TL;DR Breakdown
- BitClout, a blockchain social platform, sells celebrity NFTs (called Creator Coins) without their consent.
- The value of some celebrity coins has skyrocketed.
Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is the buzz in the crypto world right now as it is already gaining more popularity. Recently, Beeple’s digital art record sold an art collection through NFTs to a pseudonymous Metakovan for $69 million. So, the current mania about the concept of NFTs is not surprising.
BitClout Sells celebrity NFTs without consent
BitClout, a decentralized social network, has been accused of selling celebrity-backed NFTs without their consent. The NFTs, called Creator Coins, represent the identity of top influencers. Also, the value of the coins was tied to their social evaluation and popularity. This means that people would be able to speculate on the coin of each influencer and make gains from the sales.
For instance, before the website went down, the Creator Coin of Kanye West had skyrocketed above $7,000 while the market price was just $88. This might be revolutionary in terms of social networking. However, it is bad that the tokens were sold without the consent of the celebrities.
BitClout’s actions and NFT Fraud
The saturation of the NFT market has come with a growing concern regarding the rise of counterfeit products. While NFT seems revolutionary, some bad actors have taken advantage of the buzz to perpetrate fraud. Not long ago, an imposter made over $1 million by selling Bansky art NFTs to unsuspecting individuals.
Pest Control, which authenticates all Banksy’s works has revealed that it had no prior knowledge of the NFT sales. However, the damage had already been done before OpenSea closed his account. NFTs are promising because they would allow for digital artworks to be sold in ways that had never been before now. Nonetheless, for the NFT niche to thrive, it has to be rid of tricksters and fraudulent persons who deceive fans by selling counterfeit products.
