Sokipiriye Dokubo
Over 4,000 HV-MTL NFTs have been incinerated by Yuga Labs, the creative force behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), at the behest of game studio Faraway. Yuga Labs made the announcement early Thursday, confirming the destruction of 4,295 Ethereum-based NFTs associated with the crypto game HV-MTL.
This move follows Yuga Labs’ recent sale of two gaming intellectual properties (IPs) to blockchain gaming studio Faraway, with HV-MTL being one of them. With Faraway assuming control, they requested the incineration of the nearly $1 million worth of HV-MTL NFTs held by Yuga Labs.
The term “burning” in the crypto world denotes the irreversible transfer of assets to an address, rendering them unrecoverable. With a total supply of 30,000 HV-MTL NFTs, this burn constitutes 14% of the total, a move anticipated to bolster the collection’s value by reducing the overall supply.
As news of the acquisition broke on Wednesday, the floor price of HV-MTL NFTs plummeted by 16% on NFT Floor Price, accompanied by a significant surge in trading volume. However, as Yuga Labs-owned NFTs were systematically destroyed over subsequent hours, the floor price surged by 31% to reach 0.064 ETH.
Despite this increase, the current price remains a fraction of the collection’s peak value of 2.069 ETH (or $3,470) in March 2023. At Wednesday’s peak price of approximately $224 worth of ETH, the incineration would have amounted to a minimum of $962,000, potentially higher considering certain NFTs may possess traits commanding prices above the floor.
HV-MTL Forge is a crafting game where players build habitats and maintain the health of their HV mechs, requiring ownership of a HV-MTL NFT for access. While the official website mentions a limited version of Forge for non-holders, it is not currently available to the public.
Now under Faraway’s stewardship, the game is poised for changes. In a tweet, Faraway expressed their commitment to enhancing utility for primary NFTs within the HV-MTL and Legends of the Mara collections. For HV-MTL, the initial step involves introducing a new points system enabling players to earn rewards through “new activations with interoperability” across the Faraway network.