The Biggest NFT Rug Pulls of All Time

Rug pulls have made headlines since the 2021 NFT boom, with investors losing over $25 billion as of November 2022. These headlines have sparked fear among investors, who are now skeptical when it comes to new NFT projects.

The likelihood of a rug pull, or a scam in which a cryptocurrency or NFT team exits a project along with its investors’ funds with them, seems to be increasingly greater.

In this article, we’ll cover the seven biggest NFT rug pulls of all time ranked by the amount of money stolen from investors. 

Iconics- $140,000

Iconics was a Solana-based NFT project consisting of 8000 unique pieces of 3D artwork. It was created by an unknown 17-year-old 3D digital artist who promised unique 3D images to investors. Fourteen initial samples were showcased through the project’s Discord channel, which created the demand for more.

The project started with a pre-sale of 2000 items at 0.5 SOL; however, investors didn’t get what they paid for. Instead of 3D art, they received a random collection of emojis. After the sale, the project’s Discord went offline, and its official Twitter disappeared. 

Blockchain data showed that the scammer had around 1000 SOL at the time, which equaled around $140,000. Investors never got their money back. 

Mercenary- $750,000

Mercenary was a medieval Play-and-Earn game where players could recruit a team of mercenaries to fight for MGOLD. The game was promoted on sites like thebittimes.com and BSC news, where it was praised for its innovative mechanics and unique gameplay. 

Unfortunately, the game ended up being a rug pull. 

After building a loyal group of players, a new Twitter handle known as the Mercenary Golg Community claimed that the Twitter and Telegram groups had been hacked. Within 24 hours of this post, everything connected to the project was wiped entirely, with only a few Twitter promotions remaining. 

It’s estimated that the team stole around $760k of investors’ funds. 

Frosties NFT – $1,300,000

Frosties was the first big NFT rug pull of 2022, and one that shocked the NFT community. It started with a huge marketing campaign, advertising 8,888 cartoon ice cream NFTs. The project was one of the fastest to ever sell out, with the team making an estimated $1.3 million in the process. 

The team had promised investors unique staking features, a metaverse game, mint passes, and other long-term benefits. However, shortly after release, the Frosties social media channels, Discord servers, and website all disappeared. The project was completely shut down, and the project team disappeared. 

Fortunately, rumors have stated that the creators were caught and charged with one count of wire fraud. Although the investors didn’t get their money back, the devs were punished for their scam. 

Swipathefox – $1,500,000

Swipathefox was an NFT project created by NBA basketball player De’Aaron Fox, consisting of 6000 unique fox-themed NFTs. Fox promised investors exclusive NFT ownership perks, including giveaways, tickets, and exclusive chats with Fox himself. 

Unfortunately, the project never bore fruit, with Fox stating that he didn’t have the time to work on it during the middle of the NBA season. In an interview, Fox said that he would be working on the collection in the future. However, he had to focus on his NBA career at that time. 

As of November 2022, action has yet to be taken on the project, and investors have claimed they never got their money back. 

Though not entirely a “rug pull” in nature, this one is in the “TBD” category.

Baller Ape Club – $2,000,000

Baller Ape Club looked like a legit NFT project when it was first released. Inspired by Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC,) it had a complete development team, a dedicated community, and plenty of investors supporting the project. The collection consisted of 5,000 NFTs that sold for a price of 2 SOL each. 

After the public mint, the dev team rugged the project. They deleted all socials and stole around $2 million of investor funds. However, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has since taken the project’s founder to court. 

Le Anh Traun, a Vietnamese national, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and international money laundering. Traun could face up to 40 years in prison as a result. 

Evolved Apes – $2.7 million

Evolved Apes was an NFT collection of 10,000 apes that would battle one another to win rewards. To attract investors, the founder, known as “Evil Ape,” created competitions in which investors could win NFTs and other rewards. However, once the project sold out, Evil Ape disappeared and deleted all accounts associated with the project. 

In total, $2.7 million was stolen, including funds that should have gone to the development team, marketing department, and artists. None of the competition winners were ever awarded their prizes, and the teams were never paid for their work. 

Evil Ape was never found.

Bored Bunny- $21 million

Bored Bunny was one of the biggest NFT projects of 2022 and gained celebrity endorsements from French Montana, Jake Paul, and Floyd Mayweather. The 4,999 NFTs sold out in hours, minting for 0.4 ETH. 

However, very quickly, in-house sources suggested that the founder was simply looking to steal investors’ money. Before launch, a dev wallet bought celebrity NFTs for additional profits, and after the initial launch, a second collection known as Bored Bad Bunny NFTs went on sale. 

After the second collection sold out, the floor price dramatically dropped, and the dev team went missing, stealing $21 million in the process. 

If this wasn’t bad enough, the remaining team released a third collection known as Bored Mutant Bunny, consisting of 3,000 NFTs selling for 0.25ETH. By this time, investors had realized the project was a scam, and it failed to sell. 

Final Thoughts: Rugpulls and Mass NFT Adoption?

Rugpulls pose a threat to mass NFT adoption. With NFT scams consistently making headlines, many investors are forgetting the practical benefits of NFTs.

