The non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift has burned hundreds of collectible “cards” themed from the blockchain-based mobile game, Spells of Genesis. The team said that the remaining cards in their possession will be placed under the control of their new DAO, and will be unlocked in limited periods for the next two years.
According to the on-chain data, ShapeShift has burned at least 817 of the “ShapeShift the Wanderer” digital charts. This comes after it was announced on October 12 that the exchange intended to burn most of the letters so that those in circulation would be “from the [Spells of Genesis] rarest and oldest NFTs available. ” Other parts appear to have also burned another 168 cards at some point in the past, leaving fewer than 200 distributable on-chain cards.
“These are some of the first NFTs (circa 2015) that were coined by Spells of Genesis and delivered to ShapeShift as part of our partnership in support of their early development of blockchain-based games.” said the platform, adding:
“These could end up being some of the rarest and most historic NFTs ever seen.”
In total, now there are 183 pieces of the asset, known on-chain as SHAPESHIFTCD, available. Many of the cards are believed to have been lost, with the actual number of cards remaining unknown.
According to the exchange, he plans to move the remaining 32 cards in his possession from the Counterparty (XCP) blockchain to the Ethereum blockchain using the bridge, Emblem Vault, which allows cryptocurrency users to wrap Counterparty tokens as ERC-721 assets and trade them on both Polygon and Ethereum through platforms such as OpenSea.
Of the total not burned, ShapeShift will hold 16 tokens to sell before 2022 and give away 16 to the treasury of its decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO. ShapeShift said it will unlock the cards in stages over the next two years, but FOX token holders will vote on whether the DAO sells the NFTs or does HODL.
“Whether the DAO sells these NFTs for ETH, hoards them for the long term, or some combination of both, they will become a valuable and important asset in ShapeShift’s DAO treasury.” the company said. “There is some chance that the NFTs will not end up being valuable and become a worthless asset, but even then it doesn’t do any harm to the DAO.”
The move appears to be an attempt to drive additional interest and get more value from collectible blockchain cards, which are older than CryptoPunks and all the other NFT collection offerings that have appeared in the recent boom. According to Shaban Shaame, blockchain pioneer and CEO of software company EverdreamSoft, Spells of Genesis cards “are not particularly easy to acquire” given their location on the XCP blockchain. However, the Emblem Vault bridge has provided users with a way to speculate on Ethereum tokens, prompting a new boom in trading for assets that were until recently forgotten.
Keep reading: