The popular NFT-centric startup, Recur, revealed its impending closure plans this Friday in an internal blog post. Despite securing a hefty $50 million in funding and partnerships with massive brands such as Nickelodeon and Hello Kitty, Recur seems to have been caught off-guard in the tumultuous whirlwind of the crypto domain.
NFT Services Winding Down
Recur’s recent blog post informs that the platform will see a gradual phase-out of its primary NFT features in the coming months. The impending suspensions include users’ ability to retrieve non-fungible tokens, trade on Recur marketplaces, and cashing out of their stablecoin balances.
The unexpected decision to terminate operations has been attributed to unforeseen market shifts and challenges. As they shared on Twitter, navigating the unpredictable waters of the non-fungible token marketplace hasn’t been easy.
Recur’s decision underscores the broader turbulence faced by the market, with many observing a decline in digital collectible demand. To highlight, in July last year, Recur launched a bold collaboration featuring NFTs with Hello Kitty and Friends. Regrettably, these ambitious plans were thwarted a year later.
Adding to this, Recur reminisced about a time when its NFT TV Packs, showcasing characters from Nickelodeon shows like Tommy Pickles of “Rugrats”, saw an overwhelming demand. However, they also announced the discontinuation of this feature by November.
The Legacy of Recur
Inaugurated in 2021, Recur positioned itself as an NFT innovation hub, offering businesses Web3 solutions. Their platform was versatile, paving the way for the creation of loyalty schemes, in-game assets, and digital collectibles.
Recur’s decision mirrors another recent shutdown—Nifty’s, an erstwhile social network turned Web3 creator hub. Like Recur, Nifty’s too had major partnerships with significant media titles like “The Matrix” and “Game of Thrones”.
Having birthed over 380,000 NFTs, Recur ensures their digital artwork won’t fade into oblivion. Plans are underway to migrate their NFTs’ metadata and media to the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Additionally, certain assets will find a new home on the Filecoin network.
Recur’s past NFT endeavors included the December 2021 launch of a “Recur Pass”, retailing at $300. Despite its premium start, a Recur Pass, which once commanded a price of $88,888, is now listed for a mere 0.001 ETH on OpenSea.
Capping off its journey, Recur had announced a valuation of $333 million at the close of 2021, subsequent to a $50 million Series A funding round. This investment phase drew interest from industry heavyweights, including Steve Cohen of the New York Mets and NFT enthusiast Gary Vaynerchuk. An earlier seed fund round of $5 million had participation from prominent personalities like Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin and the Winklevoss twins.