Porsche Web3 Incursion Cut Short; Halt On NFT Minting Announced Following Flak From Community

German high-performance automobile maker Porsche announced it will no longer allow users to mint its Non-fungible Token (NFT) after it received heavy criticism from the community.

Major names in various industries joining the NFT space by introducing their products is usually one of the most highly awaited launches in the NFT space. Most often, these collectibles are sold out just hours after their launch. But it appears that Porsche’s attempt in the world of Non-Fungible Tokens was a little bit different.

Porsche’s incursion into the Web3 was cut short after its Ethereum-based NFT collection which was launched Monday garnered criticism from the community, particularly on crypto Twitter.

“Our holders have spoken,” Porsche said in a tweet, alluding to the public backlash on the social media platform.

“We’re going to cut our supply and stop the mint to move forward with creating the best experience for an exclusive community,” it added.

However, since some NFTs were already minted, the German automaker said those NFTs will remain in circulation and suggested it would continue working with those who have minted the collectibles.

Porsche’s NFT project is centered on its iconic 911 sports car with a planned drop of 7,500 NFTs that would allow holders to gain access to events and exclusive merchandise of the company.

Apart from that, the NFT initiative would also allow holders to “help design Porsche’s future in the virtual world,” suggesting a potential product in the metaverse.

Porsche launched the NFT collection earlier this week with a floor price of 0.911 ETH or around $1,500 a piece based on the prevailing Ethereum price, which is kind of expensive, considering it has several thousand NFTs on such an offer and especially since NFT has lost its steam compared to its popularity in 2021 and 2022.

A day after its official launch, only around 1,500 NFTs were minted. Of those, some were resold below the mint price. As of 4:31 a.m. ET on Wednesday, only around 1,850 Porsche NFTs were minted.

A Twitter user who goes by the handle @petehalvorsen said he was “disappointed” noting, “I’m not mad, just disappointed. Storied brands with incredible heritage coming into Web3 and failing with Web2 strategy.”

Twitter user @JinzoNFt said, “Maybe, just maybe your mint price is extortion. We all saw it but you. If you’re going to enter a space, you really need to study it before coming in with ridiculous asks.”

A Twitter user who goes by the handle @SabaKeraH told Porsche that “Web3 is not your field and if u don’t even bother to learn it a tiny bit before launching this crap u should just quit it and refund people who minted your nft (I don’t know why someone would). Big companies trying to treat the web3 community like some unlimited wallet they can drain.”

“This is a pristine example of a large brand trying to extract liquidity from the community without onboarding itself into Web3. Porsche had a .911 mint, in a bear market, for 7500 pieces. Of course, it failed. Next to no marketing, trying to raise on prestige alone,” a Twitter user with the handle @camolNFT wrote.