Vega Protocol, a crypto derivatives trading platform, has proposed the retirement of its blockchain and the cessation of official support for its native token, VEGA. The move, announced in an August 30 blog post, aims to refocus efforts on the development of a new decentralized exchange (DEX) project called Nebula.
Nebula, described as a full retail DEX with committed liquidity, will be built on the Vega Protocol. VEGA token holders are being offered the opportunity to swap their tokens for Nebula's new NEB tokens.
The official Vega Governance proposal outlines several key actions, including suspending trading and redistributing the on-chain treasury to stakers. Additionally, the proposal includes providing "guaranteed USDT incentives" to validators to maintain network operations for the next two months, allowing users to withdraw funds from the Vega DEX.
“After that point, whether to continue running nodes will be up to any current or potential validators, but since there will be no transactions and no VEGA rewards will be issued from this point on, it is expected that the alpha mainnet chain will cease.”
At the time of writing, the proposal has garnered significant support, with 1.7 million tokens voting in favour and only 200 against it. A low participation threshold of 2.5% is required for governance proposals to pass. Voting on the proposal is set to close on September 6.
The number of votes supporting Vega’s new proposal far exceeds the number of votes against it Source: Vega Governance
The announcement has not been without criticism. Crypto commentator Spreek expressed concerns on social media, claiming that the new NEB token could dilute the allocation of existing holders by up to five times. Despite the controversy, Vega Protocol has not yet responded to these concerns.
Following the announcement, the price of the VEGA token has dropped significantly, falling over 12% in the past 24 hours. Currently trading at $0.068, VEGA has seen a 64% decline over the past month and a 95% loss in the last year.
Vega price source：coinmarket cap
Vega Protocol's journey began in 2018 with the release of its whitepaper, positioning itself as a blockchain designed for high-volume derivatives trading. The project attracted significant investment, raising $5 million in a seed funding round led by Pantera Capital in 2019, followed by $43 million in a community funding round in 2021.
Vega financing status source：coinlive wiki
Despite its early promise, Vega Protocol now holds just $424,000 in total value-locked (TVL) on its platform. In contrast, rival decentralized trading platforms such as Hyperliquid and dYdX boast significantly higher TVLs of $541 million and $395 million, respectively, according to data from DeFiLlama.
source: DeFiLlama
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