DeLabs, the firm responsible for the popular Solana NFT collections DeGods and y00ts, has announced that it has secured a $3 million grant to migrate y00ts to the Ethereum sidechain Polygon.
Frank, nicknamed Rohun Vora, the company’s founder, stated in a statement on Discord that DeLabs will utilize the funds to hire personnel and launch a cryptocurrency incubator to assist its NFT ecosystem.
The DeLabs team, which had success with their DeGods PFP collection on Solana, created a new profile picture collection titled Y00ts.
Other than the pledge to transition to the new blockchain, the money appears to be given without conditions. Frank stated that the funding is a “non-equity grant,” meaning that Polygon will not receive a stake in DeLabs in exchange.
Here is a screenshot of our latest @y00tsNFT Discord announcement. pic.twitter.com/qWxjBsexv6
— Frank III (@frankdegods) January 6, 2023
“DeLabs as a company has been understaffed for a while,” stated the company’s founder. Obtaining a longer runway with non-dilutive cash is a major deal for us since it allows us to spend a little more freely each month.
Polygon has not yet disclosed the amount of the y00ts grant on its social media channels, but the firm supports Frank’s decision.
“Polygon fully supports Frank and the y00ts team’s dedication to transparency and we look forward to all of the projects that will build on Polygon via their launchpad,” a Polygon spokesperson said.
y00ts will officially bridge to @0xPolygon in Q1 2023. pic.twitter.com/Mnz25dJko1
— y00ts (@y00tsNFT) December 25, 2022
DeLabs’ switch from Solana to Polygon and Ethereum comes just one month after the failure of FTX. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was a major investor in Solana and other initiatives that built on the network, including the now-defunct decentralized exchange Serum. Bankman-Fried and FTX constructed Serum, which was the epicenter of DeFi activity on Solana at its peak.
According to CoinGecko data, SOL has lost 6.5% over the past month and 91% over the past year.
However, DeLabs was not required to use Polygon for y00ts. Frank stated that DeLabs had investigated “far greater offers,” but ultimately chose Polygon because “it represents the most exciting potential for y00ts as a project.”
Polygon has contracts with major corporations such as Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Disney. Frank has hinted that y00ts will be a part of these major brand partnerships on Polygon in the future.
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