A new controversy has erupted over controversial crypto influencer Alex Saunders.
Alex Saunders, a crypto influencer and the founder of Nuggets News in Australia, is facing controversy for his non-fungible token (NFT) sale that took place late last year. His followers claim that he raised $57,000 in NFT from them to create a virtual community headquarters that has yet to materialise.
Nuggets News is a premium subscription service that provides users with technical analysis and cryptocurrency recommendations. It was launched by Saunders in 2017. Nuggets News has approximately 146,000 subscribers on YouTube as of August 17, according to the company.
To commemorate the launch of the Nuggets News community headquarters in the crypto-powered virtual metaverse of Decentraland, Saunders issued 100 Nuggets News Tokens (NFTs) in November 2020. The tokenized tickets, according to Saunders, would grant holders access to an exclusive Nuggets News community headquarters being developed in the virtual metaverse of Decentraland.
Saunders set the price of the NFTs at one Ether (ETH), which was worth approximately $570 at the time. In the weeks following the launch, Saunders apparently sold all of his NFTs, netting a total of $57,000 in donations from his followers. At today’s values, one hundredth of an ETH is worth approximately $315,000.
“An educational, collaborative workspace in virtual reality,” the influencer said in a post to Saunders’ subscription-based Facebook group, describing the virtual headquarters as being equipped with “professional offices” and even a function centre.
An article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on August 16 stated that Saunders has not yet paid the blockchain development studio Polygonal Mind for the construction of the virtual headquarters.
Despite the fact that Saunders received $57,000 in donations from his followers, Polygonal Mind is said to have quoted the influencer less than 10,000 Australian dollars ($7,300) to finish the job.
The CEO of Polygonal Mind, Daniel Garcia, argues that Saunders has repeatedly pushed back the project’s debut date, despite the fact that the virtual headquarters has been completed in full. Garcia told AFR that after learning about Saunders’ reported financial woes, he made the decision to abandon the project:
“When we learned of all these other problems Alex has been having, we have drawn a line under this one and let it go. We don’t want to be associated with this kind of activity.”
“I believe he could have made a lot of money running this legitimate business, so why all this shady stuff?” Garcia added.
According to AFR, an unknown investor has stated that they are considering bringing legal action against Saunders in connection with the metaverse project. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with the NFT’s architecture, which ensures that Saunders will pocket 50 percent of all secondary sales.
“So not only did Alex Saunders get my money when I bought this NFT, he gets 50 percent of the price if I on-sell it,” they said.
*Correction@SBF_Alameda This is 1 of the address in which @AlexSaundersAU managed to take funds from paying users of his community.
Would be nice to know if there is a chance of recovery for these people……..This is now over 8 figures of fraud.https://t.co/4KT6w5rKTY
— DeFi Ted (0xbakes) (@DeFi_Ted) July 22, 2021