Author: Phil Stafford

Phil is a long-standing Australian journalist with specialised experience in business, finance, travel and popular culture.

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NFTs OpenSea Scams

OpenSea Announces New Security Features to Protect Users Against Scams

In response to a rash of recent stolen and plagiarised NFTs implicating its platform, OpenSea has announced the launch of a new feature that will automatically hide suspicious NFT transfers from view on its marketplace.

Fresh Investments in Safety Measures

Just last month, OpenSea suffered a security breach on its main Discord channel that allowed hackers to promote a fake YouTube partnership with the NFT platform. As a result, OpenSea has announced investments in theft prevention, IP infringement, scaling review and moderation. It also intends to reduce critical response times in high-touch settings, as foreshadowed by the project’s co-founder and CEO, Devin Finzer:

Self-Detection Technologies to Combat Fraud

OpenSea will use “critical auto-detection” technologies for copyright breaches and other instances of fraud. According to Finzer, removing such elements from the platform will improve its overall performance and will also prevent unsolicited advertisements and potential frauds on open blockchains being seen on OpenSea.

As the NFT boom broke out last year, business at OpenSea increased accordingly until frequent hacks and frauds left many investors dissatisfied with the platform’s efforts to compensate victims and combat theft. Last month, OpenSea rolled out measures to reduce fraud while improving authenticity.

This latest round of safety measures arrives just as demand for NFTs is dropping off and the cryptocurrency market in general is in a downward spiral, though they will be nonetheless welcome.

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Crypto News Crypto.com Gemini Jobs Markets

BlockFi and Crypto.com to Shed 400+ Jobs Amid Crypto Rout

Lending platform BlockFi and major cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com are set to cut more than 400 jobs between them in the wake of this week’s 12 percent crypto market slump.

In a June 14 tweet, BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said “roughly 20 percent” of its workforce would be shed, which amounts to 170 employees:

Tweeting last weekend, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek quoted corresponding figures of 5 percent and 260 employees:

Latest in a Line of Job Shedders

Both bosses blamed this year’s steadily deteriorating crypto market following its US$3 trillion peak last November. But surely the catalyst for the pending dismissals would have been this week’s 12 percent plunge, which pushed the market cap below US$1 trillion.

Neither firm is unique in its intention to downsize staff. Gemini, helmed by Winklevoss twins Cameron and Tyler, has cut 10 percent of its workforce, and Coinbase, another major US exchange, has withdrawn more than 300 job offers and introduced a hiring freeze. Middle Eastern exchange Rain Financial has reportedly culled “dozens” of jobs.

Gone Big Too Soon?

Like BlockFi, Crypto.com was riding high just a matter of months ago. In November last year, it paid a reported US$700 million in naming rights for the Los Angeles sports and culture arena formerly known as the Staples Center. Earlier this year, the company signed a five-year sponsorship deal worth A$25 million with the Australian Football League. The highly visible exchange, whose name is now ubiquitous in sporting circles, also has partnerships with the UFC, Formula 1, Italian Football Lega Serie A and French football powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain.

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Crypto News Crypto Wallets Cryptocurrency Law Hackers NFTs

Anon Hacker Gets Served with Restraining Order Via an NFT, a World First

In a world first for both the crypto space and the legal profession, a defendant in a hacking case has been served with a temporary restraining order by means of a non-fungible token (NFT).

International law firm Holland & Knight served the defendant on-chain using a “service NFT“. The hacker, who cannot be named, stole US$7.94 million in digital assets from a hot wallet belonging to LCX, a Liechtenstein-based fintech company.

Method Approved by NY Supreme Court

The service method was approved by the New York Supreme Court and “is an example of how innovation can provide legitimacy and transparency to a market that some believe is ungovernable”, according to LCX.

The hack, which took place in January this year, saw assets including Ether, USDC, Sandbox and more stolen from LCX, whose blockchain tracing specialists were subsequently able to identify the addresses of the hacker’s wallets.

LCX has been working with law enforcement authorities in Liechtenstein, Ireland, Spain and the US to trace the funds, which were initially appropriated via Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer protocol for concealing the digital trail of blockchain transactions. LCX traced the funds and wallets through what it describes as “algorithmic forensic analysis”.

Could Legal Precedent Save NFTs?

