UK newspaper investigates after ‘crypto wizard’ posts NHS token article

A UK newspaper says it has started an investigation after it published an article that appeared to promote a suspicious NFT project claiming to be in support of the country’s National Health Service (NHS).

On Wednesday the Northamptonshire Telegraph ran an article promoting the ‘Nurse Coin Token and NFT’ via its Your World contributor system, which allows anybody to publish stories on the newspaper’s website.

The article’s author, Sylvester Sean Masango, describes himself as a ‘crypto wizard’ helping “to bolster the welfare of NHS heroes and their families,” with his NFTs.

According to Masango, purchasing one NFT costs $334 and the project will donate half of the transactional costs to the NHS to help fund childcare and medical expenses and develop “much-needed care homes and hospices.” It also offers token holders discounts on various goods and services but doesn’t specify which ones.

Screenshot taken of the published article before it was removed.

The article is also heavy on crypto jargon, talking about “a deflationary model,” creating a $1 million liquidity pool, and offering people who donate to its Fundraiser page “4,000 Nurse Coin Tokens via airdrop when the coin is minted and put into circulation.”

The Northamptonshire Telegraph told Protos, “The article was published in good faith by our Your World team but, following the issues you have raised, the article will be taken down from our website while we investigate.”

Read more: Hackers want $380K in bitcoin for Royal Family’s stolen medical records

The newspaper claims to reach 160,000 readers every month. Despite this, the NHS-themed project and its 20,000 listed NFTs have failed to attract any buyers since the article’s release.

We have also asked the university and local hospital Masango claims to be affiliated with to verify his credentials and will update this piece if we hear anything back.