It looks like the ambitious Dogwifhat (WIF) community project to get their meme on the Las Vegas Sphere has hit a dead end. A prominent WIF crypto influencer has announced that the fundraiser is being shut down and investors will be getting their money back.

The news broke via an X post (formerly Twitter) from crypto influencer “GamesMaster.wif,” which was quickly amplified by the official Dogwifhat X account. According to the post, refunds for the WIF Sphere contributions are set to kick off on April 1st – yes, April Fool’s Day.

GamesMaster, whose real name is Edward, went on to explain what went wrong, detailing a series of unfortunate events that ultimately derailed the Sphere collaboration. He claims the initial setback came when crypto news site Decrypt, allegedly “spooked” a fashion partner who was lined up to collaborate on a Sphere promotion.

Decrypt’s report from January 31st did indeed state that Dogwifhat wouldn’t be gracing the Sphere’s massive screen. The article quoted a Las Vegas Sphere spokesperson who clarified that there was never an agreement in place for such a display.

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Undeterred, Edward says they made two further attempts. The first was to get Dogwifhat visuals inside the Sphere, and the second was to propose an outdoor art installation idea to Sphere CEO James L. Dolan himself.

However, according to Edward, things started to fall apart as the Q1 deadline loomed. Communication from the agency handling the project became “increasingly unreliable,” leaving them with “no choice but to back out.” Despite the disappointment, Edward added, “I know it’s been a frustrating year, but at least we can say we gave it our best shot.”

Launched back in March 2024, the Dogwifhat Las Vegas Sphere fundraiser managed to collect almost $700,000. Enthusiasm was clearly high at one point, with the Dogwifhat X account even briefly posting “Officially confirmed. Viva hat vegas” – a tweet that was swiftly deleted.

Edward was just one of five crypto influencers who initially spearheaded the ambitious fundraiser. Now, the fundraiser page lists only three key figures managing the funds: Edward himself, Zion Thomas (better known as Ansem), and Quasi.

Interestingly, since the initial buzz around the Sphere project in April 1st, 2024, Dogwifhat’s market cap has taken a significant hit, plummeting by 91% from a high of $4.27 billion to its current $426 million.

Adding a layer of intrigue, Edward’s announcement tweet landed on the evening of March 31st, at 7:43 pm ET (Florida time, according to his X account location) – just hours before April Fool’s Day. Given the timing, we’ve reached out to the Dogwifhat X account to double-check if this refund news is actually for real, or just an elaborate early April Fools prank!

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