Fade $FCTR
Questionable at Best
Hello CT fam!
Today, we’re going to be digging into FactorDAO and the impending FCTR public sale.
⬇️Your favorite CT influencers have likely been covering the project as of late⬇️
With so much positive PR, many of the project’s concerning edges have been able to avoid the spotlight.
I aim to remedy that in this post!
I’m digging through the dirty laundry and posting it here so that YOU can make your own, well-informed decision on whether to invest in FCTR.
The opinions reflected herein are the direct result of my own research and are, at the end of the day, opinions.
This post is NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE IN ANY CAPACITY.
You should never base an investment thesis on the words of others! Doing your own research is a must to be a successful investor in any industry, but particularly in the Wild West of public token sales (read ICO 2.0s).
For all of my American frens, keep in mind that FCTR is a security! You are BARRED from investing in this token independent of your thoughts on the project.
But for my frens elsewhere, I implore you to consider Factor in its entirety before investing.
I am not here to tell you to invest in FCTR or not: I am not a registered investment advisor.
What I will tell you, however, is that even if I was able to participate in the token sale, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole, and would instead wait for the team to actually ship the product.
Do I risk missing out on a 1000x opportunity?
Probably.
Would there still 100x to go?
Potentially.
Will another opportunity make its way across my CT timeline that has the potential to provide EVEN BIGGER RETURNS?
Almost certainly.
The most prudent investors pick their spots and don’t get wrapped up in the FOMO.
👇Dig in and decide if Factor is the spot for you👇
Team Talk
Who are the anons at the core of Factor?
You can find some info on them in the Factor Team Notion page.
Investors in any project MUST understand who they are giving money to and trusting to implement the roadmap. A crucial aspect of the successful investment of money into a common enterprise with the expectation of profit is performing sound DD on the founding team.
While various crypto community members have their own takes regarding how much you can trust an anon, the one major distinction that I see between anons and doxxed individuals, such as myself, is that you can always shut down the anon account, without damage to your personal reputation.
I cannot launch a rug pull of a project and walk away with cash in hand and an unbesmirched reputation.
An anon can!
Yes they may be forced to shut down their Twitter account, but beyond that, the repercussions to their reputation are minimal.
While there are certainly anons that I trust, the presence of anonymity provides all the more reason to question their motives and background!
As a general rule for anons, keep in mind that their “experience” doesn’t mean shit, so you must latch onto the few nuggets of information you can find and QUESTION EVERYTHING!
Kurapika_DAO
Kurapika is the stalwart head of Factor and the only one of the initial founders who actually speaks in public.
From what I have gathered, Kurapika has no background in Solidity and is not a dev. That responsibility has fallen on one “ShortCallx1e18” (more on them later).
So who is Kurapika?
The self-purported founder of an ICO ratings agency, Kurapika has certainly cut his teeth in perhaps one of the shadiest corners of crypto.
The firm?
ICO Rating(s)???
I was unable to find any mention of ICO Ratings online, however did find information on one ICORating…
Potentially these are the same company?
As we all know, the ICO market got pummeled by regulators and Kurapika’s firm, likely, lost its customer base.
Kurapika’s next move?
Launching a ReFi-focused DAO, called DAO_Nation.
Bet you didn’t hear that one in the latest Factor interview!
How do we know that Kurapika was a key person at DAO_Nation?
Simple: the above thread from Kurapika comes two days after DAO_Nation drops its first teaser post on Medium entitled “A Glimpse into DAO Nation.”
The post makes some vague points about making the world the world a better place and emphasizes DAO_Nation’s community first approach, ending with, “This is the why. The how will be revealed in the upcoming days,” along with some broken links for the Project’s Twitter, Discord, and website.
It seems improbable that Kurapika decided to yeet his career out of the window to focus on the future of DAO_Nation after reading one Medium post, unless he was a key member of the team.
We’ll get deeper into DAO_Nation in a bit, but for now, my goal is to establish Kurapika’s connections with and subsequent abandonment of the Project.
We know a couple of things about Kurapika’s foray into ReFi at DAO_Nation.
1️⃣ Kurapika Aggressively Shilled DAO_Nation
Multiple Tweets, replies, and (deleted) spaces can be found, all with Kurapika shilling the ReFi DAO.
