Category: Ethereum

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Crypto News Ethereum NFTs Social media

‘OnlyFans’ Set to Adopt ETH-Based NFT Profile Pics

Following the lead of Twitter, Reddit and YouTube, racy online subscription service OnlyFans has announced that its users can now use verified Ethereum non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in their profile images.

Creators who choose to do so will receive an Ethereum symbol to show they own the asset. When users click on an NFT profile picture, they will see more information about the digital asset from OpenSea:

The idea of digital ownership is important to OnlyFans, a Web2 company whose business model has at times put it at odds with the traditional financial system.

Our mission is to empower creators to own their full potential. This feature is the first step in exploring the role that NFTs can play on our platform.

OnlyFans CEO Amrapali Gan

Launching in 2016, OnlyFans’ initial appeal was to amateur porn stars looking to take their “act” direct to audiences and cut out (at least some of) the middlemen. Similar to Patreon, OnlyFans takes a cut of the action in exchange for use of the platform.

New CEO Soft-Pedals OnlyFans Content

But the site has worked to temper its X-rated image, gradually replacing porn content with live music sessions, cosplay tutorials and fashion tips. Former chief marketing and communications officer (now CEO) Amrapali Gan took over the platform in December and says he has since shifted its emphasis to “non-nude” content.

Not that OnlyFans has dispensed with suggestive photos and videos entirely – that would serve to alienate much of its (hard) core audience.

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Bitcoin Ethereum NFTs

‘Satoshibles’ Becomes First NFT Collection to Bridge Between ETH and BTC

As non-fungible tokens (NFTs) continue to dominate headlines, Stacks, an NFT platform leveraging the security of Bitcoin and the scalability of Ethereum, quietly made history. Its ‘Satoshibles‘ collection is officially the first to bridge between BTC and ETH.

Bitcoin-Backed NFTs

‘Satoshibles’ describes itself as the “NFT for Bitcoin” and comprises 5,000 algorithmically generated NFTs, each unique and hand illustrated. The collection is inspired by a photograph of Dorian Nakamoto, the man incorrectly alleged to be Satoshi Nakamoto in 2014.

Satoshible #1 inspired by Dorian Nakamoto. Source: Satoshibles

Satoshibles developers chose to create the collection on Stacks, saying:

It was only right to create the NFTs on a platform that honoured Satoshi’s legacy.

Brian Laughlan, creator of ‘Satoshibles’

However, in an effort not to split the crypto community, they decided to build a cross-chain bridge, StacksBridge, to allow Satoshibles holders to move NFTs between Ethereum-based platforms and Stacks.

How StacksBridge Works

To move NFTs between chains, Satoshibles NFT holders must simply connect to the bridge with a MetaMask Ethereum wallet and Hiro Stacks wallet. Thereafter, they need to pay transaction fees to execute the movement from one chain to the other.

Importantly, NFTs can only be active on one blockchain at a time, with access being locked on the other. Initially, to optimise security, the bridge is employing a model based on trust, however they are exploring a trustless version that runs on automated smart contracts.

The response to the news was overwhelmingly positive, typified by one Twitter user’s comment:

Although they’re mostly old and crusty, I think #Bitcoin investors secretly want to start dabbling in the NFT space. Love the @satoshibles vision of bringing NFTs to a space where there currently is none. First mover advantage is HUGE.

@El_Crypto_Chapo via Twitter

At the time of publication, Satoshible #4043 is the most expensive available for purchase, at 35,000 STX (approximately US$60,000).

Satoshible #4043. Source: Stacks

If you’re an NFT enthusiast keen to get involved, head over to Stacks, connect your Stacks wallet, and make your pick. Unlike CryptoPunks and Bored Apes, Satoshibles are still somewhat affordable.

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Ethereum Gas NFTs

Crypto Project Uses Whole Ethereum Blocks and Turns Them into NFTs

A new crypto project called VanityBlocks is dedicating whole Ethereum blocks for the single purpose of turning them into NFTs. The project is using the blocks to mint NFTs that will be forever tied to that specific block.

The first Genesis NFT was created on January 16 in block 14017777. The transaction to create the NFT took up the entire block, costing around 5.31 ether, or US$16,600 at the time of writing.

A more recent mint took place on January 31 for block 14114114, costing over 3.42 ETH (about US$10,700) in transaction fees. To date, VanityBlocks only has minted these two blocks, available on OpenSea.

The NFT on block 14114114. Source: OpenSea

OpenSea has, however, also recently experienced problems when an update left some creators unable to mint new NFTs.

