Popular NFT collector is accused of exploiting female NFT artists

Several female NFT artists have accused a popular NFT collector, who goes by the name Kato, of emotional abuse. In a lengthy article, entrepreneur, writer and artist Rebekah Bastian claimed she spoke to 17 female artists, who accused Kato of “manipulation, control, humiliation, shaming and threats”. Reportedly, Kato has also created a private community called KatoKrew with more than 200 young female artists.

So, what exactly are the charges against the NFT collector, Kato?

What did female NFT artists accuse Kato of?

The stories the female artists shared have a similar pattern. Kato is first “very nice, kind and supportive” towards the artists. He “manipulates” them to be more “dependent” on him, while constantly trying to “control” them, Bastian alleged.

First, KatoKrew has multiple communication channels, including Telegram and Discord, where members can share and bid on each other’s artwork. Apparently, it’s also mandatory for members to tweet their work with the hashtag #KatoKrew. Bastian alleged that it is in these channels that Kato “creates a sense of control, paranoia and competition among his ‘girls'”.

Furthermore, the NFT collector allegedly put different combinations of women in different chats to make them compete with each other. “He’s the master of playing people against each other if he wants to sow distrust,” a female artist told Bastian.

Bastian also alleged that Kato put artists who disagreed with him on a “timeout” on Discord. Allegedly, the NFT collector also tried to control which communities the women were part of, who they sold their works to, and which tweets they liked.

Humiliation, shame and threats

In her articleBastian further alleged that Kato often humiliated and abused women. “He treated me like shit, telling me he made me up, that I owed him my life, that I wasn’t good enough and stuff,” one woman told Bastian.

Furthermore, whenever KatoKrew members did things Kato disagreed with, he would often publicly “blame and shame them.” In the screenshots Bastian shared of the female artists she spoke to, Kato can be seen telling women that he is “disappointed” with them, or that they “betrayed” him.

“Kato’s next step when he feels he has lost control of someone is to threaten to sabotage their art careers, and often tries to follow through on those threats,” Bastian alleged. Artists shared that Kato allegedly tried to stop collectors from investing in artists he was angry with. On some occasions he even wrote to the artist’s friends to unsubscribe from them.

Also, Kato allegedly has a “blacklist” of artists you can’t buy from. However, Bastian added that she was unable to confirm its existence. Furthermore, a group of artists have also come together to support female artists who have either left KatoKrew or are trying to leave it after emotional abuse.

Kato has yet to respond to any of the allegations (at press time).