‘Scammers dream’ – Yuga’s Bitcoin NFT auction model faces criticism

Non-fungible token (NFT) conglomerate Yuga Labs has faced some criticism from the cryptocurrency community, including the creator of Bitcoin Ordinals, over how it plans to auction off its new Bitcoin NFT collection.

On March 5, Yuga opened bidding for its ‘TwelveFold’ collection, which will be seen 300 inscribed NFT-like images of Satoshi using native Bitcoin Ordinal protocolwith 288 of the collection sent to the 288 highest bidders.

The auction for TwelveFold has started and will end on the block just before 3:00 PM PT tomorrow, March 6, 2023. Good luck.https://t.co/gvl8IHpekC pic.twitter.com/xGWU9jdCoO

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) March 5, 2023

According to the press of March 5 exemption, those participating in the bidding process will be required to send their entire bid amount in BTC to a unique BTC address controlled by Yuga. Winners will simply pay the BTC they bid, while Yuga said it will return BTC to those who fail to make the highest bid.

However, such a plan has earned the ire of some in the crypto community, with some pointing out that manual refunds for failed bids are like the “Stone Age”.

so the way the yugas auction will work tomorrow is everyone sends bitcoins to one wallet and if you lose the bid they promise to manually send it back

probably tens of millions of dollars

we are still in the stone age

— Giancarlo (@GiancarloChaux) March 5, 2023

The user behind an Ordinals-focused Twitter account “commonly” called the auction model a “fraudster’s dream” and added that while they doubt Yuga will protect BTC from failed bids, the way it ran the auction sets “a REALLY bad precedent “.

South creates a REALLY bad advantage when running an auction like this. They take custody of the bidders’ bitcoins with a promise to send back the failed bids. No doubt they will, but this model is a cheater’s dream and reliable players should set a better example.

— usually (@veryordinally) March 6, 2023

The post even saw a response from Bitcoin Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor himselfwho hotly joined in the discussion, telling Yuga to “screw himself” and calling the auction run “degenerate nonsense.”

He added that if Yuga held such an auction, it would encourage others to boycott the project.

dear @yugalabs,@very ordinary it’s true. Actions like this prove that for some entities and people, “Once a shitcoiner always a shitcoiner.”

If I personally, Casey Rodarmor, ever see you, Yuga labs, the essence, screwing around with degenerate crap like this again, I will wash… https://t.co/COARsn4X0o

— Casey Rodarmor (@rodarmor) March 6, 2023

Other users pointed out outside the shortcomings of the auction system, saying that some may overpay for TwelveFold due to a potentially significant price discrepancy between the highest and lowest bids in the top 288.

yuga will make a lot of money with twelve times haha pic.twitter.com/UF7efYmN0k

— frankdegods.eth (@frankdegods) March 5, 2023

Despite criticism from some, many were glad to see a big project such as Yuga — which rose to prominence thanks to multiple Ethereum-based NFT collections — a bridge to Bitcoin.

Connected: Luxor Mining acquires OrdinalHub amid hype over Bitcoin-based NFTs

Usually, who previously criticized the collection, later tweeted his appreciation for “the fact that Yuga made an effort to try [to] go to bitcoin path when setting up this auction.’

To give credit where it’s due – I really appreciate the fact that Yuga made an effort to try to go the Bitcoin route when they put on this auction. It somewhat irrationally pains me even more to see a Bitcoin approach setting a bad precedent than an ETH based approach…

— usually (@veryordinally) March 6, 2023

Ordinals based collection, Ordinal Pizza OG, expressed excitement over Yuga’s BTC collection and called it “a huge net positive for Ordinals.”

The criticism wasn’t enough to stop the redeemed bidders from wanting to try and secure first place to win Yuga’s first collection of BTC.

At the time of writing, the highest bid was 1.11 BTC (about $25,000) according to TwelveFold website with the lowest recorded bid showing as 0.011 BTC, or about $250.