NFTs are highly controversial in gaming. Now, a Valorant pro has reportedly lost a lot of money. Because he followed a trend that can quickly backfire with NFTs.
NFTs are a new trend and equally controversial. Now, a well-known Valorant pro has lost a lot of money with NFTs. At least that’s what he claims on his social media channel.
Matt ”WARDELL” Yu, who is a professional player in the shooter Valorant, had invested in digital whales. These are images of whales that are supposed to be unique. He reportedly relied on a trend that can be quite costly for unsuspecting investors if the action backfires.
Pro is said to have lost 285,000 Euros, but it may not just be about money
What exactly happened? WARDELL claims on Twitter that he lost between 200,000 and 300,000 US dollars through NFTs. 300,000 US dollars is approximately 285,000 Euros. He supposedly invested the money in the “Catalina Whale” project.
How exactly did he lose the money? In several posts, he explains that money was stolen from him and that he wants to take action against it. However, he does not explain how the theft occurred.
In his first post, he speaks of “Pump.” This refers to a risky trend where unsuspecting people can quickly lose a lot of money.
In another post, he has since explained that he confronted the thief. However, he does not go into much detail:
What does Pump even mean? “Pump” refers to a risky trend in NFTs. Well-known pros or celebrities buy certain NFTs or explain how great they are. Many followers or friends then join in and also purchase the NFTs or the currency. The NFTs then begin to increase significantly in value.
Such pump actions are often used to increase the value of NFTs. For instance, the “Azuki NFT collection” increased its value from 1 ETH to 20 ETH during such an action (via business2community.com).
The previous owners then have a chance to profit and sell their NFTs significantly above the value that existed before the pump action.
The new investors then possess thousands of coins and NFTs, which however lose significant value again or even become worthless due to the sales of the previous owners. This is referred to as “Pump and Dump.”
It’s probably about more than just money: The whole action is likely to have long-term consequences. Because for WARDELL, it’s probably about more than just the money he lost. On Twitter, he openly supported the NFT group behind Catalina Whale and regularly interacted with them. Presumably, he hoped to benefit from the NFT group in the long run.
It’s not the first time an NFT project has made negative headlines. For example, the owners of digital monkeys lost around 3 million Euros just by clicking on a link:
