Carson Exiting Role as Advisor to VC NFT Project

NFT investment fund founder Ryan Carson will no longer be an advisor — or an investor — in the Venture Capital X project, and the former Moonbirds COO is issuing refunds to the more than 100 people who purchased a VCX NFT because of Carson’s involvement.

Both the project and Carson confirmed the exit Sunday after Carson tweeted out to his followers to reach out to him if they purchased a VCX NFT.

Carson confirmed his departure from the NFT project to those people, saying he received “several messages” after the launch of VCX’s NFT suggesting he look more into the company.

“I am not accusing the team of any illegal activity but I no longer believe the team has the experience I require for me to endorse the project,” said Carson in direct messages to buyers. “I take full responsibility for putting my name behind this project and I am personally refunding those who minted because of my involvement.”

Carson said Sunday that he had reached out to about 110 people who had minted an average of two NFTs each. The mint price was 0.5 ETH.

(Lucky Trader is a sponsor of Carson’s Twitter Spaces show, NFT Daily Dose.)

The floor price fell from 0.4 ETH to 0.25 ETH as discussions surrounding Carson’s exit were being had in the VCX Discord Saturday. The floor is now 0.12 ETH, as of Tuesday morning.

VCX said it was “shocked and disappointed” by Carson’s departure and “how it was notified to the public” in the aforementioned Discord announcement Sunday.

“We are disappointed that Ryan feels this way, and wants to withdraw his advisorship, but ultimately it is his choice and we will continue to move forward,” VCX’s cork said in the announcement. “We want to make it clear that the team was doxxed a few months ago to show trust and transparency and prove that the VCX founders have extensive experience in the finance world and running other companies. This is all very open and public information. We have also never lied about our past experience.”

The doxxed team includes two former Canadian cannabis executives: Ben Nikolaevsky, the CEO of Pure Extracts, and Alexander Logie, who worked with Nikolaevsky as the director of business development.

Nikolaevsky said he didn’t know why Carson changed his mind but guessed it could have been due to the pair’s background in the cannabis industry, which could have potentially posed regulatory issues. Both executives’ LinkedIn profiles indicate the aforementioned experience.

Pure Extracts has a share price of $0.011 — down from a February 2021 high of 60 cents.

“Nobody’s happy with our share price but that I can’t control,” said Nikolaevsky in a phone interview. “We’re a real business.

“I’m more than comfortable with our backgrounds and there’s nothing that I have to hide.”

Only 713 of the 1,888 VCX NFTs minted. The project’s goal is to give accredited investors access to investments in startups everywhere.

“The floor price is the floor price, this is not like Bored Ape Yacht Club, where people buy it for the appreciation of the price,” Nikolaesky said. “They buy it for access — to be with like-minded people.”

As part of exiting, Carson will return his 5 percent equity stake in the company. 

Carson told holders that he will honor his pledge to allow VCX buyers the opportunity to invest in the first round of his web3 project, which is expected to mint sometime in 2023. He plans to raise at least $25 million.

Carson wouldn’t say exactly what it was in VCX’s background that made him change his mind. In messages to VCX buyers, he apologized for his actions.

“I am so very sorry for making this mistake. I should’ve double-checked everything before publicly endorsing this project, and I will be absolutely sure to do so in the future,” he said in the messages. “You’re probably thinking ‘Ryan, how did you miss this?’ and I would agree with you. I’m frustrated and disappointed with myself and I apologize.”