Without an adequate solution addressing the disparate set of NFT exchanges lacking authentication tools, we’ll unfortunately probably see more rug pulls occur– this is why it’s incredibly important to do your research and not YOLO into unverified projects.

However, the NFT market continues to grow despite rugpulls and the negative press surrounding rugpulls. We shouldn’t let the high-flying conquests of a few malicious bad actors blind us to the good work many NFT collections are doing– even if it’s just bringing a community of like-minded crypto-savvy people together.

Moonbirds: A Complete Guide to the PFP Owl NFTs

Moonbirds is a collection of 10,000 NFT bird profile pictures (PFPs) that include a unique pool of rarity-powered traits released on April 16th, 2022, by PROOF Collective.

Notably, the collection reached over $200 million in sales in the first 48 hours.

Since its release, the collection has generated $500 million in sales, with 2,000 NFTs reserved for Proof Collective members and 7,875 NFTs released to the general public via a whitelist.

Moonbirds has been compared to projects like Cryptopunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club, but does it have the utility to live up to the hype?

In this article, we’ll cover what the Moonbirds basics, how Moonbirds work, the collection’s founding team, how you can buy, and whether or not Moonbirds are worth the price tag.

What Is Moonbirds?

Moonbirds is an NFT collection with pixelated owl PFPs, each of which comes with its own unique traits. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Moonbirds give holders access to a private club and several additional benefits the longer they hold the NFT. 

Each NFT has several unique features, including beak size, hair, eye color, and accessories such as eye patches, headbands, and monocles. Each PROOF NFT holder was gifted two Moonbird NFTs, which left 7,875 for the public. 

The initial Moonbirds mint price was 2.5 ETH (around $7,000 in April 2022), which sparked some criticism amongst the NFT community as buyers believed they were being priced out before the project had started. Despite this criticism, Moonbirds sold out in two days, and the floor price dramatically increased. As of November 2022, the floor price is 8.44 ETH, which currently equates to around $12,529.

How Do Moonbirds Work?

One of the reasons behind Moonbird’s initial success is the project’s utility. Alongside unique owl profile pictures, Moonbird holders are granted a range of benefits as a holder.

All holders are given access to PROOF’s exclusive Discord community, which gives members regular rewards. They also have priority access to PROOF’s new metaverse project, Project Highrise.

Holders are also granted additional rewards based on how long they hold their NFT through a process called “Nesting.” Nesting works like traditional cryptocurrency staking, in which holders can lock up their assets, in this case, their NFTs, and earn passive crypto income and other DeFi benefits. 

If a Moonbird is nesting, it can’t be sold on another market. While nesting, Moonbirds level up and, in the process, upgrade their “nest.” Each new upgrade grants additional drops and rewards, though these rewards have yet to be officially announced. 

What makes nesting different from traditional staking is that it doesn’t need to be transferred to another vault or wallet for safekeeping. Instead, it can remain in the holder’s wallet, though it remains untradeable. 

Another benefit of Moonbirds is that holders own all commercial rights to the NFTs they own. This means they can use their NFT in any way they want, including T-shirt prints, marketing videos, and more. 

Who Founded Moonbirds?

Moonbirds was founded by Kevin Rose, a popular American internet entrepreneur and the founder of PROOF Collective. PROOF is a private members-only group of 1,000 NFT collectors and artists.

Though known for his work in the Web 3 space, Rose was formerly known as a podcaster, investor, and entrepreneurial celebrity in some circles. He founded Digg, a social media platform that covers the latest internet trends.  

Rose worked alongside several developers and PROOF members to build the project, such as Justin Mezzell. Mezzell is the co-founder and chief product officer of the Proof platform. He also created the art for each design alongside an in-house art team, inspired by the pixelated designs of CryptoPunks and CryptoSkulls. 

How To Buy Moonbirds

You can buy and sell Moonbirds through most NFT trading platforms, including OpenSea, LooksRare, and Rarible. The current floor price is 8.44 ETH, which is significantly lower than the project’s all-time high of 30 ETH in April 2022. 

To buy a Moonbird, search for Moonbirds in the search bar of your chosen platform. Make sure you choose the official Moonbirds project (the real project has a blue tick next to it) to avoid any scam replicas. Connect your wallet (MetaMask is the most popular), and you’re ready to get started.

From here, you can choose from currently listed Moonbirds, which are ranked on rarity and price. If you want a Moonbird straight away, you can choose “Buy Now” for a fast transaction, or alternatively, you can place a bid to try and bag a bargain. 

Final Thoughts: Are Moonbirds Going To The Moon?

Moonbirds experienced significant hype almost immediately upon release, pushing the resale price to highs of 30 ETH. This hype has since died down and decreased the floor price in the process, bringing the floor within range for many people.

The Moonbirds team is still investing in the project. They announced via YouTube that the collection will be used to launch a new media company. At the same time, 100% of all revenue from the project is being used to hire more experts and launch additional products. 

For the time being, Moonbirds are a good investment for NFT holders who want to generate a passive cryptocurrency income, with lucrative reward options and upgradable nests for those who are happy to keep their Moonbirds in a nesting phase.

With the project being well funded and plans in place for additional products and team members, it would appear that the project certainly has long-term potential if the team can implement its plans effectively.