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Binance Stops Support for Bitcoin NFTs Citing 'Streamlining' of Offered Products

Users have been prompted to withdraw Bitcoin NFTs from Binance by May 18.

Binance (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)
Binance (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)
  • Trading volume for NFTs is at multi-year lows.
  • Bitcoin NFTs caused widespread network congestion in December.
  • Binance users will not be eligible for future Bitcoin NFT airdrops.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will cease support for Bitcoin-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as it undergoes a process to "streamline" its product offerings.

"Users are advised to withdraw their Bitcoin NFTs from the Binance NFT Marketplace" before May 18, Binance wrote in a blog post.

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It added that users will not be eligible for future airdrops related to NFTs hosted on the Bitcoin network.

Despite a resurgence at the tail end of last year, several metrics, including the amount of unique buyers and trading volume in USD have slumped to multi-year lows, data from non-fungible.com shows.

Bitcoin NFTs are generated through a method called inscriptions, which inscribes references to digital art into small Bitcoin-based transactions.

In December, Bitcoin NFTs caused widespread network congestion, something that "exposed a vulnerability" in the network, according to Luke Dashjr, a Bitcoin Core developer.

The interest in Bitcoin NFTs has since waned. Still, investment continues to pour into the sector, with Bitcoin Ordinals wallet Oyl raising $3 million last month from the likes of Arthur Hayes and and BRC-20 creator Domo.

Oliver Knight

Oliver Knight is the co-leader of CoinDesk data tokens and data team. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022 Oliver spent three years as the chief reporter at Coin Rivet. He first started investing in bitcoin in 2013 and spent a period of his career working at a market making firm in the UK. He does not currently have any crypto holdings.

Oliver Knight