Celebrity-endorsed NFTs leave some investors 'financially crippled'

[Demovictory9]

When Floyd Mayweather started touting an obscure NFT project on Twitter this year, Tyler jumped at the investment opportunity.

Mayweather, a boxing legend, had already served as Tyler’s “biggest inspiration” in his martial arts training. But Tyler was also looking for investment opportunities and figured Mayweather, who often calls himself “Money May,” was worth listening to.

“What I need everybody to do right now: Go get a Bored Bunny NFT,” said Mayweather, dressed in a Louis Vuitton vest with a diamond bracelet, a necklace and a gold watch. “You’re hearing it from the one and only Floyd ‘Make-That-Money’ Mayweather.”

Tyler, 35, a property manager whose family runs a small Miami-based trucking company, said he put together about $12,000 with the help of his mother and bought the nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, digital tokens that convey ownership of digital images. In this case, the project was a series of images of rabbits similar in nature to the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club images that helped fuel a boom in NFT art projects.

Those NFTs are now worth far less than Tyler paid.

“This basically financially crippled me,” said Tyler, who asked to be identified by only his first name because he fears online trolls who ridicule unsuccessful NFT investors. Now, especially with inflation, Tyler said, he is struggling to afford gas for his car and groceries to eat. He said he feels Mayweather and the other promoters “took their payouts and moved on while everybody who scraped by to invest in their futures got robbed.”

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Tyler Lengyel, 29, a Bored Bunny investor from Texas, spent about $6,000 on Bored Bunny NFTs when the tokens were minted in January. It was around that time that he was leaving his job in sales management for personal reasons. Within weeks, he suddenly had no income, a depleted savings account and NFTs that were nearly worthless. He found temporary work at an Amazon warehouse and then started driving for Uber. This month, while Mayweather flaunted his $42,500 winnings from a different $10,000 boxing bet on Instagram, Lengyel had to sell his car to help cover his bills through July.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/celebrity-endorsed-nfts-leave-investors-financially-crippled-rcna27705

[PoliticAverse]

1. Whenever investing in something, ask yourself - Why would someone pay more for this than I did?

If your answer is - because someone else will pay even more - you are investing in "the greater fool theory". And the greater fool may very well be you.

And almost every "celebrity endorsement" is just a celebrity being paid a one time fee and that's the extent of their interest and knowledge of what they're endorsing.

[JI7]

3. Yup, why didn't the celeb themselves buy up these things

if they were worth investing in.

[JI7]

2. Mayweather got wealthy becsuse of boxing. Not becsuse he is a great investor

I have a hard time feeling bad for this guy.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

4. A fool and his money something something nt

[nycbos]

5. Why would anyone take financial advice from celebrities?

It would seem like common sense that's a bad idea. But common in sense is extremely short supply.

[Javaman]

6. Just another grift. nt

[keithbvadu2]

7. You have to pay for NFTs with fungible money.

You have to pay for NFTs with fungible money.

[Srkdqltr]

8. So a person is spending " real" money, spendable money,

On virtual images of rabbits? He doesn't deserve money in any form.

[SWBTATTReg]

9. Oh sure, I'll buy your NFT with my NFTs! Should be a fair trade, shouldn't it if your NFT are worth

anything, mine should be too.

Watch and see just how many sellers of these so called 'valuable' NFTs take you up on your offer.

[Lettuce Be]

10. Why anyone would invest in NFT's is beyond me. They are smoke, no mirrors, just smoke

What a world we live in.

[Johnny2X2X]

12. They have value just like everything else

They're worth the value buyers assign to it. The economy has gotten a little more risky, so people are moving their money into more stable investments. NFTs made a ton of money for those who anticipated this and sold a few months ago.

The dollar has no intrinsic value, it's only worth what you can buy with it. Gold has almost no value, but what people assign to it. NFTs and Crypto are no different than gold, just not as old and much less stable.

[shrike3]

13. But a dollar and a piece of gold are things I can hold in my hands.

An NFT is not. People can do whatever they want with their money, I guess. The people profiled in this article are young, at least, and have time to recoup.

[Demovictory9]

15. You cant hold the latest spiderman movie in your hands but it has value

You can.purchase the right to own a.copy or view something that exists in digital form only

Nfts are like music or movies in assigning ownership and.value

[shrike3]

16. Then other people can spend their money on them. Not for me.

Also didn't work out too well for the folks in this story, but oh well. They're young; they're recoup.

[Tarc]

11. "Mayweather...had already served as Tyler's "biggest inspiration""

For what? Tips on domestic violence?

There is nothing redeemable or admirable about Floyd Mayweather Jr.

[mathematic]

14. Tyler knew NFTs are a greater fool scam. He just thought that greater fool was somebody else nt