In January 2022, Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox created an NFT project called SwipaTheFox that generated $1.6 million in cryptocurrency investments.
Fox failed to deliver on his promises for the project, which included establishing scholarships for the University of Kentucky, tickets to the All-Star Game and one-on-one personalized experiences with him. He also created an account on the Discord app, which allowed the investors to chat with him personally.
On Feb. 24, Fox issued a statement on Discord saying that he was unable to continue with the project. He also tweeted a statement regarding the project.
“I want to address an NFT project we launched recently,” Fox tweeted. “The project launch was ill timed. I delegated certain aspects to the launch of the NFT in an attempt to partner with professionals. We weren’t happy with the execution & demand on my time and attention during the NBA season.”
The investors accused Fox of rug pulling, which is a tactic used in the NFT world. Founders will raise money and take all the funds for themselves. shutting down all communication with the investors.
De’Aaron Fox began promoting the NFT venture in December 2021. He laid out a roadmap of promises, including scholarship and charity giveaways.
By Feb. 23, around 3,000 people signed up, raising 475 ETH (about $1.2M). Then the project suddenly shut down. https://t.co/HscGOlGLnp pic.twitter.com/lx3ILGylAo
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) February 25, 2022
Ty Wolter, an investor who was a part of Fox’s project said he wasn’t disappointed in losing the money, but instead, in the promises that were made and broken.
“In hindsight, it was a poor investment decision. But from my perspective, I’m not upset about money being lost,” Wolter told The Sporting News. “I’m upset about being promised a service being provided, and then it never being provided. It would be like ordering a fence and them telling you it’s going to be too much effort so we’re just going to go ahead and disappear.”
