- The y00ts NFT project has started leaving Solana for Polygon as promised in December last year
- Y00ts creator DeLabs had pocketed $3 million from Polygon to fund the migration
- DeLabs will impose a 33%-tax on unmigrated NFTs
The y00ts NFT project has started migrating from Solana to Polygon three months after its creator, DeLabs, announced the move in December last year. DeLabs had already pocketed $3 million from Polygon to cater for the migration, which Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko called a “bittersweet [move] to watch.” DeLabs said that it’ll impose a 33%-tax on collectibles that will initiate the migration process after April 3.
Burn and Mint
y00ts creator has developed a cross-chain bridge accessible through the collection’s website. Details show that the migration process completely removes the NFTs from the Solana blockchain to the Polygon by employing a burn and mint technique.
You can now migrate your y00ts to Polygon.https://t.co/pORyvNw3S7 pic.twitter.com/iYSpBF68hp
— y00ts (@y00tsNFT) March 28, 2023
Announcing the plans in December, the collectibles’ pseudonymous artist Frank III had said that the collection would exist on the two chains but with a possibility of abandoning Solana in the future.
DeLabs incentivized the collection’s holders by waiving the gas fees for 24 hours after the process started, offered Bitcoin-based DeGods collectibles to existing y00ts collectors embracing the move and promised a 5 USDC kickback for every y00ts NFT on Magic Eden. Those initiating the migration process after April 3 will incur a 33.3%-charge that DeLabs calls the “Paper Bridge Tax”
Short-Term Risks with Long-Term Control
Over 11,600 out of the total 15,000 y00ts have so far arrived on Polygon according to data from leading NFT marketplace OpenSea. The project’s head Rohun Vora also known as Frank noted that the migration carries some short-term risks but assured the community they’re in control of its long-term prospects.
The migration of @y00tsNFT to Polygon is happening today (PST).
We will make a tweet from the official account when it’s live. No estimates. No countdown timers.
Before the migration…
I would like to make a humble request to the people who have been following our journey.
I…
— Frank² (@frankdegods) March 27, 2023
The move adds to Polygon’s growing popularity in the NFT space with major brands such as Nike, Starbucks and Reddit building on the Ethereum side-chain. NFT-specific platforms like Rarible and Magic Eden have also announced support for Polygon.
Although Solana NFT sales outpaced Ethereum in 2022, the y00ts migration may dampen the attractiveness of the blockchain among NFT and Web 3.0 creators.
