It caught many by surprise when Y00ts, an NFT collection that once ranked among the top on Solana, announced its decision to migrate away from Polygon and return the sizable $3 million grant received from the Ethereum layer 2 earlier this year. The move was motived by the desire to align with the DeGods and y00ts communities; DeGods, an initiative by LA-based DeLabs, transitioned to Ethereum in April. Not to leave the audience hanging, y00ts assured that they would unveil the migration timeline soon.
The intended move was not a complete shock as both projects had hinted at the idea in December. Rohun Vora, the project leader for DeGods, and known to the community as Frank, cited that the collection hit its peak on Solana, prompting the need for a shift. Up until the declaration, trading of DeGods and y00ts accounted for an overwhelming 70% of all Solana NFT sales volumes according to NFT marketplace Magic Eden‘s data.
Having completed its migration to Polygon previously this year, y00ts had plans to channel the grant money into bolstering its team and expanding the project. Reacting to the setback, Polygon reasserted its ambitions by announcing that it would re-invest $1 million of the refund in empowering its existing network of developers and innovators.
However, this story isn’t one of bitter parting, as Frank expressed goodwill, tweeting about the current rapport between the involved parties: “We tried our best to make it work, but we just need to bring our 2 communities together .”
The migration isn’t a reflection of Polygon Labs’ capabilities as a partner, but it’s a strategic move to have y00ts on the same chain as DeGods, explained Frank. He appreciates the collaboration with the hard-working team at Polygon Labs and is thrilled about the future. In exchange, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal lauded the work the y00ts team did in enlarging Polygon’s burgeoning NFT ecosystem.
Community reactions varied on X, formerly Twitter, post the announcement; however, the support for the move seemed to outweigh the skepticism. Interestingly, y00ts NFTs sales experienced a boost, while DeGods NFTs suffered a dip following the pronouncement, according to data from OpenSea. The unfolding drama is certain to keep the crypto community intrigued as the sector continues to evolve.
Source: Coindesk
