Treasure NFT promised daily returns of 4.3% to 6.8% and monthly profits of up to 30% through AI-driven NFT trading. Tens of thousands of people across South Asia believed it. By March 2025, the platform froze withdrawals, went silent, and left an estimated 100,000+ investors in Pakistan alone unable to access their money.
Every major crypto publication that has investigated the platform – KuCoin, CoinDCX, CoinSwitch, Gate.io, Mudrex, Bitrue, and Flitpay – reached the same conclusion: Treasure NFT operated as a Ponzi scheme disguised as an NFT marketplace.
Here’s a fact-based breakdown of what Treasure NFT actually was, how the scheme worked, who got hurt, and what happened after the collapse.
What Was Treasure NFT?
Treasure NFT marketed itself as “the world’s first encrypted NFT integrated marketplace based on algorithmic trading.” The platform claimed to use artificial intelligence to identify undervalued NFTs, trade them automatically, and distribute profits to users who deposited funds.
Unlike legitimate NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Blur, or Magic Eden – where users buy and sell specific digital assets directly – or NFT drop calendars that help collectors discover verified upcoming projects, Treasure NFT operated as a closed-loop system. Users deposited money, and the platform claimed to handle all trading internally. Users never interacted with actual NFTs. They saw numbers on a dashboard.
The platform launched around 2022 and grew rapidly through 2023 and 2024, primarily in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It positioned itself as a way for everyday people – many with no prior investment experience – to earn passive income from cryptocurrency without needing any trading knowledge.
The core promise: deposit money, let the AI trade for you, and collect guaranteed daily profits. No effort required. No market risk.
That promise was the first and biggest red flag.
How the Treasure NFT Scheme Worked
Financial experts and independent investigators have documented a clear pattern that matches classic Ponzi scheme mechanics.
The Investment Structure
Users deposited funds and were assigned VIP levels. Higher levels required larger deposits and more referrals but promised higher daily returns. The tiered structure incentivized people to invest more money and recruit more participants to unlock better payouts.
Profitability was directly tied to recruitment. The referral program used a multi-level structure – users earned commissions not only from their direct referrals but also from indirect referrals several layers deep. This pyramid-shaped earning model is a defining characteristic of both Ponzi and pyramid schemes.
Where the “Profits” Came From
No independent investigator has found verifiable NFT trading activity associated with Treasure NFT on any public blockchain – not on Etherscan, not on Polygonscan, not on Solscan. The AI-driven trading that supposedly generated profits was completely undocumented. No smart contract audits existed. No on-chain transaction data supported the platform’s claims.
The math tells the story: 4.3-6.8% daily returns means doubling your money roughly every 10-16 days. No legitimate investment in any asset class – stocks, bonds, real estate, crypto, NFTs – can sustain those returns. The only way to pay such returns is to use deposits from new investors to pay existing ones. That is the legal definition of a Ponzi scheme.
The Trust-Building Phase
Early users received their payouts. This was deliberate. Small, timely withdrawals built trust and encouraged users to reinvest their profits and recommend the platform to others. People who received their first withdrawal became the most convincing recruiters – they could show bank statements proving Treasure NFT “worked.”
This is a textbook Ponzi tactic: pay early, collect trust, then scale.
The Collapse: March 2025
The system began unraveling in late 2024 as growth slowed. By early 2025, complaints about delayed withdrawals surged across social media, Reddit, and review platforms.
On March 23, 2025, Treasure NFT effectively froze withdrawals. The platform initially cited “financial system adjustments” and extended withdrawal processing times from 96 hours to 168 hours. That 168-hour window came and went. Users then saw timers extended to 360 hours. Then indefinitely.
Treasure NFT’s own official X account published withdrawal data showing that of 1,887 withdrawal forms submitted, only 121 were successfully processed. The rest were rejected on technicalities, left pending, or met with “Unqualified Conditions” errors.
The platform’s Telegram channel – which had over 419,000 subscribers – went silent after March 30, 2025. The website was flagged as unsafe by major browsers. Customer support became unreachable.
The Express Tribune reported the story as a major financial fraud affecting Pakistani investors. Reports from India suggested that billions of rupees had been collected from users.
Who Was Behind Treasure NFT?
