The sudden announcement of BAYC Mega Collector FranklinIsBored’s Web3 retirement has caused a stir in the NFT space. In a tweet, Franklin revealed that he was the victim of a rug pull. As a result, his investment of almost 2000 ETH was lost in a casino gambling Ponzi scheme. Therefore, FranklinIsBored sold at least 27 BAYC NFTs, valued at $2.8 million, to recover funds. So what happened, and how will it impact the BAYC floor price?
The Recent Slump in BAYC NFT Floor Prices and FranklinIsBored’s Abrupt Exit
BAYC is a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs, and has become a popular asset in the NFT market. In fact, some of its NFTs fetch millions of dollars. However, the recent slump in the collection’s floor price has caused apprehension among BAYC holders and investors. Cryptowatch data shows that the floor price for the BAYC collection plunged to its lowest level in five months, dropping to 54.37 ETH.
The news has caused much speculation, especially given Franklin’s past trading habits and market manipulation. Twitter user @web3bandit went on about what could have possibly happened in a fairly detailed Twitter thread.
The Rise and Fall of BAYC Mega Collector FranklinIsBored in the NFT Market
For those unfamiliar with Franklin, he is a BAYC whale. He became famous for showing off his big bags on social media. However, he also gained notoriety for making costly trade mistakes due to his “fat fingers.” One such incident cost him 100 ETH.
To cover his losses, Franklin resorted to market manipulation, which he openly admits to in a recent apology. He has been building a reputation as a “market maker” on the NFT trading scene, as evidenced by a large Twitter thread by @k2_nft. The thread details Franklin and @machibigbrother using Blur bids to brazenly manipulate the floor prices of several collections.
Moreover, Franklin recently pumped an obscene amount of ETH into the defunct online casino Dice2Win. Many questioned why would he pump ~ $3m into an online casino, and why has he never mentioned this publicly? Franklin claims to have lost ~2000 ETH to a lone bad actor. He allegedly invested almost $4 million into the venture.
Ethics in the NFT Market: The Need for Due Diligence and Mass Education
The NFT trading scene idolizes toxic behaviors like gambling, market manipulation, and personality cults. So, these need to be re-evaluated. As the industry leaders gather at NFT NYC 2023 to discuss how to improve the NFT space, the conversation must shift towards ethics. There needs to be more emphasis on due diligence and investment in mass education.
However, crypto-detective ZachXBT has called the entire thread ‘speculation’. We remain to see if there is more to the story or if this is indeed the truth. Nonetheless, the incident serves as a warning to those in the NFT market to be wary of market manipulation, gambling, and other toxic behaviors.
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This article is educational material.
As always, make your own research prior to making any kind of investment.