- Solana’s leading NFT projects. DeGods and Y00ts have announced migration plans to other chains.
- Frank III, the project’s founder, cited the need to reach a broader audience of NFT users and scaling as reasons for the move.
- Holders can keep their NFTs on Solana, and Y00tpoints holders will have access to mint new NFTs on the new launchpad program.
Following months of speculations, two of Solana’s leading NFT projects, DeGods, and Y00ts, have finally announced plans to migrate from the blockchain to Ethereum and Polygon, respectively. The utility token used, DUST, will be bridged to Polygon and Ethereum.
The teams behind the projects confirmed the migration on Tuesday via Twitter.
“DeGods will officially bridge to Ethereum in Q1 of 2023. The bridge is different from the destination. It is on the path to get there,” DeGods official page tweeted. Likewise, Y00ts announced that it would officially bridge to Polygon in the first quarter of next year, and details of the bridge would be released along with a more formal roadmap.
The collections are the largest in the Solana ecosystem, with DeGods holding a 510 SOL floor price and Y00ts commanding a 213 SOL floor price.
The Reason Behind the Move
As expected, the announcement caused quite a stir on crypto Twitter, with some speculating that Solana’s reputation was about to go down the drain, as both projects accounted for more trading volume than other leading projects combined and others seeing the move as a chance to grow. Of course, certain netizens condemned the decision as ungrateful, seeing as DeGods and Y00ts topped the charts while on Solana.
A recent poll by TechCrunch, an online news and analysis newspaper, showed that most netizens needed to be sure if DeGods and Y00ts leaving the blockchain was excellent or horrible.
However, the NFT space turned its attention to the project’s creator, Rohun Vora, also known as Frank III, for answers. In a video posted to his Twitter account, he thanked the Solana community for putting the projects on the map, but to grow, “we need to explore new opportunities. “We believe now is the time to take a calculated risk and embark on a new journey,” he added.
“There’s an argument to be made that [DeGods] has capped out on Solana,” Frank said in a Monday Twitter Spaces. “It’s hard to accept, but it’s been tough to grow at the rate we want to grow. If Ethereum is where we must go to keep growing, it’s what we must do.”
During the Spaces discussion, he stated that Ethereum and Polygon would be the most efficient methods for the collections to reach more NFT users. Frank also confirmed on Twitter that the migration would be “opt-in” for owners rather than mandatory, allowing holders to keep their NFTs on Solana.
Future Plans For Y00ts and DeGods
While the DeGods and y00ts bridging may appear simple, such a high-profile and high-volume data transference from one blockchain to another will inevitably encounter complications.
Multi-chain projects like Doodles 2 launch on a layer-2 blockchain while keeping their original collection on a layer-1 network like Ethereum.
DeGods plan to cross chains from one layer one chain to another, which will pose somewhat tricky, although Frank explained that the migration would take place via a cross-chain bridge. Moreover, the community’s support will likely see the project’s growth continue since its launch.
“What is the worst-case scenario here? An exploit on the bridge contract,” Frank said when asked about the technical challenges. “We want to do [the migration] as soon as possible, shooting for Q1, but we must ensure it’s airtight. Bridges are notorious for issues around stuff like this.”
Y00ts move to Polygon was handled through a grant from the blockchain’s partnership fund, as reported by CoinDesk, although Frank said the commission would not cover the project’s milestones.
“There are a lot of milestones we have to hit,” he said. “And the grant isn’t as much as people think.” He also noted that the grant would last one or two years, depending on how things moved along.
News For Y00ts Holders
According to the project’s creator, holders with Y00tpoints will be able to spend their points on minting NFTs that go through the new NFT accelerator Launchpad program. He corrected assumptions regarding the floor prices and whale sweeping, explaining that community members should have the mentality of starting afresh.
