Gala Games Rugged Inner Circle Holders for Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars via The Orbs NFT Drop

An investigation into how Gala Games (@GoGalaGames) and @crypto888crypto rugged people for hundreds of thousands of dollars with The Orbs NFT drop. This slash is based on ZachXBT's detailed investigation thread from July 25, 2022.

**Background**

In December 2021, Gala Games announced "The Orbs," a collection of 3,333 generative NFTs launching February 13, 2022 in collaboration with musician BT and influencer @crypto888crypto.

BT announced the collaboration on Dec 14, 2021:

> "HUGE NEWS In collaboration w/@crypto888crypto & @GoGalaGames we're launching a ground breaking first : generative, live coded 3D animated art & music NFTs that are eternally changing. 3.333 transcendent 1 of 1 NFTs with unique in game utility in the Galaverse."

Collectors could obtain an Orb by burning three "888 Inner Circle" NFTs for one Orb (888 Orbs reserved) or by purchasing one in a Dutch auction (2,445 Orbs reserved). Between December and the February drop, many collectors acquired three IC NFTs at 1–1.5 ETH each, spending 4+ ETH total.

**The Dutch Auction Setup**

@crypto888crypto announced the auction terms:

> "There will be 3333 Orbs of which 888 are reserved for the #888InnerCircle by burning 3 genesis pieces on 13th February. 2455 Orbs will go on sale on the 14th February in a dutch Auction starting at 11:11 eth over a 48 hour period ending at 8.88 eth"

On February 13, 2022, ZachXBT flagged this publicly:

> "If all 2455 NFTs sold out you would raise between $64m - $80.5m. Nice cash grab ser I would like whatever you are smoking."

**The Livestream Promise**

Due to the backlash, @GoGalaGames, @ForTheBux, and @bt held a livestream hours before the sale to announce they would remove the 8.88 ETH floor. During that livestream — captured on video by @bestctclips — Gala made this explicit promise:

> "If the floor price [of the DA of Orbs] goes below, because the community has spoken, the price that you have spent on your ['888 IC'] NFTs on the burning and all of that stuffs, we will make you whole, we will make good"

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/1551613858246283264 (see tweet 7/ in thread for video evidence)

**The Auction Result**

After the livestream, IC holders burned their three NFTs and the Dutch auction commenced. Instead of a floor of 8.88 ETH, the auction actually settled at 0.71 ETH. This netted Gala, 888, and BT roughly $5.3m (1,874 ETH). ZachXBT included on-chain data of the Dutch Auction settlement in the thread (tweet 8/).

**Victims Never Made Whole**

Three documented victims who burned their IC NFTs spent:

- Collector A: 4.35 ETH (owed 3.64 ETH based on the livestream promise)

- Collector B: 4.42 ETH (owed 3.71 ETH)

- Collector C: 4.07 ETH (owed 3.36 ETH)

Instead of reimbursing IC holders directly with ETH as promised, Gala/888 decided to give IC holders a "vial" NFT in mid-March they could redeem for one of 6 NFT options. Each redemption option was limited to a supply of 250 (with 888 vials total).

**Vial Redemptions Were Delayed and Nearly Worthless**

The first redemption was targeted for end of March, delayed to April, then delayed again to May 3rd. Discord announcements from the team kept pushing dates:

> bainelaker (03/25/2022): "VIAL UPDATE - wanted to drop a quick update here on the Supercharged Vials - I know you've all been itching to redeem or at least check the first redemption option, but we've hit a delay getting the site up. Unfortunately this means the 1st drop will not occur on March 28 - we'll update you as soon as we have a clearer ETA."

> taco (04/19/2022): "Good afternoon @everyone. The tweaks the engineering team was working on yesterday still haven't been sorted out, so we need to push the Jose Delbo vial redemption back again. Hopefully it will be up for tomorrow, but I don't want to give a firm time and have to make another announcement if it's not ready."

The six redemption options and their outcomes:

- Option 1: Jose Delbo artwork (May 3, supply 250) — zero buyers. Anyone who redeemed made $0.

- Option 2: Jose Delbo artwork (May 3, supply 250) — zero buyers. Anyone who redeemed made $0.

