On Monday, a crowd of seemingly enraged protesters carrying provocative signs reading "God Hates NFTs," "Make Fiat Great Again" and "Vitalik Is the Antichrist," caused a stir on social media.
There was strong pushback against non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at the peak of their popularity in 2021, with "right-clickers" railing against "worthless jpegs." That said, the unhinged picketing in the heart of New York during the annual NFT.NYC conference seemed like a step too far.
The majority of Twitter users started ridiculing the protestors without realizing that the joke was actually on them. Only a handful of users realized that the whole event was fake.
As reported by AdAge, the picket was a hilarious marketing stunt orchestrated by streetwear brand The Hundreds.
Co-founder Bobby Kim, who posted the viral video on his social media accounts, confessed that his company came up with the over-the-top slogans and hired actors.
Without taking sides between crypto haters and supporters, Kim says that the whole thing was designed to "let off steam."
In this meantime, NFTs continue to attract more criticism after their prices collapsed in tandem with the rest of the cryptocurrency market. As reported by U.Today, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently lambasted NFTs as a sham, claiming that they are based on the "greater fool theory."
Arman Shirinyan
U.Today Editorial Team
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin