NFT Firm Yuga Labs Faces Criticism Over Bitcoin Auction Plan

Yuga Labs, the non-fungible token (NFT) firm that gained prominence due to multiple Ethereum-based NFT collections, has drawn criticism from the cryptocurrency community over its plan to auction its new Bitcoin NFT collection. The “TwelveFold” collection, which comprises 300 NFT-like images inscribed on satoshis using the Bitcoin-native Ordinals protocol, opened bids on March 5.

However, Yuga’s plan for the auction has raised concerns among some members of the crypto community. According to the company’s press release, those participating in the bidding process must send their entire bid amount in Bitcoin (BTC) to a unique BTC address controlled by Yuga. Winners would then pay up the BTC they bid, while Yuga said it would return BTC to those who were unsuccessful in placing a top bid.

Critics have pointed out that Yuga’s plan to conduct refunds for unsuccessful bids manually is outdated and inefficient. The user behind an Ordinals-focused Twitter account, “ordinally,” called the auction model a “scammer’s dream.” Although he doubted Yuga would keep the BTC from failed bids, he argued that the way the company carries out the auction sets a “REALLY bad precedence.”

The criticism escalated when Bitcoin Ordinals creator, Casey Rodarmor, weighed in on the discussion, telling Yuga to “get fucked” and calling the conduct of the auction “degenerate bullshit.” He added that if Yuga were to conduct a similar auction in the future, he would encourage others to boycott the project.

Other users also highlighted the shortcomings of the auction system. Some suggested that it’s possible for some to overpay for a TwelveFold due to a potential significant price discrepancy between the highest and lowest bids in the top 288.

Despite the criticisms, some users appreciated the fact that Yuga is attempting 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 backlash, bidders are still keen to secure a top spot in Yuga’s first BTC collection. At the time of writing, the top bid was 1.11 BTC (around $25,000), with the lowest bid registered showing as 0.011 BTC, or around $250, according to the TwelveFold website.