Binance Parts Ways with Polygon-Based NFTs

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced last Friday that it’s discontinuing support for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) native to the Polygon network. The move signals a reevaluation of its digital collectibles strategy and raises questions about the future offerings of its NFT platform, Binance NFT.

In an official statement, the exchange detailed that users have until September 26, 2023, at 06:00 UTC to trade Polygon-based NFTs on its platform. Post this deadline, all listings connected to Polygon’s blockchain will become inactive. “After the cut-off date, users may not be able to buy, deposit, bid, or list NFTs from the Polygon Network on the Binance NFT Marketplace,” the statement elaborated.

Binance further clarified that all affected listings will automatically be canceled on September 26, with the respective Polygon Network NFTs returned to user accounts by September 28. While trading will be disabled, users can retain their Polygon NFTs on the Binance platform until December 31, 2023, when the service’s support for these assets will officially end, unless otherwise notified.

According to Binance’s team, this decision was “carefully considered and evaluated,” forming part of a larger effort to optimize their NFT product offerings. But what does this mean for the range of networks supported by Binance NFT?

With the exit of Polygon, Binance NFT will now solely support digital collectibles from three networks: BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. The announcement leaves open the question of whether Binance plans to incorporate NFTs from other thriving ecosystems such as Solana, Polkadot, or Avalanche. As of now, there is no official word on the expansion of its NFT network support.

Beyond NFT trading, it’s worth noting that Binance had also launched a mechanism in late May that allows users to collateralize their digital collectibles to obtain loans. While the Polygon network-based NFTs will no longer be tradable, there is currently no information on how this decision impacts the loan collateralization feature.

Binance’s move to sever ties with Polygon-based NFTs reflects an evolving strategy within the NFT space and may hint at the exchange’s broader ambitions to refine and enhance its digital collectibles platform. With the NFT market continually gaining traction and diversifying across multiple chains, all eyes will be on Binance to see how it positions itself in this dynamic landscape.