NFT Paris has reportedly cancelled its event but refused to refund sponsor fees, potentially exceeding €500,000.

[NFT Paris Reportedly Cancels Events but Refuses to Refund Sponsor Fees, Potentially Exceeding €500,000] Mars Finance reports that on January 7th, Neks, a member of the Funkari team, posted that "NFT Paris has announced the cancellation of the 2026 NFT Paris and RWA Paris events, which have been held since 2022. The reason given is depleted funds; organizational costs exceeded sponsorship and ticket revenue. Ticket buyers have been promised refunds within two weeks." Below the announcement, sponsor @serc1n shared an email received: "According to Article 12 of our agreement, non-refundable fees related to the event exceed the total amount of sponsorship fees received, therefore we are unable to provide refunds." Another sponsor, Kais, founder of Okay Bears, also confirmed receiving the same information. Sponsors pay for exposure at events. The primary purpose is to generate revenue, sell products, acquire users, or increase brand awareness. Now the event is cancelled, and the sponsorship fees are gone. NFT Paris listed 61 sponsors for 2026. It is estimated that sponsors paid a total of over €500,000. One more detail: I heard that the core team that had been running NFT Paris for three years left shortly before this happened. If true, this is pure criminal activity.