The Fake World Assets team also pledged 327 ETH for a reserve after criticism that none of roughly $3.2 million in launch-period fees had been directed to buybacks.
TokenWorks, the two-person team behind NFT gacha protocol Fake World Assets, increased its commitment to support the FWA token after a backlash over how launch revenue would be used. The team said it will route 80% of future protocol fees to token buybacks and spend 327 ETH, about $610,000, buying FWA for a team reserve after holders objected that none of the roughly $3.2 million earned during the protocol's first two weeks had been earmarked for buybacks. FWA traded at $0.0083 on Tuesday, down 43% over 24 hours after falling to an all-time low of $0.0066 overnight, according to CoinGecko. The token is 78% below its July 26 high of $0.03856 and its market capitalization has fallen to about $8 million. The episode highlights a recurring tension in token launches over how much protocol revenue should accrue to token holders rather than the builders. The debate is unfolding as Fake World Assets' 15-day emissions program ends and external purchases of FWA open at 3 pm ET. The protocol, relaunched July 20, lets users deposit ETH-backed NFTs into a pool and sell randomized draws using Chainlink's verifiable random function (a provably fair randomness system). Winners keep the NFT or sell it back for most of its backing, while losing draws earn FWA rewards. DefiLlama data cited in the report showed $8.8 million in fees over the past 30 days and $5 million in total value locked, and The Defiant said the project at one point briefly ranked behind only Sky in daily revenue among Ethereum protocols. After criticism, co-founder Adam, known as Rhynotic on X, said no retroactive fee split would satisfy everyone and argued a one-off buyback would only briefly lift the price before holders sold into it. He instead increased the future fee allocation to buybacks and expanded the team's reserve plan. Blockworks Research's Kunal Doshi said the dispute reflects a principal-agent problem, arguing a team with little token ownership has limited incentive to support the token and warning that liquidity and gacha activity may slow once emissions end.