How to operate a Rug NFT project?
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How to operate a Rug NFT project?
Everything seemed so natural, yet not quite natural.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: panda
This article is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real events or persons is purely coincidental. The purpose of this story is to raise awareness and caution among readers.
One sunny morning, Lao Wang skillfully opened Twitter and began mass-messaging previously identified KOLs with collaboration offers.
“Hi, are you open to whitelist collaborations? We can offer you XXX WL spots to share with your followers.”
Of course, some KOLs accepted, while others immediately demanded payment—ranging from 200 to 500 U. Lao Wang smirked, stubbed out his Dawqianmen cigarette, and muttered to himself: "Figured as much~"
Then he replied without hesitation: “No problem, sure thing,” and asked them to send their wallet addresses. Some KOLs thought they were about to enjoy a nice bonus today. But in reality, none of them received a single cent—even after mint ended. Of course, a few cautious KOLs requested proof—since Lao Wang claimed the project was backed by a well-known enterprise, they asked for official seals or verification via corporate email.
Lao Wang grinned confidently—because he had already prepared all that a month ago:
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He had fake chops (seals) made, forged corporate emails, and even photoshopped images of the project inside the company—everything looked incredibly authentic.
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Moreover, he spent a significant amount (5,000 RMB) to have smart contracts and a website developed, along with mint artwork.
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Then another 5,000 RMB was spent to buy Twitter followers and set up Discord bots to simulate active conversations.
At this point, Lao Wang’s NFT project magically transformed into a high-profile venture backed by a major company, boasting over 100,000 Twitter followers, a Discord server with tens of thousands of daily active users, and widespread KOL promotion. A flood of players rushed in, Discord exploded with activity. But with so many people joining, Lao Wang—one man—couldn’t possibly manage the server alone. What should he do?
Suddenly!!! It hit him—he posted an announcement in Discord: “Hiring moderators! Pay: 6,000 U/month, paid at month-end.” Discord instantly went wild. People exclaimed: “Truly a big-company project—money is no object! No-brainer, let’s go!” Only Lao Wang laughed silently behind the scenes, knowing mint would begin in just one week—and those mods wouldn’t last a full month... The storm was brewing.
During this time, Lao Wang recruited over a dozen elite mods who worked day and night hosting Spaces, promoting the project, writing articles. He promised them double pay if the mint succeeded. Where there's huge reward, there are brave men. The entire web was buzzing about Lao Wang’s NFT.
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User A: “Project team thinks big! Floor price will start at 5 ETH minimum—straight 100x!!”
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User B: “I know XXX Corp—they might partner on a game later. Future is unimaginable! HODL long-term!”
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User C: “Selling WL for Lao Wang’s NFT!! 500 U each—fast delivery!”
The entire market became infected with FOMO.
Finally, mint day arrived. Some sharp-eyed analysts monitored the wallet holdings of Lao Wang’s NFT. WTF?! Holders of BAYC actually owned Lao Wang’s NFT! Blue-chip signal! Rush in now! But in reality, Lao Wang had minted using a burner wallet and sent it to BAYC holders—costing him 0.2 ETH in gas fees, which made him so angry he couldn’t eat that day.
Still, it worked. All 5,000 of Lao Wang’s NFTs sold out instantly. Just as he was about to rug pull and disappear, suddenly his phone rang—it was Lao Xue: "Today, fate has brought us together. Let me impart a path to wealth. Grab pen and paper and take notes quickly..."
Lao Xue murmured:
1. You have hundreds of images. Use 1/5 of the mint proceeds to pump the price and create hype—sheep will blindly rush in.
2. Once the price rises, your project will gain massive attention across the web, and your follower count will explode.
3. Then dump your own holdings—but don’t forget to release good news right before dumping.
4. Update your Twitter weekly, then disband the Discord. Use your Twitter following to approach other project teams for whitelist giveaways.
5. Mint whitelists—or directly sell whitelist spots.
Lao Wang, awed by this divine strategy, exclaimed: “Master, I get it!” Then, he sold his remaining images at a premium, and every week new projects reached out to collaborate on giveaways—successfully executing a soft rug. Do you think it ends here? Fish only remember things for 7 seconds. After making money, Lao Wang hired an assistant to run future soft rug projects—while quietly planning his next NFT scheme.
From beginning to end, no one questioned Lao Wang’s roadmap, no one asked how funds were managed, no one raised concerns about being scammed. The internet was filled only with outrage and condemnation. Yet, just as everyone lamented their losses, another NFT project—this time claiming backing from yet another famous company—began trending online. Same old tricks, same crowd—everyone rushed in again... Everything seemed so natural, yet deeply unnatural.
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