CNN pulls the plug on Web3, NFT Project Vault

Cable News Network CNN has pulled the plug on its web3 experiment, the company confirmed in a statement on Monday evening.

In a statement shared on Twitterr, Vault of CNN said the decision had been made to “say goodbye” to the project.

No specific reason was given for the move.

Vault off CNN was created last year and offered buyers non-fungible tokens (NFTs) which recalled major news events.

“Vault was originally launched as a six-week experiment, but the support and engagement of our community allows us to grow this project into something much bigger,” the Vault team said in the statement.

But the original announcement made last year by the news agency made it clear that the company expected it to go beyond the first six weekly drops, promising that “future drops” would include a wider range of topics and formats “such as Vault by CNN grows and adapts to the community of collectors.”

Users condemn “rug pull”

That community expressed shock at the abrupt closure of the project at Vault’s Discord server after the announcement, with some even calling the move a “rug pull”.

Users pointed out that Vault had been teasing upcoming features and releases as recently as last month.

IN documents hosted on the project’s website, exclusively CNN benefits and items are listed as “coming soon”.

Answers to questions from upset collectors, a CNN staff member who goes by the display name “Jason” on Discord confirmed that there would be some form of “distribution” to compensate those who bought NFTs.

“The distribution will be either FLOW tokens or stable coins inserted into every collector’s wallet,” he wrote. “We are currently working on the details, but expect the distribution amount to be approximately 20% of the original coin price for each Vault NFT owned.”

He added that the collections would live on and that Vault Marketplace would remain active.

Vault of CNN History

By the time of Vault’s launch in summer 2021, CNN said the project represented a chance for collectors to own a piece of history.

It also cooperated with startup Infinite Objects to offer select buyers display cases, allowing them to display their purchases physically inside their homes, as well as on user pages in the Vault.

Users didn’t need any crypto to buy an NFT, with payments collected through Stripe, although they had to create a digital wallet with Blocto to make transactions. The project was built on Flow blockchain.

Subjects depicted by NFTs ranged from presidential election for space launches. ONE recent collaboration with Jeremy Falls Probably Nothing commemorates the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.

It is not clear how much CNN taken from the project, but based on initial auction prices of sold-out NFTs, it would likely have been hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Talking to Business Insider in April, the cable network’s director of new products Jason Novack so: “NFTs unlock entirely new opportunities that didn’t exist until very recently – including being a strong source of income.”