Yuga Labs, the NFT firm behind various Ethereum-based NFT collections, is facing backlash from the crypto community over its new plan to auction its latest Bitcoin NFT collection. The “TwelveFold” collection, consisting of 300 NFT-like images engraved on satoshis through the Bitcoin-native Ordinals protocol, began accepting bids on March 5th.
However, the auction’s design has raised concerns among some crypto enthusiasts. Yuga’s press release states that bidders must send their entire bid amount in Bitcoin to a unique BTC address controlled by the company. If successful, the winners would pay their bid amount, while Yuga would refund BTC to those who were unsuccessful in placing the highest bid.
Critics have pointed out that Yuga’s manual refund system is outdated and inefficient. “Ordinally,” the user behind an Ordinals-focused Twitter account, called the auction model a “scammer’s dream” and warned that the way the auction is being carried out sets a “REALLY bad precedence.” Bitcoin Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor also criticized the auction, calling it “degenerate bullshit” and encouraging others to boycott the project if Yuga conducts a similar auction in the future.
Dear @yugalabs,@veryordinally is right. Actions like this prove that for some entities and people: “Once a shitcoiner always a shitcoiner.”
If I, personally, Casey Rodarmor, ever see you, Yuga labs, the entity, fuck around with degenerate bullshit like this again, I will wash… https://t.co/COARsn4X0o
— Casey Rodarmor (@rodarmor) March 6, 2023
Some users have also highlighted the potential shortcomings of the auction system, such as the possibility of overpaying for a TwelveFold due to a significant price discrepancy between the highest and lowest bids in the top 288.
Despite the criticisms, some users appreciate Yuga’s attempt to bridge the gap between Ethereum and Bitcoin. The Ordinal Pizza OG collection expressed excitement at Yuga’s BTC collection and called it a “massive net positive for Ordinals.”
Despite the controversy, bidders are still interested in securing a top spot in Yuga’s first BTC collection. As of writing, the highest bid was 1.11 BTC (approximately $25,000), with the lowest bid registered at 0.011 BTC (about $250) on the TwelveFold website.