Perhaps this legal first could be the saviour of NFTs. Earlier this month, crypto analytics firm IntoTheBlock reported that Ethereum transaction volume was down 80 percent on the same period last year due in large part to plummeting interest in NFTs. Google search data showed a concurrent 75 percent reduction in searches for the term NFT, contributing significantly to the drop in transaction volume.

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Avalanche Blockchain Crypto News Metaverse

30 Years After Coining the Term ‘Metaverse’, Neal Stephenson Launches Blockchain ‘Lamina1’

Thirty years ago, American cyberpunk science-fiction author Neal Stephenson conceived the term “metaverse” in his 1992 bestseller Snow Crash. Now he’s bringing the concept to life.

Stephenson and crypto trailblazer Peter Vessenes, original convenor of the Bitcoin Foundation, this week announced the joint creation of their metaverse-specific blockchain, Lamina1, with Vessenes named as CEO and Stephenson chairman of the project:

Testnet, Betanet Set for Later This Year

The testnet and betanet of Lamina1 are scheduled to be launched later this year, with the pair’s ultimate goal to create a fully immersive 3D open metaverse directly inspired by Stephenson’s novel.

The “provably carbon-negative” Lamina1 chain will offer high transaction volume and an economic design with new incentive mechanisms to help create what its architects describe as thriving, vibrant economies for creators and entrepreneurs.

Vessenes says the first iteration of the blockchain will be “somewhere between a friendly fork and partnership” of Avalanche, though nothing is set in stone as yet.

We Just Want to ‘Build Cool Stuff’

“When I look at the things that have made the top chains work, it’s really just how successful they’ve been at getting their communities all the resources they need, and just helping them succeed,” Vessenes adds. “What we’re wanting to do is bring in very, very high-quality IP partners, enterprise partners, help everybody meet each other and just build cool stuff.”

Financial backers of the project already named include Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, PSL co-founder Geoff Entress, Bloq chairman Matthew Roszak, Transparent Systems president Patrick Murck and blockchain pioneer David Johnston.

The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Frontier

Last month, an Analysis Group report estimated that the metaverse could make a US$3 trillion GDP contribution in its first decade. Goldman Sachs is even more bullish, predicting as much as US$8 trillion in potential earnings. And JPMorgan – another global investment bank – believes the metaverse is likely to infiltrate every sector in coming years, having entered the Web3 space with its own virtual Decentraland lounge in February.

Of course, such continued exponential growth is only likely if the industry reaches its expected potential.

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Crypto News NFTs Sports

English Premier League Files Crypto and NFT Trademarks

The English Premier League (EPL), the British nation’s top tier of professional football, has filed two cryptocurrency and NFT-related trademark applications in the US, as announced this week in a tweet from licensed American trademark lawyer Michael Kondoudis:

Of the two filings lodged with the US Patent and Trademark Office, one is the EPL logo of a “lion wearing a crown in three-quarter view”, while the other is a “loving cup trophy” with lions on each handle and topped with a crown. Each covers the creation and sale of digital assets, virtual clothing, cryptocurrencies, and media files verified by NFTs. They also include the use of Premier League trademarks in “virtual, augmented, and mixed reality software”.

The EPL “loving cup” trophy, soon to be trademarked. Source: dailystar.co.uk

“The EPL is regularly watched by more than a billion people, so the value attached to the brand is substantial,” Kondoudis said in a statement. “These filings represent a logical step to protect the brand in today’s economy, which includes virtual and crypto elements, and tomorrow’s virtual economy in the metaverse.”

Manchester City Kicks Off in Web3

EPL champions Manchester City are already making inroads in the metaverse, with the club using virtual reality (VR) experts from Sony to build the world’s first football stadium in Web3.

Manchester City enters the metaverse. Source: sportspromedia.com

In March this year, champion French team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) filed its own trademark applications covering NFT-backed multimedia, crypto wallets, managing crypto transactions, virtual clothing, sports gear and electronics.

In the same month, Manchester City announced a multimillion-dollar deal with the world’s second-largest exchange by spot volume, OKX. And in February, cross-town rivals Manchester United entered a partnership with Tezos for a reported US$27 million.

Several high-profile players are also dabbling in Web3: Tottenham Hotspur forward and latest Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min has announced a project, PSG’s Neymar owns a Mutant Ape NFT, and Man U’s Paul Pogba is attached to the CryptoDragons project.

