LooksRare, a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace called the OpenSea killer is facing a backlash from the NFT community after the team behind the project cashed out millions in Ether cryptocurrency (ETH).
The digital collectibles marketplace confirmed that the team has cashed out 10,500 WETH or around $30 million at the current price of Ethereum. The team cashed out from the unattributed staked native token LOOKS. The native token was used for paying fees on the platform and was also awarded to users when they sell NFTs on the marketplace. However, the team has cashed out the unattributed LOOks tokens for Ether on the crypto mixing tool Tornado Cash.
A heavy backlash followed the news. When the news became public LOOks plunged by almost 15% in the aftermath. Nonetheless, one of the team members Tweeted that withdrawals are not a secret.
Zodd, one of the core members, added that the LooksRare team has been working on the platform for over six months without any monetary compensation and had fronted the seven-figure cost before the launch.
The LooksRare team told Cointelegraph that the withdrawn WETH was a small portion earned from the trading fees and no LOOKS token has been sold. The team also added that 80,000 WETH was distributed among LOOKS stakers in the past 30 days.
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To address this:
First off, the amount is incorrect: it’s closer to 10,500 ETH and we have 10+ full-time team members.
You can verify the amount on the blockchain by checking ETH transfers sent out on the analytics tab from the team address.https://t.co/Z4Qkv5T02a
— Zodd (@ZoddLooksRare) February 14, 2022
“Love that you address this like “we haven’t been paid for 6 months.” So each team member just cashed out over 3 million USD (for 6 months’ work) leaving the public bag holders broke with a shitty chart like this? Joke…. community-driven lol. Another crypto sad joke tbh.”
“So why tornado it? Seems like you kinda got caught cashing out and now damage control.”
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