According to blockchain data, a wallet associated with failed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) purchased the Neon Village non-fungible token (NFT) for 20 Ether (ETH) on July 5, even though the fund is bankrupt. The transaction, which is valued at $59,821 based on current prices, occurred because of an offer that the wallet placed three years ago and never canceled.
The SuperRare Bot X channel, which often posts alerts when large sales are made on the Super Rare NFT marketplace, announced the sale. In the post, the buyer was identified as “abcdefg.” Some NFT collectors initially congratulated the two parties in replies.
NFT collector and X user Brian quickly realized a strange fact about the transaction: The offer for the NFT had been placed three years ago, an unusually long time for an offer to be made but not accepted or canceled. “The craziest part about this sale is that the bid was placed nearly 3 years ago,” Brian stated in a post. “I wonder if the buyer just forgot his eth was deposited in the SR contract this whole time.”
Blockchain data confirms that the buyer placed an offer of 20 ETH for token ID # 26497 (Neon Village) on Aug. 21, 2021, nearly two years and 11 months before it was accepted by the seller.
On the Arkham Intelligence platform, the buyer is labeled as “Three Arrows Capital: OpenSea User (0xFf4),” implying that the wallet is owned by the failed hedge fund. In addition, the account sent 2,615.65 ETH (worth $7.8 million at the time) to Three Arrows Capital on Aug. 1, 2021, which implies that the account is either owned by the hedge fund or is one of its creditors or debtors.
X user Vombatus eventually realized who purchased the art piece. In a reply to Brian’s post, they stated, “It was the 3AC wallet LMAO.”
Three Arrows Capital filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. Its wallets are currently under the control of liquidation firm Teneo. However, the funds used for the Neon Village purchase have been held in the SuperRare marketplace escrow ever since the offer was placed in 2021, and most wallet apps would not have shown it as part of the balance.
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According to SuperRare marketplace documents, an offer can be withdrawn at any time, as long as it has not yet been accepted by the seller.
Neon Village was created by illustrator and animator SeerLight. It was minted on July 24, 2021 and sold that day for 7 ETH (approximately $15,301 at the time). On Oct. 13, 2021, the owner resold it to Ethereum user Anonymoux.eth for 100 ETH ($360,755), who held it until they sold it to the 3AC associated account on July 5.
Anonymoux lost more than $300,000 on the sale, while Seerlight earned a royalty of 2 ETH ($5,964) from it.
NFT marketplace sales surged in the second quarter of 2024, reaching a volume of $4 billion, the highest level since the first quarter of 2023.
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