Losing three months’ wages in Paul Pogba crypto scheme: ‘The main reason we invested was him’

Outside a cafe in the bustling backstreets of Istanbul, 26-year-old Berat Kurnaz reflects on the worst decision of his life — losing three months’ wages on an investment scheme promoted by one of the world’s most famous footballers.

“I can’t buy anything. I can’t do anything. I’m just working, working, working,” says Kurnaz, now in debt while living with his parents and working around the clock. “When you don’t have money, you lose more money. You can’t think straight.”

Turkey, reeling from the earthquakes that have already claimed more than 50,000 lives in the country and neighbouring Syria, is in economic turmoil with spiralling inflation and a tanking domestic currency. Cash left in the bank rapidly falls in value leading many to seek out risky investments which purport to offer lucrative rates of return.

Last year Kurnaz’s cousin approached him with an unusual idea — buying a non-fungible token (NFT) promoted by the footballer Paul Pogba.

The Juventus midfielder was a World Cup winner in 2018 with France and is one of the world’s most followed players on social media, with 57million followers on Instagram and 10millon on Twitter. The tweet promoting the Cryptodragons scheme that Kurnaz’s cousin saw has the hashtag “#ad”, suggesting Pogba was paid for the post.

Users could buy “eggs” in the form of NFTs, which then “hatched” into “dragons” of varying classes — common, rare, epic and legendary — of varying monetary value. These dragons could then fight each other in a game, or “breed” with each other to create new dragons.

Kurnaz borrowed $2,000 (£1,650) from a bank to invest in Cryptodragons and has now lost it all.

The scheme has plummeted in value, just like cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and other projects based on blockchain technology such as NFTs.

Earning $600 a month in his courier job, this is a devastating loss for Kurnaz. He used to enjoy going for drinks with friends and taking the occasional trip outside Istanbul on his motorbike, but now he just works all the time to pay off this and other debts, staying in and playing computer games in his rare downtime.

“The main reason we invested was Pogba,” says Kurnaz. “It wasn’t like someone was impersonating him online, he actually did videos for it.

“We thought he must know the people doing this, this must be legit.”

Pogba is far from the only elite footballer to have promoted disastrous NFT schemes. Premier League stars such as John Terry, Andy Robertson and Luke Shaw all promoted similar projects on their social media feeds before they promptly tanked in value. Given their superstar status, these players’ endorsements helped to push the NFTs to a global audience, and they appear to have been paid for their involvement.

The Athletic has spoken to multiple investors who cited Pogba as the main reason they put money into Cryptodragons. Pogba’s team did not respond to a request for comment.

Additionally, many victims cite the legitimacy given by news websites which hosted a press release for Cryptodragons, leading some to wrongly believe that esteemed companies somehow endorsed the scheme. Kurnaz showed this screenshot from the Cryptodragons website when explaining why he got involved in something which may seem ridiculous in hindsight.

The Cryptodragon NFTs were first “minted” — put up for sale — on November 7 2021, the week that Ethereum, the cryptocurrency token in which the NFTs were purchased, peaked in value at almost $5,000.

One “legendary” egg was minted for 35 Ethereum, worth around $168,000 at the time. Pogba referenced this in his initial video, speaking of how the project had set the “world record for primary sale in less than ten seconds, this is huge”.

In a follow-up video, he said he was “so excited” about acquiring some dragon eggs.

In late 2021 and early 2022, millions of dollars were spent on these NFTs but they are now worthless.

After the initial “mint”, the tokens could be bought and sold freely on the website OpenSea, which functions sort of like an eBay for NFTs where users can buy and sell from each other.

OpenSea data reveals how the tokens plunged in value very quickly. The “project,” and the people behind it, simply stopped communicating. The Cryptodragons Twitter account stopped posting. A channel on Discord, a social media app popular in the cryptocurrency community, also went quiet.

Last summer there were some vague tweets about a “reward programme” but nothing concrete and, since then, silence.

There are vast numbers of these people who have lost out on football-related schemes and The Athletic has exchanged messages with dozens — but they are generally reticent about speaking publicly. Many speak of the shame and humiliation of losing large sums on something that seems so bizarre. They do not want their family and friends to know.

Kurnaz, though, is happy to speak, have his photo taken, and use his real name. He is philosophical about the massive mistake he has made.

“I want to help people,” he says, speaking not far from where Besiktas, one of Turkey’s most famous football teams, play their home games. “There’s nothing shameful about it. I just did it. That’s what’s happened to me.”

His story also has a painful personal dimension because his cousin told him about the token. But Kurnaz does not blame his relative, saying people across Turkey are losing money on similar schemes while dreaming of a better life.

“(My cousin) warned me about that. He told me there are some risks, but I took the risk,” he says.

His parents also warned him against the investment.

“They have experience about life,” he says. “So they know if you chase easy money, you will lose out, and it’s true.”

Another who lost thousands on Cryptodragons is based in the USA and prefers not to give his name.

“Me and my brothers found this NFT, Cryptodragons, and thought it looked cool,” he says. “We decided to invest.”

He estimates that between the three of them they put in around $12,000 to $24,000. They have lost it all.

Another American investor, who says he lost around $6,000, is in a support group for those who lost money. He says he has spoken to one individual who has lost $180,000.

“They said they would be back up and running soon,” he says. “Probably around February or March (the founders) withdrew 800 Ethereum (cryptocurrency worth up to $2million at the time).

“The main reason we invested was that Pogba is on there. He gave them validity. There is this guy who everyone knows who is famous and has a lot of influence and he is backing this project now.”

All that money, however, flowed somewhere.

The Cryptodragons Twitter account repeatedly referred to a woman called Nari as the project’s co-founder. Interviews with her were once on YouTube but these have now been deleted.

Nari’s Twitter account, which lists her location as Canada, has not tweeted for over a year.

Those who have lost out on Cryptodragons point to other names who may have been involved but this is hard to independently verify and most details have been scrubbed from the internet.

In November 2021 an unsolicited email was sent to journalists from a ‘Rosie Philson’ sharing a press release about the ‘Cryptodragons Metaverse’.

The Athletic rang the UK phone number at the bottom of the email and a woman answered.

She first said she was “not involved with that project” any more, but when pushed further on specifics — such as where the money has gone — she claimed to not know anything before hanging up.

As for those who have lost out, both the anonymous Americans interviewed for this piece are seasoned cryptocurrency investors who are in the business of high-risk, high-reward investing, and do not claim to be financially devastated by their loss.

But for others like Kurnaz in Istanbul — and many others who will never be identified — the Cryptodragons scheme represents a life-changing loss.

Asked if he would like to say anything to Pogba or the faceless people behind Cryptodragons, Kurnaz says no. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he says. “You can’t do anything.

“In Turkey it’s too easy because people always need easy money. People always chase easy money. You will try to make easy money so you lose again.”

“It’s the reason the poor people are always poor.”

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)