The curated art platform says its infrastructure has already been spun down with no plans to come back online.<\/p>\n
Foundation, the Ethereum-based NFT marketplace, is shutting down for good after a failed acquisition by digital art display company BlackDove.<\/p>\n
Founder Kayvon Tehranian announced the closure in a post on X, explaining that a deal to sell the platform to a buyer “who intended to continue its operations” fell through, and the company does not believe another buyer is worth pursuing.<\/p>\n
“Our goal in pursuing a sale was always to see Foundation live on,” Tehranian wrote<\/a>. “That’s no longer possible. As part of our wind-down process, our infrastructure has already been spun down, and we’re not in a position to bring the platform back online.”<\/p>\n The announcement marks the final chapter in a drawn-out unraveling that began in January, when Tehranian transferred ownership of Foundation to BlackDove. At the time, he framed the move as a transition to a leadership committed to the platform’s long-term future, noting that Foundation had facilitated roughly $230 million in primary sales since its launch and had hosted landmark auctions for artists like Jen Stark, James Jean, and Edward Snowden.<\/p>\n But BlackDove’s involvement was short-lived. The company later said full due diligence was only completed after the operational handover, and BlackDove ultimately concluded that building its own proprietary marketplace was a more viable path. <\/p>\n Foundation’s closure adds to a growing list of NFT platform shutdowns<\/a> that have accelerated since 2024. MakersPlace, KnownOrigin, RTFKT<\/a>, Nifty Gateway, and X2Y2 have all wound down operations as monthly NFT trading volumes collapsed from $2.9 billion at the 2021 peak to just $23.8 million<\/a> by early 2025. Surviving platforms like OpenSea have pivoted aggressively toward fungible token trading<\/a> to stay afloat.<\/p>\n