Polygon Labs co-founder Sandeep Nailwal proposed the ApeCoin APE +4.06% DAO governance community build, deploy and maintain its own zero-knowledge powered Ethereum Layer 2 using Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK).

The proposal would see the launch of a dedicated ApeCoin Layer 2 network, dubbed “ApeChain,” at a cost of approximately $200,000 annually from the ApeCoin DAO. It also includes creating a $3.35 million development fund from the the DAO treasury to boost the growth of ApeCoin-related projects, with support from Polygon Labs.

“The ApeCoin community has been aware that ApeCoin will need to migrate to its own chain in order to properly scale since these very words were tweeted by Yuga Labs nearly 18 months ago,” Nailwal wrote on ApeCoin DAO’s governance forum. “While ApeCoin DAO voted on AIP-41 to keep ApeCoin within the Ethereum ecosystem, the question of an ApeCoin-specific chain is open and remains ripe for decision.”

ApeCoin (APE) is a cryptocurrency linked to a DAO that oversees the NFT and metaverse ecosystem developed by Yuga Labs, the creators behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collections. Initially, ApeCoin was given to BAYC and MAYC members via an airdrop. While ApeCoin has ties to the NFT collections and Yuga Labs, it's governed by the ApeCoin DAO.

Polygon’s CDK is an open-source software development kit, enabling developers to create their own ZK-powered Layer 2s with reduced fees and finality times while inheriting Ethereum’s security.

ApeCoin ecosystem benefits

Nailwal said that ApeChain would provide the ApeCoin DAO community with the right scaling solution suitable for games and consumer applications, while offering potential sequencer fees and staking rewards for validators on the network.

ApeChain, the proposal added, would also gain interoperability with Polygon’s suite of solutions, including Polygon PoS (soon upgrading to a zkEVM), Polygon zkEVM and Polygon Miden — an architecture with thousands of dApps. “With ApeCoin already bridged onto Polygon PoS, it is already available to be used by all dApps across Polygon architecture – including for gas and staking in relation to dApps built on the proposed ApeChain,” Nailwal stated.

Costs and timeline

In addition to the $200,000 annual deployment and maintenance costs for ApeChain, the proposed ecosystem development fund, outlined in another forum post, seeks $3.35 million in funding.

The fund includes $3 million for the establishment of a development program, $125,000 annually over two years for an ApeCoin ecosystem development lead and $50,000 in APE tokens for two years as an annual bonus, subject to a 1-year lockup.

ApeChain could be implemented in up to 16 weeks over four phases, according to Nailwal, followed by promotional and ongoing development stages.

Other Layer 2s using Polygon's CDK

Layer 2s already being developed using the Polygon CDK include Immutable zkEVM, IDEX, Palm Network and Astar zkEVM.

Nailwal seems to be on something of a proposal spree of late, also proposing Polygon Labs could facilitate Celo's migration to an Ethereum Layer 2 using the CDK last month.

“By deploying ApeChain using Polygon CDK, ApeCoin DAO will continue to execute against its mission to scale into a ‘decentralized protocol layer for community-led initiatives that drive culture forward into the metaverse,’” Nailwal concluded.