Discord, the popular communication platform, got into big trouble. The CEO of the company behind the app, Jason Citron, had indicated on Monday (8) a possible integration of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. However, the news infuriated users of the platform, prompting Citron to clarify last Wednesday (10) that Discord has no concrete plans related to the crypto universe in the short term.
As usual, it all started on Twitter. Earlier this week, Citron responded to investor Packy McCormick’s tweet with a screenshot that showed a unprecedented integration of MetaMask and WalletConnect digital wallet apps. In them, users can store and transfer NFTs and cryptocurrencies. At the time, the executive said only “probably nothing” as he released the news that would infuriate Discord users.
Angry community threatens Discord boycott
“Absolutely no to integrating NFTs into Discord.” “I will go out and use Slack if you integrate NFTs.” “I will ditch Discord if you bring NTFs or cryptocurrencies to the platform.” These were just some responses from app users to Citron’s tweet. The revolt was so great that they started to organize a Discord Nitro boycottthe platform’s premium subscription system.
“Cancel your nitro immediately and choose another (program) – cite the CEO’s tweet as the justification for the cancellation,” said another tweet that received tens of thousands of likes. “An immediate drop in company revenue and a lot of noise are the only things that will drive change now,” said another publication.
“Man, I can’t wait to tell my friends that Discord is encouraging pyramid schemes at the expense of the environment and encouraging users to cancel their Nitro subscriptions and use competing platforms.”
(this tweet hurt)
But it’s not over yet. The negative repercussion took unimaginable proportions. Discord is used for many things these days, but it has always been home to large communities of players, so much so that several companies and games have their official servers on the platform.
However, as the game news curator reported Ryan Brown on Twitter some studios even threatened to take their angry communities to other platforms.
Discord CEO denies plans to integrate NFTs (for now)
Citron was forced to give an answer. On Wednesday, November 10th, the CEO of Discord returned to Twitter to clarify the matter and said that there are no “immediate plans” to integrate NFTs into the app.
Thanks for all the everyone’s perspectives. We have no current plans to ship this internal concept. For now we’re focused on protecting users from spam, scams and fraud. Web3 has lots of good but also lots of problems we need to work through at our scale. More soon.
— Jason Citron (@jasoncitron) November 11, 2021
Discord also sent a message to Engadget about the subject:
“We appreciate any feedback we’ve heard in response to the internal concept seen in a tweet earlier this week and want to clarify that we have no plans to release it at this time. We’re excited about the potential of web3 technology and the positive ways these communities are coming together on Discord, especially those organized around eco-friendly and creator-focused projects. However, we also recognize that there are some issues we need to address. For now, we are focused on protecting users from spam, scams and fraud.”
Of course, Discord has plans to integrate digital wallets in the future. However, this community reaction was a lesson to be learned. The platform will hardly be able to achieve such an integration in the short term without suffering a large flight of users. Perhaps when public perception of NFTs and cryptocurrencies changes.
With information: Engadget, Mashable