Pixel Penguins, an NFT challenge allegedly created by an artist battling most cancers, has been uncovered as a rip-off utilizing stolen artwork.
How Pixel Penguins NFTs grew to become in style
On Could 30, crypto influencer Andrew Wang wrote a Twitter thread detailing how the self-proclaimed pixel artist Hopeexist1 had been battling eye most cancers and creating digital artwork for the neighborhood.
Wang urged his neighborhood to contribute to the artist’s hospital payments by shopping for her artwork. He added:
“I hear lots about how web3 isn’t what it was once, and I’m typically responsible of being a complainer greater than something. Reality is web3 is what we would like it to be, and for one, the artists right here haven’t stopped creating. We don’t have to decide on them however we are able to’t faux they don’t exist.”
The thread, alongside a number of others, quickly gathered sympathy and a spotlight from the broader neighborhood who donated to the trigger.
This elevated publicity helped the gathering to promote out quick and pattern on OpenSea. Nevertheless, additional scrutiny from the neighborhood quickly revealed that the NFTs have been stolen artwork and the individual didn’t have most cancers.
Scammer revamped $100k
In a Could 31 Twitter thread, blockchain investigator ZachXBT stated the Pixel Penguin contract had 61.686 ETH value over $117,000.
ZachXBT additional revealed that the scammer moved 63.5 ETH produced from the rip-off to 2 new addressees on the OKX crypto trade.
In the meantime, the scammer has since deactivated her Twitter account, and the ground value of the gathering tanked 86% to 0.004 ETH from a peak of 0.075 ETH on OpenSea. Based on knowledge from the NFT market, Pixel Penguins recorded 6,582 gross sales, and its quantity was 216 ETH.
Moreover, Wang apologized for sharing the gathering, saying he believed it was actual.
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