MAX-LEVEL GRIFT

‘Dumbest Concept Ever’: QAnon Leader Swears New Secret Project Is Not a Scam

Ron Watkins, an alleged leader of the fringe far-right movement, is selling five of his tweets as NFT. Followers are not enthused.

Former 8Chan administrator and QAnon evangelist Ron Watkins is selling some screenshots of his tweets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), VICE reported on Tuesday. Watkins claims it’s not a scam and that all money raised will help fund “a secret project that I feel will help save America.” The bundle he’s auctioning off, made up of five tweets all retweeted by then-President Donald Trump, is called the “Freedom Series.” So far, his token has received five bids on OpenSea; the highest currently clocks in at roughly the ethereum cryptocurrency equivalent of $500.

Watkins is believed by many to have once controlled the QAnon conspiracy movement on 8chan. The announcement that he’d be diving into the wacky world of NFTs—where customers purchase what is essentially a digital receipt for content, with ownership registered on a unhackable, perpetual blockchain—was met with skepticism by some followers. “If I wanted to see the tweet, I can do so for free lol,” one fan wrote in a comment. “NFTs are max cringe level grifting, dumbest concept I’ve ever heard of.”