There are NUMEROUS other Tweets from Kurapika about DAO_Nation, but I think you get the point.
2️⃣ Kurapika Pivoted to Factor
His last Tweet about DAO_Nation was on May 18, 2022, in reply to a deleted FactorDAO Tweet.
After this Tweet, FactorDAO dominates Kurapika’s timeline, starting with his engagement on this Tweet.
Did you read the above Tweet?
Does it seem bizarre that Factor was launching on Near and Aurora, but suddenly the project has pivoted to Arbitrum?
That is a an entirely separate can of worms we will crack open in a bit…
ShortCallx1e18
Twitter: Doesn’t Exist
The anon you are supposed to trust has written the Factor smart contracts is an anon without an online presence?
If this is not a massive fucking red flag I don’t know what is…
At least with Kurapika, we can establish a Twitter presence going back to 2021.
The Project’s lead dev?
Absolutely nothing. No paper trail. No prior works. No proof that they exist.
Are you actually going to fork over your hard earned money to a team whose linchpin member is a literal fucking ghost?
Army of Threadoors
Louis Cooper
Eli5DeFi
Gigaton
Alex
No wonder Factor has gained such traction!
Excluding founders Kurapika and ShortCall, 50% of the team holds positions related to Factor’s marketing efforts.
While these influencoors have produced some truly incredible content on the Protocol and its promised mechanics, it is worth questioning if incentives may be clouding their judgement.
They are all members of the team, and, as such, are almost certainly promised a slice of the team’s token allocation.
Many of these individuals have long-established connections to crypto and I know that they see, just like I, the promise Factor holds. Permissionless tokenization of asset baskets is just one of the many primitives that Factor is promising to deliver.
I UNDERSTAND why they are bullish on the project!
But often, monetary incentives cloud judgement, making humans susceptible to lapses of it.
I do not mean to suggest that these are not talented individuals who have not done their own work and diligence into Factor. What I do suggest, however, anon, is a large reason why they are so bullish on the Project is because the potential payday is MASSIVE!
For you as an individual investor, it is important to be aware of these misalignments in incentives when you read the content they publish.
Token Shilling a la MAX
Are you aware, anon, that since day motha fucking one, the FactorDAO Twitter has promoted FCTR soon™️?
Their first Tweet promoting FCTR is from NINE MONTHS AGO!
An airdrop was contemplated back in October.
Think about the tokenless projects you are most bullish on.
Have they actively been shilling their project token for the past nine months, all while failing to deliver a tangible product?
FUCK NO! They’re heads down building!
The roadmap for “Wen Token” is the last thing on their minds.
Granted, Factor has a completely different funding model than many of your favorite projects, relying on a public token sale instead of VC funding. Still, it is important to question why launching a token has been at the forefront of the Factor team’s mind.
L2 Switcheroo (and Da Product Too?)
Did you know that initially, Factor was supposed to deploy to Near???
And what’s with these couple of Tweets talkin’ token launchpad???
I’d certainly like some more color on this. How about you, anon?
And then there is this weird tweenage stage where Factor was looking to deploy on Polygon…
It’s not until late November when the Factor team announces their intention to deploy to Arbitrum.
While the technical hurdles created by switching deployments between various EVM-compatible blockchains and scaling solutions are likely a non-factor, this constant rotation points to something more sinister: is it possible that Factor is forum shopping for the hungriest DeFi audience?
They have clearly found PMF within Arbitrum, a DeFi-centric chain that exploded in users and TVL after FTX’s collapse at the start of November. Coincidently (or not) November is the month Factor decides to switch to the chain.
Maybe this flip-flopping is a big nothing-burger, but it is certainly worth pointing out, given the lack of coverage on a what appears to be a contentious internal issue.
Roadmap Shenanigans
A public token sale before the mainnet launch?
That sounds weird.
Seems like investors would like to try out the product before using it…
Don’t worry: Factor is launching a public beta!
On February 19th? One day before the public token sale? That seems like not a lot of runway for something so crucial to the Factor roadmap.
Those were exactly my thoughts last week after my interview with Kurapika.
I regret to inform you, as of the time of publication, THERE IS NO BETA!
