Despite Bitcoin's price continuously breaking historical highs, even potentially reaching $100,000 soon, not every altcoin has been so smooth, just like the TON chain where founder Parvel Durov is embroiled in legal troubles. Recently, the NFT community TMM (TON Market Maker Club), which mainly develops in Taiwan and focuses on the TON chain, has been reported to have the issuing team Soft Rug (passively running away).

The Taiwan NFT community may decline due to misjudging the development of the TON chain.

TMM, short for TON Market Maker Club, was founded by Taiwanese KOL Rick Hsu. There are rumors in the community that Rick has an impressive background and is nicknamed 'Chun Ge' (Spring Brother), a rich second generation from Qingpu. According to the official Twitter description, TMM is positioned as a VC DAO and Alpha community, providing funding ranging from $100,000 to $300,000 for startup projects, as well as early investment opportunities for NFT holders.

Looking at the ecological development of the TON chain, it is filled with low-entry wash games. Since its explosive rise in late February, the basic ecosystem that has not yet been successfully cultivated is akin to the earlier reported TonUP exit incident. This type of launchpad or the development of the Alpha Group is indeed closely related to ecosystem development. At that time, the TonUP report mentioned that the community and KOLs promoting TonUP in Taiwan included TMM and founder Rick.

Further Reading
Reviewing the collapse of TonUP, does the 99% drop from the star-level Launchpad's peak symbolize the demise of TON?

The Genesis NFTs are nearing a cut in half, and the team has chosen to launch a new series.

The first generation NFT series TON MARKET MAKER CLUB by TMM launched only 222 units, with the highest transaction record being TMM CLUB #220 sold for 876 $TON, which at the time was about $6,900. The total market value of the series is 28,000 $TON, equivalent to about $150,000. The initial first generation NFTs were minted at a price of 222 $TON, and currently, the floor price of the series has dropped below 120 $TON, nearing a cut in half.

Due to the extremely small number of first generation NFTs, the number of holders is not large, so it has not sparked much discussion. Many of the addresses holding whitelist tokens have also led the community to question whether they are merely the official team brushing volume, swapping left hand to right hand. The main discussions surrounding the Soft Rug suspicions have mainly concentrated on the second generation NFT TMFer. Additionally, TMM officially launched a free minting NFT FREEDUROV on September 6 to pay tribute to TON founder Parvel Durov.

Second generation NFTs nearing zero, should we move in tandem with the market and TonUP?

The minting prices for the second generation NFT TMFer are 22 and 33 $TON, with a limit of 2,222 units. According to data from the OKX Web 3 NFT market, before the deadline, the floor price for the second generation has dropped to 0.9 $TON, which is not far from the 99% drop experienced by TonUP, making them difficult brothers. If users purchase TMM and thus participate in TonUP, congratulations, your efforts this year may have been in vain.

But it is not just the price performance that is disappointing; founder Rick's passive attitude is the fuse that ignited the community's anger. Many hope Rick will at least come out and speak, but all they receive is endless silence. This Mint (minting) event was also associated with the release of a whitelist airdrop and minting activities from the OKX Web 3 wallet, but even with the traffic from OKX, the 2,222 second generation NFTs could not be sold out, and the subsequent team announced that the remaining NFTs would be destroyed for liquidity.

However, it is also because TMM is the first TON NFT series listed on OKX Web 3, voices within the community have responded to OKX, arguing that they should not list a Soft Rug project. In response, a holder received the following reply from OKX:

This holder is not an isolated case, as news of disasters frequently appears on Twitter. There have even been leaks of conversations between Rick and the community. Currently, the Chinese discussion group has exploded, with a general atmosphere of despair, as well as extreme negative emotions and discussions about the Soft Rug project visible from the community topic bot. Compared to the mocking of 'Paper Hand' behavior when NFTs were sold during the OKX Mint, it seems these holders are now being treated as clowns, just like the second generation NFTs.

This entire incident, apart from the underwhelming development of TON itself, also involves many KOLs' pyramid scheme behaviors, which the readers can search for keywords themselves. But what is truly important is that no matter what keywords KOLs use to attract attention, as investors we must cultivate our own judgment skills. As someone said, Rick has a strong background and publicly appears, so the startups he participates in will not run away and will have many resources. However, after a series of operations, these KOLs may gradually fall silent, leaving users to face the situation alone.

This reminds the author of the previous TonUP event, where media reports revealed that the whole incident was related to high-ranking Taiwanese figures in a well-known TON venture capital fund. Perhaps because many Taiwanese media and professionals hold large amounts of $TON tokens, they have set up many schemes in Taiwan to seek cash out. In fact, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou previously commented that most TON users are low-net-worth individuals, and apart from attracting new users, a sustainable model has not yet been found.

[Disclaimer] The market has risks; investment requires caution. This article does not constitute investment advice, and users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this document align with their specific circumstances. Invest at your own risk.

  • This article is reprinted with permission from: (Chain News)

'Is Taiwan's NFT running away again? TMM founder accused of Soft Rug, TON ecosystem users lose millions.' This article was first published in 'Crypto City'.