The Solana blockchain’s efficiency has continued to wane all through the second half of 2022, prompting a few of its most influential gamers to hunt alternatives elsewhere. At first, solely platforms like Magic Eden introduced intentions to go cross-chain to broaden their horizons. Now, two of probably the most outstanding PFP initiatives on Solana, DeGods and y00ts, have introduced their imminent departure from the blockchain.
The information got here from the DeGods and y00ts Twitter pages on December 25, with every releasing a easy assertion of intention to bridge off of Solana in 2023. Though each initiatives exist below the identical umbrella, they are going to be (technically) parting methods, as DeGods bridges to Ethereum and y00ts to Polygon.
The reasoning behind the transfer
Whereas this newest information may shock some, throughout the overarching DeGods and y00ts neighborhood, it solidifies months of rigidity and hypothesis. Though particulars surrounding the timing and technique of the forthcoming transitions have but to be revealed, the NFT house has turned consideration towards the initiatives’ creator Rohun Vora, recognized in Web3 as Frank III.
In a video posted to his Twitter account, Vora addressed the Solana NFT neighborhood, thanking religious SOL collectors for his or her assist and stating that he and his group realized that to develop, they would want to discover new alternatives. “We believe now is the time to take a calculated risk and embark on a new journey,” mentioned Vora. He closed the video by noting that whereas the bridging of DeGods and y00ts is ready to occur in late Q1, extra particulars and roadmaps will likely be obtainable in early January.
The small print of the bridge will likely be launched when it’s prepared & examined. This has by no means been completed earlier than at this scale.
We need to make it possible for it’s hermetic.
Within the meantime, we will likely be releasing the Season III roadmap in January (for actual this time).
— DeGods III (@DeGodsNFT) December 25, 2022
The small print of the bridge will likely be launched when it’s prepared & examined. This has by no means been completed earlier than at this scale.
We need to make it possible for it’s hermetic.
Within the meantime, we will likely be releasing a extra formal roadmap for y00ts: Season 2 in January.
— y00ts (@y00tsNFT) December 25, 2022
Following his video, Vora additionally participated in a Twitter house the place he answered questions and offered extra context to the announcement. Within the house, he made parallels between streaming companies (like Netflix and HBO Max) contending for mental property and blockchains racing to create probably the most strong NFT platforms. He additionally famous that an argument may very well be made that DeGods had capped out on Solana, saying, “It’s hard to accept, but it’s been tough to grow at the rate we want to grow. If Ethereum is where we have to go to keep growing, it’s what we have to do.”
The place do DeGods and y00ts go from right here?
Whereas the DeGods and y00ts migrations could sound easy in observe, such a high-profile and high-volume knowledge transference from one blockchain to a different will undoubtedly include roadblocks. Equally, every could have its personal distinctive difficulties. Whereas y00ts’ transfer to Polygon will likely be dealt with by way of the Polygon partnership fund — as reported by CoinDesk by way of a DeGods consultant — the Ethereum bridge is considerably unprecedented.
When initiatives do choose to bridge outward from their blockchain of origin (usually Ethereum), akin to what Doodles is planning with Doodles 2, they usually accomplish that by the use of a layer two blockchain (i.e., Polygon for Doodles 2) whereas nonetheless sustaining the unique assortment on mentioned blockchain of origin. However the DeGods transfer will search to not bridge over to a layer two however to cross chains utterly from Solana to Ethereum, absolutely bringing with it a bunch of hurdles.
But, as DeGods is taken into account by many to be some of the inspiring comeback tales within the NFT house, the neighborhood assist for this newest transfer is more likely to persist. Having remained towards the highest of the Solana NFT value charts, whereas some are understandably disheartened by the information, the rising PFP empire helmed by Vora has solely continued to develop in its wake.