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Fat Fingers or Fraud? Why Someone Paid $1.4 Million for a $1,000 NFT

2 mins
Updated by Geraint Price
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In Brief

  • A wallet paid 1,055 WETH (~$1.4 million) for a CrypToadz NFT, 1,000 times its average price of 0.95 ETH, sparking suspicions of fraud.
  • Some speculate the deal was a wash trade, a deceptive practice that creates a mirage of market activity, or money laundering.
  • Or it could be a typing error, as the wallet made multiple offers for other NFTs, possibly mistyping a comma instead of a period.
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A wallet paid 1,055 Wrapped Ethereum (WETH) for a CrypToadz non-fungible token (NFT) that was worth 0.950 Ethereum (ETH) two weeks ago. Is it just a mistake or a fraud?

While some claim that the NFTs are dead, one person made a 1,000x return on their CrypToadz #4030 NFT. According to the collection’s OpenSea page:

“CrypToadz are a collection 6969 small amphibious creatures trying to escape the tyrannical rule of the Evil King.”

Possible Reasons Behind CrypToadz NFT Sale

OpenSea data shows that a wallet, 0xe1a0, purchased the CrypToadz #4030 NFT for 1,055 WETH (around $1.4 million) on Oct. 9. The deal came to the community’s attention because the average price of that particular NFT remained around 0.95 ETH. But 0xe1a0 paid over 1,000 times more than the average price.

The wallet also paid around $41,500 in fees to the NFT marketplace OpenSea. 

Read more: Top 9 OpenSea Alternatives in 2023

CrypToadz #4030 NFT, non-fungible token, NFT
CrypToadz #4030 NFT’s price history. Source: OpenSea

Some community members are speculating that there is a good chance that the deal was a wash trade. Previously, BeInCrypto explained

“Wash trading is a form of market manipulation where an entity buys and sells the same asset simultaneously. This deceptive practice creates a mirage of market activity while the beneficial ownership of the asset remains unaltered.”

On tracking the funds’ on-chain flow, it can be seen that 0xe1ao received 1,115.90 ETH from another wallet – 0x8Da4. However, 0x8Da4 received the funds from the crypto mixer Tornado Cash in batches of around 99.5 ETH.

Due to this on-chain behavior, some community members suspect money laundering activities. An X (Twitter) user wrote:

“A rugger purchasing his another wallet NFT pretending it’s a fat finger”

Read more: Top 7 Tornado Cash Alternatives in 2023

NFT wallet, Tornado Cash
0x8Da4 wallet address received funds from Tornado Cash. Source: Etherscan

However, some speculate it was a fat finger error (typing mistake). Indeed, the wallet address made multiple offers of 1.055 ETH for other NFTs from the CrypToadz collection. Hence, there is a possibility that for CrypToadz #4030, the person typed a comma instead of a period and spent 1,000 times more than intended.

What are your thoughts?

CrypToadz NFTs
0xe1ao’s multiple bids for CrypToadz NFTs. Source: OpenSea

Meanwhile, the NFT market is going through a challenging phase. DappRadar data shows that trading volume has dropped to its lowest point since the first quarter of last year.

Amid the slump in the NFT trading volume, the top NFT developer, Yuga Labs, announced on Oct. 6 that it was cutting its workforce.

Read more: 10 Best NFT Marketing Agencies To Promote Your Digital Art

NFT Trading volume
NFT trading volume. Source: DappRadar

Do you have anything to say about CrypToadz NFT or anything else? Write to us or join the discussion on our Telegram channel. You can also catch us on TikTok, Facebook, or X (Twitter).

For BeInCrypto’s latest Bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here.

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Disclaimer

In adherence to the Trust Project guidelines, BeInCrypto is committed to unbiased, transparent reporting. This news article aims to provide accurate, timely information. However, readers are advised to verify facts independently and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content. Please note that our Terms and ConditionsPrivacy Policy, and Disclaimers have been updated.

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Harsh Notariya
Harsh Notariya is an Editorial Standards Lead at BeInCrypto, who also writes about various topics, including decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), tokenization, crypto airdrops, decentralized finance (DeFi), meme coins, and altcoins. Before joining BeInCrypto, he was a community consultant at Totality Corp, specializing in the metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Additionally, Harsh was a blockchain content writer and researcher at Financial Funda, where he created...
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