The platform publicly named its CEO as “Steven Alexander” and its CTO as “Bob Steven.” Independent investigators found that neither individual has a verifiable professional history in blockchain, fintech, or any related industry. Their LinkedIn profiles contained no real work history, no professional connections, and no verifiable academic background.
The claimed headquarters was in Tempe, Arizona, with a stated Money Services Business (MSB) license from FinCEN. Investigation revealed that the registered Arizona address corresponds to a Russian music academy – not any legitimate NFT business.
An MSB license from FinCEN only ensures anti-money laundering compliance – it does not certify that a business is legitimate, solvent, or operating honestly. Multiple sources confirm that Treasure NFT was not registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND), leaving Indian investors without regulatory protection.
Trustpilot reviews identify a person named “Moh Bilal Kahlon” as an alleged operator, though this has not been independently confirmed by law enforcement.
Who Got Hurt
Treasure NFT’s recruitment campaigns specifically targeted economically disadvantaged communities. The platform’s marketing – spread through WhatsApp groups, YouTube videos, and local influencers – was particularly aggressive in Pakistan’s tribal areas, Balochistan, Sindh, and rural India.
The human impact extended far beyond financial loss:
- Laborers in Larkana, Pakistan reportedly quit their jobs to rely on Treasure NFT’s daily profits
- Recruitment often happened through family and friends, destroying relationships when the scheme collapsed
- Users who promoted the platform to their communities faced social consequences alongside financial ones
- Many investors were first-time participants in any investment, drawn in by the promise that no experience was needed
- Reports on Trustpilot describe users losing $120 to several thousand dollars – amounts that represent significant portions of household income in the affected regions
On Trustpilot, Treasure NFT holds a 1-star rating with reviews describing it as “the biggest scam in 2025” and alleging total losses in the billions of dollars across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The Rebrand: NFT Gold and Treasure Fun
After the collapse, Treasure NFT did not simply disappear. It rebranded.
The platform launched a successor called “NFT Gold” and redirected users to “Treasure Fun” (treasurefun.xyz). Treasure Fun’s website promotes “AI-powered algorithmic trading” with a “dual earnings mechanism” – language nearly identical to Treasure NFT’s original marketing.
Multiple sources – KuCoin, CoinSwitch, Bitrue, and Gate.io – warn that NFT Gold and Treasure Fun appear to be the same operation under new names. This rebrand-and-relaunch cycle is a documented pattern in crypto fraud: once exposed, scam operators shut down, rebrand, and target a fresh batch of users.
Trustpilot reviews explicitly state: “Treasure NFT, Treasure Fun, and Nova NFT are the same company.” Users report that transitioning from Treasure NFT to Treasure Fun required additional deposits – a further extraction of funds from victims already unable to withdraw.
Red Flags That Identified the Scam
For anyone evaluating a new NFT or crypto platform, Treasure NFT’s red flags are a textbook checklist of what to watch for:
Guaranteed high returns. No legitimate platform promises 4.3-6.8% daily. NFT markets are volatile – prices swing based on demand, and most NFTs lose value over time. Fixed daily profits are mathematically impossible without new investor money.
Referral-driven revenue. When a platform’s primary growth mechanism is recruiting new members rather than actual trading or product sales, it’s a pyramid structure. Treasure NFT’s multi-level referral commissions were the engine of the entire operation.
Anonymous or unverifiable team. “Steven Alexander” and “Bob Steven” had no traceable professional history. The Arizona address was fake. No real people stood behind the platform.
No on-chain activity. A blockchain-based platform should have verifiable transactions on public explorers. Treasure NFT had none. The claimed AI trading was completely opaque. Trusted NFT aggregators like nftdroops.com specifically filter out projects that lack transparent on-chain data – a basic check Treasure NFT would have failed instantly.
Withdrawal restrictions. Legitimate exchanges process withdrawals within minutes or hours. Treasure NFT’s escalating delays – 96 hours to 168 hours to 360 hours to infinity – followed the classic Ponzi endgame pattern.
Targeting vulnerable populations. Ethical financial products don’t need to recruit through WhatsApp chains in rural communities with limited financial literacy. Deliberate targeting of vulnerable groups is both a moral failure and a fraud indicator.
No regulatory registration. Not registered with FIU-IND. Not audited. No published financial statements. The FinCEN MSB license was a compliance checkbox, not proof of legitimacy.
