The ApeCoin DAO Held A Five Hour Banana Bill Town Hall Today. Here's What You Need To Know:

The ApeCoin DAO held a Banana Bill Town Hall on Monday to provide more details on the $100 million Ape proposal, its fast track through the AIP process, the salaries for the advisory board, and who was given certain roles. They also discussed the community’s hesitation towards Horizen Labs and shared a vision for an ApeChain that includes gaming but also heavily leans into the degen culture that built the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

With ApeChain set to launch next month and the $100 million Ape Banana Bill proposal going up for a community vote as early as this Thursday, ApeCoin DAO Special Council members Waabam and Captain Trippy joined Horizen Labs’ Blockchainzilla and Full Moon Labs’ Aepicurean on Spaces to address some of the community’s pressing questions.

During the Space, the group explained that while the Banana Bill AIP was only shared publicly last week, the proposal has been months in the making, with countless community members providing their input on this $100 million Ape proposal.

Although they would have liked more time to gather community comments on the bill, they are moving quickly to fund builders so that ApeChain has a lot of dApps at launch.

 “We would have loved to have a longer public comment period, but I think this will lead to better outcomes in the long run,” Horizen Labs’ Blockchainzilla said.

Further, the group shared that there are a lot of external timelines to consider with the Banana Bill. Blockchainzilla said that he and Horizen Labs are committed to launching ApeChain this quarter as they promised in their ApeChain AIP earlier this year, and that developers who want to build on $Ape need to get their funding as soon as possible so their protocols are ready for ApeChain’s launch.

“Do we want a minimum viable ApeChain, or do we want to take this leap and be the @arbitrum orbit chain or the gaming chain,” he said.

While no developer names were discussed, Waabam did say that there are projects ‘waiting in the wings ‘to build on $Ape but ‘the funding isn’t there’ without this bill.

Next, the group addressed the community’s concerns regarding the salaries of the Advisory Board and why Blockchainzilla, Tlogs, and Aepicurean got their positions.

The group agreed with the community about the Advisory Board's salaries and said they will compensate board members based on the experience they bring, in a way that aligns with the success of ApeChain. These changes will be included in the final bill. The group also noted that the two board members from Yuga Labs and the Animoca Brands board member will not be paid.

As for why Blockchainzilla and Tlogs were selected as the Banana Bill's Account Managers and Aepicurean was picked as the Program’s Facilitator, Captain Trippy explained that they have been working on ApeChain behind the scenes for months.

As the Town Hall continued, ApeCoin DAO Contributor DSmart took the stage and asked Blockchainzilla about the community’s skepticism regarding him and Horizen Labs.

Blockchainzilla acknowledged that Horizen Labs has not been the best partner for ApeCoin over the years and that internal restructuring at Horizen Labs led to ApeCoin being left by the wayside. However, he said they’re here now, have been working hard, and plan to build within this ecosystem for years to come.

“Trust needs to be rebuilt. I like to think I tried," @HorizenLabs' @blockchainzilla said. "Ultimately I get punching up at Horizen and Animoca but for this to succeed, ApeChain needs to be a partnership between corporate stake holders and the community. And I want to see this hit so far out of the park that everyone loves Horizen. We put in the work. It would have been easy to walk away, and we didn’t. I hope Horizen can be part of the community for a long time. And I’m going to be a part of this community, so you’re stuck with me."

 

While much of the five hour Town Hall revolved around community members' questions, Waabam also took this time to share his vision for an ApeChain built around degenerate culture like gambling and shitcoining that gets back to BAYC basics.

“I don’t see ApeChain as a gaming chain," he said. "I want to be clear, it can sustain gaming, but we are seeing a shift in the community. The gaming meta hasn’t worked. What is our community about? We are about apeing in and taking chances. That’s our culture. This is a place for apes and a place for degens. We need to support Dapps that are building that culture.”

 

The Bored Ape Gazette is working to bring you continued coverage of today’s Banana Bill Town Hall, including community reaction and will continue to follow all things ApeChain. Stay tuned for updates.