--- title: "NFT Guy Accidentally Spends $150K on Stupid Joke He Tried to Make" description: "In a puzzling attempt to parody the practice of purchasing expensive ENS names, an NFT collector had a \"joke\" title flipped back to him — for over $150k." date: "2022-07-21" modified: "2022-07-21" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nft-guy-accidentally-joke" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" - "NFTs" tags: - "blockchain" - "ethereum" - "nfts" - "the digest" --- # NFT Guy Accidentally Spends $150K on Stupid Joke He Tried to Make ![In a puzzling attempt to parody the practice of purchasing expensive ENS names, an NFT collector had a "joke" title flipped back to him — for over $150k.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Ha Ha On Wednesday, a prominent NFT collector who goes by the pseudonym "Franklin" [took to Twitter]() to admit that he'd made a truly horrible mistake. In a [puzzling and poorly executed attempt to parody]() the practice of purchasing expensive Ethereum Name Service (ENS) addresses — by, oddly, registering a "joke" ENS name and self-bidding on it over $150,000 worth of crypto — Franklin ultimately had the worthless title, created in jest, flipped back to him — for that outstanding $150k bid, which he'd unfortunately forgotten to cancel. "Oh no, I lost 100 ETH. I was celebrating my joke of a domain sale, sharing the spoils, but in a dream of greed, forgot to cancel my own bid of 100 ETH to buy it back," [read a woeful tweet]() from the Web3 collector. "This will be the joke and bag fumble of the century. I deserve all of the jokes and criticism." ## Fool Me Once To rewind, ENS names are [essentially Web3 name tags]() for Ethereum blockchain wallets. Earlier in the week, Franklin used one of his multiple Ethereum wallets to register the ENS name "stop-doing-fake-bids-its-honestly-lame-my-guy.eth," which he then bid on with 100 ETH coins from his main wallet. You know, for "jokes." As [*Decrypt* explains](), Franklin was hoping that the name would get picked up by [ENS Twitter bots](). But to the NFT enthusiast's surprise, another user bid on his phony asset title — so Franklin decided to sell, for a comparatively measly 1.9 ETH. Tragedy struck minutes later. Poor Franko forgot to cancel his outstanding 100 ETH bid, and then was shocked to discover that the user who had purchased the title from him only 15 minutes earlier had accepted the forgotten offer. "\[I\] just did not think about my outstanding bid," Franklin told *Decrypt*. "I didn't think about canceling or expiring because I had already concluded earlier in the day that I was never going to transfer. But then I \[saw\] $$ signs and acted on it." Now, Franklin — who still owns [57 expensive Bored Ape Yacht Club]() assets, *Decrypt* reports, so he's ultimately doing fine — is apparently taking some time to recuperate. As he so [poignantly tweeted](): "I’ll log off for a bit." **More on crypto scams:** [*Crypto Founders Say It's Not Their Fault They're Enabling Ponzi Schemes*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()