- LG plans to close its NFT platform, LG Art Lab, and shift focus to new opportunities.
- Collectors must transfer their assets by April 30 before LG Art Lab shuts down.
- LG’s exit follows Kraken and Nike’s RTFKT, as NFT sales decline despite more users.
Consumer electronics giant LG has announced plans to shut down its NFT platform, LG Art Lab, on June 17. LG has become the latest major company to exit the non-fungible token market. The decision, revealed in a notice published on the company’s website earlier this month, marks the end of a project launched during the height of the NFT boom in September 2022.
The platform, which allowed users to display NFTs directly on their LG televisions and facilitated partnerships with visual artists for digital art collections, will be winding down operations over the coming months. “As the NFT space continues to evolve, we believe it is the right time to shift our focus and explore new opportunities,” the company stated in its announcement.
LG has mentioned a structured shutdown process, with all assets currently listed for resale in the LG Art Lab Marketplace set to be transferred to collectors’ wallets by April 30. The company has committed to maintaining customer support until July 18.
The decision comes against a backdrop of bearish signals in the global NFT market. According to data displayed in the market overview, NFT sales volume has declined 8.20% over the past seven days, totaling $100,509,480. However, the market has simultaneously seen growth in participant numbers. As per CryptoSlam data, NFT buyers increased by 80.25% to 333,802 and sellers rose by 77.50% to 216,329. Overall NFT transactions have also climbed 7.76% to 1,613,628 over the same period.
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This surge in market participants despite declining sales volume suggests a possible shift toward lower-value transactions. LG’s departure from the NFT space is a recurring trend of major companies abandoning their non-fungible token plans. Crypto exchange Kraken closed its NFT marketplace on February 27, stating that the decision was made to allocate more resources to new products and services. Likewise, Nike-owned NFT brand RTFKT paused its operations in January after experiencing significant declines in the value of its collections.
As LG prepares to shut down its Art Lab platform, collectors and artists who participated in the ecosystem will need to secure their digital assets before the April 30 transfer deadline. The company has not provided specific details about its new opportunities or whether it plans to re-enter the digital collectibles space in a different format in the future.
