Polygon Labs co-founder Sandeep Nailwal proposed that the ApeCoin DAO governance community build, deploy and maintain its own zero-knowledge powered Ethereum Layer 2 using Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK).
The proposal would see the launch of a dedicated ApeCoin Layer 2 network, called “ApeChain”, at a cost of approximately $200,000 per year from the ApeCoin DAO. It also includes creating a $3.35 million development fund from the DAO treasury to fuel the growth of ApeCoin-related projects, with support from Polygon Labs.
“The ApeCoin community is aware that ApeCoin will need to migrate to its own chain to scale properly as these words were tweeted by Yuga Labs almost 18 months ago,” Nailwal wrote on the ApeCoin DAO governance forum. “While ApeCoin voted DAO AIP-41 to keep ApeCoin within the Ethereum ecosystem, the question of an ApeCoin-specific chain is open and ripe for decision.”
ApeCoin (APE) is a cryptocurrency linked to a DAO that oversees the NFT and metaverse ecosystem, developed by Yuga Labs, the creators behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collections. Initially, ApeCoin was given to BAYC and MAYC members via an airdrop. Although ApeCoin has ties to the NFT collections and Yuga Labs, it is managed by the ApeCoin DAO.
Polygon’s CDK is an open-source software development kit that allows developers to create their own ZK-powered Layer 2s at lower costs and finality times, while inheriting the security of Ethereum.
ApeCoin ecosystem benefits
Nailwal said ApeChain would provide the ApeCoin DAO community with the right scaling solution suitable for gaming and consumer applications, while offering potential sequencer fees and staking rewards for validators on the network.
ApeChain, the proposal added, would also gain interoperability with Polygon’s suite of solutions, including Polygon PoS (soon to be upgraded to a zkEVM), Polygon zkEVM and Polygon Miden – an architecture with thousands of dApps. “With ApeCoin already linked to Polygon PoS, it is already available for use by all dApps in the Polygon architecture – including for gas and staking in relation to dApps built on the proposed ApeChain,” said Nailwal.
Cost and timeline
In addition to the $200,000 annual deployment and maintenance costs for ApeChain, the proposed ecosystem development fund, as described in another forum postis seeking $3.35 million in financing.
The fund includes $3 million to set up a development program, $125,000 per year over two years for an ApeCoin ecosystem development lead, and $50,000 worth of APE tokens for two years as an annual bonus, subject to a one-year lock-up.
According to Nailwal, ApeChain could be implemented in four phases in up to 16 weeks, followed by promotional and ongoing development phases.
Other Layer 2s using Polygon’s CDK
Layer 2s already being developed using the Polygon CDK include Immutable zkEVM, IDEX, Palm Network, and Astar zkEVM.
Nailwal seems to be coming up with a proposal lately, also suggesting that Polygon Labs could facilitate Celo’s migration to an Ethereum Layer 2 last month using the CDK.
“By deploying ApeChain using Polygon CDK, ApeCoin DAO will continue to execute on its mission to scale to a ‘decentralized protocol layer for community-led initiatives that drive culture into the metaverse,’” Nailwal concluded.