One of the largest promotional campaigns in the meme coin community has officially ended. Dogwifhat ($WIF ) - a prominent meme coin on Solana - has abandoned its advertising plans on the giant Las Vegas Sphere screen, and the organizing team has committed to refund nearly 700,000 USD to sponsors.
From Promise to Breakdown: What Happened?
The plan to display the image of the dog wearing a hat on the Sphere was first revealed by Dogwifhat in January 2024, with a projected appearance on "Exosphere" in the first quarter of 2025. To achieve this, the community raised nearly 700,000 USD in USDC in March 2024.
However, by April 1, 2024, a spokesperson for the Sphere stated to the Decrypt news site that there were no agreements with Dogwifhat and that they only accepted advertisements from crypto exchanges and about Bitcoin. This immediately raised suspicions and affected the price of WIF.
Failure Due to the "Ghost" of Policy and the Vigilance of Partners
According to Edward - one of the main organizers of the campaign - #dogwifhat really reached an agreement with a partner in the fashion industry to display the logo on the Sphere. But after a strong statement from the Sphere representative, this partner panicked and withdrew.
Specifically, the two keywords "distressed" and "fraudulent purposes" that the Sphere used have made this fashion brand worry about legal risks. They feared that the advertisement could affect the price of WIF and lead to intervention from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Therefore, the contract was quickly canceled.
After that, Dogwifhat tried to collaborate with a musician performing at the Sphere to display the WIF imagery during the shows, but this plan also could not be completed in the expected timeframe. In the end, the organizing team had to announce the complete abandonment of the plan.
Transparency of the Fundraising and Refund Process
Although the campaign failed, the donated amount remains intact in the multisig wallet on Solana, ensuring transparency. On #Solscan , it can be seen that 697,800 USD USDC is still in the wallet and has never been misused.
Although there was a stage when these funds were transferred to another wallet (when the contract with the fashion partner was signed), it was later returned to the original wallet when the deal failed.
Refunds will begin on April 2, 2025. According to Edward, Mihir - a member of the organizing team - will be responsible for carrying out this process. Those who donated via personal wallets will be automatically refunded, while those who sent through centralized exchanges (CEX) will need to go through procedures to receive their money back.
Outrageous or Sympathetic Community?
Although many have criticized this campaign as a "scam", in reality, the fund remains transparent with no signs of fraud. Quasi - one of the multisig holders - criticized the skepticism from the community:
"Bringing WIF to the Sphere should have been a positive thing for all meme coins. But instead, you criticized us and called us scammers, even though the fund has always been transparent."
However, despite the controversy, the market seems to be reacting positively to this news. WIF rose by 5.7% immediately after the refund announcement, indicating that the community is ready to move on and leave this campaign behind.
Lessons from the Dogwifhat Event - Sphere
Transparency is key: Thanks to blockchain, the community can verify the raised funds and ensure there is no fraud.
The advertising censorship policy of major platforms is very strict: Not every crypto coin can appear on prominent advertising screens like the Sphere.
Token prices can be affected by unforeseen factors: When negative information emerged, the price of WIF dropped by up to 18%, indicating the sensitivity of meme coins to news.
The crypto community can easily shift from FOMO to criticism: Initially, everyone was excited about the campaign, but when problems arose, many turned to criticize the organizing team.
Anyway, "the hat stays", as Edward said. But this time, it will not appear on the Sphere anymore, but perhaps will look for another campaign that is more suitable for promotion.