American multimedia company CNN announced in a tweet on October 10 that it was shutting down its Non-Fungible Project (NFT) less than four months after its launch. Dubbed “The CNN Vault: The Moments That Changed Us,” the collection included a series of iconic iconic news moments from CNN’s 41-year history, as well as a vault for purchasing, holding, and displaying NFTs.
Explaining their decision, CNN said Vault was a “6-week trial” and “the first foray into Web3”. However, the company “will not develop or support this community anymore.” The group was originally created on the Flow blockchain, with CNN retaining copyright and ownership of the content.
According to the official roadmap, the developers had to implement new features such as “Exclusive CNN Privileges for Vault Collectors” and “Release your own CNN NFT article.” On the project’s Discord server, CNN employee Jason said that users will receive 20% of the original minted price of NFT coins in the form of stablecoins or FLOW tokens deposited in collectors’ wallets.
Vault from CNN’s proposed compensation plan for NFT holders | Source: Discord
While there is a wide variation between the prices of the vaults that CNN NFT has demanded in its market, many were initially launched for less than $10, indicating very little respite for NFT holders under the proposed payback scheme. Meanwhile, several users in the project’s Discord community of over 1,400 users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision. One person named Richard Razzo wrote:
“As an investor, I don’t know if I will be able to break even in a few years. Can CNN share why they think 20% is fair, because in my opinion that means they hope we can break even or make a profit in a few years? years, right? If not, it looks like a rug.”
