1 week Ago
Conor McGregor’s highly publicised cryptocurrency venture has run into a serious roadblock. The ex-UFC champion’s digital token, the REAL token, did not reach its minimum funding target in a 28-hour sealed-bid auction, and now even the promised refunds to investors are running into technical issues. The REAL token, released by McGregor’s firm Real World Gaming (RWG), hoped to raise US$3.
6 million by offering 60 million tokens, or 3 percent of the entire 2 billion token supply. The auction on April 5 and 6 started with a minimum price of US$0.06 per token and a fully diluted valuation of US$120 million in mind.
However, for all the brash ambitions, the project only drew 668 participants and raised a paltry US$392,315, less than 11 percent of the goal. McGregor Doubles Down on Support Despite Setback Despite a disappointing turn of events for Real World Gaming (RWG), Conor McGregor publicly supports the crypto gaming project. On April 7, following RWG’s admission that it had failed to meet its minimum fundraising goal, the company tweeted, “All bids have now been returned to wallets.
We’re gonna go get some sleep. Stay real.” McGregor promptly quote-tweeted the post, writing, “This is US$REAL!”, reaffirming his belief in the project.
Earlier, RWG had candidly stated, “We must be honest. We didn’t meet our minimum raise,” promising full refunds to investors. Many fans seem to be angry with the refund due to regulatory and technical issues.
“It’s not a celebrity-endorsed BS token,” he said earlier. The early hiccups raised the question if the project can actually fulfill the hype or not, but it’s a REAL game changer bringing positive impact to the crypto market. Launch Timing Aligns with Market Decline REAL’s failure can partly be blamed on bad timing.
The token debuted during a massive crypto and stock market downturn . Bitcoin, which had reached well over US$79,000 in the first part of this year, fell below US$75,000 at the time of sale. At the same time, US stock markets incurred a record US$6.
6 trillion loss within two days, fuelled by investor anxiety over tariffs proposed by US President Donald Trump and worries about the upcoming recession. Very poor macroeconomic conditions have deterred investors from high-risk speculative investments, such as memecoins and other celebrity-backed tokens. Downward trajectory for memecoins Off a once heavenly US$100 billion market cap , the current valuation of the memecoin market is now less than US$44 billion, taking a pretty nasty 13 percent dive in just one day during the REAL debut.
This impression of scepticism has only heightened from the experiences of scams like that of LIBRA token and even linked to Argentine President Javier Milei. McGregor has tried to draw REAL away from the traditional meme-token scriptbook, but whatever sentiment prevailed at large has caught up with branding. What’s Next for REAL? Despite the bumpy beginning, RWG maintains the project is far from finished.
“This is not the end,” the developers announced, suggesting new tactics and potential relaunch. But regaining trust in a market that’s growing suspicious will take more than fame, it will take transparency, compliance, and actual utility. In the meantime, the REAL token is a high-profile illustration of the issues confronting crypto startups in today’s volatile environment.
Whether McGregor is able to rally and come through on his digital aspirations remains to be seen..