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Australia Crypto News Tokens

Move-to-Earn Token GST Drops After STEPN Hit With DDoS Attacks

Australian move-to-earn fitness application STEPN has reported multiple distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in the wake of a major anti-cheating upgrade on its platform:

As mentioned in the above tweet, STEPN was expecting to secure and recover the servers in anywhere up to 12 hours but had not posted an update for 20 hours at the time of writing.

“Our engineers are working hard to fix the problems. We will announce here once recovery is complete. Thank you so much for everyone’s patience,” STEPN further tweeted.

The DDoS attacks occurred after the platform introduced “STEPN’s Model for Anti-Cheating” (SMAC) on June 3. The security-based system aims to eliminate fake users from the platform as well as prevent fraudulent motion data on the STEPN app.

Token Numbers Inflated by Bots and GPS Fudges

Launched last December, STEPN is an NFT game that allows users to earn tokens (either GST, the utility Green Satoshi Token, or GMT, STEPN’s governance token, aka the Green Metaverse Token) by exercising outdoors while wearing NFT sneakers. Apparently some players had been using bots and GPS fudging to inflate the number of tokens generated by using the application, hence STEPN’s SMAC system.

In the past 24 hours, both tokens recorded declines. GMT suffered a 6 percent slide with a 20.56 percent drop in trading volume, although increased distribution appeared to be under way at time of writing:

Source: CoinMarketCap

Just last week, GMT plunged almost 40 percent in 24 hours following news that mainland Chinese users would be barred from the service from July 15 this year. In April, STEPN reported that GMT’s value had increased five-fold over the previous month after securing a sneaker deal with Japanese brand Asics.

Meanwhile, the GST-SOL token recorded a 19.18 percent loss, though at time of writing volume was up 11.53 percent, consistent with a bear market correction.

Source: CoinMarketCap
Categories
Bored Ape Yacht Club Crypto Art Crypto News Metaverse Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs

Snoop Dogg to Open Bored Ape-Themed Dessert Restaurant

Superstar rapper, recording mogul and NFT enthusiast Snoop Dogg has linked up with the Food Fighters Universe team to launch “an immersive retail dessert experience” to be known as Dr Bombay’s Sweet Exploration.

Food Fighters Universe is the team behind Bored Ape Yacht Club-themed fast food restaurant Bored & Hungry, which opened in Los Angeles earlier this year.

A Bored Ape Eatery in All But Name

As the owner of a Bored Ape NFT, Snoop Dogg is lending the name of his BAYC avatar, Dr Bombay, to his eponymous sweets-only eatery. BAYC, created by Yuga Labs, grants its NFT holders the right to commercialise their owned images. So while Snoop’s project is not an “official” Bored Ape restaurant, the rapper is within his rights to attach his own NFT image to it and trade on BAYC goodwill.

Snoop rules the metaverse.

Like Bored & Hungry, Dr Bombay’s Sweet Exploration will feature branding and decor inspired by Bored Ape and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs owned by the restaurant’s creators. Food Fighters Universe also plans to launch its own NFTs providing a range of benefits around its fast food outlets.

Last year, Snoop Dogg outed himself as the owner of an NFT collection worth US$17 million. In February, the rapper announced his acquisition of famous hip-hop recording entity Death Row Records, which he planned to turn into the world’s first NFT music label. “I want to be the first major in the metaverse,” Snoop said at the time.

Categories
Crypto Art Crypto News Fashion NFTs

Luxury Fashion Brand Prada to Release 100 ETH-Based NFTs

Prada is expanding its presence in Web3 with the upcoming launch of its second NFT collection, which relates back to the series of physical shirts the luxury brand has been selling since December 2019.

Prada’s Timecapsule shirts in white (also available in black).

The 100 Ethereum-based NFTs correspond to the Prada Timecapsule, a 2019 series of shirts available in black or white. The physical project includes 100 gender-neutral shirts designed in collaboration with artist Cassius Hirst – son of Damien Hirst, the UK’s richest living artist – which will directly link to the airdropped NFTs.

The GIF representations of those NFTs are white or black pill capsules (above) that come with serial numbers linking them to each shirt:

Airdrops on First Thursday of Each Month

On the first Thursday of every month since 2019, the Italian luxury brand has featured a limited-edition item drop from the series on its website. In the second phase, including the initial airdrop on June 2, every owner of the physical shirt will also receive an NFT with a unique code denoting each shirt, which features Hirst’s signature mask and brain scan designs. Each drop takes place on Prada’s website for 24 hours only.