Second NFT Sold for Twice the Price

The second of the NFTs has already been sold to an eager buyer for 7 ETH (about US$21,000) on the same day it was minted. To put in perspective the magnitude of using up an entire Ethereum block, one block can hold between a few to several hundred transactions depending on the size of each transaction.

Transactions on the Ethereum network are designed to cost more if they contain more code, a method used to deter spam. In this particular case, the code was designed to keep performing more operations until it hit a certain amount of gas used. As a result, the transaction for each NFT maxed out the 20 million gas limit, meaning that no other transactions could fit in each block:

The only transaction in each block is the one minting the NFT, and the NFTs show the same image of a pair of eyes on a black background.

In the NFT metadata, it contains the block number it was mined in. The concept is that each NFT represents the block it was mined in, making it represent a part of the Ethereum blockchain.

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Crypto News DAO Ethereum

New DAO Raises $45 Million to Free Julian Assange, Vitalik Contributes 10 ETH

Cypherpunks and Ethereum holders have pooled nearly US$50 million into AssangeDAO, a fund to help prevent WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the US.

After 10 years, Assange still finds himself in a legal battle with the US government after blowing the whistle on sensitive military information. In December last year, the US won an appeal against a British court ruling that had barred Assange’s extradition to the US. If extradited, he faces 175 years in prison for publishing information exposing US war crimes.

In reaction to this, a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) was set up to help with “legal fees and campaigning to raise awareness about [Assange’s] extradition case”.

Record-Breaking Fundraiser

At the time of writing the fund had accumulated 14,871 ETH (an estimated US$46 million) since its launch on February 3, including a 10 ETH donation from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The aim of the DAO is to collect funds that will be used to buy into the “Censored” NFT collection created by Assange’s brother Gabriel in collaboration with renowned artist Pak.

According to the DAO, “proceeds raised from the NFT sale will benefit Assange’s legal defence fund and campaign to raise awareness about the free speech implications of his case”.

Motivated by the success of RossDAO, which raised US$12 million to help free jailed Silk Road entrepreneur Ross Ulbricht, the AssangeDAO intends to do something similar. According to its Twitter feed, it is now the largest JuiceBox Ether fundraiser to date, exceeding ConstitutionDAO, which raised 11,613 ETH last November in an unsuccessful attempt to purchase an original copy of the US Constitution.

Cypherpunks to the Rescue

With Assange facing 175 years in prison, many among the cypherpunk community have made sizeable donations to help the whistleblower in distress. WikiLeaks was famously among one of the first websites to accept bitcoin and to help bring mainstream exposure to the cryptocurrency early in its inception.

We, the cypherpunks, are rallying to the cause of a fellow cypherpunk in distress.

AssangeDAO

Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006. The website gained international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Assange has been seeking asylum ever since, fighting off extradition, and has languished in a London prison since 2019.

The US government launched a criminal investigation into Assange and charged him with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by leaking classified information. Assange infamously went on the run, avoiding extradition to Sweden on since-discredited sexual assault charges, before taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum Institutions

KPMG Canada Adds BTC and ETH to its Balance Sheet

“Big Four” accounting firm KPMG Canada has announced it has completed its first allocation of digital assets to its corporate treasury, comprising BTC and ETH.

‘Giant Melting Ice-Cube’ Behind the Decision?

Michael Saylor, the charismatic founder and CEO of MicroStrategy, first started converting the company’s cash reserves into Bitcoin in late 2020. At the time, he described his treasury as a US$500 million “giant melting ice cube”, a narrative that is seemingly gaining traction in institutional circles.

Unlike Saylor, who allocated only to Bitcoin and views cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin as securities, KPMG has made an allocation to both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

In addition, as per its announcement, it has also made an allocation to carbon offsets to “maintain a net-zero carbon transaction to deliver on the firm’s stated environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments”. Greenwashing much?

KPMG Canada’s managing partner, who facilitated the acquisition through the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini, added:

Cryptoassets are a maturing asset class … Investors such as hedge funds and family offices to large insurers and pension funds are increasingly gaining exposure to cryptoassets, and traditional financial services such as banks, financial advisers and brokerages are exploring offering products and services involving cryptoassets. This investment reflects our belief that institutional adoption of cryptoassets and blockchain technology will continue to grow and become a regular part of the asset mix.

Benjie Thomas, managing partner, advisory services, KPMG Canada

According to KPMG, the investment illustrates the firm’s outlook on emerging technologies underpinned by blockchain:

We’ve invested in a strong cryptoassets practice and we will continue to enhance and build on our capabilities across Decentralised Finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, to name a few. We expect to see a lot of growth in these areas in the years to come.

 Kareem Sadek, advisory partner, Cryptoassets and Blockchain Services co-leader, KPMG Canada

Institutional Wall of Money Still Coming?

