WZRDS, a free mint that launched at the end of June has come under scrutiny regarding its latest innovation. Recently, the team began allowing holders who staked their NFTs to select COWZRDS (actively listed tokens) through the ‘Peddler’ contract and burn them in exchange for shrooms. Both the holder of the burned WZRD and the burner receives ‘Half-Skull of WZRD’, an ERC 1155. So far, more than a thousand WZRDS out of the 10k collection have been burned, landing the project at the center of controversy.
According to holders who staked their NFT, the burn was expected. Considering that the project is lore focused, there were many hints within the story. The burn was also mentioned within the first contract and ‘Dark Forest’, the smart contract used to stake the NFTs. On the opposite end, victims of the token burn believe their IP rights were stolen, and that the provided tweets were cryptic, resulting in the project misleading their investors.
The burn mechanic has resulted in most WZRDs being delisted, with just 89 out of 9000 being available for purchase. The number of de-listings has created a supply shock, allowing WZRDs to skyrocket from a floor of 0.15 to 3.1 ETH in just 24 hours. However, bids are being accepted by holders at an average of 0.3 ETH. Meaning the NFT is not valued at the project’s manipulated floor price.
Whether we agree with the action or not, such controversies have raised critical questions such as, ‘should all NFT investors know how to read a smart contract?’ Considering that WZRDS is the first to act on this idea, many wonder if there will be another.