Key Takeaways
- The U.S. Division of Justice has charged the creators of the Frosties NFT collection with fraud and cash laundering.
- Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna allegedly stole over $1 million by finishing up a rug pull whereas promoting their NFTs.
- Although the creators didn’t ship on the undertaking’s guarantees, Frosties NFTs stay in circulation amongst buyers.
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The U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) has charged two people concerned within the Frosties NFT undertaking with fraud.
Frosties Creators Carried Out Rug Pull
Frosties creators Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna reportedly defrauded buyers of $1.1 million by way of their scheme.
The DOJ says that the 2 people carried out a “rug pull” whereas promoting their NFTs. The creators bought tokens that includes ice cream-themed collectible characters with varied attributes. Traders would have been capable of earn cryptocurrency by way of staking and breeding. They might have gained entry to a broader metaverse sport.
Nonetheless, the 2 creators didn’t did ship the advantages and rewards that they initially marketed. After the Frosties NFTs bought out, the creators deactivated the undertaking’s web site and despatched the cash they earned to their very own cryptocurrency wallets.
Nguyen and Llacuna labored underneath varied aliases together with “Frostie,” “Jakefiftyeight,” “Jobo,” “Joboethan,” “Meltfrost,” and “heyandre.”
Every has been charged with one depend of wire fraud, carrying a most sentence of 20 years in jail, and one depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering, which carries a most sentence of 20 years.
Frosties Tokens Proceed to Flow into
Although the DOJ didn’t make an announcement till immediately, the Frosties rug pull passed off months in the past on Jan. 9.
Though that occasion prevented buyers from reaping the promised advantages, Frosties NFTs remain in circulation. OpenSea stories that 69.4 ETH ($216,000) of NFTs have been traded thus far.
Additionally in circulation can be a community-made collection referred to as Wrapped Frosties, which goals to fulfill a few of the undertaking’s authentic objectives. That collection has circulated 2.6 ETH ($8,000) thus far.
The unique creators additionally deliberate to launch a second NFT line referred to as Embers, which was anticipated to earn $1.5 million. It seems that this collection remains to be energetic underneath a unique crew.
Disclosure: On the time of writing, the writer of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and different cryptocurrencies.
