NFT
On Wednesday, March 15th, the Solana non-fungible token marketplace Formfunction announced it had made the decision to shut down. According to the announcement, the platform will remain functional until Wednesday, March 29th, and users will be able to keep and relist their digital collectibles even after the closing.
Formfunction to Shut Down on March 29th
On March 15th, the Solana NFT marketplace Formfunction announced it has reached the decision to shut down in two weeks’ time on March 29th. Without providing the exact reason for the decision, the platform stated that it was a difficult choice that resulted from “careful consideration”. Formfunction also expressed its pride over the work they’ve done since opening in early 2022:
We’re proud of what we’ve built towards our mission to help creators make a living, and we’re grateful for the support and love we’ve found in this community. To all the creators and collectors who’ve used Fofu over the past year—you are what really made our platform shine.
Formfunction also released a tool intended to help creators export their creations more easily. Despite the closing, everyone will be able to keep their non-fungible tokens and relist them on other platforms if they chose, however, the marketplace stated it would be most convenient for users to delist them before March 29th.
In the blog post accompanying the announcement, Formfunction expressed their gratefulness to the community, and stated they remain, despite the decision to shit down, excited about the future of the ecosystem.
Prominent NFT Projects Shutting Down Despite a 2023 Resurgence For Digital Collectibles
Only days before Formfunction, Meta also announced it is terminating its digital collectibles project. The social media giant entered the NFT sphere in May 2022 on Instagram and in June 2022 on Facebook. Similar to today’s announcement, Meta offered no exact explanation for their sudden decision to end support for digital collectibles.
The social media giant and Formfunction’s decisions come at a time when non-fungible tokens are witnessing a resurgence after what appeared like an extinction event during the “crypto winter” of the previous year. The return to popularity for NFTs is driven, to some extent at least, by the recent rise of aggregators like Blur which even managed to eclipse OpenSea shortly after launching its long-awaited token.
While some platforms are exiting the digital collectibles space, others are only starting their foray into the space. Amazon, for example, is expected to officially announce its NFT and web3 gaming initiative next month, while another legacy company, Walmart, registered digital asset-related trademarks in late January.
