ApeCoin DAO Chooses Arbitrum to Host ApeChain

The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) behind ApeCoin has voted to build its gaming-focused ApeChain as a Layer 3 network atop Arbitrum, the leading Ethereum scaling solution by total value locked.

ApeChain will be governed by APE holders and the token will also be used to pay transaction fees on the network.

“Our role is to provide the infrastructure for the ApeCoin DAO to execute ITS vision for ApeChain,” said Steven Goldfeder, cofounder of Offchain Labs, the company behind Arbitrum.

APE rallied 5% on the news and is up 16% in the past week – a respite for a token that has consistently trended lower since launching nearly two years ago.

The ApeCoin DAO set out to build its own dedicated blockchain last month, aiming to enhance efficiency and reduce transaction costs within the APE ecosystem. As an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, ApeCoin has faced adoption challenges due to high gas fees on mainnet.

The DAO fielded proposals to build ApeChain on different platforms, including Arbitrum, Optimism, and skSync. AIP-378, a joint proposal by Horizen Labs and Offchain Labs, eventually emerged as the winner.

Arbitrum Orbit, where ApeChain will be built, provides a platform for the creation of customized Layer 3 appchains on top of Arbitrum’s One and Nova Layer 2 network. The high throughput offered by Orbit chains is well suited to the DAO’s goal of buildinng a Web3 gaming platform.

The ApeChain roadmap also includes the implementation of APE as an omnichain fungible token (OFT) powered by LayerZero – giving the token cross-chain functionality.

Governance Controversy

While AIP-379 passed with just over half the votes cast in favor, many community members are unhappy with the outcome, mainly because the largest voter was Horizen Labs, a technical service provider that authored the winning proposal.

“Congratulations to Horizen on voting for Horizen and winning the Ape Chain proposal,” wrote Bunny. Another user accused the DAO’s upper echelons of self-dealing.

Horizen Labs was previously chosen to develop APE staking and criticized for its execution.

Regardless of the outcome, Yuga aficionados may have to contend with two competing ApeChains. The A-Team, which received 11% of the votes, plans to forge ahead with development of an Optimism-based solution.