LONDON, Jan 20, 2026, 11:11 GMT
- ApeMars says Stage 3 of its presale is live with more than 4 billion tokens distributed and about $84,000 raised.
- Bitcoin, ether and solana fell over the past 24 hours; stacks and cronos also slid, CoinMarketCap data showed.
- Bitcoinworld commentary points to Stacks (STX), a bitcoin-linked layer-2 token, as nearing a technical inflection point.
ApeMars, a blockchain token project, said it has entered Stage 3 of its presale — an early token sale before wider exchange trading — with more than 4 billion tokens distributed, over 410 on-chain holders and about $84,000 raised. A sponsor-funded release carried by Markets Insider described bitcoin near the mid-$90,000s and solana in the mid-$100s, and said the 23-stage sale uses automatic price steps and token “burns” — removals from supply — with allocations recorded on-chain, or on the blockchain ledger. The disclosure said the publisher does not endorse or verify the information and warned that crypto investing can result in a total loss of capital. 1
The market backdrop has shifted since that release hit. Bitcoin was down 1.8% at $91,266 on Tuesday, while ether fell 3.5% to $3,099 and solana dropped 3.6% to $128.84, CoinMarketCap data showed. Stacks’ STX token was down 3.8% at about $0.315, and cronos slid 2.2% to about $0.0917. 2
That matters because risk-off markets tend to squeeze the outer edges of crypto first — presales, small-cap tokens and the newer “theme” trades. “While markets appear calm on the surface, macro risks are building,” said Sean Dawson, research head at Derive.xyz, in an investor note shared with DL News. Dawson said derivatives positioning suggested traders were bracing for a 17% fall to $75,000 by June, but David Brickell and Chris Mills of the London Crypto Club argued in a newsletter that improving conditions were “feeding into crypto” and called bitcoin an “ultimate hedge.” 3
Stacks has been one of the tokens pulled into that search for a narrative. Bitcoinworld.co.in said Stacks — a so-called Bitcoin layer-2, a network built on top of bitcoin to run smart contracts — may be nearing a technical inflection point. It pointed to the relative strength index, a momentum gauge, and MACD, a trend indicator, and cited the network’s “Nakamoto” upgrade in early 2025 as part of the backdrop for renewed attention. 4
The marketing around ApeMars has been louder in other sponsor content. A FinanceFeeds article dated Jan. 16 described the token as being in Stage 3 at $0.00002448, with a “confirmed” listing price of $0.0055 and projected 22,367% ROI, while also touting ethereum targets above $6,000 and a stronger cronos. FinanceFeeds said the post was sponsored and that it did not independently verify the claims. 5
Outside crypto, investors have been juggling another source of volatility. Amelie Derambure, a senior multi-asset portfolio manager at Amundi, called the latest pullback “precautionary profit-taking” and said, “for the moment it remains relatively contained, there is no panic.” She said Greenland-related headlines were worrying markets, even if the reaction looked less severe than earlier tariff shocks. 6
For crypto, the downside scenario is straightforward: if bitcoin breaks lower, smaller coins usually don’t get a vote. Presales add another layer of risk — they can struggle to attract liquidity once the marketing fades, and exchange listings are not guaranteed. Even the sponsor disclosures on the ApeMars releases warned readers they could lose all their capital.
ApeMars said Stage 3 will run until its allocation or time limit is reached, when the presale moves to the next price step. Traders, meanwhile, are watching whether bitcoin can stabilise around the low-$90,000s and whether bitcoin-linked ecosystem tokens such as STX can hold up.
