A major NFT marketplace closes unexpectedly.

After taking place in the NFT universe as one of the most important MarketPlace, Hic Et Nunc has ceased its operations without prior explanation. After more than $50 million in transactions, the blockchain-based marketplace Tezos was detained.

As one of the top 20 NFT Marketplace in the world, (According to dappradar.conposition 14 with respect to the most successful NFT markets of all time) HEN. Although the front end of Hic et Nunc appears offlineother affiliate links are still working, and the account has only commented on the matter with a tweet that does not explain much.

The twitter account bio shows as “discontinued” and the account’s last tweet shows the address of the smart market contract. It also blocked replies. At the time of its closure HEC had 48,346 active traders and an average sale of $25.19.

Faced with the lack of positioning on the part of the Marketplace and its creator, inconformity and annoyance were let loose on Hic Et Nunc as complaints about what many interpreted as “throwing in the towel”, “wild west days” or even hacking theories. In this regard, it is said that the Marketplace creator nicknamed “Raf” was upset after the account suspension and then decided to close HEN on a whim.

What will happen to the vendors in the HEN Marketplace?

After the untimely closure and without further explanation, many of the projects that were part of the collections sold on Hic et Nunc have begun to migrate to other platforms.

In the testimony of artist Joenie Lemercier, who was one of the first to migrate to HEN because of its great energy efficiency over ETH, “Raf was overwhelmed and decided overnight to shut down the site in an act of irresponsible rage” According to his partner Mario Klingerman.

Following its launch in March, the growth of the HeC even surpassed OpenSea in May. After its closure, the more than 500,000 NFTs have started to migrate seamlessly to platforms such as hicetnunc.art or objkt.com. According to  Joanie Lemercier “La comunidad reaccionó y surgieron varias alternativas, así que el sitio sigue vivo y los NFT están a salvo. Una demostración perfecta de que Hic et Nunc no puede desaparecer , la blockchain es fuerte y segura, nadie puede cerrarla y las ventas parecen no verse afectadas«.

A famous example is the Whitworth Gallery’s NFT of an image by William Blake, which is now for sale at objkt.com. In this case, the creator cancelled his 44 NFTs on Hic et Nunc on November 12 and two minutes later uploaded them to the new Marketplace.

According to Bernadine Bröcker-Wieder, executive director of Vastari Labs, the transition is a “perfect real-time example of why Web3 exists”. Web3, or Web 3.0, is a new decentralized model for the Internet, in which users remain in control of their content.

The closing of Hic ec Nunc is a clear example of why decentralization is a crisis-proof safety mechanism. Going back to what happened when the bitcoin white paper emerged, which emerged parallel to the 2008 bank crash where many people lost their money as a result of centralization. Going back to the example of NFTs, if the HEN lock-in was based on a centralized mechanism, all NFTs and contracts would be lost t millions of NFTs would disappear forever.