‘Women-Led’ NFT Collection Worth $1.5 Million Found To Be Run By Russian Men
Image via DigitalArtChick
Last month, 8,888 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) designed by women, in support of women, were minted. This was a welcome change to the male-dominated field, with many people showing interest in the collection.
The ‘Fame Lady Squad’ were said to have been behind the collection – Cindy and Andrea, a marketer and developer who hailed from the US, and Kelda, a Norwegian artist. Customers could own the NFTs, which featured head-and-shoulders illustrations of women in unique looks, by paying in the cryptocurrency Ethereum.
However, according to a report by Input, it seems the entire premise of the sale had been a lie. The three women running ‘Fame Lady Squad’ were in fact, not women. As per NFT enthusiast Fedor Linnik, the “women” ended up being Russian men.
With the ‘Fame Lady Squad’ had not being forthcoming with replies on Discord, Linnik and other online personnel began to poke holes in the trio’s story. He even recalled Telegram chats he had with the men he suspected to be behind the act.
“I believe these guys understand Western society pretty well, and that’s why they can manipulate us easily,” said Linnik, who said he believed the intentions behind the collection was cynical.
This week, the creators of the ‘Fame Lady Squad’ took to to a report by Twitter for the lie. One of the founders, Max Rand, wrote: “Sorry for the lie, I was too afraid to say this because of [a] lot of threats [on] my side.”
Although the revelation caught many investors off guard, the saga did reach a somewhat of a happy ending. After the exposé, the founders agreed to donate US$100,000 of their nearly US$1.5 million earnings to support future NFT artists and projects. They also gave up control of the project to actual women, including a realtor in Canada named Ashleigh Smith.
Smith herself had minted several NFTs, and even bought several on the secondary market later on. The appeal of strong, powerful women “was one of the pieces that created a lot of excitement around the project. The NFT and crypto space in general is very male-dominated, and I think many are looking to see more diversity,” she explained.
Another investor, Danielle Davis from Minnesota, said she bought into the collection due to the messaging too. “The community was so vibrant, and it was all about women’s empowerment. That’s really what sucked me into it,” she said.
Now, the new women owners are looking ahead. “Over the last couple of days, I’ve really focused on moving forward and what we might be able to do for the community,” Smith added.
That's why we with John Russo, D Mefi and @UnicornGGClub decided to create a grand of $100'000 for new NFT projects and NFT community!
— Max Rand (@realMaxRand) August 10, 2021
We will support early stage projects and artists in NFT. The details and the website coming soon.
The FLS team transferred their contract to me, and I've transferred to @iamboredbecky, who was elected by the community to steward
— artchick.eth 🔥👠 (on vacation 🌴) (@digitalartchick) August 11, 2021
Next steps will be decided by her and the community (i have no say!)
original team no longer gets royalties from FLS, they are removed completely
[via Input, cover image via DigitalArtChick]
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