Coachella’s Lifetime Pass NFTs Made Unavailable Due to FTX Cryptocurrency Crash
Buyers of Coachella’s Lifetime Pass NFTs are unable to access their tokens amid the ongoing crash of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
In February this year, Coachella auctioned off 10 lifetime passes to the festival. These were called ‘Coachella Keys’ and came in the form of NFTs, and were part of a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The lifetime passes were valued at a total of $1.5 million USD (£1.2 million) and were included in the festival’s wider range of NFT products called ‘Coachella Collectables’.
Now the status of these is in limbo due to the collapse of FTX, after the exchange filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Owners of the digital hub – the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world – cited a “severe liquidity crisis” as the reason for the collapse, which left thousands of users who had stored NFTs on the platform unable to access tokens.
In accordance Billboard, many of the Coachella lifetime passes are apparently stuck at the now-defunct exchange. A Coachella spokesperson said the platform “appears to be disabled at the moment”, while a collector said he was only able to add the Coachella key to his wallet because he pulled it from FTX days before the crash. Any buyers who left the pass stored on the exchange would no longer have access to them.
Speaking of the NFT crash in another statement BillboardCoachella’s head of innovation, Sam Schoonover, said: “We are actively working on solutions and are confident that we will be able to protect the interests of Coachella’s NFT holders.”
Meanwhile, on the festival’s discord server, a festival employee wrote: “Like many of you, we have been watching this news unfold online for the past few days and are shocked by the outcome.”
They continued: “We currently have no lines of communication with the FTX team. We have assembled an internal team to come up with solutions based on the tools we have access to. Our priority is to get Coachella NFTs out of FTX.
In statements announcing “Coachella Collectibles” ahead of the festival – which this year ran from 15-17 and 22.-24. April – organizers said the selection gave collectors “the opportunity to own lifetime festival passes, unlocking unique on-site experiences, physical items and digital collectibles”.
Coachella was one of many music events to incorporate NFT experiences into their festivals this year, with the likes of Tomorrowland, EXIT and Ozzfest also using the format in some capacity.
Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Flume, Megan Thee Stallion, Disclosure, 21 Savage and Phoebe Bridgers were among those who appeared at this year’s Coachella, which was deemed a “cause for celebration” in a four-star review by NME. In June, Frank Ocean was confirmed as the headliner for next year’s edition, with dates set for his traditional two-weekend outings in April.