KPMG Canada’s announcement follows that of US$2.5 billion insurance firm Lemonade, which recently added $1 million in Bitcoin to its balance sheet, as well as the City of Rio de Janeiro, which is allocating 1 percent of its treasury to Bitcoin.

However, the KPMG announcement somehow feels different. Who could have expected a global accounting firm to allocate to crypto?

One of the potential roadblocks towards institutional adoption has always been the innate conservatism of traditional finance, and who better epitomises conservatism than global accounting firms?

That said, it wouldn’t be surprising, in time, if KPMG Canada’s allocation is viewed as a watershed moment in the story of institutional adoption.

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Bitcoin Crypto News DeFi Ethereum Hackers

ETH Sidechain ‘Meter.io’ Hacked for $4.4 Million 

Blockchain infrastructure company Meter.io has confirmed that US$4.4 million was stolen in an attack on its network on February 6 and has since urged users not to trade unbacked meterBNB circulating on the Moonriver parachain. Meter added in a Tweet that it is working to compensate funds to affected users:

What Went Wrong?

Meter explained that the contract did not execute wrapped tokens correctly. A bug introduced in the automatic wrap, and the wrap of native tokens like BNB and ETH extended by the Meter team, allowed the hacker to fake BNB and ETH transfers by “calling the underlying ERC20 deposit function”.

Blockchain security company PeckShield reported that 1391 ETH and 2.74 BTC were stolen during the incident. Both the Meter network and the Moonriver network were affected by the hack. 

A user named @ishwinder provided a full explanation of the hack on Twitter:

Hacks on DeFi and blockchain platforms have become a regular occurrence. Just last month, Crypto News Australia reported that Grim Finance had been hacked for US$30 million in Fantom tokens.

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Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Ethereum Hackers

Blockchain Bridge ‘Wormhole’ Suffers Possible $326 Million Exploit

Wormhole, the popular blockchain bridge for connecting Ethereum, Solana and others, has suffered a possible hack worth over US$326 million and is now attempting to negotiate on-chain with the hacker.

120,000 ETH Currently in Hacker’s Address

The team at Wormhole has reached out to the exploiter’s address on the Ethereum network and offered a US$10 million bounty for returning the money:

In a tweet, Wormhole confirmed that the bridge was down while the team investigated a potential exploit. The bridge’s official website simply reads: “Portal is temporarily unavailable”.

The hack was identified when on-chain analysts called attention to an 80,000 ETH transaction from Wormhole to an address currently also in possession of over US$250 million worth of ETH. According to the developer, the hacker also kept 40,000 ETH on Solana, where they have been selling for other assets.

In a tweet, prominent pseudonymous Paradigm security researcher “samczsun” confirmed that the Wormhole team had offered the hacker(s) a bounty for returning the stolen funds:

Exploit Sounds Alarm in the DeFi World

The exploit has caused alarm in DeFi circles because it means Ethereum that has been bridged to Solana may be unbacked. Cross-blockchain bridges often take assets, such as Ethereum, and lock them in a contract to issue a parallel asset on the bridge’s chain.

Massive Exploits Continue to Plague the Industry

Earlier this month, decentralised lending platform Qubit Finance suffered a hack of its smart contract governing deposits on the Ethereum-Binance Smart Chain bridge, losing 206,809 BSC in the biggest hack of the year so far. Last October, CREAM Finance was exploited for a third time during 2021 for a whopping US$130 million.

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Crypto News DeFi Ethereum

$20 Billion Fund Suggests Ethereum Could 75x in Next 10 Years

In the newest edition of its Big Ideas Report, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has predicted that Ethereum (ETH), the world’s most in-demand blockchain, could have a market capitalisation of US$20 trillion in the next 10 years, suggesting the price could 75x to reach US$180,000 for a single ether.

2021 – The Year of Ethereum

ETH achieved major milestones in 2021 including capturing US$10 billion in transaction fees from the network. ETH also surpassed Stripe into second position in global transactions by dollar value in 2021. In 2021, the network underwent an upgrade called “London EIP-1559” which changed the way ETH fees worked and which has brought up issues of supply issuance. As it stands, crypto “whales” hold 43.7 percent of ETH, but it could become more attractive to them should a restricted supply issuance be ongoing.

Ark Invest is bullish on ETH and has high hopes for the platform, saying that it stands to benefit greatly from the rise in DeFi (decentralised finance) and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) given that it serves as the main ecosystem for both sectors. Since ETH is the “preferred collateral” in DeFi, Ark Invest believes that the platform could reach a market cap of US$20 trillion in the next 10 years, suggesting a price of roughly US$180,000.

