Music fans who have purchased NFTs from Coachella could be left twisting in the wind after the cryptocurrency exchange FTX recently filed for bankruptcy. The festival launched a longterm partnership with FTX back in February to offer $1.5 million in NFTs on a new marketplace.
According to Billboard, a Coachella staff member revealed on the festival’s Discord server that they were unable to contact FTX. “Like many of you, we have been watching this news unfold online over the past few days and are shocked by the outcome,” they said. “We do not currently have any lines of communication with the FTX team. We have assembled an internal team to come up with solutions based on the tools we have access to. Our priority is getting Coachella NFTs off of FTX, which appears to be disabled at the moment.”
In a separate statement sent to Billboard, Coachella innovation lead Sam Schoonover added, “We’re actively working on solutions and are confident we’ll be able to protect the interests of Coachella’s NFT holders.”
FTX was one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, November 11th. Public concerns arose about FTX after CoinDesk reported the company was commingling client funds with its sister trading firm Alameda Research, leading to a massive $6 billion surge in withdrawals in 72 hours.
At the time of the bankruptcy filing, FTX suggested it had more than 100,000 creditors, but in an updated filing on November 15th, lawyers for the company said there could be more than one million creditors.
Coachella’s first NFT offering included its Keys Collection containing 10 different lifetime guest passes with VIP perks. Other less extravagant options included an NFT Coachella poster and 10 different combinations of festival photos with “never-before-heard soundscapes.” Now, anyone who didn’t withdraw their Coachella NFT to their own crypto wallet doesn’t have access to it.