NFT platform Foundation announces shutdown; Snowden’s auction site becomes a thing of the past

NFT platform Foundation co-founder Kayvon Tehranian announced on the X platform on April 15 that the platform will officially cease operations. Earlier this year, Foundation had signed a sale agreement with a buyer, but the buyer backed out before the transaction was completed. After Tehranian reassumed control, he assessed the market situation and announced, “There are no other buyers worth pursuing,” officially initiating the wind-down process.

From failed sales to turning out the lights: the end of a market cycle

Founded in February 2021, Foundation was co-founded by Kayvon Tehranian and Matthew Vernon, deployed on Ethereum, and adopted an invitation-only entry system. It focused on 1/1 single-edition digital art, positioning it as one of the clearest platforms during the NFT bull market wave.

At its peak, the platform brought together about 25,000 creators and 20,000 collectors, with cumulative creator earnings exceeding $40 million (about 54,992 ETH). However, after the 2021 peak, the NFT market remained sluggish for a long time. Trading volume kept shrinking, and the platform’s fee revenue was already far different from before. The transaction that had been expected to be sold earlier this year fell through when the buyer pulled out at the last moment, ultimately prompting the founders to decide to end operations.

Representative auction records

Edward Snowden 〈Stay Free〉: 2,224 ETH, one of the most politically symbolic auctions in NFT history

Nyan Cat’s first auction: 300 ETH, completed on Foundation

Well-known creators: Aphex Twin, Nadya Tolokonnikova (Pussy Riot), and Dom Hofmann (co-founder of Vine) all have auction records

User asset protection guide: what you need to do now

IPFS media backup (valid for one year): Foundation committed to continuing IPFS Pinning for one year, fixing the media files and metadata of its assets. Tehranian recommends that users, within this one-year window, back up important NFT metadata themselves using tools such as Pinata to prevent files from later becoming unavailable or inaccessible.

Cancel open listings and retrieve NFTs: NFTs that are still listed on the Foundation marketplace are stored in the platform’s smart contracts. The contracts themselves are non-custodial, but the front-end interface can no longer be used. The team said it is working on a simple way to cancel listings and retrieve NFTs, with details to be released later; users should continue to watch official announcements.

Frequently asked questions

After Foundation shuts down, will my NFT ownership on-chain be affected?

No impact. Foundation has never adopted a custodial model; your NFT ownership on-chain is always controlled by you. Platform shutdown means the front-end interface can’t be used, but the ownership of NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain won’t change as a result. You can continue to access them through MetaMask or other wallet tools.

What is IPFS Pinning, and why is Foundation’s one-year commitment important?

NFT media files (images, videos) and metadata are typically stored on IPFS. “Pinning” is the mechanism that ensures files remain continuously accessible—if no node keeps a file pinned, it may disappear from the network. Foundation’s one-year commitment provides a buffer window, but after one year, the availability of these files can no longer be guaranteed, so users are advised to back up as early as possible.

I still have NFTs listed on Foundation—what should I do now?

The Foundation team said it is working on a method for users to easily cancel listings and retrieve their NFTs, but the operational details have not been released yet. It is recommended that users holding listed NFTs closely monitor Foundation’s official X account and Kayvon Tehranian (@saturnial)’s follow-up announcements to get the complete instructions for the retrieval process as soon as possible.