LooksRare, the non-fungal token marketplace dubbed the killer of OpenSea, has become the talk of the town in the NFT world after the project team spent millions on Ether (ETH).
NFT Marketplace has confirmed that the core team has paid out $10,500 to WETH worth $30 million in original unassigned LOOKS. The original token was used to pay fees on the platform and was also issued to users when they sold their NFTs on the platform. Non-Ether related LOOKS symbols were paid using the popular Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixing tool.
Reports of a seemingly rare tornado money address Source: EtherScan
The team received backlash from the community on Twitter when the news became public and the price of the LOOKS token also fell by about 15%. However, one of the team members took to Twitter to defend the recall and stated that the team that was rewarded for encapsulating Ethereum is no secret at all.
Zodd, a core contributor, added that the LooksRare team had been running the platform for over six months without any financial compensation and had faced a seven-figure cost ahead of launch.
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In response to a tweet that the team spent almost $73 million on WETH, Zodd corrected the figure, stating that the real amount was about $30 million. The team member also dismissed suggestions that the carpet might be pulled and stated that they weren’t going anywhere and that the catwalk had a bright future.
The LooksRare team told Cointelegraph that withdrawals from WETH are a small fraction of the trading fees earned, and the LOOKS token was not sold. The team also added that 80,000 WETH have been given away to LOOKS members in the past 30 days.
The LooksRare community seemed unmoved by the payout explanation and suggested that the team buy the original token instead of redeeming it on ether. User wrote:
“I would like you to take it as ‘We haven’t been paid for 6 months.’ “Joke….community lol. Another sad cryptocurrency.”
Another user asked about the motivation for using the mixer to withdraw money and wrote:
“So why the hurricane? Looks like you got caught spending money and now you’re in control of the damage.”
