How Winter Bear’s NFT Team Rug pulled off the project
Quick take:
- The Winter Bear NFT project has turned out to be a big rug pull according to an NFT trader.
- ZachXBT has revealed how the three founders behind the project used fake ads and airdrops to woo unsuspecting NFT traders.
- The team reportedly collected 291 ETH from their first collection launched a year ago.
The Winter Bear NFT project earned its owners a whopping $3.4 million in has so far proven to be yet another NFT blanket move. In a lengthy Twitter thread, NFT trader ZachXBT has revealed how the Ponzi scheme developed, with the team behind the project running fake advertising campaigns and airdrops to woo unsuspecting NFT enthusiasts.
The team followed their first collection with a second launch in December 2021, debuting the Summer Bears NFTs, and later that month debuting the 3D Bears Collection, as ZachXBT claims gave the founders an additional 369 ETH.
The team apparently promised to give away a Pudgy Penguins NFT at 25% mint, and a Coll Cat NFT at 50% mint. However, that ad was removed from the site last October.
The disclosure reveals that the team used NFT trader ArtChick to stop the project, drawing attention from the community.
“The team engaged in deceptive marketing where they sent influencer ArtChick 5TH to sweep the floor to create false hype.” Nushi had WB [Winter Bears NFT] holders raid AC [ArtChick] tweet so it would look like the raid was the reason for the AC purchase,” ZachXBT wrote in the fourth post in the long thread, accompanied by graphics as backup.
The short-lived build-up in popularity pushed Winter Bear’s NFT sales to the top of the hourly charts, as NFT traders flocked in.
The founders also mistakenly marketed Winter Bears as a ticket to the popular NFT gathering decentralized organization Art Club DAO. The team claimed that WB holders would qualify for revenue sharing, exclusive NFT drops and free airdrops, which never materialized.
“This was first said in September 2021. It’s now August 2022 and nothing has happened,” wrote the Twitter user along with the mail with screenshots.
ZackXBT also uncovered another fake ad involving a partnership with PieDAO, with the DAO denying claims that the WB team ever made a proposal.
The founders also sought to capitalize on the sympathy expressed for polar bears by claiming that 10% of sales, worth around $40,000, would be donated to a polar bear charity. go to a polar bear charity. It wasn’t until April 2022 that Nushi addressed this and claimed that they were now unable to donate,” the Twitter thread reader.
Keep yourself updated:
