On March 6, yuga laboratories launched its Bitcoin-based enrollment project, TwelveFold, in a 24-hour auction. Once the dust settled, the company had raised approximately $16.5 million from 288 winning bidders.
According to an announcement made through the company’s official Twitter account, successful bidders will receive their entries within a week. Also, those who were unsuccessful with their offers will receive their BTC back within 24 hours. However, this process was not without controversy, with some observers criticizing the process Yuga chose for this sale.
The TwelveFold auction has ended. Congratulations to the 288 highest bidders: they will receive their entry within a week. Eligible offers that did not rank in the top 288 will have the offer amount returned to your receiving address within 24 hours.
— Yuga Laboratories (@yugalabs) March 6, 2023
In total, the auction raised 735 bitcoins, worth approximately $16.5 million at press time. The highest bidder paid just over 7 BTC, or $161,000, for a unique piece from the collection, and the lowest bid was just over 2 BTC, or $50,418.
Following the growing interest in Bitcoin inscriptions thanks to the Ordinals project, Yuga Labs announced in late February that it would be releasing an exclusive collection made up of 300 generative pieces inscribed in Satoshis.
Ordinal Maker Among Those Disgruntled With Yuga Labs TwelveFold Auction
Unlike Ethereum-based NFTs, which have their own NFT marketplaces, Bitcoin’s limited smart contract capabilities mean it doesn’t have an open marketplace where creators can sell their creations. Therefore, Yuga Labs, being one of the most prominent and first to launch collections on the Bitcoin network, opted to hold an auction to sell the collection.
The process required those interested in the collection to send Bitcoin (BTC) to a Yuga Labs deposit address and place bids. However, this has drawn criticism from various quarters given the risk involved. A critic who goes by Ordinally on Twitter nicknamed the auction process a “The con man’s dream”. He goes on to add that Yuga Labs is “Setting a REALLY bad precedent by running an auction like this.”
Yuga Labs accused of setting a bad example
No one doubts that an established crypto entity like Yuga Labs will not return funds to those who do not have successful offers. However, community members have theorized that fraudulent projects could adopt this model only to disappear with the bidder’s funds. It is the reason why several critics believe that by choosing to choose this model, Yuga is setting a bad example, especially for the Bitcoin NFT market, which is still finding its footing.
Casey Rodamor, the mastermind behind the Ordinals project, echoed the criticism. He has gone to the extreme of threatening cut ties with Yuga Labs if they ever do something like that again. That being said, despite the backlash, the growing popularity of Bitcoin NFTs is expected to inspire ideas and developments on the network that address its current limitations.
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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas come from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended for educational purposes only. People are required to fully research any product before making any type of investment.
Basil is an avid fan of blockchain technology and all its innovations, and he is passionate about sharing this narrative with his audience. He has spent over five years in the crypto space, specializing in research and creating Web3 content for various media outlets around the world.
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