Another rug in the nascent stage of Aptos NFT ecosystem?
Let’s dive in. Let’s talk about Apetos Apes, and what the entire rug fuss is all about. I had to talk to the new DAO that was created for what was supposedly called a rug project to understand what is up, and before we even begin, I feel there was nothing wrong that happened for all the FUD to be caused.
So, for an outsider who wasn’t in the Discord server after the mint was completed, it was a rug because the Discord server was deleted, the well-followed and active account of Apetos Apes was deleted, and there was zero communication of what was happening. Can’t really blame the users here, and the fuel to the fire was added by Souffl3, the NFT launchpad and marketplace that posted a Twitter thread saying how Apetos Apes was a rug, and while the information there was all correct about how funds were received and transferred to a centralized exchange (typical usually in a rug condition as you cannot be tracked much), the last tweet saying “As we at Souffl3 always put: Honesty and Transparency. Those who failed to do good for the whole #Aptos ecosystem are fated to fall.” easily gave it away for me. I straight away started exploring more because when talking about a rug, you don’t promote your own service unless there’s a reason for it. It seemed like there was Topaz being targeted here.
This is the thread from Souffl3. They aren’t wrong with the information here, the address shared for mint wallet, the transfers, the new royalty and DAO wallet addresses, everything is accurate, but calling this is a rug is an attack that has no justification to it.
https://twitter.com/nft_souffl3/status/1589538908114915328
Some info for the users to verify.
- Mint Fee Wallet: Link
- Transfers to FTX: Link
- New DAO Wallet: Link
- New Royalty Wallet: Link
- Collection Page: Link
I am nowhere defending the previous owners of Apetos Apes. They should have really given a thought about doing something food for their community but they never promised that and the people buying those NFTs always knew this, so how can one blame the creators here? The Topaz mint page (still live here) mentioned the project’s quick description as “Apetos Ape are getting ready to make some noise on Aptos blockchain, this is not intended to be a PROJECT but rather a COOL PFP. We really believe in blockchain communities forming around NFT’s, so there will be no utility or roadmap other then offering the best pixel art.”
You get the idea, right?
I know it is hard to digest the fact that 3.69 APT was charged for each mint and then, after thousands of mints, there was nothing given in return to the users. And add to that, the royalty being charged for every sale on the secondary marketplace. No founder should be like that. But, if something was promised and then nothing was delivered, the hate or FUD is completely understandable. Here, Apetos Apes founder never told they had a plan ahead. It was all about selling the art, which many still like to this point.
While checking for history or any updates, I understood that the new DAO that took over from the previous owners have started a new Discord and they are now trying to stabilize things from where it was left, basically from scratch. I got into it and started a chat with one of the new team members, Romeo. Here are some of the parts from the chat, for you to understand it better.
The screenshot that was shared with me from the previous Discord server also mentions the same, about this being only a COOL PFP and not a project to build stuff.
In one way, there are projects like AptosMonkeys building tools after a heavily successful mint and the post-mint phase is about creating things and building partnerships, while on the other side, Apetos Apes with no utility, no roadmap, and no promises making over 10000 APT from only the art. But not developing anything doesn’t mean it is a rug unless you have something from the past where it was mentioned that they will actually do something based on a roadmap to give back to the users.
Now, the DAO that is controlling the entire project is proactively building a new website, and they also have shared a roadmap telling that they are all trying to revive the project from the grave it was thrown into.
You want to know what a rug is?
Aptos Penguins is one of the examples from the same Aptos space. Started the mint, earned whatever possible, blamed the mint launchpad, and deleted the server. That’s a rug. After promising stuff and then disappearing.
Was it about Apetos Apes, or was it about Souffl3 and Topaz?
It seemed the latter to me, and for someone with an unbiased view, you’ll feel the same too. Why did Souffl3 have to post this particular tweet to end their thread?
https://twitter.com/nft_souffl3/status/1589538957569949697
Did they not know Apetos Apes was never about offering anything to the users except a profile picture? It seemed like a deliberate attempt from them to target Topaz, which was the launchpad for Apetos Apes. Again, since Topaz has been the leader in terms of the total volume since the inception of Aptos, including the launch of AptosMonkeys and Bruh Bears, the highest traded collections to date on this chain.
Conclusion – What do we think this is?
Clearly, not a rug. The project is back to where it was but now is getting better from there because now, there are new people sitting there to try and build it after the original founders left, leaving things and taking away whatever the mint amount was.
I don’t really support the bad narratives being set by Souffl3 and targeted attacks and being happy about reporting about something and calling it a rug only because it helps their cause. Look, I am not supporting Topaz here and my thoughts would remain the same if it was BlueMove or some other launchpad or exchange. There’s a screenshot roaming around where Topaz did accept that the founders of Apetos Apes were KYC’d but it has to be understood that doxxing the founders doesn’t mean anything when the project description explicitly mentions that they are only offering a cool PFP and nothing else.
I only wish good luck to the new DAO that is taking control of Apetos Apes and proving everyone wrong, and while the previous founders had the chance, they should have given the entire control to Topaz but they didn’t and that was an easy indicator for FUD and if random users and holders panic, that is understandable but a marketplace targeting another is only going to hurt the ecosystem and I hope this is not repeated by any of them in the future.
Note: This reporting is all based on what I found out, and this story can be updated if you hit me up to prove the entire findings wrong because I believe in offering real information and being completely unbiased while doing my research. You can message me on Discord Chetan#7559 if you have to share something.
