NFT platform Recur shuts down less than 2 years after $50M financing round

NFT platform Recur shuts down less than 2 years after $50M financing round

By Benson Toti - min read
  • Recur announced the gradual wind down of its operations and functionality on August 18, 2023.
  • All NFT activity will be disabled by November 16, with metadata migrated to IPFS.
  • The startup had secured a $50 million series A funding round in 2021.

Recur, an NFT startup that attracted over $50 million in its series A financing round in 2021, is shutting down.

The platform announced the deprecation of its Web3 functionality on Friday, telling users that the gradual shut down will end with complete disabling of all metadata and migration to IPFS on November 22, 2023.

Recur shut down timeline

Details of the eventual closure indicate a timeline that began on August 18, 2023 with the disabling of RECUR-powered functionality including primary and secondary NFT sales.  However, end users will still be able to withdraw NFTs to on-chain wallets as well as cash out balances accumulated before August 31, 2023.

Starting November 9, 2023, Recur will disable NFT deposits and other functionality, including withdrawals and USDC cash outs, a week later.

According to the Recur team, NFT metadata and graphical assets transitioned to IPFS will be accessible and retrievable. 

IPFS, short for InterPlanetary File System, is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol that enables data retrieval without the need for the Recur platform. Users will also get the details on Filecoin’s decentralized storage network, the startup announced.

Recur’s challenges and the turn of events come less than two years after the financing round, with this the latest NFT-focused startup to fold amid the effects of the prolonged crypto winter. 

In 2021, the startup raised $50 million at a valuation of $333 million to become NFT’s largest series A round. Metaverse-focused investment platform DIGITAL led the financing.

Declines in NFT sales across the market have contributed to the downturn in fortune for Recur and other platforms, reflected by the dip in sales volume on Ethereum.