Frank DeGods announces retirement from popular y00ts and DeGods NFT projects

Rohun Vora, better known as Frank DeGods, has resigned as CEO of the popular NFT project DeGods, according to an announcement on Monday. Pseudonymous community members @0x_chill and @pastagotsauce were named successors. 

“i dedicated 3 years of sleepless nights trying to make DeGods & y00ts a success. i'm proud of the work i did,” Vora said in a message on X. “i'm excited to hand the reigns to the team and watch them cook.”

Frank DeGods has been the public face of the titular DeGods projects since it launched in 2021. He gained prominence as a bold marketer (and rave dancer ), including attempts to pitch the NFT series as a quasi-lifestyle brand. He is also the creator of the sister project, y00ts.

Both DeGods and y00ts were initially launched on Solana, but migrated to Ethereum in 2023 following a brief stint on Polygon. Dust Labs, which manages the projects, returned a $3 million grant provided by the Polygon team. The projects were also launched as inscriptions on Bitcoin.

DEGODS currently has a market capitalization of 4,980 ETH, or nearly $12.5 million, with a floor price of 0.554 ETH, according to CoinGecko. y00ts, meanwhile, has a price floor of $5,220 and a total market cap of $64.6 million.

The tokens have been outpacing the broader NFT market over the past week. DEGODS has seen a 567.40% increase in trading activity on Solana and 456.40% on Ethereum over the past day. 

Controversial control

Vora’s tenure has been in part marked by controversy, which he hinted at in his resignation announcement on Monday. 

“maybe we'll look back at this fixation on ‘frank degods’ as the thing that was holding us back,” Vora said. "at times i felt like the hate was overdone, but i get it. it's funny. it gets clicks and deep down the people doing it feel like they are protecting the industry they love."

“for the record: i'm not ‘on the run’. there are no investigations, because i have never done anything,” he added. 

Earlier this year, MisakaTrades accused Vora of abandoning several memecoin projects he promoted as part of the so-called LA Vape Cabal influencer group. In February, Vora responded to criticism, saying he received “insider information,” but subsequently walked back the comments.

At the time, Vora retired his public wallet, which reported profits of $4.4 million, citing accusations of insider trading. Critics alleged Vora leveraged private group chats to gain early access to token launches, including the controversial LIBRA token promoted by Javier Milei, the president of Argentina. He is also rumored to have front-run the disastrous memecoin launched by Hailey Welch , of Hawk Tuah fame. 

Additionally, Vora faced backlash after raising 176 BTC for BTC DeGods without a clear roadmap and for his public denouncements of the Solana NFT community. 

That said, Vora has gained a reputation as an innovator. For instance, he introduced a 33.3% tax on DeGods sales below the floor price, in an attempt to penalize "paper hand” investors. The collected fees were used to buy and burn low-priced NFTs, reducing supply and boosting value.

“sounds corny, but the best part of the last few years wasn't the money or clout. it was meeting some of you. made some real friends. it's been fun. time to finally hit the gym. thanks for everything. keep trying [rhymes with smit],” Vora said.