All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFTevening.com are not recommendations.
This article is educational material.
As always, do your own research before making any kind of investment.
BAYC NFT Mega Collector FranklinIsBored withdraws from Web3
The sudden announcement that Mega Collector FranklinIsBored is withdrawing from Web3 and selling many of his Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs has caused a stir in the NFT market. In a tweet, Franklin revealed that he was the victim of a scam, where his investment of nearly 2,000 ETH was flushed down the drain in a Ponzi casino game. The sale of at least 27 BAYC NFTs, valued at $2.8 million in ETH, was triggered by the aforementioned announcement.
The recent decline in BAYC NFT floor prices and FranklinIsBored’s abrupt exit
BAYC is a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs, each featuring a boring monkey character with distinct traits and accessories. It has become a popular asset in the NFT market, with some of the NFTs earning millions of dollars.
Still, the recent decline in the pool’s floor price has caused concern among BAYC holders and investors. Cryptowatch data shows that the floor price of the BAYC collection plunged to its lowest level in five months, falling to 54.37 ETH.
The news has left many wondering what really happened, especially given Franklin’s past trading habits and market manipulation. Twitter user @web3bandit recounted what could possibly have happened in quite some detail Twitter thread.
The Rise and Fall of BAYC Mega Collector Franklin is bored in the NFT market
For those unfamiliar with Franklin, he is a BAYC whale. He became known for showing off his big bags on social media. However, he was also known for making costly trading mistakes due to his “fat fingers.” Such an incident cost him 100 ETH, a costly spell attempt.
To cover his losses, Franklin resorted to market manipulation, which he openly admits in a recent apology. He has built a reputation as a “market maker” on the NFT trading scene, as evidenced by a great Twitter thread by @k2_nftwhich shows him and @mahakigbrother using Blur bids to brazenly manipulate the floor prices of several collections.
Also, Franklin recently pumped an obscene amount of ETH into the defunct online casino, Dice2Win, which raises many questions. Why would he pump ~$3 million into an obscure online casino, and why has he never mentioned this publicly, even after the site pulled the plug?
Franklin claims to have lost ~2000 ETH to a lone bad actor, who he allegedly invested nearly $4 million in due to seeing others put money into the venture. But given his poor business practices, committing to such a large sum without due diligence is bizarre.
Ethics in the NFT market: The need for due diligence and mass education
The NFT trading scene idolizes toxic behaviors such as gambling, market manipulation and cults of personality. These must therefore be reassessed. As industry leaders gather at NFT NYC 2023 to discuss how to improve the NFT space, the conversation must shift to ethics. More emphasis must be placed on due diligence and investment in mass education.
However, ZachXBT, a Twitter user, has called the whole thread speculation and not what happened. 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 BAYC NFT scene and the wider NFT market to be wary of market manipulation, gambling and other toxic behaviour.
Lessons from the retirement of Mega Collector Franklin is bored in the NFT market
The retirement of Mega Collector FranklinIsBored and his sale of BAYC NFTs has shaken up the NFT market. Some have questioned past trading habits and market manipulation. The recent cover-up and investment in an obscure online casino also raises even more concerns.
The NFT trading scene needs to rethink its promotion of toxic behavior and shift towards ethics. One with more emphasis on due diligence and investment in mass education.
