Vega Protocol, a decentralized trading blockchain, has proposed shutting down its alpha mainnet chain and ceasing support for its native token VEGA. The proposal includes launching a new project, Nebula, which will feature a new token, NEB. Vega Protocol plans to focus on developing and promoting Nebula as a full retail decentralized exchange with committed liquidity. The transition offers VEGA token holders the opportunity to swap their tokens for the new NEB token. The proposal has received significant support, with a majority voting in favor. However, it has faced criticism for potentially diluting token holders' allocations. The price of VEGA has significantly dropped following the announcement.

VEGA

Crypto derivatives trading platform Vega Protocol has proposed retiring its blockchain and ceasing official support for its native token VEGA. In an Aug. 30 blog post , Vega said the proposal was put forward in a bid to “focus on the development and promotion” of the protocol’s software and usher in the launch of a new project called “Nebula.” Vega said Nebula would be a “full retail decentralized exchange (DEX) with committed liquidity” built on the Vega protocol. “Nebula will have its own NEB token, and VEGA token holders are being offered the opportunity to swap VEGA for this new token,” wrote Vega. The official Vega Governance proposal outlined that the specific actions contained within the proposal would suspend trading, redistribute the on-chain treasury to stakers, and provide “guaranteed USDT incentives” to validators to keep the network operating for the next two months, allowing users to withdraw funds from the Vega DEX. “After that, it would be up to any current or potential validator whether they continue to run nodes or not, but as there would be no trading and no VEGA issuance for rewards from this point, it is expected that the alpha mainnet chain would stop.” The proposal noted that this would not impact the functionality of the Vega Protocol in the long term. At the time of publication, the proposal has received strong support from voters who have taken a stance on the proposal, with 1.7 million tokens voting “for” whilst just 200 tokens have been allocated against it. Notably, there is only a 2.5% participation threshold for governance proposals to be passed. Voting closes in three days on Sept 6. Related: Crypto liquidations may be way worse than data has let on, say researchers The proposal drew criticism from crypto pundits, including pseudonymous commentator Spreek who claimed in a Sept. 3 post to X that the new NEB token would dilute existing holders’ allocation by up to five times. Cointelegraph contacted Vega Protocol for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. The price of the Vega (VEGA) token has plummeted in the days following the announcement, falling over 17% in the last 24 hours alone. Changing hands for $0.06 at the time of publication, VEGA is down over 64% in the last month and has posted a loss of 95% in the last year. Vega first unveiled its whitepaper in 2018, outlining itself as a trading-focused blockchain designed to facilitate high volumes of derivatives trading, with a focus on high scalability and quick settlement times. In 2019, Vega raised $5 million  during its seed funding round led by Pantera Capital. In 2021, it secured an additional $43 million in a community funding round. Vega currently holds $424,000 in total value-locked (TVL) on its protocol, a far cry from rival decentralized trading platforms such as Hyperliquid and dYdX which boast respective TVLs of $541 million and $395 million, per DeFiLlama data. Magazine: Bitcoiners are ‘all in’ on Trump since Bitcoin ’24, but it’s getting risky 

Vega Protocol Proposes Chain Shutdown and Launch of New Token, Nebula