Is LooksRare's anonymous team a mixer or a scam? Summarizing the opinions of the crypto community and KOLs.

The emerging NFT platform LooksRare was reported to have cashed out tens of thousands of Ether through the mixer protocol Tornado Cash, causing the price of LOOKS token to drop by 70% since 1/21. The crypto community has mixed opinions on this matter, with the article summarizing both sides of the argument.

LooksRare Anonymous Team Cash Out

Twitter user tradfi guy previously pointed out on 1/24 that the LooksRare anonymous team had cashed out 9,169 WETH and used some of the WETH profits to boost the coin price to maintain the high coin price of LOOKS and the high trading volume wash trading volume on the platform.

He updated on 2/8, stating that the team cashed out 23,116 WETH using Tornado Cash.

LooksRare Response

LooksRare team member Zodd replied, stating that based on the address, the cash-out amount should be 10,500 ETH. The team earned profits by acquiring WETH rather than the platform coin LOOKS, and this is not a secret. The fee mechanism on the platform has long been mentioned.

In addition, before the platform was launched and earned WETH commission, LooksRare members worked tirelessly for free for half a year, bearing costs exceeding seven figures in USD. Using Tornado Cash for an anonymous team is reasonable, and he encourages, even demands, that the team must use a mixer.

Zodd emphasized the team's great passion and motivation to achieve their goals, and the LOOKS allocated to the team members have a lock-up period of over two years, indicating a bright future for LooksRare.

Opposing Views

DegenSpartan

Senior DeFi trader DegenSpartan is skeptical of LooksRare. He retweeted and mocked that whales are accumulating LOOKS while also shorting the price of LOOKS.

Cobie

Senior trader Cobie analyzed in a lengthy post, stating that LOOKS is a very novel Ponzi scheme token model, similar to a perpetuated ICO with obfuscation mechanisms, and initial investors received a 13x return in Ether.

He pointed out that 75% of LOOKS were distributed through airdrops to the community, but when considering the ratio of "stakable to earn revenue," in reality, the airdrop proportion is only 34%.

However, team member Zodd immediately clarified Cobie's error, explaining that this misunderstanding arose because the team's treasury tokens were gradually issued over two years rather than pre-mined, and provided actual data:

• 60%: Airdrop
• 16.5%: Strategic partnerships
• 8.5%: Liquidity management
• 10%: Treasury
• 5%: Team

Cobie emphasized that his analysis was not intended to cause panic; many seem angry due to the decline in LOOKS price. He simply wanted to explain the token economic model released on the first day of LooksRare's launch, and initial investors did nothing wrong.

Supporting Views

Larry Cermak

The Block's Research Director Larry Cermak spoke in favor of the LooksRare team, stating that for an anonymous team, using Tornado to maintain anonymity is necessary, and many people incorrectly interpret this move as a sign that the team is about to exit scam.

Banteg

yearn developer Banteg expressed:

There is too much FUD about LOOKS; perhaps we don't deserve projects developed by anonymous individuals and based on communities. Think about who you support and show some love to the team.

He also emphasized his curiosity about how much money the crypto community thinks an anonymous team should earn before it's "too much"? There seems to be no similar restrictions from the community for projects supported by venture capital and non-anonymous teams, which he sees as a double standard.

The crypto community also provided many sharp perspectives. Crypto Aussie said:

Love the "worked for free for six months" part from LooksRare, so each member can cash out $3 million after working for six months, and then let the investors holding LOOKS accept such a bad coin price? Another sad joke in the world of cryptocurrency.

Proof Of Steve T,T sarcastically remarked:

I want a project run by an anonymous team, no venture capital, no whale presale, but they can't sell coins to cover expenses, the platform's revenue doesn't belong to them, and would you hire a senior Solidity developer for less than $350k? NGMI

dingaling said:

I've never seen so much FUD on a platform that's only a month old. They have a viable product, 75% of all tokens belong to the community, the team continues to update, and I can't wait to post tweets about why you should hold LOOKS.

Wazz mentioned:

I've never held LOOKS, but I'm saddened by the recent FUD. People are angry about the success of an anonymous team, can't stand that they've made a lot of money, the viable product and token economy were clear from the beginning, and their competitors are valued at up to $15 billion, which they deserve.