Pua Denies Alleged Dubious Transactions In Dap S Rm1 3m Nft Fundraiser

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Damansara MP Tony Pua has denied allegations that there were dubious transactions in the digital sale of his "Langkah Sheraton" painting.
This is after an entrepreneur and non-fungible token (NFT) enthusiast raised red flags on social media about the DAP election fundraising exercise that reportedly netted RM1.3 million.
In very simple terms, NFTs commonly refer to digital assets whose ownership is sold and traded using cryptocurrencies.
Each copy sold or "minted" has a unique digital fingerprint as proof of ownership on a digital decentralised public ledger called a "blockchain".
In the case of the Langkah Sheraton painting, DAP said 8,888 NFTs were minted for the project.
However, according to the entrepreneur, who goes by the Twitter handle "pedagang.eth", a review of the transactions shows that there are only 148 buyers.
In a series of tweets, pedagang.eth said that early transactions of the NFT appeared legitimate, up to the point that US$14,614 was raised.
After this, someone with access to the project funds, dubbed by the entrepreneur as "Langkah Sheraton Funder" withdrew US$13,100 worth of cryptocurrency from the funds raised earlier.
A majority of these funds were then distributed to other cryptocurrency wallets, which were then used to buy more of the Langkah Sheraton NFTs.
Pedangan.eth alleged that this went on for nine cycles and was used to purchase around 7,700 of the NFTs sold.
"Conclusion: Funds were not raised from the blockchain itself. Funds were cycled from wallet to wallet to create an illusion of 'sale'.
"Imagine creating 100 Shopee accounts, funding them and using those funds to buy from a Shopee seller. Same situation here," the entrepreneur surmised.
Pedagan.eth's tweets have caught Pua's attention, and a meeting between the two will take place on Friday.
When contacted, the DAP lawmaker told Malaysiakini that everything was above board.
"I have written to the guy who made the accusation. I told him everything is above board, and we've received every sen of NFTs sold.
"I have offered to meet and show him our records. And he has agreed to meet this Friday afternoon," Pua said.
"Langkah Sheraton" is a 121cm by 152cm oil on canvas painting.
Pua began working on this piece when movement controls were imposed in 2020 and after the Sheraton Move that caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan federal government.
The artwork featured 15 very recognisable political personalities, mostly in faux renaissance poses. Upon completing the piece last year, it was displayed at Theatre Impian.
For the NFT fundraiser, the painting was divided into multiple squares which were individually sold.
Ownership of the NFTs is now being traded on the Opensea online marketplace. Pua has said that the DAP will get a royalty fee from each trade. - Mkini

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