Comedy club NFT debacle teaches lesson in transparency

In Venezuela, humor plays an important role, either as a form of protest or a way to make sense of reality. 

In November 2021, humor and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were combined with the launch of the Comedy Monsters Club (CMC) project. The project was led by Roberto Cardoso, better known by his former stage name “Bobby Comedia,” and co-founded with brothers José David Roa and David Roa.

The project was advertised as the only comedy club to use NFT collectibles as membership. However, the hype would quickly turn to confusion for the project’s investors.

An enticing narrative

Comedy Monsters reached the NFT-curious Latin American audience through the well-known Venezuelan comedians.

Cardoso and his co-founders appeared in publications like Forbes Mexico and on popular shows and comedy podcasts such as Nos Reiremos de Esto and Escuela de Nada.

Listenting to an episode of Escuela de Nada titled “How To Make Money With NFTs,” pseudonymous NFT collector Nairobi first came to learn about the presumptive comedy club. Later, they would decide to join the CMC community and purchase an NFT themselves.

“It’s in that conversation where you can really identify the project’s selling narrative,” Nairobi explained.

During the episode, the hosts interview Comedy Monsters co-founder José David, a self-appointed “NFT expert.” In the conversation, José David uses his own example of being an early investor in Bored Ape Yacht Club, reportedly earning over $300,000 from selling one of his NFTs.

His get-rich-quick story is followed by the mantra “do your own research,” often used to imply that any previous statements made by so-called experts shouldn’t be taken as financial advice.

“For someone who is new to the NFT ecosystem, this can lead to false expectations,” Nairobi said.

CMC officially launched in November 2021 with an offering of 10,100 NFTs. The starting price for each was 0.1 Ether (ETH), worth between $400 and $500 at the time of the sale. The monsters wouldn’t be revealed to their owners until all the NFTs were sold.

Cardoso told Cointelegraph that the comedy club’s purpose was “to deliver as many experiential, material and economic benefits” to its members as possible.

However, beyond the novelty of the project’s proposal, it was never clear how CMC would maintain or increase the value of its NFTs. In a small section on its website consisting of only three sentences, the creators explain the tokenomics behind the project.

“The…