Rally Shuts Down NFT Sidechain, Citing ‘Macro Headwinds’

The Rally social platform has shut down its Ethereum NFT sidechain. The team cited the tough market conditions as the reason for the decision.

The Rally platform is drawing flak for its decision to terminate the Ethereum NFT sidechain. The social-focused NFT platform stated that it was shutting down the sidechain because of the state of the market.

The Rally platform allowed users to create social tokens associated with their favorite teams, franchises, bands, and more. The sidechain was first built in 2018 and was “expensive to maintain,” according to Rally CEO Rob Collier. Rally described the decision in an email sent to users as follows,

“As most of you are aware, 2022 was a challenging year not only for the platform but also for the entire crypto industry. The team has worked relentlessly to try to find a path forward, however, the challenges and macro headwinds are too overwhelming to overcome in the current environment.”

Collier said there was a disruption in the withdrawal services last year, and users may need more time to access or have usable NFTs. NFTs on the sidechain can’t undergo transfers to the mainnet. The website itself is also shutting down.

Citing macro headwinds as the reason behind the shutdown of the sidechain irked the crypto community. Some went so far as to call the move a rug pull, perhaps jokingly. They seemed particularly aggrieved that the NFTs weren’t transferable to the mainnet.

NFTs have also seen a bit of a comeback in recent weeks, so there are some questions as to why Rally made the decision. The crypto bear market has indeed put constant dull pressure on companies in the space, but that isn’t enough to convince the community.

RLY Token Down Over 96% From ATH

The RLY token, which powers much of the platform, has dropped sharply following the news. The token is about 96% down from its all-time high. It is currently priced at $0.0136, with an all-time high of $1.40.

The token peaked in 2021, seeing a massive rally during a time when there was a surge in social tokens. At one point, it represented a sizable portion of that niche.

Disclaimer

BeInCrypto has reached out to company or individual involved in the story to get an official statement about the recent developments, but it has yet to hear back.