Even if I give Factor the benefit of the doubt and assume that their beta is inches off of the goal line, this inability to meet self-imposed deadlines is highly concerning.
While all of the noobs are screaming “WEN BETA,” it’s equally important to ask another question: what beta?
What is the “product” being released on February 27?
Well why don’t we ask the smart contract audit released by Solidity Finance?
For starters, every “commit” link that I clicked on gives me a 404 error on Github. Big fucking RIP in the chat for that one.
How’s that for trust, yet verify?
While my knowledge of smart contracts is limited and my time to publish this is even more so (prohibiting a more in-depth comparison of potential issues with popular smart contract from other protocols), some cursory details that peaked my curiosity include
1️⃣ FCTR Token Contract
Contract complies with ERC20 upgradable standard 🫠
2️⃣ “VE” Token Lock Contract
Contract owner can remove unlock fee at any time
Contract owner can update the address unlock penalty fees are paid to
“Blocklist” contract can remove delegation from any address at anytime
3️⃣ “Blocklist” Contract
Manager can block any contract from interacting with the voting contract
Manager can add any address at any time
4️⃣ “BasketVault” Contract (THE PRODUCT)
Potentially only supports single asset vaults? Solidity Finance states this contract allows the “deposit any amount of the contract's specified asset token,” and not “token(s)”
The Manager can pause deposits, withdrawals, redemptions, mints, and share transfers
Once again (and especially when we’re relying on my ability to interpret a smart contract audit), this may be a massive nothing-burger. But I can nearly guarantee I am one of the only individuals who has looked into these contracts and pointed out irregularities that I have believe to have observed, the most concerning of which is certainly the NONEXISTENT commit references in GitHub.
DAO_Nation, Back Again
DAO_Nation’s Twitter is no more.
What does exist is a WayBack entry for DAO_Nation on May 23, 2022, in addition to the DAO’s Medium page.
We established Kurapika’s involvement in DAO_Nation, so what did the DAO do?
As far as I can tell, not a whole lot!
Unfortunately, the Twitter, Discord, and webpage no longer exist (a suspicious sign itself), however, we can certainly glean some information from the live Medium page. The most salient:
DAO_Nation had a token
Source: DAO_Nation Medium Eli5DeFi (a Factor team member) was somehow involved? Or is at least aware of DAO_Nation’s existence?
Source: DAO_Nation Medium
So what’s the big deal?
For starters, the only evidence of any charitable actions I could find was a single Medium post announcing the donation of $5,000 in native pGIVE tokens to disaster relief in the Philippines on December 21, 2021. This post also provides a donation address that DAO_Nation fam can donate to, with donors incentivized with $2,500 in pGIVE tokens.
The “Donation” Address: 0x21641b5f510129133AF64B09B8Ba9857E64F08cA
Unfortunately, it does not appear that any of the funds were donated, with the address only receiving inbound ERC20 transactions.
What’s crazy, however, is that SOMEONE ACTUALLY STILL CONTROLS THE WALLET: a single outbound transaction was made 26 days ago!
Wallet analysis has never been my forte, and with time running short before the FCTR public sale, I will leave it be, however it is clear that the funds were never distributed to disaster relief and someone has control of the account.
So basically, DAO_Nation fraudulently claimed it would donate funds to charity, launched a token, and seemingly rugged the project (given the lack of live links).
Kurapika was clearly involved.
And Eli5DeFi is in some capacity aware of DAO_Nation and has still chosen to promote Factor?
Token Needed 4 Launch
When I questioned Kurapika and his decision to launch the token before releasing a mainnet version of the product, this was essentially the response I received.
I’m throwing the bullshit flag on the field.
No one gives a fuck about your governance, however innovative and clever it may be.
The reason why people want to invest in Factor is for the vaults!
There is zero reason to hold the tokenized vaults hostage, claiming that the protocol NEEDS on-chain governance.
Information Asymmetries
As highlighted by “Alex,” the public sale essentially allows the Factor team to give USERS a stake in the protocol that the will use, circumventing the VCs!
What an incredible proposition! You have the ability to play VC and invest in “up 'n coming” opportunities, previously reserved for the elite of the elites.
Except the picture is not all that rosey, is it “Alex”?
