Good day everybody,
Welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. I'm back again with another post regarding something I saw on Reddit CryptoCurrency Group, which ended up being quite the enthralling read. Especially in the comments section. The post is titled "WSB Mod Sold Exclusive Free Reddit Avatar for 14 ETH and He Doesn't Want You To Know" and is all about the NFTs which were exclusive to the WSB community back in December 2022. I will break down what happened and the responses, including from those involved, and you can find the original post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/11367r1/wsb_mod_sold_exclusive_free_reddit_avatar_for_14/
Reddit: Wall Street Bets (WSB) and their NFT Airdrop
Back in late 2022 the WSB group were given an exclusive collection of free Reddit Avatars, which was called "Memetic Traders x Reddit Collectible Avatars" and is viewable on OpenSea.io here: https://opensea.io/collection/memetic-traders-x-reddit-collectible-avatars.
It was a free drop to the most active users in the WSB Reddit group, and at the time was considered to be more exclusive than any other NFT drop which had taken place on Reddit. Roughly 4,900 free avatars were given away, which when compared with other drops from Reddit which includes the World Cup and Superbowl Drops, is quite limited. For context, those drops are in their millions and were available to any user. Also to note, the earlier drops known as the 'Gen 1' and 'Gen 2' paid avatars had about 45,000 avatars, meaning the WSB collection is one of if not the most exclusive to have happened on Reddit to date.
As highlighted by Reddit User u/99Beers, the first 24 avatars in the collection were basically given away to the most exclusive members of the community and were, as he put it, 'cherry picked' for them. These NFT's had the rarest attributes from the collection, meaning those chosen few were guaranteed the best of the best in terms of this collection. Those attributes included:
Hat - Gold Hold (0.54% have this trait)
Left Hand - Gold Money Printer (0.54% have this trait)
Right Hand - Gold Rocket (0.54% have this trait)
There is a user on WSB who is also a moderator and one of the most well known users in the community, u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR. He was given #1 in the NFT collection, an avatar known as Golden Hedge Snoo #1. It had by far the best attributes of the lot and therefore made it the most valuable of all the NFTs. Beyond the 24 exclusive ones held for specific members, the remainder of the NFTs were created with random attributes and a random ## meaning it was a first come first serve basis, similar to the other airdrops which have happened on Reddit.
The image below taken from the original Reddit post.
The reason these users were given the most exclusive avatars were because they partnered with a Reddit Admin and provided ideas for the collection. This totalled to around 6-8 hours of their time to undertake the work in discord, bouncing ideas around of what would be the most applicable styles and themes for the collection.
Basically what Reddit User u/99Beers was bringing to light was the fact that nobody else in the community besides those exclusive to the 24 first airdrops got any of the golden traits - the rarest and most valuable attributes. The 'game is rigged' is how he described it. He then goes on to claim that not only did u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR go ahead and sell the NFT for 14 ETH, but that they way he went about selling it was done to deceived and hide the amount received.
He goes on to explain the story in detail, including with screenshots of the various transactions between OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR and u/MVEA, which happened as follows:
u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR lists Golden Hedge Snoo #1 for 69.420 ETH, and then delists it.
u/MVEA transfers Golden Hedge Snoo #22 to u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR
u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR transfers Gold Hedge Snoo #1 to u/MVEA
So far all these transactions have happened for what seems like no cost, bar minimal Gas Fees for the transfers. However, u/99Beers dug deeper into the blockchain and discovered a number of interesting transactions as follows:
u/MVEA transferred 9.98 ETH to u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR through a different wallet from their ones on Opensea.
After that transfer, u/MVEA sends Golden Snoo #22 to u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR on the Polygon Network.
u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR transfers Golden Hedge Snoo #1 to u/MVEA also on the Polygon Network.
u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR transfers the 9.98 ETH to a CoinBase Wallet.
u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR sells Golden Snoo #22 a few days later.
u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR uses HOP Protocol to bridge the ETH earned from selling Golden Snoo #22 from the Polygon Mainnet to Ethereum Mainnet.
