Morph Platinum Card angers the public? Why is there a collective rights protection?

Author: Patti, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

After the launch of the phenomenal product Morph Black Card (Black NFT), the global consumer-grade public chain Morph released the Platinum Card (Platinum SBT), which was highly anticipated, but the Mint has seen a lukewarm market response.

According to community feedback, there seem to be some unreasonable aspects regarding this Platinum Card issuance:

Users question whether the free airdrop of SBT freemint rights in the Platinum Card to users who previously held and staked Black Cards will dilute the rights of the Platinum Card;

At the same time, with multiple rights yet to be realized, whether the issuance timing of the Black Card and Platinum Card is too close together;

And whether the official promotion stating "Mint immediately locks in a $500 million valuation for entry, and token issuance enjoys 50% liquidity" is an overvaluation.

These doubts have begun to fester in the crypto community.

Ambiguity of Black Card and Platinum Card Rights

According to the timeline organized by crypto KOL Mi Jiu, a user who staked the Black Card:

On April 10, Morph Black NFT began staking.

On April 11, the Morph project team launched the Mint activity for Morph Platinum SBT.

On April 12, the sales situation for the Platinum Card was bleak, with only 5% minted.

So, what are the Black Card and Platinum Card?

As a consumer-grade infrastructure project, Morph launched the Morph Black NFT at the end of March this year, with a total issuance of 3,000 cards at a price of 0.2 ETH, using a whitelist invitation system.

According to its external promotion, Morph Black is a crypto card product that combines high-end rights and convenience, expanding on-chain ecological application scenarios into daily life. In simple terms, users can pre-deposit funds with the issuer and then use it for daily fiat currency consumption like a credit card. Additionally, Morph promises to manage the pre-deposited funds to bring users some returns.

Its core rights include exclusive DeFi high yields and high-end privileges in the real world. Morph promises that Black Card users will enjoy exclusive DeFi yield strategies, combining low-risk yield products, Morph subsidies, and ecological airdrops to provide returns far exceeding those of traditional banks and ordinary DeFi protocols.

In summary, as an NFT card product, Morph Black NFT holders can enjoy both airdrops and high-return financial management rights on-chain, as well as off-chain assets associated with physical credit cards.

The newly released Morph Platinum SBT has a total of 10,000 cards, with a SBT mint price of 0.3 ETH. The mint is open to all participants, with a maximum of 100 SBT (equivalent to 30 ETH) that can be minted per address, and the SBT corresponds to the subscription quota of an IEO, which is also the biggest highlight of the Platinum Card. Additionally, the Platinum Card is also endowed with certain on-chain rights such as DeFi yields, as well as a physical Platinum Card, with an annual fee of 300 USD for the Black Card face rights.

According to data comparison by crypto KOL @anymose96, the Black Card, as a high-end product under Morph, positions its $1 million/year withdrawal limit rights for high-net-worth users, while the Platinum Card focuses on IEO rights, positioning it closer to the general public, defined as an ordinary card.

Note: According to updates from Morph's official information, the Platinum Card also has no annual fee, with a conversion fee higher than 0.3% and a deposit/withdrawal limit of 20,000 USD.

Community Discontent Escalates

The introduction of the Black Card above did not mention the SBT part, which has become a point of contention in this incident.

According to Morph's official personnel, SBT represents the future early token allocation rights (i.e., IEO subscription quota), which is one of the important highlights of this Platinum Card sale. However, giving this right to users who staked Black Cards has left some users confused.

Multiple crypto KOLs and users have voiced their concerns on social media, demanding reasonable explanations and compensation from the project team.

Mi Jiu publicly called on the Morph project team to quickly provide specific explanations and timelines for the rights of the Black Card and Platinum Card.

Previously, crypto user Xingzhu Animaia started a rights protection group after participating in the Platinum Card mint.

Crypto influencer 0xLoki also expressed his views, questioning whether the $500 million valuation is too high.