Best of Both Worlds

The Hirst family is no stranger to NFTs. Damien Hirst’s first NFT art collection, The Currency, minted in July 2021, allowed buyers to choose between owning a digital token or a physical item. For Prada’s NFT drop with Cassius Hirst, buyers get the best of both worlds.

Prada’s first NFT project in January this year, in which the brand collaborated with Adidas Originals to foster user-generated content and creator-owned art, also involved a well-known artist. New York City-based digital and new media artist Zach Lieberman compiled 3000 community-sourced minted NFT artworks into a single mass-patchwork NFT design for the project, which was later auctioned on SuperRare.

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Cardano Crypto News DeFi

Cardano (ADA) Leads Major Cryptos Relief Rally, Up 25% Overnight

Amid a crypto market generally showing signs of recovery following last month’s meltdown, the token underpinning the Cardano blockchain is up 25 percent in the space of a day.

Cardano Outranks Ripple

Cardano (ADA) is now the sixth-ranked cryptocurrency with a market capitalisation of US$22.6 billion, overtaking Ripple’s XRP and trading at $0.67 at time of writing, as per data from CoinMarketCap.

Despite this bullish performance, attributed to increased DeFi activity on the layer-1 blockchain and the launch of Lagon’s cross-chain bridge to facilitate token transfers between Ethereum and Cardano, ADA is still 78 percent below its all-time high of US$3.10, recorded in September last year.

Trading Volume Pumps 272%

Across major crypto exchanges, ADA’s trading volume averaged US$2.4 billion over 24 hours, representing a 272 percent increase on the previous day.

According to Defi Llama, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Cardano rose by 30.56 percent over the same period and is currently at US$194.87 million, up from $149.25 million:

A black chart with blue lines passing across it.

Since the beginning of the year, Cardano has seen a 50-fold spike in large transaction volume (LTV), representing a significant increase in institutional demand.

BTC, ETH Also Up

As a further reflection of an overall crypto market recovery, Bitcoin was up 2.95 percent over the same 24-hour period, trading at around US$31,478 at time of writing, while Ethereum was up 3.26 percent and fetching US$1,933.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrencies Dogecoin

Aussie Dogecoin Creator: ‘I Wish It Was the End of Crypto’

Australian-born Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer has renewed his trenchant criticism of the cryptocurrency industry in an interview to promote his new podcast.

“Increasingly people are doing nothing but making money off doing nothing, it’s kind of f..ked us all up,” Palmer told Cameron Wilsson of Australian online publication Crikey this week. “I wish it was the end of crypto, but it’s not.”

Investors ‘Yet to Learn Their Lesson’

Spruiking his new podcast, Griftonomics – its very title an oblique reference to Palmer’s stance on digital assets – the former crypto evangelist said he thought the industry would have imploded by now and that “people would learn their lesson”.

But increasingly, in the past six months, I’ve seen a continued perseverance. You see these big people with big money getting involved and that means it’s not slowing down.

Jackson Palmer, Dogecoin co-creator, former crypto YouTuber, now podcaster

Send in the Clowns

Palmer wrote off ICOs, DAOs and NFTs as “scams” and denigrated Initial Game Offerings (IGOs) as the industry’s “latest swindle”. Yet he also played down the idea of an imminent crypto winter, saying: “I still see heaps of money being funnelled in by crypto promoters. They’re waiting for a fresh batch of fools to come in. This happens in cycles.”

Publicist Deserves a Raise

Whoever is acting as Palmer’s publicist is clearly not being paid enough, as the newly minted podcaster also popped up on ABC-TV’s Four Corners current affairs show this week, joining a chorus of critics on an episode focusing on cryptocurrency.

“The future crypto offers is more dystopian than utopian,” Palmer was quoted as saying, as past tweets of his were offered as supporting evidence, including this old chestnut: “Despite claims of decentralisation, the cryptocurrency industry is controlled by a powerful cartel of wealthy figures.”

Palmer’s bitter Twitter tirade against his former crypto project began soon after he walked away from Dogecoin in 2015, reaching a vitriolic peak in his personal crypto winter last year:

Perhaps Palmer was right to abandon his memecoin when he did. Just weeks ago, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev was mercilessly mocked for asserting that Dogecoin could become the native currency of the internet. This after the brokerage’s Q3 2021 crypto revenue had declined by 78 percent, largely due to Dogecoin.