Auction of billionaire's 'unvaxxed sperm' taps into conspiracies

A fugitive billionaire from China has been planning to auction "unvaccinated sperm" on a web platform filled with misinformation – a sale that is being billed optimistically by vaccine sceptics as an opportunity to buy the "next Bitcoin."

The sales pitch which speaks about uninoculated men's sperms being in high demand and hence, will fetch dollars, comes from a widely debunked conspiracy theory that mass infertility is caused by Covid-19 jabs.

Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui, who is exiled in the United States and was arrested recently for alleged fraud, has placed the sales pitch to test along with the much-hyped auction which will take place in June on the online platform Gettr.

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"Sperm and eggs from our fellow fighters will be auctioned on our Gettr platform between June 1 and June 6," said Guo, in a live stream in February.

The tycoon, who is among the people wanted in China and has close ties with Donald Trump's former political advisor Steve Bannon, said that he stored around 6,000 eggs already and a "few million sperm" from unvaccinated people.

"We will auction off the best sperm and eggs, including of course my own sperm," he stated, adding that they will allow trading in digital currencies and will keep it open to all ethnicities and races.

It is still unclear if the auction will go ahead following Guo's arrest earlier this month, who is facing federal charges of defrauding thousands of followers online by some $1 billion.

However, his planned sale has created a buzz on Gettr, where the supporters of the tycoon are calling it a "new era for humanity".

"Giving unvaccinated sperms or eggs not only is an honourable way to gain wealth but also will save the future of humanity," stated a Gettr post endorsing Guo.

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The post included a photo with a hand-scrawled message which read, "Unvaxxed sperm is the next Bitcoin."

"This auction plays off a broader false narrative that Covid-19 vaccines have harmed fertility," said John Gregory, health editor at NewsGuard.

"Anti-vaccine misinformers pushed that claim even in the face of an abundance of medical studies showing that the vaccines don't hurt male or female fertility,” he added.

With inputs from agencies)

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