Non-fungible tokens are an exciting addition to the cryptocurrency space. However, there are many fake and scam projects on the market. Dillon Danis, an American MMA fighter, took $1,000 to shill a fake NFT project without disclosing he was getting paid.
Many people remain hopeful that NFTs will eventually become the new standard for digital art and collectibles. The technology has made strong inroads, but there’s more work to do. However, there are plenty of new projects, and the industry continues to grow. Unfortunately, that also means an increase in fake and scammy NFT projects.
A common trend in the industry is trying to get influencers and celebrities to promote projects. It is an excellent way to gain short-term traction but never a guarantee for success.
NFT projects taking this approach are more “miss” than “hit”, as they often lack a long-term roadmap. That said, plenty of people are willing to shill such projects if they can make some quick money.
That became apparent where Dillon Danis is concerned. He is an American MMA fighter who shilled the “SourzNFT” project through Twitter. Traditionally, promoters disclose this is an advertisement when sharing such messages. Dillon Danis did not do that, confirming some malicious intent. In addition, he did not bother researching the project.
Had Dillon Danis done so, he would have noticed something was off. There are plenty of hints at how this project is fake and won’t go anywhere. It is not a project designed to mislead investors, though. Instead, it was set up by the CoffeeZilla team to identify dishonest NFT project promoters. The mission succeeded with little effort.
The ignorance by Dillon Danis is rather glaring. On the SourzNFT website, it is mentioned that “no one can get an NFT”. Even so, the MMA fighter took the $1,000 to promote the project and never looked back.
We just tricked Dillon Danis into promoting a fake NFT project. We paid him $1,000 to post, he didn't disclose it was an #AD, and posted copy that literally spells out S.C.A.M. 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/SVo2SCoN9q
— Coffeezilla (@coffeebreak_YT) February 3, 2023
Furthermore, the SourzNFT website was created a few days ago, often indicating something is fishy. Everyone should perform such basic checks when browsing NFT projects.
It is not the first time celebrities/athletes/internet personalities have gotten caught in lies and deceit regarding NFT. The best example is Vanessa Sierra, an OnlyFans model stealing 127 ETH from investors. Although she upheld appearances – and tried to abuse DMCA to hide the truth – the evidence is in plain sight.
It is plausible to assume there will be more fake NFT projects in the future. Most people may be better off never investing in non-fungible tokens at all. It can be tricky to distinguish between worthwhile and fictitious projects. Moreover, most collections cannot retain value, let alone drive more value over time.
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