I am excited to announce the launch of Nebula in this blog post, which will be a new proof-of-stake (“PoS”) blockchain, built with the Vega protocol software.
I have previously written about my vision for on-chain trading, and my goal to scale the number of markets on a DEX into the thousands and well beyond crypto assets. This remains my long term ambition, and the Nebula project serves as the first step to achieving this mission.
In this post I set out the relevant background details that have led to the launch of Nebula, as well as important information for VEGA token holders who wish to acquire a stake in the new network. I also set out high level plans for the tokenomics of NEB, which is the staking token that provides the economic security of the Nebula chain.
Background
I am a long-term VEGA stakeholder, dating back to 2018. I have been involved with the project in different capacities since that time, and I have a strong desire to see the value of the Vega software accrue to VEGA token holders. Back in June, after waiting some time for the Vega community to mobilise themselves and use the funds deployed to the Community Adoption Fund (“CAF”) to no avail, I decided to propose the VGT-2 transfer which can be seen here. I initially planned to run marketing campaigns aimed at bootstrapping adoption of the Vega chain, alongside a new project named Taki that would expand on-chain trading to thousands of markets.
Shortly after receiving these funds, it became clear to me that it would be very difficult to obtain traction for Vega with the resources remaining in the CAF. The token price had plummeted and the CAF was worth only a few hundred thousand dollars (despite initially being expected to be worth $2 million). Moreover, the VEGA token was almost entirely distributed and without radically overhauling the allocation of the VEGA token it was difficult to see how I could fund the user growth we want to see. At the time, some users in the Vega Discord began discussing the idea of diluting VEGA holders to inject more resources into the project, and this was an idea I found extremely interesting.
After some thought, and consultation with Vega builders, investors and community members, it became clear to me that a radical plan to overhaul the tokenomics underpinning the Vega software would be necessary. Not only were there obvious challenges when it came to available resources, but I also experienced significant pushback from marketing agencies when looking for partners to help me grow the Vega brand. These partners were looking for something new and exciting to take to market, and simply put, Vega failed to hit the spot for them. The market has moved on a lot since the inception of Vega, and fresh ideas and thinking would be needed to build the strong alliances needed to realise the value of the Vega software.
I firmly believe that the Vega software is extremely valuable. A lot of money has been spent on its research and development, and the capabilities of the protocol are unmatched. I have worked tirelessly this year to establish a plan that’s capable of unlocking this value. I hope that as many VEGA holders as possible choose to join me on this journey.
You can find the blog post introducing Nebula in more detail below:
the proposal