A token project promoted by UFC star Conor McGregor has been forced to refund investors after falling well short of its $1 million minimum fundraising target.
Real World Gaming (RWG), the developers behind the REAL token, announced on April 6 that the public sale failed to reach its goal. They confirmed that all bids would be refunded in full.
“We need to be real. We didn’t hit our minimum raise,” the team wrote on X. “All bids will be refunded in full… This is not the end.”
Fundraising Falls Short Despite Celebrity Backing
The presale for the REAL token took place over a 28-hour window from April 5 to April 6. Despite the hype, only $392,315 in USDC was raised—less than half the $1 million minimum and just 11% of the full $3.6 million target.
Key details from the presale:
- The auction offered 60 million REAL tokens, representing 3% of the total 2 billion token supply.
- The initial price was set at $0.06 per token.
- Only 668 participants submitted bids during the sealed-bid auction.
The project aimed for a fully diluted market cap of $120 million, but the lack of traction has cast doubts on its future.
Timing and Market Conditions Played a Role
REAL launched during a tough week for the broader financial markets. On April 3 and 4, U.S. stocks recorded a historic $6.6 trillion loss, while Bitcoin also declined sharply. Analysts have linked these drops to renewed fears of a recession sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
Meanwhile, the memecoin sector, which REAL hoped to tap into, has also seen major pullbacks. Since the January launch of the Official Trump token and the February LIBRA scandal involving Argentina’s President Javier Milei, the once-booming memecoin market has lost over half its value. It now stands below $44 billion and is down 13% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
McGregor’s Vision Meets Harsh Reality
Conor McGregor had positioned the REAL token as a more trustworthy alternative to previous celebrity-backed crypto projects that often ended in controversy or were labeled as “rug pulls.”
“This isn’t some celebrity-endorsed bullshit token,” McGregor said in a statement. “It’s a REAL game changer that will improve the crypto ecosystem and make REAL change in the world.”
Despite that promise, the token’s rocky debut suggests celebrity endorsements alone may no longer be enough to sway investors—especially during uncertain market conditions.
