Mystery Surrounds Abrupt Tezos NFT Marketplace Shutdown

Users have been left puzzled after the front-end of Tezos-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Hic et Nunc disappeared last week. The marketplace’s Twitter biography was updated with only the word “discontinued”, and the marketplace tweeted its own smart contract shortly thereafter:

Users Left in the Dark

The front-end for Hic et Nunc went offline on November 11 after its Twitter bio was updated to “offline”. Reasons for the exit are still unclear, but users are speculating that it may be linked to competitor NFT minting marketplace “objkt.com” launching the day before.

However, outside of the Twitter update, no formal explanation has been offered as to the marketplace’s sudden disappearance.

According to crypto artist @MrRudemanners, the marketplace’s developer “Raf” may have made the decision on the spur of the moment, based on the negative messages being posted.

Tezos Remains Immutable

Despite the complete disappearance of Hic et Nunc’s front-end, smart contracts for the NFTs that were listed are immutable, and the NFTs can be seen on objkt.com. Having only launched in March this year, the platform has surpassed OpenSea as the biggest NFT platform based on daily active user count.

Built upon Tezos’s open-source proof-of-stake blockchain, the marketplace has boasted far cheaper minting fees and higher energy efficiency than Ethereum. Although users are left reeling from the sudden loss of Hic et Nunc, its cleaner, cheaper ethos lives on. Once Ethereum 2.0 is launched, it will have a much lower carbon footprint along with lower gas fees.

Tezos Surges in Value

Earlier this year, Tezos surged in value when it was chosen by a Swiss banking consortium to develop regulatory-compliant digital financial products. Along with Tezos, Swiss entities – IT company Inacta, fintech specialist Crypto Finance Group, and Incore Bank, based in Zurich – will partner to power smart contracts for a range of on-chain digital financial products.