Porsche parks its Web3 project — 911 NFTs live on, Discord gets the read-only treatment 🚗

German automaker Porsche is winding down its Web3 initiative and Pioneers Circle community, roughly four years after unveiling the project alongside its 911 nonfungible token (NFT) collection. The company confirmed the closure in a post on X, writing, "Today, we are announcing the conclusion of the Porsche Web3 project and Pioneers Circle."

Porsche said the effort had grown past its original technology scope to encompass community events and a mix of online and offline activities. Going forward, the automaker will convert the community's Discord server into a read-only archive and stop actively updating the project's X account. The Porsche 911 NFTs themselves will remain with their holders and continue to exist onchain, according to the announcement.

The collection launched in January 2023 with a planned supply of 7,500 tokens, but Porsche halted minting after criticism over pricing and a lack of utility, leaving the final supply at 2,363. When the company first outlined its Web3 plans in 2022, then-deputy chairman Lutz Meschke said Porsche had made its commitment "for the long haul," pointing to potential uses in the metaverse, purchasing experiences and supply chains.

Trading activity has cooled significantly since launch. According to OpenSea, the collection has recorded roughly $20 million in all-time trading volume, but only about $38,000 over the past year and around $2,900 over the past month, reflecting the broader slowdown in NFT markets that has hit many legacy brand collections.