Yuga Labs, the non-fungible token (NFT) firm that gained prominence due to multiple Ethereum-based NFT collections, has come under fire from the cryptocurrency community for its plan to auction off its new Bitcoin NFT collection. The “TwelveFold” collection, comprising 300 NFT-like images enrolled in satoshis using Bitcoin’s native Ordinals protocol, opened for bids on March 5.

However, Yuga’s plan for the auction has raised concerns among some members of the crypto community. According to the company’s press release, those who participate in the bidding process are required to send the entire amount of their bid in Bitcoin (BTC) to a unique BTC address controlled by Yuga. Winners would then pay out the BTC they bid, while Yuga said he would return BTC to those who failed to outbid.

Critics have pointed out that Yuga’s plan to manually issue refunds for failed deals is outdated and inefficient. The user behind an Ordinals-focused Twitter account, “Ordinals,” called the auction model a “con man’s dream.” Although he doubted that Yuga would prevent BTC from failing to bid, he argued that the way the company conducts the auction sets a “REALLY bad REFERENCE.”

Criticism mounted when Bitcoin Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor weighed in on the discussion, telling Yuga to “fuck off” and calling the conduct of the auction “degenerate bullshit.” He added that if Yuga held a similar auction in the future, he would encourage others to boycott the project.

Other users also highlighted the shortcomings of the auction system. Some suggested that some may overpay for a TwelveFold due to a potentially significant price discrepancy between the highest and lowest bids in the top 288.

Despite the criticism, some users appreciated the fact that Yuga tries to bridge the gap between Ethereum and Bitcoin. Ordinal Pizza OG Collection expressed their excitement for Yuga’s BTC collection, calling it a “massive net positive for Ordinals.”

Despite the backlash, bidders are still eager to secure a top spot in Yuga’s first BTC collection. At the time of writing, the highest bid was 1.11 BTC (around $25,000), and the lowest bid on record was 0.011 BTC, or around $250, according to the TwelveFold website.