Will Yuga Labs Ditch Ethereum to Tackle Steep NFT Gas Fees?

Another Spark of Annoyance 

On Tuesday, Yuga Labs made it known that participants who accomplish a task in its ‘Legends of the Mara’ (LoTM) game on the Otherside platform stand a chance to win Loot. 

However, players aiming to secure these NFTs on Ethereum’s blockchain found themselves burdened with hefty gas fees. Adding insult to injury was the fact these rewards were initially meant to be freebies.

Notably, this isn’t the first instance of Ethereum gas fees troubling Yuga. The company’s effort to mint virtual land slots in Otherside resulted in transaction costs surmounting to a jaw-dropping $157 million in May 2022, which led to a significant outcry among its user base.

Yuga Labs’ Response to Criticism 

Addressing this controversy, Spencer Tucker, Yuga Labs’ Chief Gaming Officer, apologized on Twitter for the Loot gas fee problem. Following this, he promised affected users a free in-game on-chain benefit called the ‘Catalyst’.

Unfortunately, these Catalyst NFTs didn’t satisfy players on Otherside, who felt it didn’t address the core problems with Ethereum-based NFT minting.

Yuga Labs’ co-founder, Greg Solano, also attempted to soothe the disgruntled community by vowing to refund all gas fees incurred when minting Loot on the Otherside platform. A measure which also failed to tackle the persisting concerns over ETH fees.

To tackle this challenge effectively, Yuga Labs compensated its community by covering $265,000 in gas fees, distributed across roughly 640 refund transactions.

Potential Strategies for Today and Tomorrow

Yuga Labs’ predicaments have cast doubts on the future of the Otherside Metaverse, its Agora marketplace, and most notably, the company’s frameworks.

In retaliation, ApeCoin DAO — an autonomous organization that oversees $APE — has proposed the creation of its unique blockchain, the ApeChain, despite advocating to stick with Ethereum in 2022, mostly for security purposes. 

The DAO is presently surveying alternatives from several Ethereum layer-2 networks, such as Optimism, Arbitrum, and Polygon.

While Yuga Labs has suggested that ApeCoin DAO could set up its blockchain to handle Ethereum’s traffic and expense, the company has been hesitant to commit publicly to using such a network for the Otherside.

As Yuga Labs reviews its reliance on Ethereum, conjecture continues regarding the future of Otherside and Yuga Labs’ standing in the world of cryptocurrency and NFTs.