Near Protocol picks up slack, onboards Tracer following Terra’s downfall

Published at: May 23, 2022

For many layer 1 crypto projects, returning to normalcy from Terra’s death spiral meant a complete migration to a different ecosystem. But, how does one make the right move, especially after knowing the unfortunate fate of their initial platform of choice?

In the case of Tracer, a Web3 fitness and lifestyle app, moving away from the Terra ecosystem for survival was just one piece of the puzzle. Choosing a new host to build on requires more than checking the technical compatibility with the blockchain ecosystems.

As explained by Near Foundation’s Nicky Chalabi, projects like Tracer seek alignment with the ecosystem’s core values that can support the company’s roadmap in time to come. Tracer’s decision to completely migrate over to Near Protocol complements the various other crypto projects that have recently shifted over to Binance’s BNB Chain and Polygon Studios.

Speaking to Cointelegraph about the decision-making process behind a total migration, Chalabi suggested:

“Projects must watch the interests of their community and users because, in the end, that’s the most valuable thing you have.”

Coincidently, Tracer and Near used the same programming language for building smart contracts, which further eased the migrating process. However, Chalabi echoed the sentiments of the crypto community by stressing the fact that Terra’s downfall was a loss for the entire community:

“We’re really trying to help. It’s not our goal to take advantage of this situation. You and your projects have lost your home.”

The sudden collapse of major ecosystems negatively impacts the trust and credibility of projects as investors tend to make unrecoverable losses in the process. As damage control, Near allocates resources to understand the project’s needs, work with the projects, and immediately address any issues.

Other ecosystems, too, have taken a similar approach in easing the transition for the recently displaced projects. As Cointelegraph recently reported, BNB Chain is also committed to investing and supporting projects that intend to migrate away from the Terra ecosystem.

In concluding the discussion, Chalabi advised the recently displaced projects to migrate to blockchains based on the interests of their users and communities instead of choosing platforms for short-term monetary gains, stating “that can actually define your success.”

Aurora, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) designed to scale decentralized applications (DApps) built on the Near protocol, recently launched a token fund worth $90 million.

As Cointelegraph reported, Aurora Labs allocated 25 million AURORA tokens, valued at roughly $90 million, from the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) treasury to fund the initiative.