Key Takeaways
- The ApeCoin community is currently voting on whether to stay in the Ethereum network despite recent gas fee issues.
- The proposal argues leaving Ethereum would separate ApeCoin from the rest of Yuga Labs’ network of products, including the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs.
- The debate comes after Yuga Labs’ Otherdeeds land sale cost minters more than $177 million in fees.
- Immutable X, officially submitted a proposal on the ApeCoin Governance Forum on May 25 for the project to migrate to its Layer 2.
A new proposal by the ApeCoin DAO to stay on Ethereum has gained overwhelming community support. It comes as a response to Yuga Labs’ suggestion that ApeCoin should migrate to its own chain for scaling purposes.
Leaving Ethereum Would Be “Catastrophic”
The ApeCoin community is currently voting on a new proposal to stay on Ethereum despite the project’s recent difficulties with gas fees.
The proposal, which was submitted on May 1 by ApeCoin DAO member ASEC, states that “migrating to a different chain is a costly, risky, and complex endeavor with many moving parts that may, if not thoughtfully considered, result in catastrophic loss, or at worst, abandonment by Yuga Labs and other entities that would otherwise [be meaningful] to ApeCoin.”
Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection and Otherside Metaverse project, posted on Apr. 30 that it was “abundantly clear that ApeCoin… need[ed] to migrate to its own chain” following the enormous spike in gas prices during the Otherdeeds land mint. While the company raked in over $310 million from the sale of its plots, minters ended up paying over $177 million in fees and clogging up Ethereum.
AVAX Dismissed by ApeCoin Community
Avalanche was prompt to respond by offering the ApeCoin community to migrate to an Avalanche subnet, which it claimed would increase speed, reduce gas fees, enable a better user experience, and accrue value to the APE token. The proposal was shared by Avalanche Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer on Twitter, who commented that “ApeCoin would be fantastic as an Avalanche subnet.”
However, the ApeCoin community doesn’t seem interested. The proposal to stay on Ethereum currently has 99.65% of votes in favor and 0.35% of votes against, though only about 340,000 ApeCoin tokens have been committed so far out of a supply of 1 billion. The general consensus has been to continue existing on the Ethereum blockchain while utilizing a Layer 2 rollup to ensure adequate scalability.
Immutable X is the Best Solution Here
The proposal notably suggests using an Ethereum Layer 2 as a solution to gas fees, arguing that moving away from the chain upon which Yuga Labs’ NFT projects reside would be detrimental to ApeCoin in terms of liquidity, security, and network effects. It points to Optimistic Rollups (such as Optimism and Arbitrum) or ZK-Rollups (such as Starknet or zkSync) as potential new ideas to keep ApeCoin in the Ethereum ecosystem.
A great solution here for the ApeCoin community is Immutable X, which officially submitted a proposal on the ApeCoin Governance Forum on May 25 for the project to migrate to its Layer 2. Immutable X specializes in scaling NFTs with strong liquidity and has already attracted top blockchain games such as Illuvium, EmberSword, and Gods Unchained. The proposal was well-received by the community at the ApeCoin Forum. Since it’s built on the Ethereum network, it means that Yuga Labs would not have to worry about moving its entire collection to a new network before it can build out its metaverse.
“ApeCoin is a testament to the strength of Ethereum’s community, developer network, and security,” said Robbie Ferguson, Co-Founder at Immutable X. “Its future should live on Layer-2 Ethereum, where its core users and community lives. We’re confident that Immutable X is the perfect solution for Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Otherside metaverse project and will commit significant resources to build it jointly with the community.”
Wrap Up
A lot of interest remains around where Yuga Labs will end up building its Otherside metaverse. However, the team is yet to give a definitive answer on where it might move to or if it will continue to build directly on the Ethereum network. There have been talks of building an ApeChain, a native blockchain for the BAYC ecosystem, but nothing substantial yet.
