Hic et Nunc, once one of the most recognizable NFT marketplaces on Tezos, is re-emerging through a community-led effort after a sudden shutdown of its original website. Following founder Rafael Lima’s decision to step back from the project, users and contributors quickly rallied around a mirror platform, Hicetnunc.art, while beginning the process of transitioning the marketplace into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
The development marks an important moment for Tezos-based NFT infrastructure. Rather than disappearing with the original front-end, Hic et Nunc has demonstrated how a blockchain-native platform can persist when its user base, smart contracts, and hosting model are distributed beyond a single website.
Shutdown Triggered Confusion Across the Community
On November 14, reports emerged that the original Hic et Nunc platform had discontinued services. At the time, Rafael Lima stated on Twitter that Hicetnunc.xyz was “discontinued”. The founder’s account also shared the marketplace’s smart contract address, but the abrupt nature of the announcement left many users uncertain about what would happen next.
The marketplace had already become a major presence in the NFT sector, reaching the top twenty platforms by sales volume according to the source material. That made the shutdown especially notable, not only for artists and collectors on Tezos but also for observers tracking the resilience of decentralized applications.
In the immediate aftermath, speculation intensified. Users were unsure whether the project had ended permanently, whether the smart contracts would remain usable, and whether the NFTs and marketplace activity tied to the platform could survive without its main domain.
Community Organizes Around Hicetnunc.art
Within days, the community regrouped around Hicetnunc.art, a clone or mirror of the original marketplace. Statements cited in the report indicated that Rafael Lima had chosen to leave the project in the hands of the community. While the original website remained unavailable and was still under the founder-developer’s control, the mirror became the practical focal point for continuity.
This response reflected the strength of the Tezos NFT community, which moved quickly to preserve access, maintain visibility for creators, and prevent the marketplace’s cultural momentum from fading. Instead of attempting to rebuild from scratch, participants used the existing decentralized foundations of the platform to keep activity alive through a new interface.
The shift also underscored an important distinction in Web3 applications: a website may go offline, but the contracts and underlying records do not necessarily vanish with it. In Hic et Nunc’s case, that separation created enough room for the community to step in and continue the project.
Teztools Becomes Temporary Caretaker Before DAO Formation
As the project moves toward decentralized governance, Teztools, a Tezos infrastructure provider, has taken on the role of temporary “caretaker” of the Hic et Nunc smart contract until a DAO is functional. This interim arrangement is significant because it gives the ecosystem a bridge between founder-led management and a more formal community-governed structure.
The caretaker role suggests a transitional phase rather than a final governance model. The community’s stated goal is not simply to keep a mirror online, but to establish a framework in which stewardship is distributed and decision-making becomes more transparent and collective.
For NFT marketplaces, governance questions can influence fees, moderation practices, front-end maintenance, and the long-term reliability of trading infrastructure. By signaling a move toward DAO control, the Hic et Nunc community appears to be trying to reduce dependence on a single operator while preserving the marketplace’s original identity.
Platform Fee Reduced to 1%
Another notable change is the reduction of the HEN contract fee. According to statements shared by the hicetnunc-community Twitter account, Rafael Lima communicated with members of the admin team and lowered the existing fee to 1%. The report describes this as the lowest level permitted by the smart contract.
That fee reduction may help support marketplace continuity during a delicate rebuilding period. Lower fees can make the platform more attractive to artists and traders, especially in ecosystems where cost sensitivity is high and where creators often compare marketplaces based on both economics and community culture.
The same update also said that DNS.xyz transferred ownership of the Hicetnunc.art mirror to the community, with Teztools overseeing it in the interim. Together, these steps indicate that the transition is not merely symbolic. Operational control, fee structure, and technical stewardship are all being adjusted to support the shift away from founder dependency.
Why the Marketplace Could Survive the Website’s Closure
The source also references a November 13 blog post by generative artist and creative coder Matt DesLauriers, titled “Hicetnunc and the Merits of Web3.” In that piece, he argued that even though the original website shut down, users and their content were still able to move relatively seamlessly to alternative platforms and online spaces.
His explanation focused on architecture. According to the report, the original site functioned primarily as a thin interface built on top of decentralized blockchain contracts and peer-to-peer file hosting. In other words, the front-end mattered, but it was not the sole repository of the platform’s assets, relationships, or transaction logic.
This is one of the strongest real-world illustrations of a core Web3 claim: if the underlying infrastructure is sufficiently decentralized, applications may remain recoverable even when a primary interface disappears. Hic et Nunc’s community-led revival does not prove that every Web3 platform is resilient, but it does show how distributed design can create fallback options during moments of crisis.
A Test Case for Community-Owned NFT Infrastructure
The Hic et Nunc episode has become more than a story about one marketplace returning from an abrupt shutdown. It is also a test case for whether NFT communities can preserve and govern their own infrastructure when a founder exits unexpectedly.
The road ahead is still uncertain. The original website remains unavailable, the DAO transition is still in progress, and long-term governance details were not fully outlined in the source material. Even so, the marketplace’s reappearance through a mirror, the assignment of temporary caretaking duties, and the reduction of fees all point to a serious attempt at continuity rather than a short-lived workaround.
For the Tezos ecosystem, the event reinforces the value of community coordination and modular infrastructure. For the wider crypto industry, it offers a practical example of how decentralized applications can adapt under pressure. Whether Hic et Nunc ultimately thrives as a DAO-governed marketplace will depend on execution, but its return already highlights a key lesson: when users, contracts, and content are not locked inside a single corporate platform, a project may have more than one path back.