This NFT really was non-fungible in the end. It never existed. The creator of the Mutant Ape Planet NFT, who sought to capitalize on the ape-themed art craze that swept the crypto world two years ago, has pleaded guilty to stealing $2.9 million from investors in what prosecutors said was a classic “rug-pull” fraud.
Aurelien Michel, 25, admitted he announced the issuance of the NFT — short for non-fungible token, a type of blockchain-backed art work — in early 2022 to raise millions from investors but that he never had any intention of actually creating the art. The project came on the coattails of the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, a wildly popular series of NFTs that had sold tens of millions of dollars worth of digital art. Between January and April of that year, federal prosecutors in New York say Michel, a French national who lived in Dubai, raised over $2.9 million on the ethereum blockchain, by selling 9,999 versions of the token. But when it came time to actually issue the artwork, Michel, who was known to investors simply as James, announced that the NFT wasn’t going to be released. “We never intended to rug but the community went way too toxic. I rec …
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Aurelien Michel, 25, admitted he announced the issuance of the NFT — short for non-fungible token, a type of blockchain-backed art work — in early 2022 to raise millions from investors but that he never had any intention of actually creating the art. The project came on the coattails of the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, a wildly popular series of NFTs that had sold tens of millions of dollars worth of digital art. Between January and April of that year, federal prosecutors in New York say Michel, a French national who lived in Dubai, raised over $2.9 million on the ethereum blockchain, by selling 9,999 versions of the token. But when it came time to actually issue the artwork, Michel, who was known to investors simply as James, announced that the NFT wasn’t going to be released. “We never intended to rug but the community went way too toxic. I rec …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]