Pixelmon
Summary
Pixelmon is a Pokemon-inspired NFT game project that raised approximately $70 million in a February 2022 Dutch-auction mint before revealing artwork widely described as comically low quality, causing an immediate collapse in floor price of roughly 88%. The project's original founder, identified as Martin van Blerk (online handle 'Syber'), was accused of misrepresentation and had a documented history of unfulfilled crowdfunding campaigns; treasury funds were observed being spent on third-party NFTs rather than development. The project was subsequently acquired by Web3 venture studio LiquidX, which relaunched it with new leadership, revised artwork, and a native MON token, though the original mint episode remains one of the most publicized cases of NFT overpromising in the 2021-2022 cycle.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigationsTimeline(11 events)
2021-12-23
Martin van Blerk (Syber) posts early promotional material for Pixelmon on Twitter, showing concept art for a Pokemon-inspired NFT game.
Crypto Briefing2022-02-07
Pixelmon Dutch-auction mint opens at 3 ETH per NFT. Approximately 7,750 NFTs are sold, raising roughly $70 million USD in under 10 minutes.
Decrypt2022-02-25
The Pixelmon 'Hatching' (metadata reveal) takes place. Revealed artwork is widely mocked as low quality and technically broken; floor price collapses from 3 ETH toward 0.3 ETH within 24 hours.
CoinDesk2022-02-25
The malformed frog-like character later nicknamed 'Kevin' goes viral as a meme representing the project's failure. Kevin NFTs paradoxically trade at a premium over the broader collection floor due to meme value.
NFT Evening2022-03-01
Syber issues a public apology, calling the OpenSea reveal 'a horrible mistake' and pledging mint funds would be used for continued development. No refund mechanism is announced.
Decrypt2022-03-03
Syber is publicly identified as Martin van Blerk, a 20-year-old from Hamilton, New Zealand. Reporting surfaces his prior Kickstarter campaigns (Psycho Chickens, Slap the Deck) with unfulfilled backer obligations.
1News New Zealand2022-06-30
LiquidX, a Web3 venture studio, acquires a 60% stake in Pixelmon. Giulio Xiloyannis is named CEO. The project announces revised artwork and a new roadmap targeting alpha in Q1 2023.
Coinbold2022-09-01
Decrypt reports on Pixelmon's attempted comeback under LiquidX, including redesigned creature models and a free-to-play pivot away from play-to-earn mechanics.
Decrypt2023-10-01
Pixelmon releases 'Kevin the Adventurer,' a hypercasual game deployed on the Base network (Coinbase's Ethereum L2), reporting approximately 36,000 active players.
Decrypt2024-01-01
Pixelmon announces an $8 million seed funding round with investors including Animoca Brands, Delphi Digital, Amber Group, Bing Ventures, and Foresight Ventures.
Decrypt2024-05-27
The MON token (ERC-20, 1 billion total supply) launches with a community airdrop. Over 180,000 wallets reported eligible. Claiming begins at 9:30am UTC.
BitPinasDecision Log
- hash: 6KLuoUXFuBH1MAosQva1GKEpvCMJnKgyaQwRn3iwWKDj
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-5
generated: 5/30/2026, 12:56:21 PM
last updated: 5/30/2026, 12:57:06 PM
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