Nftnews Today The worst influencer and celebrity NFT cash grabs of 2022
Mainstream hype for the nonfungible token (NFT) market cooled down considerably in 2022, however that didn’t cease a number of common and rich figures from stinking up the area with dreadful collections final yr.
Within the 2022 version of the worst influencer and movie star NFT money grabs, Cointelegraph takes a have a look at 4 initiatives seemingly designed to take advantage of capital out of their followers pockets, whereas delivering little or no.
Tai Lopez — OG (Authentic Storage) Social Membership
First on the checklist is the oddball entrepreneur Tai Lopez, finest identified for his tacky advertising campaigns that used to plague YouTube not so way back.
Lopez’s most well-known video is his “right here in my storage” enterprise course promo from 2015 the place he first reveals off his Lambo earlier than switching gears and noting that he’s extra pleased with the 1000’s of books he owns due to the “data” they provide him.
Paying homage to the video, Lopez launched a set dubbed the “OG (Authentic Storage) Social Membership” in March.
The NFTs got here in three tiers of rarity, going from wherever between $150 on the decrease finish to $50,000 for the premium tokens that provided unique advantages equivalent to a one-on-one basketball recreation with Lopez, watching a film, or consuming dinner collectively and personal mentorship periods.
Tai Lopez is promoting an NFT that provides you the CHANCE to win $10,000 in the event you beat him at 1 on 1 basketball.
The value? $50,000. pic.twitter.com/ySJc52PItu— Coffeezilla (@coffeebreak_YT) March 5, 2022
The present information on OpenSea now paints a grim image nonetheless, with the ground value for all of the NFTs no matter rarity, sitting at 0.08 Ether (ETH) or $97 on the time of writing.
Trying on the premium NFTs, the basketball-related token is on sale for as little as 0.880 ETH ($1069), whereas an NFT granting entry to a one-on-one dinner with Lopez is now on sale for 1 ETH ($1214) regardless of first being bought for round $30,000.
Donald Trump — Trump Digital Buying and selling Playing cards
Regardless of traditionally being a vocal crypto-hater, former president Donald Trump introduced a wierd licensed NFT undertaking in December that consisted of 45,000 self-themed buying and selling playing cards.
The shoddy and probably plagiarized paintings of the NFTs depicted Trump in numerous types equivalent to a superhero, hunter, cowboy and golfer. The NFTs provided consumers an opportunity to win a number of one-on-one experiences with the forty fifth president through sweepstakes.
The NFTs initially bought for $99 apiece shortly promoting out on Dec. 16 with the ground value quickly rising to 0.83 ETH ($1,008) on OpenSea inside two days. Since then, nonetheless, the value has considerably tanked to 0.164 ETH ($199).
Whereas individuals who first purchased in are more likely to nonetheless be within the inexperienced, the Trump NFT undertaking is sweet both approach because it pocketed round $4.5 million from the preliminary gross sales, with an ongoing 10% creator payment additionally coming again to it through gross sales on secondary markets.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. — Mayweverse
Boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr. additionally makes the 2022 checklist for an NFT undertaking that appears to have been fully deserted on the time of writing.
Tweeting on Mar. 22, Mayweather introduced the “Mayweverse” consisting of 5,000 NFT collectibles.
“If you’re within the NFT world and also you’re betting on me, you’ll by no means lose,” he mentioned.
Right here earlier than the undertaking sluggish rugs. Don’t you have got a popularity of selling scams? pic.twitter.com/szJQmwqTkT
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) March 21, 2022
The NFTs initially went for a mint value of roughly $900 on Apr. 13 offering hodlers the possibility to win money prizes starting from $5,000 to $30,000 and unique experiences equivalent to becoming a member of Mayweather in an upcoming Metaverse referred to as “Floyd’s Fitness center.”
Because the mint, the Mayweverse Twitter account has remained dormant with not a single follow-up tweet all through 2022. It’s unclear if anybody obtained prizes or when the Metaverse might be shipped.
The web site’s roadmap additionally stays undated regardless of initially stating different “future advantages” can be introduced quickly.
OpenSea information additionally makes it onerous to determine what is occurring with the undertaking.
One Maywevere assortment listed on {the marketplace} incorporates 73 tokens that aren’t on the market with no value historical past. One other incorporates 5 NFTs which all final bought for much less 0.050 Wrapped ETH ($60) however have a ground value of 0.1 ETH ($121).
Lana Rhoades — CryptoSis.
Final on the checklist is the favored influencer and former grownup movie star Lana Rhoades launched the now-abandoned Crypto Sis NFT undertaking in February 2022.
Crypto Sis consists of 6,069 Rhoades-themed cartoon avatar NFTs with the quantity initially meant to be 6,969 which it didn’t attain attributable to a scarcity of demand.
The NFTs went for a mint value of roughly $261 however the worth now primarily sits at $0 on OpenSea as there was lower than 1 ETH price of total buying and selling exercise since its Feb. 2022 launch. The undertaking’s Twitter web page can also be currently suspended.
Rhoades reportedly pocketed $1.5 million from the gross sales, then promptly withdrew the funds from her Ethereum pockets earlier than strolling away from the undertaking altogether stating her neighborhood was too destructive.
Associated: Crypto adoption in 2022: What occasions moved the trade ahead?
In now-deleted social media posts, Rhoades initially touted the avatars can be usable within the Metaverse together with providing a number of utilities equivalent to whitelist entry to future drops, inclusion right into a Metaverse neighborhood, signed merch and digital meet and greets.
Rhoades claimed she was working onerous to make the undertaking a “profitable funding for holders that they will promote for greater than they paid to mint.”
Nonetheless, none of that has come to fruition, resulting in folks locally to accuse her of working a rug pull. Rhoades counter-argued the undertaking flopped and there was nothing she might do to repair it.