What Affected Users Can Do
If you lost money to Treasure NFT, options are limited but not zero.
Document everything. Save screenshots of transactions, wallet addresses, deposit confirmations, chat logs with support, and referral communications. This evidence matters if law enforcement pursues action.
Report to authorities. In India, file complaints with local police cybercrime cells and through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in). In Pakistan, report to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing. Multiple reports increase the likelihood of investigation.
Do not invest in Treasure Fun, NFT Gold, or any successor platform. These appear to be the same operation under new branding, designed to extract additional funds from the same victim pool.
Seek legal advice. In India, gains from Virtual Digital Assets carry a 30% flat tax and 1% TDS – but losses from fraudulent platforms may not be tax-deductible. A tax professional can clarify your specific situation.
Be cautious with “recovery” services. Scam recovery services that promise to get your money back – often for an upfront fee – are frequently scams themselves.
How to Spot Legitimate NFT Platforms
Treasure NFT exploited the complexity and novelty of NFTs to disguise a simple fraud. Legitimate NFT platforms look fundamentally different:
OpenSea, Blur, Magic Eden, and Rarible are peer-to-peer marketplaces where users buy and sell specific digital assets at market-determined prices. No guaranteed returns exist. Prices fluctuate based on supply, demand, and speculation.
Legitimate platforms have verifiable on-chain activity. Every NFT transaction on OpenSea is visible on Etherscan. Every trade on Magic Eden shows on Solscan. Transparency is not optional – it’s built into how blockchains work.
Legitimate platforms don’t need referral pyramids to grow. OpenSea became the largest NFT marketplace through organic adoption, not multi-level recruitment incentives. Independent platforms like NFTdroops curate upcoming drops by filtering out scam projects and highlighting verified collections – the exact opposite of Treasure NFT’s approach.
Legitimate platforms identify their teams. The founders of OpenSea, Magic Eden, and Blur are publicly known, with verifiable professional backgrounds and histories.
Any platform that promises guaranteed returns from NFT trading without transparent on-chain activity and identifiable leadership should be treated as fraudulent until proven otherwise. For anyone still interested in NFTs after this experience, start with verified NFT drops from trusted calendars rather than platforms that promise passive income.
FAQ
Is Treasure NFT a scam?
Yes. Every independent review – from KuCoin, CoinDCX, CoinSwitch, Gate.io, Mudrex, Bitrue, and Flitpay – identifies Treasure NFT as a Ponzi scheme. The platform promised unsustainable daily returns of 4.3-6.8%, relied on referral recruitment for revenue, had no verifiable on-chain trading activity, used fake founder identities, and froze withdrawals in March 2025 before going silent.
What happened to Treasure NFT?
Treasure NFT froze withdrawals on approximately March 23, 2025. The platform’s Telegram channel (419,000+ subscribers) went silent on March 30, 2025. The website was flagged as unsafe by browsers. The operation then rebranded as “Treasure Fun” and “NFT Gold”, which experts warn are the same scheme under new names.
Can I still withdraw money from Treasure NFT?
Almost certainly not. As of early 2026, KuCoin reports that withdrawals are largely disabled or failing. Treasure NFT’s own data showed that of 1,887 withdrawal requests, only 121 were processed. Users should not deposit additional funds in attempts to unlock withdrawals – this is a common tactic to extract more money from victims.
Is Treasure Fun the same as Treasure NFT?
Multiple sources confirm they appear to be the same operation. Trustpilot reviews, KuCoin, CoinSwitch, and Bitrue all identify Treasure Fun (treasurefun.xyz) and NFT Gold as rebranded continuations of Treasure NFT. The marketing language, claimed AI-trading model, and revenue structure are nearly identical.
How many people did Treasure NFT affect?
Exact numbers are difficult to confirm, but The Express Tribune reports over 100,000 investors affected in Pakistan alone. The scheme was also active in India and Bangladesh. Trustpilot reviews allege total losses in the billions of rupees. The platform’s Telegram channel had over 419,000 subscribers at its peak.
How do I report Treasure NFT fraud?
In India, file complaints through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) and local police cybercrime cells. In Pakistan, report to the FIA Cybercrime Wing. Document all transactions, screenshots, and communications before filing. Multiple reports from different victims strengthen the case for investigation.