X2Y2 Shuts Down After Three Years, Pivots to AI Future

Ethereum-based NFT marketplace X2Y2 will shut down its platform on April 30, bringing an end to its three-year run as a decentralized alternative to OpenSea.

The decision follows a steep decline in trading activity and a broader collapse in NFT market volumes since the sector’s peak.

Launched in February 2022, X2Y2 briefly gained traction during the height of the NFT frenzy, peaking with $209 million in monthly trading volume just three months later. But as the market cooled and new rivals like Blur aggressively captured user attention and liquidity, X2Y2 struggled to keep up.

In a farewell blog post published Monday, the project’s pseudonymous founder TP said the team gave everything to compete — but ultimately decided that a clean exit was the right move.

“Marketplaces live or die by network effects. We fought tooth and nail to be #1, but after three years, it’s clear it’s time to move on,” TP wrote. “This isn’t a pause or a maybe — it’s a full stop on X2Y2 as we knew it.”

The platform’s smart contracts will remain live, allowing users to interact with the protocol if needed, but core operations and marketplace features will cease. TP also warned that X2Y2 token holders should expect volatility, with the token falling 7% after the announcement. The token already lost 89% of its value over the past year, with its market cap down to around $572,000, according to CoinGecko.

Though the marketplace is closing, the team isn’t walking away from crypto. Instead, X2Y2’s next chapter will lean into artificial intelligence, which TP described as “the biggest paradigm shift we’ll see in our lifetimes.”

“Over the last 12 months, we’ve been diving deep into AI and how it can transform crypto,” TP said. “Picture this: yield in a permissionless way, powered by AI. It’s decentralized, it’s innovative, and it’s built to matter — bull or bear, cycle after cycle.”

No further technical details were provided, but TP made it clear this new effort is not a side project or branding tweak — it’s a fresh rebuild to create long-term value outside the NFT space.