The German luxury automotive manufacturer Porsche announced on Tuesday, January 24, that it would be terminating its NFT minting operation. The iconic Porsche 911 served as the inspiration for the 7,500-piece NFT series that was released by the German automaker back in November 2022, and 3D artist Patrick Vogel designed the collection.
Despite this, the NFT minting project that Porsche began earlier this week will end on Wednesday, just two days after it was first introduced. On Monday, when minting began, the price of each NFT reflecting its famous 911 model was set at 0.911 Ether (ETH), equivalent to around $1,490 apiece.
Almost immediately afterward, Porsche was subjected to significant backlash from the crypto industry for their excessively high mint price. Others in the community have characterized it as nothing more than an overt effort by Porsche to acquire more money.
Creators and collectors of NFTs took to Twitter to air their grievances and share their ideas about Porsche's decision to move forward with its Web3 plan without considering the existing condition of the NFT market. On their official announcement post on Twitter, Porsche included the following information (1):
"Our holders have spoken. To move forth with developing the greatest possible experience for a select community, we are planning to reduce our supply and put an end to the minting process. To clarify, Mint is currently active and will close at 6 am UTC-5 tomorrow, January 25. For those of you who own our tokens, we can't wait to shape the future with you."
Nearly 1820 new NFTs have been produced since this article was written, out of a total supply of 7500 new NFTs. Concurrently, the minimum price of the NFT series has dropped to 0.89 ETH after a prolonged period of decline.
As a result of deteriorating market sentiment, the NFT market has already experienced a decline over the past year. Even though Porsche has a significant amount of value, the current dynamics in the market do not support a booming launch for the company.
In addition, some individuals have attacked Porsche because it does not have an active community with which customers can engage, and it makes all of its information solely available on Twitter.
Major Brands Who Have Entered NFT Space
Many well-established companies joined the NFT bandwagon in 2021 during the bull run in the crypto currency market. Companies operating in various sectors, from the world's largest financial institutions to manufacturers of footwear, have all attempted to penetrate the market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with varying degrees of success.
For example, in late 2021, the footwear manufacturer Nike launched their NFT trip and partnered with the metaverse footwear brand RTFKT. Nike was successful in its endeavor, as evidenced by the company's income from NFT token sales having already reached an astounding $190 million by the summer of 2022.
NFTs are beginning to gain traction in the game industry but at a glacial pace. Some players, such as GameStop, released their NFTs the previous year, and they managed to reach a volume milestone of $5 million within one week of launching their products.
