- Global media outlet CNN has announced that it is scrapping its Vault NFT project
- The company will offer a 20% refund on its NFT mint price
- Some NFT collectors think CNN is conducting a rug pull
Global media outlet CNN has announced plans to disband its Vault NFT project less than two months after its creation. As compensation to investors, it has offered to give back 20% of the NFT original mint price. However, some NFTs collectors have questioned the logic behind the refund amount noting that this may be a rug pull.
CNN Wanted to test the Web 3.0 Waters
In a tweet posted on Monday, CNN disclosed that the ‘Vault by CNN: Moments That Changed Us’ NFT project was coming to an end since it was an experiment and a way to dip its toes in the Web 3.0 ecosystem. The collection included the outlet’s defining moments since its establishment in 1980.
News of our own to share pic.twitter.com/qcxaDXNRYO
— Vault by CNN (@vaultbycnn) October 10, 2022
CNN added that it is shutting down everything related to the project, which is powered by the Flow blockchain. According to a CNN employee, the refund will be disbursed in either FLOW coins or stablecoins directly into a collector’s wallet.
Initially, the project was intended to provide premium perks to collectors plus allow collectors to mint their own NFTs based on articles already published by CNN. With the project active for only six weeks, it’s no surprise that not everything on the roadmap was accomplished.
An Elaborate Rug Pull?
Many respondents have questioned how CNN arrived at the 20% refund, with some suggesting that the move has all the characteristics of a rug pull. On Discord, for example, one of the project’s community members asked whether the media outlet is “able to share why they think 20% is fair.” According to the user, CNN is assuming that investors will recoup their money in a few years, contrary to which “this seems like a rug pull.”
Vault by CNN joins the likes of Rentable that have shut down due to a dwindling NFT uptake.
