Lost $2k Paul Pogba crypto scheme: ‘The main reason we invested was him’
Outside a cafe in Istanbul’s busy back streets, 26-year-old Berat Kurnaz reflects on the worst decision of his life – losing three months’ salary on an investment scheme promoted by one of the world’s most famous footballers.
“I can’t buy anything. I can not do anything. I just work, work, work, says Kurnaz, now in debt while living with his parents and working around the clock. “When you don’t have money, you lose more money. You can’t think straight.”
Turkey, after the earthquakes that have already claimed more than 50,000 lives in the country and neighboring Syria, is in economic turmoil with rising inflation and a rising domestic currency. Cash left in the bank quickly falls in value, leading many to seek out risky investments that purport to provide lucrative rates of return.
Last year, Kurnaz’s cousin approached him with an unusual idea – to buy a non-fungible token (NFT) promoted by footballer Paul Pogba.
The Juventus midfielder won the 2018 World Cup with France and is one of the world’s most followed players on social media, with 57 million followers on Instagram and 10 million on Twitter. The tweet promoting the Cryptodragons scheme that Kurnaz’s cousin saw has the hashtag “#ad”, suggesting Pogba was paid for the post.
Users could purchase “eggs” in the form of NFTs, which then “hatched” into “dragons” of different classes – common, rare, epic and legendary – of varying monetary value. These dragons can then battle each other in a game, or “breed” with each other to create new dragons.
Kurnaz borrowed $2,000 (£1,650) from a bank to invest in Cryptodragons and has now lost it all.
The scheme has fallen in value, just like cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and other projects based on blockchain technology like NFTs.
Earning $600 a month in his courier job, this is a devastating loss for Kurnaz. He used to enjoy a drink with friends and the occasional ride outside of Istanbul on his motorcycle, but now he just works full time to pay off this and other debts, staying in and playing computer games in his rare down time .
“The main reason we invested was Pogba,” says Kurnaz. “It wasn’t like someone was impersonating him online, he was actually making videos for it.
“We thought he must know the people doing this, this must be legal.”
Pogba is far from the only elite footballer to have promoted disastrous NFT schemes. Premier League stars such as John Terry, Andy Robertson and Luke Shaw all promoted similar projects on their social media before immediately putting in value. Given their superstar status, these players’ endorsements helped push the NFTs to a global audience, and they appear to have been paid for their involvement.
The Athletic have spoken to several investors who mentioned Pogba as the main reason they invested in Cryptodragons. Pogba’s team did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition, many victims cite the legitimacy provided by news websites that hosted a press release for Cryptodragons, leading some to mistakenly believe that reputable companies were somehow supporting the scheme. Kurnaz showed this screenshot from the Cryptodragons website as he explained why he got involved in something that may seem ridiculous in retrospect.
The Cryptodragon NFTs were first “minted” – put up for sale – on November 7, 2021, the week Ethereum, the cryptocurrency token in which the NFTs were purchased, peaked in value at nearly $5,000.
One “legendary” egg was minted for 35 Ethereum, worth about $168,000 at the time. Pogba referenced this in his first video, talking about how the project had set “the world record for primary sales in less than ten seconds, this is huge”.
In a follow-up video, he said he was “so excited” to get his hands on some dragon eggs.
In late 2021 and early 2022, millions of dollars were spent on these NFTs, but they are now worthless.
After the initial “mint”, tokens could be freely bought and sold on the OpenSea website, which acts as an eBay for NFTs where users can buy and sell from each other.
OpenSea data reveals how the tokens plummeted in value very quickly. The “project” and the people behind it simply stopped communicating. Cryptodragon’s Twitter account stopped posting. A channel on Discord, a social media app popular in the cryptocurrency community, also went silent.
Last summer there were some vague tweets about a “rewards program”, but nothing concrete and since then silence.
There are a large number of these people who have lost out on football related schemes and The Athletic have exchanged messages with dozens — but are generally reticent to speak publicly. Many people talk about the shame and humiliation of losing large sums of money on something that seems so bizarre. They don’t want family and friends to know.
However, Kurnaz is happy to talk, have his picture taken and use his real name. He is philosophical about the massive mistake he has made.
“I want to help people,” he says, speaking not far from where Besiktas, one of Turkey’s most famous soccer teams, plays its home games. “There is nothing shameful about it. I just did it. That’s what happened to me.”
His story also has a painful personal dimension because his cousin told him about the token. But Kurnaz doesn’t blame his relative, saying people across Turkey are losing money to similar schemes while dreaming of a better life.
“(My cousin) warned me about it. He told me there are some risks, but I took the risk, he says.
His parents also warned him against the investment.
“They have experience about life,” he says. “So they know that if you’re chasing easy money, you’re going to lose, and that’s true.”
Another who lost thousands on Cryptodragons is based in the US and prefers not to be named.
“Me and my brothers found this NFT, Cryptodragons, and thought it looked cool,” he says. – We decided to invest.
He estimates that between the three of them they put in around $12,000 to $24,000. They have lost everything.
Another American investor, who says he lost about $6,000, is in a support group for those who lost money. He says he has spoken to a person who has lost $180,000.
“They said they’d be up and running again soon,” he says. “Probably around February or March, (the founders) withdrew 800 Ethereum (cryptocurrency worth up to $2 million at the time).
“The main reason we invested was that Pogba is there. He gave them validity. There’s this guy that everybody knows who’s famous and has a lot of influence, and he’s supporting this project now.”
However, all that money went somewhere.
Cryptodragon’s Twitter account repeatedly referred to a woman called Nari as the project’s co-founder. Interviews with her were once on YouTube, but these have now been deleted.
Nari’s Twitter account, which lists her location as Canada, has not tweeted in over a year.
Those who have lost out on Cryptodragons point to other names that may have been involved, but this is difficult to independently confirm and most of the details have been scrubbed from the internet.
In November 2021, an unsolicited email was sent to journalists from a ‘Rosie Philson’ sharing a press release about ‘Cryptodragons Metaverse’.
The Athletic called the UK phone number at the bottom of the email and a woman answered.
She initially said she was “not involved in that project” anymore, but when pressed further on details – such as where the money has gone – she claimed she knew nothing about anything until she hung up the phone.
As for the losers, both of the anonymous Americans interviewed for this piece are seasoned cryptocurrency investors who engage in high-risk, high-reward investments who claim not to be financially devastated by their losses.
But for others like Kurnaz in Istanbul – and many others who will never be identified – the Cryptodragons scheme represents a life-changing loss.
When asked if he wants to say anything to Pogba or the faceless people behind Cryptodragons, Kurnaz says no. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he says. “You can’t do anything.
“In Turkey it’s too easy because people always need easy money. People are always chasing easy money. You will try to make easy money so that you lose again.”
“That’s why the poor are always poor.”
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)
