NFT Bots Have Redditors Seeing Red

Reddit users are complaining about the lack of spam or bot prevention amid the launch of the social media platform’s latest NFT collection.

Dubbed “GEN 3 — the Future Realities Collection,” it is the third iteration of NFTs based on the creations of 100 artists who get a cut of each sale. Each avatar NFT has a fixed price and is considered a “limited edition,” Reddit announced Tuesday.

While the launch is currently underway, users have been complaining about their inability to get their hands on the shiny new collectibles, accusing bots of taking the top picks.

“This is so unprofessional and anti-community-based. You’re going to have a few bots with almost all of the limited and high-value avatars,” a top comment from user gibro94 reads. “What’s even the point?”

A spokesperson for Reddit was not immediately available for comment.

Reddit’s Collectible Avatar Shop, where the NFTs are sold, went down amid a high bout of traffic flooding its back end shortly after GEN 3’s launch. The social media platform later provided an update apologizing for the “turbulence” after it had restored functionality.

“They didn’t incorporate any type of spam or bot prevention, like a simple captcha,” gibro94 said. “Of course, the site got overloaded.”

Reddit’s thread post for GEN 3 contains more than 600 comments from users — mostly negative — attempting to discredit the launch. “Absolute Garbage,” reads another user’s reply. 

Millions of individuals have flocked to scoop up Reddit’s digital collectibles ever since it launched its “RedditFloor” marketplace back in July. 

Popularity among the three-year-old NFT sector has stumbled in recent weeks, according to NFT marketplace Balthazar which analyzed trade volumes over a monthly period. 

In March 2023, total sales across 10 marketplaces amounted to $2.04 billion, indicating a 9.8% drop from February’s $2.26 billion, Balthazar told Blockworks via email. Still, trade volume in Q1 of 2023 increased by 84.2% compared to the previous quarter, it said.

While its latest avatars are based on blockchain tech, Reddit already had in place a creation tool allowing users to customize their appearance on the platform, which launched in October 2020.

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