Is NFT a "killing pig" set by a few KOLs?

Written by: wale.swoosh

Compilation: Luffy, Foresight News

Have you ever heard such a conspiracy theory: NFT is a game manipulated by a group of KOLs.

You may have heard the terms “KOL Cabal” or “WAGMI Cabal” at some point. It is often used to allude to the mysterious forces that control the fate of NFTs. But does it really exist?

Let's look at two examples first:

Art Gobblers

Art Gobblers is one of the most controversial NFTs of 2022 and is often cited as the best example of how the NFT cabal works.

A free-minted NFT that trades for over 15 ETH on the secondary market. The problem is, it has been accused of false deals and publicity.

Art Gobblers was the first NFT project to really make the Blur marketplace famous in terms of transaction volume. It helped Blur's daily transaction volume jump from less than $2 million to $17 million. Worth mentioning: Paradigm is among the investors in both Art Gobblers and Blur.

Blur also has some well-known KOL supporters, some of whom have made handsome profits from the Art Gobblers casting.

In addition, some of the marketing copy was popular before the Art Gobblers were minted, and it was precisely some KOLs who were considered to belong to the "cabal" who spread them.

"Art Gobblers is a trap woven together by the WAGMI cabal to dump on its fans," the charge states.

Opepen edition

Recent discussions about the "WAGMI Cabal" have largely revolved around the Oppen edition.

After Threadguy changed his PFP to Opepen and earned over $100k with TGopen edition, many KOLs also changed their PFP to Opepen.

Some other Web3 companies in the market are also jumping on the bandwagon. In the next few hours, the floor price of Oppen edition increased by about 0.3 ETH.

“This was a consensual pump and dump from which the WAGMI cabal profited,” the charge said.

Does the Cabal really exist?

The above two examples provide some circumstantial evidence, but do they really prove the existence of the WAGMI cabal? We still need to distinguish carefully.

Art Gobblers casting is indeed odd, but few profitable KOLs are tweeting about the project. The "cabal" requires a large group of influential KOLs to collude with each other.

As for the Open edition, it really dominates the screen and can be seen everywhere on encrypted Twitter. However, the key issue is intent.

A cabal means having a clear common intention (often a financial goal). For example, pulling up Openopen to sell one's position.

Often these explanations are much more mundane than some people would have you believe.

When something goes viral on NFT Twitter and KOLs jump on board, they're usually doing it for engagement, not for a manipulative conspiracy.

However, that doesn't mean conspiracies can't happen. As a KOL, you have responsibilities. “What if followers buy this item just because I tweeted about it?” This tradeoff isn’t always easy.

Let me give a personal example:

Remember FatZukis? It’s a meme that went viral on NFT Twitter earlier this month.

I also downplayed this in an interesting tweet:

Is it my fault if someone buys a FatZuki and loses money because of my tweets, even though I never owned a FatZuki, received no payment, or flagged a FatZuki account?

I don't think so, but I understand other people's point of view too. There are indeed KOLs promoting and profiting from obvious junk NFTs on a daily basis.

I didn't name them, but they were real. To be fair, some of them at least marked "#AD" on the ad, which is a good start.

Yes, there are advantages to having a large number of fans and influence in the NFT field.

On the one hand, it is easy for KOLs to get whitelist spots; on the other hand, it is easier for KOLs to attract people’s attention to small projects, so as to reach cooperation with other companies.

But it's no different than the real world.

So, we conclude:

• KOL has obvious advantages over ordinary people.
• Unethical KOLs do exist.
• KOL activities will trigger a chain reaction.

But this is not enough to prove the existence of the "WAGMI cabal", and the NFT will not be "manipulated" because of this.