On-Chain Researcher Exposes Top Crypto Influencer Who Backed Fake NFT Project
Quick take:
- ZachXBT says Andrew Wang supported a charity project run by the face behind the Hopeexist1 Twitter account.
- The person reportedly created an NFT collection to help herself battle cancer.
- Hopeexists1 reportedly stole the artwork and then deactivated the account on Twitter.
ZachXBT has posted yet another expose of an NFT scam. The on-chain researcher on Wednesday revealed that crypto influencer Andrew Wang (@andr3w) had expressed his support for Hopeexists1’s rugged NFT project, Pixelpenguin.
The owner of the now-deleted Twitter account reportedly launched an NFT collection to help herself battle cancer.
Wang threw his weight behind the campaign posting: “I’ll put my rep on the line to say this is for real amidst all the scams in our space.”
The crypto influencer, who has nearly 190k followers on Twitter showed support to his “friend” after she started trending on social media after being spotlighted by the web3 community.
“She made a collection to battle cancer,” Wang wrote, adding that “some awesome wen3 people spotlighted her, so I’d like to add to it.”
Wang claimed to have been speaking with her art teacher whenever she went for treatment, with the teacher saying “She is the best student he’s ever had, that her talent is too precious that she must survive.”
“He cares like a father,” Wang added.
However, as it turned out, Hopeexists stole the artwork and later deleted her Twitter account.
As of this morning, the Pixel Penguin contract had more than 61 ETH, about $117k, according to evidence posted by ZachXBT. A few hours later, that figure had increased to 63.5 ETH.
Apparently, Hopeexists was previously exposed for another scam last November, which is why the community on Twitter was baffled to see that Wang may not have known.
One of the biggest obstacles to the mass adoption of web3 has been the unending conveyor belt of scams. In our recent interview with CertiK’s Director of Security Operations Hugh Brooks, the web3 security expert pointed out that to combat this challenge, it will take all the stakeholders of the industry, including users.
And to do this educating the community about best practices and how to identify warning signs is crucial. The technology to protect the web3 community from crypto exploits, rug pulls and fraud is already here, according to Brooks.
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