LG will shut down its NFT platform, LG Art Lab, on June 17, according to a notice published on its website earlier this month. The project, launched at the height of the NFT craze in September 2022, allowed users to display NFTs on their TVs and partnered with visual artists to launch digital art collections.
“As the NFT space continues to evolve, we believe it is the right time to shift our focus and explore new opportunities,” the company stated. Ahead of the closure, all assets currently listed for resale in the LG Art Lab Marketplace will be transferred to collectors’ personal wallets by April 30. Customer support will remain available until July 18, LG said.
Once hyped as a revolution in art and digital ownership, the NFT market has failed to regain traction following the crypto winter. Where pundits and reports predicted the market could be worth as much as $223 billion by 2031, the global NFT market cap currently sits at $3.67 billion, according to CoinGecko.
Floor prices for many “blue chip” collections have plunged from their all-time high. The floor price for Cryptopunks has dropped 69.3% from 125 ETH in August 2021 to 38.4 ETH today. Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs currently have a floor price of 12.67ETH, down 91.7% from its May 2022 high of 153.7ETH. And Doodles have dropped 87.3% from 23.95ETH in May 2022 to 3.05ETH.
Even collections that have enjoyed a resurgence more recently, such as Pudgy Penguins, remain 73% down from their December 2024 price of 36.33ETH, now trading at a floor price of 9.79ETH.
LG is not the only company to pull the plug on its NFT operations. Crypto exchange Kraken shuttered its NFT marketplace on February 27 this year, citing a desire to “shift more resources into new products and services.” Nike-owned NFT brand RTFKT also stopped operations in January following steep price drops in its own collections.
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