Snapshot: 54% of ApeCoin owners vote in favor of remaining on Ethereum, after Yuga Labs floated creating its own blockchain after its huge metaverse land sale
ApeCoin owners have decided to keep the token, which is expected to be key to snagging exclusive metaverse game items and deals …
Context & Ripple Effects
When Bored Ape Yacht Club launched $APE with a 1B supply and an ApeCoin DAO in March, critics noted the structure let Yuga Labs preach decentralization while collecting all the profits. Launch partners including a16z and Animoca Brands also took a 14% cut of the airdropped supply, giving them outsized voting weight.
The land sale changed the calculus: with the token expected to gate exclusive metaverse game items and deals, Yuga Labs floated moving ApeCoin onto its own blockchain — and holders have now voted 54% against it, keeping the token on Ethereum.
First-order effects
- Yuga Labs' plan for a proprietary chain is shelved, so ApeCoin's role gating exclusive metaverse items stays anchored to Ethereum's existing wallet and DeFi infrastructure rather than a new stack Yuga controls end-to-end.
- The ApeCoin DAO has now exercised real authority over an infrastructure decision, not just ceremonial ones — a first test of whether its council-and-vote structure can override the founding team.
Second-order effects
- With launch partners holding 14% of supply, their voting bloc was decisive in a 54% result, meaning a16z and Animoca Brands effectively co-determined Yuga Labs' chain strategy — raising the bar for any future proposal the founders float alone.
- Ethereum keeps the network fees and activity from one of the largest NFT ecosystems, while rival chains lose the marquee migration that would have validated their consumer-brand onboarding playbooks.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, big NFT brands will treat bespoke chains as a negotiating lever rather than a default — floating them to extract concessions, then letting token-holder votes legitimize staying put on public infrastructure.
- The episode sharpens the unresolved tension flagged at launch: DAOs may become the governance veneer that makes centralized brand platforms palatable, with concentrated early stakes deciding votes that look community-driven.
The trend: Consumer crypto brands are testing whether token-holder governance can check founder control over core infrastructure, with Yuga Labs' Ethereum vote as the clearest data point yet.