Official Response

In response, Morph quickly opened a space to appease the community.

During the space, users expressed their dissatisfaction and doubts towards the project team. In the face of these doubts, Morph stated that they would listen to user demands and explained the value and potential of the Platinum Card, pointing out that the lukewarm market response to the Platinum Card is the result of multiple factors and not a product issue. They also mentioned that the rights configuration for Morph cards will be further improved in the future.

ChainCatcher later interviewed Morph, and their official personnel responded to the above issues:

Regarding whether the $500 million valuation is too high, Morph believes this valuation is relatively reasonable, and they understand investors' concerns about high valuations in the current bear market environment. They stated that the team is accelerating the process and plans to clarify more details through a white paper upgrade and Q&A in the future;

Regarding the close timing of the Black Card and Platinum Card releases, Morph explained that this round of card issuance activities is closely linked because it is necessary to uniformly distinguish and allocate rights projects. By coordinating the sale of SBT and NFT, the project team can obtain users' blockchain addresses, ensuring that the team can provide ecological airdrops to Black Card users and increase rights for Platinum Card users before the TGE. Additionally, the customization process for physical credit cards takes a long time and is relatively complex, which is also one reason for the tight issuance timeline;

Regarding whether the rights of Morph Platinum will be diluted, Morph stated, "This does not constitute a dilution of Morph Platinum rights because essentially, how many tokens we airdrop for each SBT is already determined. The IEO quota is evenly distributed, and we promised that there would be more airdrops for stakers before the Black Card users staked, including ecological airdrops and main token airdrops." They also clarified that "there is no significant overlap between the rights of the Black Card and Platinum Card," as the Platinum Card mainly offers IEO quota returns, basic DeFi yields, and one year of Black Card face rights (i.e., a withdrawal/deposit limit of 20,000 USD, a minimum fee of 0.3%, and concierge services), while the Black Card can enjoy ecological airdrops, on-chain governance, and up to 30% yield, along with lifetime Black Card face rights.

Furthermore, Morph stated that the team has now reached a cooperation with the Web3 hospitality platform Umy, where Morph Black NFT holders will enjoy a 6% discount membership card and a total of 300 USD in consumption vouchers, while Morph Platinum SBT holders can enjoy a 4% discount membership card and a total of 150 USD in consumption vouchers.

Conclusion

We can see that the main point of contention in this incident centers around the "rights conflict" between the two cards.

As a consumer payment track, card issuance has always been a battleground for major consumer applications. Centralized exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Bitget have already entered this field, hoping to bridge the gap between crypto assets and the real economy through the issuance of crypto payment cards.

So, in the face of such fierce competition in the payment track, how to occupy a market high ground? The key lies in the rights attached to the payment card, which is also the issue that has drawn community skepticism towards Morph's card issuance.

In fact, aside from the flashy real-world rights, the highlight of crypto payment cards lies in their fees.

According to @anymose96's compilation, the currently popular payment card Bybit U Card trading fees range from 0.9% to 3% (currently, new card users can enjoy a 10% cashback offer); while Morph card trading fees can also reach between 0.3% and 0.6%. However, due to the overall newness of Morph's products, they have not yet been realized as usable card products, only releasing ecological token airdrops and cooperation rights updates, which is also why users feel a low sense of related rights.

As an issuer, while attracting users through the future rights of crypto payment cards, perhaps they should consider how to clearly articulate rights and ensure their early realization from the user's perspective.

As users or investors, one should also thoroughly understand the various rights behind the payment card before purchasing, weighing the pros and cons to make the correct investment and purchasing decisions.

Currently, this rights protection incident is still ongoing, and the Morph project team is working to improve its payment card rights and implementation, while users who previously paid for the Mint Platinum Card are also attempting to protect their rights.

In the future, will the Morph project team further elaborate and empower the rights of the Platinum Card and Black Card?

ChainCatcher will continue to monitor the progress of this event.