Unlike a VC, practically every single investor in Factor will be making a surface-level investment decision based on content they have consumed.
Some astute investors may even choose to dig a little deeper and explore your docs, WHICH WERE FINALLY RELEASED THIS WEEK! Or they might even try to access the beta, WHICH DOES NOT EXIST AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION!
But how many of them are conducting full diligence?
How many of them have looked into the founding team and seen red flags?
How many have scrutinized the progression of Factor from “token launchpad” on Near to “tokenized asset management” on Arbitrum?
To quote former PM of Australia Malcolm Turnbull:
When crypto anons offer you something for nothing, or something that sounds too good to be true, it's always worth taking a careful second look.
Of course, Turnbull used “politicians” instead of “crypto anons,” but the point stands nonetheless in a crypto context.
TLDR
Factor is all marketing, from the ground up; they are shockingly effective at it, too!
My Twitter feed has been ablaze with Factor content, yet the only thing they have managed to ship is a Google form to sign up for beta access that has not come.
I see a founding team composed by one member with a dubious background (at best) and another who I have no reason to believe even exists.
I see a powerful content creation arm made up of educated DeFi threadoors, blinded by the shinny promise of a slice of the FCTR team token allocation, who have failed to do their own diligence or present their audience a balanced overview of the Project, with some potentially aware of the Project’s sinister undercurrents and still choosing to participate.
I see a project that has shilled its token since genesis.
I see a project set to deploy to Arbitrum for 30% of its life that likely made the switch for visibility and to ride the coattails of other successful Arbiverse DeFi projects.
I see a team that has failed to meet self-imposed deadlines, yet charges headstrong towards token launch, despite not fulfilling key roadmap items.
I see a fraudulent public goods DAO tying multiple members of the Factor team together.
I see a crowd of under informed investors anxiously awaiting February 20 at 6 p.m. UTC to ape FCTR.
At the end of the day, there are three outcomes for the Factor experiment:
Successful dApp
Soft rug
Hard rug
Lamentably, I must admit that options two and three have the highest probability of occurring. Trust me anon, I was a Factor bull in January, but the more research and exploration that I have done, the harder it has gotten to be bullish on the Project.
In fact, every incremental Tweet, article, or interview I consume makes me more resolute in my bearish bias!
For argument’s sake, let’s say that option one is true: NIRVANA!
So you’re really going to trust the FactorDAO team with your hard earned funds?
Sound investments require a perception of potential rewards AND risks.
There remains a substantial amount of development risk within the Factor roadmap.
Beyond development risks, you risk the market choosing not to adopt Factor’s products. There is no demonstrated PMF for tokenized asset baskets, despite our shared beliefs that they seem cool and important.
Maybe Factor itself is a nothing-burger?
Hopefully, my exploration of Factor has provided you with something beneficial! In parting, I leave you with this:
The prudent investor waits for Factor to mature before investing
Be EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS of any Factor-style public token sales (especially many of the ones that are using Camelot to launch)
Don’t ape and DYOR, anon!
Please feel free to tell me that I’m absolutely, unequivocally off base here. At the end of the day, I truly hope that I am wrong.
It would be incredible to see Factor succeed!
But at the same time, I’m not going to huff that hopium.
Until next time, anon.
Luv,
-Jack 🫶
My Twitter so you can DM me h8 mail :)
Thank you for such an in-depth analysis of Factor's story. It seems like a soft-rug is in their future, so I hope people can stay at an arms length long enough to find out the truth.
This was great, thanks again!
I thought you actually found something that would get me worried before investing
Instead you
1. didn't prove your title statement that Kurapika is a Scammer (you proved some involvement in some shitty project that never took off )
2. You kept lamenting about change to Arbitrum (no matter how many times you change your mind before making a decision - what matters is that you make a good decision and Arbi is the best choice. So this is positive for me
3. You cry about factor token release while these tokens are the sole reason we're in crypto (i wouldn't even look at factor otherwise and buying before project proves it's value is the essence of degen)
What's worse is that you know very well how the game works but you paint yourself as a saviour of unsuspecting investors. In a few weeks you'll find next hyped project and just paste its name in place of factor since most of them have a ton so called red flags. It's all just to farm engagement. You're no different than Kurapika - just two sides of the same coin