Matter Labs Wants The ApeCoin DAO To Build Its ApeChain Using zkSync's ZK Stack. Find Out More About Their Proposal:

After the ApeCoin DAO voted in favor of the creation of an ApeChain last week, the community is heading back to the polls to decide who will build it, marking one of the most important votes in $Ape history!

Things are anything but boring in the Yugaverse as ApeCoin DAO contributors head to the polls to vote on who should build the community its highly anticipated ApeChain.

One of the group’s vying for $Apes votes this week is Matter Labs, who wants to build the DAO’s ApeChain atop their zkSync’s ZK Stack.

“The ZK Stack is not just another modular solution for ApeChain; it’s the same technology that powers the leading Ethereum Layer 2 rollup, zkSync Era, that has the fastest proof system in production, lowest gas fees, and highest number of users and transaction volume,” Matter Labs’ Head of Business Development & Partnerships, Omar Azhar wrote.

In their ApeChain proposal, Matter Labs explained that if the ApeCoin DAO chooses their ApeChain plans then the community will get Matter Labs as an ApeChain partner, interoperability between all ZK Stack Layer 2 chains, $Ape as a gas token, cheapest fees, and access to their network of AAA gaming and entertainment experts.

To give Apes a better idea on how Matter Labs’ zkSync ApeChain proposal compares to the other three ApeChain ideas, from a technological perspective, the ApeCoin DAO created this graphic comparing everything from cost per TX to licensing type.

 

To find out more about Matter Labs’  goals in the $Ape ecosystem, why they are the right team to build Apechain, and where they see $Ape in the future, the Bored Ape Gazette reached out to Matter Labs SVP of Growth, Michael Lee,  for an interview. Check it out below:

 

1. In your opinion what is $Ape, Bored Apes, and the Yugaverse all about?

“$APE, Bored Apes, Yugaverse, etc are all critical components that form a cultural phenomenon — like Voltron!!! One cannot exist without the other. Nor is one more important than the other.”

 

 2. How would you define ApeCoin culture and how would you bring that to an ApeChain?

“ApeCoin or any utility token mediates governance of a network or community. The bigger question to ask is what's BAYC culture? Drumroooooooooooll. It's the digital manifestation of crypto culture!!! Similar to Hypebeast culture, where an new generation redefined luxury as a $2,500 Supreme hoodie or $3,000 Off-White kicks versus the standard Gucci, Louis, Prada basic bullshit, crypto culture is a blend of mid-90s cypherpunk ideal meets Hypebeast culture, and Bored Apes perfectly captures the ethos of that vibe.”

 

 3. Why does ApeChain need to be a part of a larger network? Why does $Ape need a chain?

“What's the value of living in a great city like New York City, Tokyo, Shanghai, London, Paris, etc? The millions of people, energy, and opportunities. The ApeCoin DAO needs to think of themselves as real estate developers. If you want ApeChain to grow in value, then picking the right city to build will make or break your chain — do you want to build ApeChain in NYC where all the action is or across the river in Jersey City? There's nothing wrong with Jersey City, except being "bridge and tunnel", which sets you up to get hacked. Right now, zkSync is where all the action is — from Argentina building their digital ID solution for 45 million citizens, to its expansion into two other [undisclosed] Latin American countries, to Pudgy Penguins x Walmart, to Cronos creating an L2 for Crypto.com's 80 million customers, to Victory Park Capital tokenizing the $1.4 trillion dollar private credit market, to two undisclosed major sports leagues onboarding tens of millions of fans to web3, to the many innovative crypto-native teams experimenting the next big thing. And when you build a chain on the same network as global brands and crypto-native teams, the opportunities for collaboration is endless. Lastly, $APE needs a chain to bring utility to the token.”

 

 4. What made you interested in making an ApeChain?

Thankfully, people find zkSync via word-of-mouth. Plus, no one wants to be marketed to. As several notable Ape holders watched Pudgy experience the "zkSync effect", or Moonbirds build their new marketplace on zkSync, or steady stream of global brands and nation states adopting zkSync to unlock new crypto use cases, they politely asked us to submit a proposal.”

 5. Besides your technology, why are you the right partner to make ApeChain?

“zkSync is the proverbial cool kid right now because everyones building on it and already cross collaborating the continue to unlock new value for their respective communities. The goal of the zkSync ecosystem is to contribute hundreds of millions of users to help Ethereum bring crypto to a billion people.”

 

 6. How does a chain make money?

“ApeChain's monetization strategy will range from fees to services to investment — depends on how the DAO decides to structure the chain.”

7. Why do you want ApeChain in your network?

“zkSync is merely the dopest ZK technology in the market. Matter Labs and frens just offer examples of how other companies, organizations, and projects create value leveraging the tech and ecosystem. Ultimately, the bigger question is there enough action on the zkSync network to create value for ApeChain?”

 8. In USD dollars how much does having ApeChain in your network impact your bottom line?

“zkSync is permissionless, open source technology like TCP/IP or the WWW protocols — making revenue and creating value are important for those building at the app/dapp layer."

9. How much money from gas fees will the ApeCoin DAO receive once ApeChain is built?

“Depends on what workloads are running on ApeChain. Creating infrastructure like ApeChain is the easy part. Building dope things like games, marketplaces, etc that attracts millions of users and liquidity is the hard part.”

10. What happens at the end of your grants? What’s the future of ApeChain look like once those are used?

“In general, grants should merely bootstrap a project to get to product-market-fit and scale so it can organically grow and become self-sufficient.”

11.Where do you see your foundation and the DAO’s relationship five years from now?

“Similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum, zkSync aims to have its technology and organizations such as Matter Labs be completely decentralized — owned and governed by its community — as soon as possible.”

 

12. When and how did you join the Yugaverse/ $Ape ecosystem? Do you own any Apes or Yuga Labs NFTs?

“Even though our Family Office invests in Punks, Apes, Pudgy's, Azkuki's, etc, I'm not gonna larp and say I'm part of the community — I'm not. But KD wasn't part of Dub Nation when he helped the Warriors win two championships. If you'll have us and find it helpful, happy to bring the big brains from Matter Labs, as well as our AA and AAA gaming plugs.”

 

13. Do you have anything else to add or say?

“Win or lose, Omar, Rich and I are happy to help the Ape community as individuals because y'all are crypto culture right now and we need y'all to succeed. Much love and respect!!!”

 

The window to vote for either the Matter Labs, the Arbitrum and Horizen Labs team, the Optimism and A-Team group, or Polygon's proposal is currently open, and $Apes have until tonight at 9 P.M. EST to cast their coins.

 

$Apes can read Matter Labs’ full proposal here: https://forum.apecoin.com/t/aip-384-apechain-bid-built-using-the-fastest-and-cheapest-zk-technology-in-production-zksync-s-zk-stack/20955

 

The Bored Ape Gazette reached out to all four teams for an interview and will bring you their replies as they respond. Stay tuned for updates!