- Option 3: Landverse (May 7, supply 250) — average sale 1.44 ETH

- Option 4: Gala Film (May 17, supply 250) — average sale 2.65 ETH

- Option 5: Galaverse Ticket (May 17, supply 250) — average sale 1.83 ETH

- Option 6: Snoop Pass (May 17, supply 250) — average sale 0.91 ETH

Because each option was capped at 250 and there were 888 vials, holders couldn't all redeem for the best option (Gala Film). The average vial redemption value across all six options was roughly 1.15 ETH — far short of the 3–4 ETH owed. The three documented victims were still owed 1.5–2.5 ETH each, and with 888 total vials issued, the number of affected holders is significantly larger. The price of ETH also halved between the Orb drop and vial redemptions, compounding losses.

**Community Silenced in Discord**

When holders voiced frustration, the team deflected and silenced them. In the Discord:

> chefsteve: "Bux can you explain how you are going from there like your mod stated... I'm invested heavily into this project with a vial still"

> Bux (@ForTheBux): "I don't know who said that but it didn't come from me. I have to draw a line, and 5 redeems, 4 of which were done by Gala is it"

> BitDegent3D: "I appreciate you being polite about this. But, the price of the options on the secondary market is not a good representation of value. Gala does not control the secondary market. For example, Galaverse Malta tickets were 8k but as you can see some people are selling the Galaverse San Diego tickets for..."

When another holder said:

> "Im unhappy, how will we go from here? this is not made a whole, lost so much money and ive been patient"

A team member responded:

> "isn't your personal therapy discord"

One inner circle holder was muted for 7 days for voicing frustration. Gala eventually archived the vials channel entirely because it had become "toxic":

> taco (06/16/2022): "Bitbender archived it because it's been so toxic in there recently"

**888 Went Missing After Making $13m+**

ZachXBT called out @crypto888crypto on July 19, 2022 for going missing:

> "@zachxbt: 888 made $13m+ across 3 NFT projects over a six month period and has been missing in his Discord since March and missing on Twitter since May. Rip to all those holders."

888 then magically reappeared on Twitter that same day and turned off replies. His tweets:

> @crypto888crypto: "Although I am currently taking a social media break I have been told about the current fud saying that I have 'disappeared' & 888InnerCircle is no more. 888InnerCircle is a lifetime project & always will be. I'll be back & will be stronger than ever, just need a little time"

> @crypto888crypto: "I wanted to just send a message to thank everyone that cares for all the positive messages of support. I'm dealing with a few personal issues at the moment but will certainly be back online soon"

After the full investigation thread was published, 888 untagged himself from it. His only response was a DM to ZachXBT (screenshot in thread):

> "Looks like you already posted the thread. I haven't disappeared. Just dealing with some issues irl that have been very draining"

**Gala's Official Response: No Reimbursement**

Gala Games responded publicly after the thread but confirmed they would not make IC holders whole as originally promised during the livestream. Their response tweet has since been deleted/made unavailable:

https://x.com/GoGalaGames/status/1551643614895394818

ZachXBT commented:

> "Update: Gala responded and still won't be making people whole as they had promised originally. Can't say I'm surprised."

Jason Brink aka BitBender, VP at Gala Games, also responded in the thread:

> @BitBenderBrink: "Hey there @zachxbt, just wanted to poke my head in here as a resource if you have any questions. That drop was a mess, but we are still here with the community and still building. Not a rug and still very much moving forward with @BT on a variety of fronts."

https://x.com/BitBenderBrink/status/1551647889151201282

Notably, no mention of making holders whole — just "that drop was a mess."

ZachXBT also noted that Gala and 888 likely screwed over BT as well by not following through on the promises they made to the community during the joint livestream.

**Current State**

The Orbs collection on OpenSea has collapsed: 3.3K items, 1.4K owners, 2.5K total volume, floor price 0.23 ETH, best offer 0.2 ETH. Holders were never made whole.

**Evidence**

Full investigation thread:

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/1551613858246283264

Gala Games response (now deleted/unavailable):

https://x.com/GoGalaGames/status/1551643614895394818

Jason Brink (Gala VP) response:

https://x.com/BitBenderBrink/status/1551647889151201282