Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced in a statement on April 4 that its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace will no longer support Bitcoin NFTs by April 18.
According to the exchange:
“start from 2024-04-18 06:00 (Coordinated Universal Time), users will no longer be able to buy, deposit, bid, or list NFTs on the Binance NFT Marketplace via the Bitcoin network. All affected sales orders will be automatically canceled as of: 2024-04-18 06:00 (Coordinated Universal Time)”
It further added that the platform will stop supporting airdrops, rewards, or other utilities related to NFTs by April 10th.
Notably, this decision comes less than a year after the platform enabled support for these digital assets.
Why is Binance ending support for Bitcoin NFTs?
Binance explained that the decision is part of its “ongoing efforts to streamline product offerings” in the NFT market.
The company did not comment on whether trading volume or user demand influenced these service termination decisions.
The exchange launched its NFT marketplace in 2021 amid the cryptocurrency market boom. The marketplace found early success due to its exchange and association with soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, but compared to rivals like Blur, the platform has struggled to gain significant adoption. I am.
On top of that, Binance is navigating regulatory issues across several jurisdictions, including the United States, where it paid a record fine of more than $4 billion and agreed to cease operations in the country.
These regulatory turmoil prompted a rethink of the exchange's operating style and the appointment of a seven-member board of directors led by former Barbados ambassador to the UAE, Gabriel Abed.
Bitcoin NFTs are thriving
Bitcoin-based NFTs have grown significantly over the past year, driven by increased interest in ordinals.
Asset management company Franklin Templeton It pointed out Innovation within the Bitcoin ecosystem was primarily driven by “Bitcoin NFTs known as Ordinals, new fungible token standards such as BRC-20 and Runes, Bitcoin Layer 2, and other Bitcoin DeFi primitives.” Stated.
Notably, Bitcoin NFT sales reached $6.37 million within the past 24 hours, marking the second-highest number in the industry, according to CryptoSlam data.
