +1 | |
| Network Growth | 4 | 3 | APE +1 |
Position
| Market Share | 4 | 3 | APE +1 | |
| Competitive Moat | 5 | 4 | APE +1 | |
| Institutional Adoption | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Exchange Depth | 6 | 6 | level | |
| Social Mindshare | 5 | 4 | APE +1 |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 4 | 5 | ETC +1 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 4 | 3 | APE +1 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 3 | 3 | level | |
| Team Execution | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Treasury Runway | 5 | 4 | APE +1 |
Bars read outward from the centre: APE to the left, ETC to the right. The side that leads a variable is filled. Each score is 1 to 10 against the same definition applied to all 251 rated tokens.
Market and supply
| APE | ETC | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.1469 | $8.32 |
| Market cap | $146.9M | $1.32B |
| Circulating | 100% | 75.3% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1x | 1.33x |
| Off all-time high | -99.45% | -95% |
| To recover the high | 181.8x | 20x |
| Total value locked | not published | not published |
| Network | Ethereum | ETC |
Price, market cap and all-time high from the CoinGecko snapshot fetched 7 Oct 2026. Supply shares are derived from circulating and eventual supply counts, which do not move with price. The 25 scores come from the research pass dated 18 Sept 2026.
Catalyst and risk on each side
APE · WATCH
Yuga Labs network expansion, including Otherside metaverse and new NFT collections driving demand.
Declining NFT market sentiment and governance fragmentation among ApeCoin DAO stakeholders.
ETC · PASS
PoW narrative revival; potential ETF speculation as Bitcoin alternative.
Low developer activity vs. ETH; 51% attack history concerns.
Common questions
- Is APE or ETC the better investment?
- On this framework APE scores higher: 102 against 90 of 250, and it is rated WATCH against PASS. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and APE still wins 14 of the 25 individual variables against ETC.
- What is the biggest difference between APE and ETC?
- Nothing separates them by more than 2 points on any of the 25 variables, which is unusual and means the two are close substitutes on fundamentals.
- Which is bigger, APE or ETC?
- APE is valued at $146.9M and ETC at $1.32B on the latest market snapshot.
Related comparisons
Keep reading
Research and analysis, not investment advice. A higher score is one framework applied consistently to 251 tokens, not a prediction that one asset will outperform the other.