BAYC Members Voice Concerns Regarding $Ape Staking Animoca Brands Responds With New Proposal

After a night of debate at the Bored Ape Yacht Club over $Ape staking, Animoca Brand’s Chairman and Ape DAO Board member Yat Sui announced that his company will be making a new proposal that will clarify AIP-4 and AIP-5. As the Bored Ape Gazette previously reported, the first ever voting window for ApeCoin DAO opened yesterday and two of items up for vote are a pair of staking proposals.

The two staking proposals are AIP-4 and AIP-5. These two proposals were put forth by Animoca Brands. Animoca Brands Chairman, Yat Siu, also serves as a Board Member of the Ape Foundation. In the two proposals, Siu and Animoca Brands lay out the staking process and staking pool allocations.

In AIP-4, Animoca explains that the “first step to ApeCoin becoming the preferred token of web3, early NFT adopters and existing and potential ecosystem participants should be incentivized.”

In order to incentives participation, Animoca is proposing the creation of four distinct staking reward pools. One for Bored Apes, one for Mutant Apes, one for BAKC dogs and one for $Ape coin.

Unlike traditional staking where holders of an NFT would have to stake their asset, Animoca Brands proposes people stake $ape coin instead.

In AIP-5, Animoca Brands lays out the ApeCoin token allocations for the four staking pools and also the staking pool periods.

Shortly after the voting period opened, long time BAYC members began voicing their concern regarding the two staking proposals.

Many long-time bored apes tweeted that the proposals were vague and raised serious questions regarding how the staking would work.

"Why I'm voting NO to AIP 4 and 5 and why I think this vote is absolutely paramount going forward,” BAYC member DFarmer tweeted. “First of all, there's an absolute lack of clarity. These are foundational issues and we need to get it right. The power has been transferred in our hands and it's entirely up to us to not squander it. There's a reason the founders distributed the coin as is: they gave us max decisional power ( within a reasonable setting ) and this WILL get diluted naturally over time: via vesting unlocks, via natural selloff of $APE as some take profits, and 3d party partners jumping onboard and slowly unlocking too. So the time to make great, strong, foundational decision is NOW. If it's "meh", it's a no. If it's unclear, it's a no. We don't throw away what we created with the founders over rushed decisions. Which is a good segway to reason number 2. This is more of a "gut" feeling but it always served me right. I think we defaulted to saying yes because we assume everything is coming from the founders, and they have our best interest at heart. And they do, I agree. But this proposal is pushed by Animoca. It feels like there's an urgency on how fast this unfloded. Clarifications have been asked for days now, but there has been no official response. Almost feels like "stake is gud" crowd started voting yes and they're juuust fine with not clarifying. Hey, I misunderstood this AIP myself at first read! Remember when we asked why we gave the same people all of our very personal information for KYC? Right. you still don't know what it's for. See a pattern here? Nothing against Animoca per se, they are a great company that builds. amazing products, will help Yuga immensely with the Otherside, and is incredibly good at enriching their brand and experiences. So should we. We are creating the foundation of what comes next, and it should be from the bottom up. I won't go too in depth about the tokenomics per se. I think there is a need to clarify and redraft them. I have a massive bag of both $APE and monke NFT's so i think I'm balanced in my personal bias. I absolutely get the need for an $APE staking pool. But not as presented. $APE is a great vehicle for onbarding people, and has a decent shot a becoming THE metaverse currency. In terms of pure mcap, has a very realistic shot of growing larger than Yuga and all the brands themselves, have a life of it's own. On the other hand, that ecosystem, is where it's at, is attractive in the first place, because of the JPG's. Because of every single one of us carrying the torch for the past year. Building and expanding the IP. So yeah, if the incentives don't stay aligned, this falls off at the seams. So yeah we need Ape/Mayc/Bakc pools because that $APE flow keeps alignment ongoing. And if the pools are capped like some are interpreting, then math is just not right. Back to the drawing board. Ape community is so successful because some of the best in the space are carrying it forward. Meh is not acceptable. Purely formal, a nobrainer really: I read so many takes and interpretations my brain hurts. It shouldn't be like that. We shouldn't be voting on anything that is not 100% clear AS WRITTEN. We don't want to be spoonfed or waste time debating. It should be crystal clear.”

Followiing DFarmer’s twitter thread, the largest BAYC holder Dingaling took to Twitter to echo what Dfarmer wrote. “Was going to write a thread but @OGDfarmer has done a great job here and covers all of my thoughts. We've already defied all odds to get to where we are now. We aren't in any rush, so let's take the time to get it right. My vote is No.”

At the time of this articles publication, the AIP-4 is currently in favor with 56.51% of the vote and AIP-5 is currently in favor with 58.95% of the vote.

“40% against (AIP-4) So bullish on $APE that it physically hurts," BAYC member RDM41 tweeted. “This community knows what it wants & that’s to build the best possible solution for the long term. Apes drive the #Metaverse and everyone else follows. Let’s vote this thing down!”

Following the questions and concerns raised by many bored apes, Animoca Brand’s Yat Siu took to Twitter and announced that his company will be putting another proposal up to a community vote.

“@apecoin@BoredApeYC frens first and most importantly we hear you loud and clear, Siu tweeted. “It is difficult to convey over text my emotions but I am both touched, honored and proud of how the community has generally engaged in this discussion #WAGMI #NFT @animocabrands. It is living proof of how the future can be operated by a #DAO at a rate that is faster & better - these discussions are important to have and @apecoinis demonstrating early active engagement on this evolution of how #DAOs might operate in the future. We will make a new proposal in the form of a new AIP very shortly to address the question of the stake-per-NFT (i.e. a cap) for pools 2,3 and 4 a point that was unclear in AIP 4 and 5 which will likely include a community vote on the size of said cap. This would be in addition to AIP 4 & 5 and is only relevant should it be passed (we will get it out before the AIP voting is closed) so that you can make a more informed decision. The proposal was always meant to keep the spirit of @apecoin which means rewarding the legacy of the @BoredApeYC #NFT fam while also being more inclusive to grow the adoption of the $APE community which is why we suggested different pools in an attempt to strike a fair balance. one more thing @animocabrands will not be voting on any of the proposals that we are the proposer of i.e. AIP 4 and 5 and any future ones we may propose #WAGMI.”

The Bored Ape Gazette will let you know when Siu and Animoca Brands publish their latest proposal and will continue to follow the $ape votes!