# BreakETH To The Otherside

By [Ryan Imbriale](https://paragraph.com/@ryan-imbriale) · 2022-09-10

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Welcome to another unsolicited opinion on this weekend’s Yuga Labs Otherside mint and its influence on the future of the web3 ecosystem. I’m assuming you’re coming to this post with a knowledge of the events and an already informed opinion of your own, so LJFG:

_Full disclosure on my trading activities during the Otherside mint — I have been doing daily buys or DCAs of $Ape since its inception just a few weeks ago. I sold a majority of this asset just before the Otherside mint and have since paused my dailies. I did not attempt to get KYC or wallet verification in anticipation._

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/cea296d9d9641241e81cf4440e4f4b1259529bb062f1c7e5e46763b5d5372658.png)

Otherside and Moonbirds represent a systemic shift in the web3/NFT landscape. Seasoned entrepreneurs and Disney-fied megaliths are entering the space, but is the blockchain infrastructure prepared for these vanguard experiments?

Myself, with several others, believe the ‘Otherside event’ to highlight the current inefficient UX of the ETH blockchain. Yuga Labs themselves held no punches by stating “It seems abundantly clear that ApeCoin will need to migrate to its own chain in order to properly scale.” Many have criticized this statement as a callous, predictable, foresight intended to validate their intent to launch a preconceived chain of their own. I disagree. I don’t think these intentions were deliberately malicious. My concern lies more with ETH and its (possible) inability to scale as projects become more ambitious and adoption continues to grow. I tread lightly on this criticism of ETH because a) it is rectifiable b) it’s the responsibility of the entire blockchain community to learn and adapt from such an overwhelming shock c) I do not underestimate Lord Vitalik.

Some unfortunate consequences of the Yuga Experiment:

1.  Many liquidated their hard earned, healthy HODLings to sell off assets to $APE in.
    
2.  GAS! People spent (allegedly) 1.7 > 16 ETH in gas fees alone. Yuga has recognized the absurdity of the situation has (also allegedly) begun refunding those effected.
    
3.  It’s likely that the audience remained reflective of the brand’s already existing faction. The project which was intended to broaden the otherwise compartmentalized participants, likely did not open many new doors. Given the advanced, technical nature and high price of admission of the drop, it’s unlikely many new NFT/blockchain users were on-boarded this weekend.
    

Despite these certainties, there’s always something to be learned. Without these experiments pushing the limits, we will remain at pfps and pepes. Web3 is driven by speculation and learning from such experiments. This is what pushes the community forward. We find value despite the setbacks.

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*Originally published on [Ryan Imbriale](https://paragraph.com/@ryan-imbriale/breaketh-to-the-otherside)*