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The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase tweeted on Wednesday that it is pausing creator drops from its NFT marketplace. In a statement, the company assured consumers that the change was not a prelude to closing but rather would free up resources to “focus on other features and tools that creators have asked for.”
On its official Twitter account Coinbase NTF, the exchange made the announcement:
We recently shared that we are pausing creator Drops on the NFT marketplace to focus on other features and tools that creators have asked for.
— Coinbase NFT (@Coinbase_NFT) February 1, 2023
To be clear: We are not shutting down the Coinbase NFT marketplace.
The announcement was made official shortly after Coinbase NFT partner Jessica Yatronofsky announced that her collection would no longer be available on the marketplace. Yatronofsky claims that she was informed in private that the marketplace would be shut down in February, leading Coinbase to provide clarification with its announcement.
A representative for Coinbase said that the changes would help the Coinbase NFT development team become more efficient and laser-focused over time. The spokesman claims that they will be able to create a long-lasting product that will optimally serve the community.
According to the spokesperson, the platform’s goal has not changed, and Coinbase NFT is optimistic about the marketplace’s future growth. However, no apparent reason has been given why Coinbase NFT has prohibited creators from releasing new NFTS.
When questioned why it couldn’t execute creator drops and build new features simultaneously, a Coinbase insider explained:
The Coinbase NFT team realigned its resources to focus on the highest impact areas for our users.
Since its inception in the spring of 2022, Coinbase NFT has released several additional features for its marketplace in an effort to attract more users. These include a bulk manage tool, rarity filters, and time-delayed listings, among others. However, based on stats from Dune Analytics, the market has seen only $106 in total volume transacted over the past 24 hours before the suspension of creators drops.
Since its introduction last year, the trading volume on Coinbase NFT has reached about $7.34 million. In comparison, OpenSea, a competitor marketplace, saw over $13 million in total Ethereum NFT volume exchange yesterday alone.