<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Visionrare, a startup that aimed to create the fantasy football version of NFT venture funding, shut down its marketplace after a day of open beta testing, </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/07/fantasy-startup-investing-nft-platform-visionrare-shuts-down-paid-marketplace-after-a-day-in-open-beta/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TechCrunch</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> first reported. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The original premise was that users could purchase </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/118967/christies-nft-business-is-booming-despite-a-market-lull"><span style="font-weight: 400;">NFTs</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> representing fake shares of actual companies and compete among others regarding who had the most successful portfolio. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the founders allegedly did not seek permission from the startups featured in the game to sell NFTs of fake shares of their companies. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As Visionrare founders Jacob Claerhout and Boris Gordts wrote in a </span><a href="https://app.visionrare.com/dealflow"><span style="font-weight: 400;">statement</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Visionrare “underestimated the legal complexities” of creating such a game. They had inadvertently waded into the ongoing debate as to whether NFTs can represent securities. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the co-founders wrote: </span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Our goal from the get-go has been to create a game that brings the excitement of startup investing to a wide audience through NFTs. We want Visionrare to be an ode to startups and a fundamentally positive experience for both players and startups.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the last couple of weeks we worked on building the minimal viable product of a game that brings this idea to life. However, during this process we underestimated the legal complexities and decided it is best to hold off on some of the current dynamics.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are still convinced that startup investing is a fascinating, exciting and educational experience that should be available to a wider audience, but we want to make sure we build a product that is mindful of all the intricacies that come with this mission."</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Visionrare is now pivoting to a free-to-play model, in which the game will give players a certain amount of credits to build their startup portfolio and then compete on their portfolio's performance. No player may purchase new </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/118294/nft-dapper-labs-new-250-million-funding"><span style="font-weight: 400;">NFTs</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of fake shares of startups, and anyone who has purchased any will be refunded. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Down the line, we'll figure out if and how we can add a financial element again,” the Visionrare founders wrote in the statement. </span></p>