Foundation, a prominent Ethereum-based NFT marketplace from the 2021 boom, is closing after a planned sale meant to sustain the platform collapsed.
Founder and CEO Kayvon Tehranian announced the shutdown on X, saying the intended transfer of ownership — designed to keep Foundation operating — is no longer possible. He added that the team cannot restore the marketplace to service. Foundation later posted a brief message, attributed to the Blackdove team, saying the site would be brought back temporarily so users could delist NFTs.
The closure highlights the sustained drop in NFT trading since 2021, when the market peaked and many independent marketplaces flourished on higher liquidity and transaction volumes.
Foundation launched in early 2021 and rode the wave of tokenized digital art that year, a period that included headline-grabbing multi-million-dollar NFT sales. According to Blackdove, Foundation enabled over $230 million in primary sales for artists worldwide and hosted drops from creators such as Jen Stark, James Jean and Reuben Wu. The platform also sold Edward Snowden’s “Stay Free” NFT for about 2,200 ETH (roughly $5 million at the time).
As NFT activity waned after a 2022 peak, platforms including Foundation faced shrinking liquidity and thinner transaction flows. Blackdove first announced its proposed acquisition of Foundation in early 2025, and Foundation signaled a transition of ownership about a year later; that deal has now apparently failed.
Foundation’s shutdown adds to a growing list of NFT marketplaces that have shut down or pivoted away from trading. Mint Blockchain, an infrastructure network tied to NFTs on Ethereum, recently ceased operations and told users to withdraw assets. This year has seen other exits too, including Gemini-backed Nifty Gateway and social NFT platform Rodeo.
Other notable departures include MakersPlace, which closed amid falling activity, and X2Y2, which wound down and shifted focus away from NFTs. Crypto exchange Bybit also shut its NFT marketplace as volumes dwindled.
Despite the broader contraction, OpenSea has remained the dominant marketplace, accounting for over 73% of sector activity at the time of publication, according to DefiLlama data, with competitors like Blur also active in the space.
Some industry figures remain optimistic about a potential recovery. Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu and others have suggested the market could rebound and eventually reach new highs.
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