Finally, u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR transfers the ETH to the same CoinBase Wallet.
All in all u/99Beers explains that they did all this research because they felt 'fundamentally opposed to the way Reddit rolled out the WSB drop.' They didn't agree that a select few got the best available NFTs while the rest had to battle it out for the random drops.
However, from what I saw in the entire post, there did not seem to be any mischievous dealings happening. It is quite common for people to make deals without making use of a third party marketplace such as Opensea, mainly to avoid the fee which Opensea takes on all transactions. Making private deals, especially for high priced NFTs such as these, is normal and standard in general.
r/CryptoCurrency Community Response
As always plenty of users decided to leave their opinions on the post, with a mixed response throughout. Some were on the side of u/99Beers, adding to the story in a narrative of 'Reddit gives moderators free money.' While in ways this could be taken as a correct view, there is also the fact that the by being active on the subreddit they have been rewarded, and not for just being a random user. Others were quick to point out it was strange that WSB were the group given the exclusive NFTs and not the CryptoCurrency group or even an NFT based group. Likely the reason why WSB was picked was due to the popularity of it and the fact it has gained a lot of media attention over the years, which in turn has brought more users on Reddit.
A more conservative approach and view was that the moderators don't get paid for their time and effort spent on the platform. They moderate the WSB subreddit purely because they want to, and devote their time to it. On top of that, the NFTs were never guaranteed to be a hit, and there was always a chance they would not have been worth nearly as much as they were in the end. Given the state of the crypto and even NFT market over the previous year, it was always a risk, albeit a calculated one. The most important thing to consider is that the moderators had no obligation to hold onto the NFTs, in-fact by selling them they garner more attention for the NFTs and collection. Not to mention the sell on fee that Reddit gets for every sale.
Those Involved Hit Back!!
After the post had been live for awhile, both u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR and u/MVEA commented, which in turn led u/99Beers to leave an Edit and disclaimer that they had possibly jumped the gun on some of their statements and conclusions. Wrongdoing was admitted for what u/99Beers considered about 50% of their argument, although they still stuck by their opinion on WSB being given the exclusive avatars in the first place.
The image below taken from the original Reddit post.
As you can see below, u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR did not hold back with their response. The main arguments they gave for their actions were:
- He did not pick his own attributes.
- He argued for a more up to date list of users who would be awarded the free avatars.
- He sold the NFT off of a traditional marketplace due to fees.
- He is paying taxes on the profits as the ETH was sent to Coinbase.
The arguments are perfectly reasonable, especially the selling off the marketplaces through a private sale. Between the Reddit sell on fee (around 5%) and the Opensea sell on fee (2.5%) it saved around 7.5% of the overall sale transaction by make a private sale, which means only the minimal Gas Fees had to be spent. Also u/OPINION_IS_UNPOPULAR is very strong in his stance that he had zero knowledge that he would be getting the most coveted avatar from the collection, while stating he often pushed for more of the newer active users in the subreddit to be included in the free mint.
The image below taken from the original Reddit post.
So there we have it. A lot of fuss, and lot of assumptions, a lot of theories. Some correct, some false. At the end of the day nobody is ever required to hold an NFT long-term. Everyone has the right to do as they wish with their own assets, including selling them on a marketplace or in a private sale. In terms of who was involved with the final decisions, I guess we will never really know and instead can only take their word for it. However, a lot could easily point to jealousy as the reason why u/99Beers went to all this effort. Maybe they didnt get as good and valuable an NFT? Or possibly it was a case they didnt get one at all. Either way, Reddit is the creator of the collection and Reddit has the right to distribute them however they see fit. Not everyone can be kept happy with their methods, but all in all there can be no complaints. I wonder how u/99Beers would have gone about it if they had been given the rarest NFT from the collection?
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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