Did CNN Just Rugpull Its NFT Store?

CNN's logo in front of its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

CNN first announced the Vault NFT store in 2021, when NFTs were at the height of their popularity.
Photo: Anna Moneymaker (Getty Images)

ragpull, verb: By “pulling the rug out from under someone,” you dramatically turn the status quo upside down.

ragpull, noun (crypto): A cryptocurrency-based fraudulent scheme in which the project founder convinces users to invest in a cryptocurrency or NFT project.

On Monday, many users of CNN’s “Vault” NFT store dropped the dreaded “r-word.”A fungible token store after nearly a year of activity. The company has told users on his Discord that it plans to compensate “thousands” of users with a portion of their funds in more cryptocurrencies, but here comes the question. Did the major news networks commit lag-pull?

In a Twitter post Monday, CNN said, “While Vault originally started as a six-week experiment, the support and involvement from the community has allowed us to scale this project into something bigger… first to Web3. We’ve learned a lot from our foray, and we’re excited to carry Vault’s concept of community storytelling into future projects.” Of course, the network didn’t provide a specific reason for closing the store. Did. NFT may indeed be a dirty word at this point.According to recent data, NFT trading volume is 97% reduction From last year’s height.

When it was first produced, CNN didn’t mention an obsolescence date, so the message that it will last much longer than expected reads particularly hollow.of original press release For Vault mentioned the initial release, which included six NFT drops per week, but the release built up hype for future drops, including “an even wider range of digitally collectible topics and formats.” At least their NFT platform has lasted far longer than the company’s ill-fated streaming service attempt. CNN+, which barely lasted three weeks.vault Released in June 2021whether it was a presidential election or a major election, users could get a copy of the decisive moment created on the Flow blockchain space rocket launch.

Some users were concerned that they would lose access to their NFTs, but the company has tried to assuage their fears. Jason, who is listed as a CNN employee, told a Discord user that his NFTs in Vault are stored in his IPFS, a peer-to-peer filing storage system.They don’t plan on dropping any more and Jason said the reward was Either FLOW tokens or stablecoins deposited in each collector’s wallet. This is the kicker. That “distribution” is only about 20% of the original mint price of each Vault NFT in a user’s wallet.

A message on the Vault Discord server stated how CNN planned to compensate users, but Crypto Brothers was not at all happy with CNN's discontinuation of support.

A message on the Vault Discord server stated how CNN planned to compensate users, but Crypto Brothers was not at all happy with CNN’s discontinuation of support.
screenshot: CNN Vault/Discord

Gizmodo reached out to CNN with questions about many of their users’ top complaints and how much CNN made from the NFT auction. We’ll update the story if we receive additional comments, but we won’t be responding right away. Decryption estimates that CNN likely made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the first sold-out NFT auction.

While the actual market remains active, users were quick to say that the value of these NFTs would plummet quickly if there was no active community and little real utility. Other users said there were obvious holes in his CNN plan to abandon the project.as pointed out by The BargeThe Flow blockchain limits stablecoin withdrawals to $10 per transaction, with a gas fee of $4. Depending on what kind of her NFT the user has in their wallet, withdrawing that stablecoin may not cover the price of the user trying to take that crypto out of their wallet.

Vault users weren’t exactly thrilled by the news that most of their tokens would suddenly lose most of their value without direct support from the company. I asked why CNN thought the 20% compensation was fair, given the low . Some of his Vault users expected the Art of Voting NFT series to drop on his Nov. 8 midterm elections, but that’s no longer happening.A user said the company promised new features and dropped them recently like last month.

Knowing that CNN is likely making far more money than it’s throwing big bucks into its current users, this is most likely what big companies traditionally think. It could be something close. RagpullNew NFT projects are still emerging, but in many cases these companies areA fungible token. Starbucks said,digital collectible stampReddit is launching a series of blockchain-based services.collectible avatar

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