decrypt.co
DUST, the native token for NFT collection DeGods, rallied from $0.62 to almost $0.80 today on the heels of a weird and totally unsubstantiated rumor that the new Grand Theft Auto will feature the cryptocurrency.
The rumor has since been shot down, but it was enough to send the token—down over 90% from its all-time high—on a wild ride.
DUST is a utility and governance token, on both Ethereum and Solana, that was initially distributed to DeGods holders through their staking program. Everyone who staked their DeGods NFTs earned DUST, over time, in exchange.
The token, like the majority of the market, hasn’t seen much action over the bear market, but began to capture the speculative appetite of Crypto Twitter earlier this morning.
The rumors behind the Dust rally
The rumors appear to have been started by Twitter user and DeGods PFP enjoyer Top Smoke. The degen made his case for why he believed GTA 6 would incorporate DUST in a tweet, including the fact that the VP of creative writing at Rockstar Games follows DeGods on Twitter, but mainly focused around the fact that DeGods used the GTA font in their Twitter banner.
DeGods just changed their banner to a GTA-inspired landscape with "the city in the cloud" written in the corner (in GTA font)
The VP of Creative Writing at @RockstarGames follows @DeGodsNFT
The new GTA trailer is coming out in early December ... this is not a coincidence.
The… pic.twitter.com/RIMatycxna
— Top Smoke (@realtopsmoke) November 22, 2023
DeGods had recently updated their Twitter banner to an image of a sprawling city with the GTA font overlaid—and then degens immediately began degenning.
Traders likely found it just believable enough because crypto rumors have plagued GTA for years. Most recently, after GTA 6 was announced on November 8, rumors immediately began to swirl that the game would include a cryptocurrency in some way. Rockstar Games, the developer of GTA, has said nothing to confirm the rumors in general, and they’ve always been far-fetched.
But as the latest rumor spread across Twitter, DUST rallied. DeGods then changed their Twitter banner again, presumably to try and get the rumors under control without directly addressing them.
Unfortunately for speculators, however, the DeGods Twitter account eventually decided to issue a statement and squash the rumors, stating, “bro I just liked the font."
bro i just liked the font
— DeGods (@DeGodsNFT) November 22, 2023
Since the rumors were put to bed, DUST fell from its peak near $0.80 to $0.66—still up 8% on the day.
It’s enough to make us wonder: Is using the GTA front a viable crypto marketing strategy?