While many companies are jumping on the NFT bandwagon, the reaction to Discord CEO Jason Citron just hinting at doing the same on Discord triggered a hostile reaction in the Discord community.
Here what happened and why users reacted so negatively...
What Did Discord CEO Jason Citron Say About NFTs?
On November 9, Discord CEO Jason Citron tweeted an image of MetaMask and WalletConnect being linked into Discord’s user interface. The tweet's text said "probably nothing".
But Citron couldn't have been more wrong. The tweet wasn't "probably nothing" for the Discord community.
MetaMask is a crypto wallet while WalletConnect is a protocol that connects a crypto wallet like MetaMask to a blockchain, thus enabling the wallet to trade crypto or purchase NFTs.
Within hours, thousands of Discord users had jumped on the tweet and many started mobilizing a mass withdrawal of subscriptions from Discord in protest.
Why Did the CEO's Tweet Upset Discord Users?
The tweet seemed to suggest that Discord was about to make it possible to trade NFTs and crypto within the app.
Because Discord hosts many blockchain communities, crypto scams are rampant on the platform, a problem that angers many users. The idea that Discord was planning to add crypto wallets signaled to passionate Discord users that the app does not care about their feelings. This led to the call for a mass ditching of Discord Nitro subscriptions.
Discord users also expressed opposition to the idea due to the impact of crypto mining on the environment, urging Discord not to participate in NFT trading for this reason.
In less than 24 hours, Citron acknowledged the user backlash and announced that Discord had no current plans to integrate crypto into its app. Not for now anyway.
Despite this reassuring tweet from Citron, many users have either canceled their subscriptions or are encouraging each other to do so until Discord commits to permanently keeping NFTs and cryptocurrency off the platform.
Discord Users Show the Power of Their Subscriptions
Discord's CEO was probably not expecting the backlash when teasing blockchain integration into the app.
However, this incident shows that if subscribers can find a way to act collectively, they have incredible power over subscription-based service companies.
It also shows that just because something is a trend, it doesn't mean your users will necessarily be happy about your company trying to join in.