An NBA player who minted his NFTs last month may have run away with investors' money. Sacramento Kings star guard De'Aaron Fox was recently accused of scamming people out of $1.5 million through his NFT project, Swipa The Fox.
The NBA player tweeted that the NFT project was "ill-timed" due to the ongoing NBA season being too demanding on his time and attention, adding that he will be focusing on his obligations to the Kings and their fan base.
"I delegated certain aspects to the launch of the NFT in an attempt to partner with professionals," Fox explained. "We weren't happy with the execution & demand on my time and attention during the NBA season."
Fox added that his NFT project is "about a brand that will continue to grow" and that the project would be updated when the current NBA season ends.
"As stated previously, I look forward to doing [this project] again the right way and adding value to my NFT holders," Fox said.
However, that's not how investors interpreted his announcement.
NFT Scam? Investors Outraged
@SwipaTheFoxNFT @swipathefox just rugged a project that generated 1.2 million dollars. De’Arons response after telling us he’s shutting down the project is offering some members an autographed jersey like anyone would want that? Give us our money back! @SportsCenter @TMZ @CNN
— who (@BigBallerCrypto) February 24, 2022
De'Aaron Fox has a Discord server for his Swipa the Fox NFT community where he released a similar statement to its server members, who were not pleased with the news. However, instead of refunding investors' money, Fox intends to compensate them with a signed jersey.
According to reports, there are 3,000 owners of Swipa the Fox NFTs--that's 3,000 investors that are not pleased with Fox's announcement due to it sounding like a "rug pull."
A rug pull is a malicious maneuver in the cryptocurrency industry where crypto developers abandon a project and run away with investors' funds, as defined by CoinMarketCap.
This rug pull maneuver has been a common occurrence in NFTs, especially in NFT-based games like "Evolved Apes" and "Neko Inu."
Some people on Twitter took to calling Fox's NFT project "Swipa the Scam" after the announcement, while others were outraged and called out Fox and his offer to some members of an autographed jersey in place of an investment refund.
"Someone of his professional standing doing this. Hope he has a good PR team [;] they will be in full damage control," user @Jesalenco commented.
NFT Scam or Not?
As mentioned, a similar situation with Fox's NFT project took place in the U.K. in 2021, when "Evolved Apes'" developer, Evil Ape, disappeared with roughly $2.7 million-worth of investor money.
A week after the NFT-based fighting game where players can use their NFTs to fight people with for Ethereum was launched, the developer left its 4,300 NFT owners in the digital dust.
According to "Evolved Apes" Discord (now Fight Back Apes Discord) server administrator Jdmjem, police reports against Evil Ape were filed, but due to Evolved Apes NFT owners getting the NFT they paid for, nothing illegal technically happened even though it's unethical, per PC Gamer.
"The Things is that everyone did get what they paid for, an NFT," Jdmjem said. "At the end of the day any promises of a game or other development fall out of the scope of your purchase."
The same could be said about Fox's NFT project. Swipa the Fox NFT owners got what they paid for, and therefore, nothing illegal technically took place despite the seemingly rull pull maneuver being unethical.
However, all hope is not lost for investors. If De'Aaron Fox lives up to his promise and continues the project in the NBA offseason, then some might consider it just an ill-timed mistake. But it is definitely not a good look for him.
