CNN Abandons its NFT Project, Causing Rug Pull Accusations

On October 10, Vault tweeted that it’s shutting down its marketplace selling NFTs that highlighted major moments from CNN’s history. In a statement they shared plans to leave the platform behind, as well as information on the collection’s legacy.

CNN launched the Vault in June 2021 as a six-week experiment, though support from the community kept it going for over a year. The Vault sold NFTs called “Moments”, based on some of CNN's "historical moments." For instance, you could get an NFT based on a CNN report that George W. Bush was re-elected for just $500. Vault also partnered with Dapper Labs to mint its moments on the Flow blockchain.

The Vault website is still live, and it seems like you can still purchase NFTs there. There's no information on when or if it will be shut down completely. In a statement, Vault encouraged people to head over to its Discord server to learn more about the future of the collection. This move caused some to blame CNN for orchestrating a rug pull, a sort of crypto scam when creators suddenly close the project and make off with investor’s money. Others said they were disappointed by promises of long-term utility for holders, including exclusive perks, merchandise, upgrades and discounts on future drops.

A CNN staff member on Discord said that the platform plans to compensate collectors over the coming weeks by paying them roughly 20% of the NFTs original mint price in either stable coins or FLOW, the native token behind Flow.

CNN's take on NFTs doesn’t look great, though it was almost a year ago, and now numerous other companies are trying to jump on the bandwagon. However, the NFT market is not what it was, with sales volumes dropping and many NFTs previously sold for thousands of dollars now unable to find a buyer. Hope CNN didn’t intend the Vault shutting off as a rug pull, but the situation might be a sign of the trend for the NFT market. We continue to observe.