Sunmi criticized by investors as her NFT project (expectedly) shits the bed, fans (also expectedly) proven right

Three years ago in the face of fan backlash, Sunmi and ABYSS Company went to the mat in defense of their NFT project Sunmiya Club (alongside FSN & Hands Studio), with her making an appeal to fans to trust her and the company defending the decision.

Well, like a lot of NFT-related things in the past couple years, it has went belly up and it’s now effectively worthless with no future plans.

However, in the latter half of 2022, the collapse of Terra-Luna and the bankruptcy of U.S. crypto exchange FTX triggered a market crash. As a result, Sunmi’s NFTs plummeted in value. Once worth millions of won per unit, they now trade for mere tens of thousands.
Critics have targeted Sunmi, accusing her of inaction following the NFT sellout despite her heavy involvement in its promotion. Some investors have accused her of a “rug pull.” In this fraudulent scheme, project creators lure investors with exaggerated claims before abruptly withdrawing funds and abandoning the project.

Despite complaints, the company insists they’ve fulfilled their obligations.

Investor A, who claims to have put over 50 million won ($37,500) into Sunmi’s NFT, told Kyunghyang, “The issuers asked us to trust them, so we waited, but the project never materialized. It’s unacceptable that no one is taking responsibility.”
Meanwhile, the issuing company defended itself, stating, “We have fulfilled all the milestones laid out in the original roadmap and have continued operations. The funds raised from the NFT sales were used for operational costs and the development of a new platform launched last year.”

Due to a lack of regulation — ironically the supposed appeal of these things — there’s not a ton of recourse for investors at this point.

On one hand, I don’t care a great deal about many people who get scammed by NFT shit. Like … you got what you asked for, don’t cry for the government now. On the other hand, public figures who carelessly attach their names to this kind of shit deserve at least some of the backlash they get as well, if for no other reason than they effectively cash in at the cost of their own fans.

Not that it matters, I suppose, as with the way K-pop companies are trying to be tech bros, the next grift will always be around the corner.