Doxxed founder of Space Poggers NFT accused of rugging after a long silence

Everyone is well aware of how some NFT founders can exploit the collection’s funds for their own benefit. This time the case is of @NiftyWhaleNFT who was the founder of Space Poggers NFT collection. Let’s see how the founder used his anonymity to use the collection fund for his personal gains.

This is to note that currently Space Poggers NFT project has new leaders and they’re doing a great job with the collection.

The backstory of the Space Poggers NFT collection

Twitter user and DeFi enthusiast @BaxendaleNFT broke down what went wrong with great details and proof.

To begin, Nifty created an NFT project worth 1121 ETH and just after 3 months, he left the project.
Basically, the main goal of Space Poggers NFT project was to launch an animated series featuring various cartoon space animals. In fact, Nifty himself stated in a podcast that a large chunk of the $10M will go towards building the game.

Moving along, the NFT project was launched on August 8th 2021, and it was sold out within 30 minutes. Significantly, it raised over 1,121 ETH ($4M) from the public mint. However, due to a contract bug, refunds totalling 535 ETH were reduced.

What were the various claims against the founder of Space Poggers NFT?

According to a recent Twitter post by @BaxendaleNFT, the NFT community accused @NiftyWhaleNFT of the following claims:

1. Misrepresentation of Funds: Only $50k of & $4M was spent on the animation, despite it being the main selling point as mentioned before.

   

2. Nifty misled investors on the Discord channel by claiming that the majority of the mint would go to an animation project. By the same token, the original members of the team would not be compensated. Around 650 ETH was paid out at a 50% rate to developers, with less than 15 ETH going to animation.

   

3. Still paid 650 ETH to the devs that caused the bugs: The NFT project had to pay 500 ETH in a refund due to a contact bug. While the money was spent from the 1121 treasury and at collectors’ expense, Nifty still paid the devs 650ETH, which obviously drained the treasury.

   

4. Lies: Despite all the accusations, Nifty still claimed that he never received any funds from Space Poggers NFT collection on the discord server. On the other hand, it was found out that he owned one of the “dev” wallets and even made off with at least 350 ETH.

Accordingly, Nifty used the 350 ETH in three known ways.

How did Nifty use 350 ETH for his own benefit?

Firstly, @BaxendaleNFT shared where Nifty tweeted about playing the MAYC game and verified it on the BAYC Discord on the same day of the BAYC purchases. Simultaneously, on the same Pogger “dev” wallet bought, 2 BAYC’s supports the accusations even more.

Secondly, Nifty was a guest on Gary Vee’s podcast where he said that he owned multiple Veefriends NFTs. To demonstrate further, his official public wallet and one of Pogger’s “devs” wallets own a Vee Friends goat.

Thirdly, a wallet with the ENS address “d*******m.eth” received a 1 ETH payment from a @SpacePoggersNFT OpenSea wallet. This matches the name of the CEO of NiftyWhale, Inc—a DE corporation operating in CA. The last 25 ETH in this wallet were cashed out to Coinbase.

What happened next?

@BaxendaleNFT further explains how Nifty statement on being an investor and his personal journey also lies. For example, he first writes that he got into crypto in 2014; on the contrary, he told Garyvee that he got into crypto in 2016. You can see more instances of the contradiction in Nifty’s statement over here. Moreover, before appearing on Garyvee’s podcast to discuss Space Poggers NFT, @NiftyWhaleNFT changed the OpenSea royalty wallet to an unknown wallet to the community. The podcast generated a lot of traffic.

Ultimately, after 3 months of the NFT project’s release, Nifty left the project giving health issues as a reason. Back in September, he also admitted to lying about his ownership of the BAYC wallet, but alas he didn’t give into other claims, saying the funds were manipulated by one of the devs wallets.

Regardless of all the mishappenings, the Space Poggers NFT project is making a fresh start. While the majority of rugs are anonymous, Nifty’s biz-license provides an IRL connection and the possibility of legal action.