Sotheby’s big NFT auction went from $30 million to zero in the blink of an eye.
The auction house had planned the sale of a collection of 104 NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, for up to an estimated $30 million at its New York City location on Wednesday evening. But 25 minutes after the auction was scheduled to begin, the consignor backed out of the sale, tweeting that he decided to “hodl,” or hold on to the digital asset instead.
nvm, decided to hodl https://t.co/WdQ5H7I0fl
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022
nvm, decided to hodl https://t.co/WdQ5H7I0fl
The anonymous collector who goes by 0x650d on Twitter then posted an aging 2015 Drake meme.
— 0x650d (@0x650d) February 24, 2022
In the crypto world, rug pulls or rugging are when a developer abandons a project after taking an investor’s funds.
The last-minute withdrawal of the collection of blockchain-based pixelated collectibles, otherwise known as CryptoPunks, shocked the Sotheby’s sale room according to the New York Times, and deepened the valley between highbrow art institutions and the cyberpunk culture surrounding blockchain.
What really happened to the sale?
Sotheby’s spokesman Derek Parsons said in a statement on Wednesday night that “the lot was withdrawn prior to the sale following discussions with the consignor.” Other specialists told the New York Times that auction withdrawals typically happen when there are legal concerns or a fear that the reserve price won’t be met.
People in the NFT community are hurt and worried about credibility damage.
Dude just delisted 104 punks and rugged Sotheby’s. Wtf is happening?
— John Knopf (@JohnKnopfPhotos) February 24, 2022
Dude just delisted 104 punks and rugged Sotheby’s. Wtf is happening?
Others argue that Sotheby’s wasn’t rugged at all, but instead the collector 0x650d couldn’t clear the minimum reserve so he pulled out to save face.
Bro you suck stop acting like you rugged Sotheby’s lmao you made everyone look stupid. Even the press here is laughing at us because of you stop hiding the guilt behind dumb ass memes.
— Farokh (發咯) (@farokh) February 24, 2022
Bro you suck stop acting like you rugged Sotheby’s lmao you made everyone look stupid. Even the press here is laughing at us because of you stop hiding the guilt behind dumb ass memes.
Farokh.eth tweeted afterward, “It was embarrassing. For all of us in the space.”
On Reddit, user RdudeDdude posted, “It’s annoying to see how ‘successful’ these scammers seem to be. Regardless of whether they will get caught, it’s bad publicity.” User XnoonefromnowhereX quickly retorted, “No one scammed here that I can see. Just a loss of face for Sotheby’s and this guy reinforcing some negative stereotypes about crypto culture.”
Others think this is a time of bubbles imploding.
Uh oh, is the MASSIVE speculative bubble in NFT jpegs imploding?
— Ashton Cheekly (@elwalvador) February 24, 2022
Sotheby's just pulled 104 crypto punks off one of their auctions. Maybe people are now realizing that jpegs created for a non-existent Metaverse maybe aren't worth millions of dollars. pic.twitter.com/2qVCeBiojL
Uh oh, is the MASSIVE speculative bubble in NFT jpegs imploding?
Sotheby's just pulled 104 crypto punks off one of their auctions. Maybe people are now realizing that jpegs created for a non-existent Metaverse maybe aren't worth millions of dollars. pic.twitter.com/2qVCeBiojL
And others made references to the approaching doomsday and whether or not any of this matters at all.