There is no rush to convert your COTI to COTI V2 as the early bird bonus for those swapping over is apparently not happening. This was separate from the recent lock up staking bonuses that happened early last year as those will be fairly decent for those that did not unlock and kept their stake locked.
Where is the benefit from jumping over early as soon as COTI V2 launches as I do not see one right now. COTI and COTI V2 will be the same price as they are being swapped at 1/1. If this changes with the announcement of an early bird bonus for swapping then this will obviously change my thought processes.
The main reason for hanging back is the costs involved for farming or even just adding to your stake. The Ethereum fees we know are not cheap and avoiding those for a few months will be added profit which will boost your accumulating ability. COTI is one of my main investments this cycle and removing mistakes is paramount to making it as successful as possible giving me the highest return as I expect big money coming from my stake.
COTI changing and becoming an Ethereum L2 token is great news but the down side is the fees associated with being involved within the Eth eco system. This may be minimal or it may be far more expensive as I have literally no idea how much this is going to be as a hidden cost.
We know this as we experienced the fees involved whilst farming our CUB being involved with the Leo DeFi. I currently farm every 2 days which is roughly $12 (100) worth of COTI and only costs me around 15 c so I will wait and see and see what others are paying for their transactions. I would bet that it will be way more than 15 c as the cost to claim your rewards will also rise without the cost of staking included.
The COTI team mentioned that it would take time and will have both coins running at the same time with the talk being somewhere in Q1 2026 when they expect to only have COTI V2. You don't have to be a genius to see this is after the bull cycle and why my head is saying hold off for now and wait and see how this all unfolds.
Those who remain staked in the COTI Treasury will not miss out as the APR is still being earned and who knows may even rise when the TVL drops, but I would guess will be the same as the new treasury APR. My head is telling me the smart move is to wait and hold without jumping early and we know others will find out the hard way what the fees will be. Once you are swapped out there is no going back due to the fees and why the hesitation with the wait and see attitude for now. The initial swap over will be free so there is nothing to lose by waiting and being patient.
The target is still to achieve 200K COTI staked and do think it may be easier to achieve by not moving into the Ethereum eco system immediately. When you know there is no deadline for swapping over being one of the last to exchange may be the smart move and will look into this once this all opens up and goes live. I have asked the question about fees with the COTI team and no one knows what this will entail and are going in blind.