The Big Ideas Report noted that:

According to our research, Ethereum could displace many traditional financial services, and its native token, ether, could compete as global money. As financial services move on-chain, decentralised networks are likely to take share from existing financial intermediaries.

Big Ideas Report, Ark Invest

It added:

“The beneficiaries of this shift include Ethereum, the base protocol, and DeFi, the decentralised applications built on top of Ethereum. As the preferred collateral in DeFi and the unit of account in NFT marketplaces, ether (ETH) has the potential to capture a portion of the US$123 trillion in global M2.”

Forecast of ETH market cap opportunities. Source: Ark Invest

To find out more about the exciting developments involving ETH, Crypto News Australia has published a helpful guide on the best Ethereum Layers 2 projects worth looking out for.

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Australia Crypto News Ethereum Gas NFTs

Australian Open Metaverse Winning Shot ‘AO Art Ball’ NFT Soars 4,000%

The singles champions at this year’s Australian Open (AO), Ash Barty and Rafael Nadal, pocketed a cool A$2.875 million each for two weeks’ work – but they weren’t the only big winners of the tennis world’s first Grand Slam of the season, completed last weekend.

Fans attending matches in the metaverse had the chance to buy an AO Art Ball non-fungible token (NFT) linked to a specific spot on centre court that marked the winning shot of both the men’s and women’s championships, along with all other finals matches in the tournament.

At no point did we anticipate we’d sell out the public drop in three minutes. As a result, we’ve set the bar extremely high for what NFTs can become in the future.

Ridley Palmer, metaverse and NFT project manager, Tennis Australia

The NFTs were released via a public drop where users could pay to mint an AO Art Ball from the 6,776 available. Fans could therefore literally buy a piece of the action via an NFT that gave them “property” rights to a 19cm x 19cm square of Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena. They stood to win big should the last bounce of the ball fall into their square on the deciding point in any final.

Nadal’s NFT Surges 4000%

The price of bids for the NFT marking where men’s champion Rafael Nadal’s winning shot landed surged more than 4,000 percent during the tournament final, while the AO Art Ball NFTs generally have recorded US$4.4 million (A$6m) in trading volume since early January, according to OpenSea data.

Mens Final – Nadal’s winning shot

Nadal’s AO Art Ball NFT, meanwhile, has yet to change hands – meaning its expected value has escalated from around US$700 (A$981) to US$8,438 (A$11,836) in ether. The latest offer is worth 3.2 ETH, almost 4,168 percent above the floor price.

Barty’s NFT More Than Triples in Value

The day before, on January 29, Ash Barty became the first Australian to win a home Grand Slam in 44 years in taking the women’s title.

Two days later, offers on the AO Art Ball for Barty’s victory shot were coming in at least 1,230 percent above the floor price. That’s more than three times the original price paid, according to OpenSea and Etherscan data. The original minter sold the piece for 0.298 ETH, then worth about US$780 (A$1,107). But the value placed on it by bidders has reached as high as 1.3 ETH, or US$3,632 (A$5,094).

Womens Final – Barty’s winning shot

Keep in mind, though, that high gas fees for transactions on the Ethereum network are additional to the price of minting an NFT.

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Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum Mining

Ethereum Hashrate Reaches All-Time High as PoS Migration Commences 

The Ethereum network’s hashrate has been on a steady incline since its inception but has now reached a significant milestone of 1PH/s and went on to break its previous all-time high, reaching 1.11 PH/s nearing the move to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

During the past year, usage of the Ethereum network has increased significantly with many projects opting to build on the largest smart contract-enabled blockchain. According to recent data from on-chain market analytics platform Glassnode, Ethereum has pushed a new peak for its hashrate:

The hashrate of any Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism specifies an estimate of how many hashes are being generated by miners trying to solve blocks. The increase in hashrate shows more computers adding power to the network, thus increasing security and decentralisation of the network.

Due to the increase in value on Ethereum, it even flipped Bitcoin (BTC) at one stage in terms of returns, making it more profitable to mine. So much so that more potential miners jumped on the mining cart to urge the increase of the hashrate.

ETH Flips BTC Hashrate

As of late December, Ethereum overtook Bitcoin (BTC) with its improved hashrate. However, the network is scheduled to move to PoS, which will affect miners. Referred to as “the difficulty bomb”, it will essentially shut down ETH mining in the future.

ETH/BTC hashrate five-year chart. Source: Glassnode

In the meantime, Ethereum has released Arrow Glacier, which has slowed down the final upgrade to PoS and miners will continue as usual:

Move to PoS

As previously reported, the Ethereum Foundation has decided to change the name of ETH2 to ‘Consensus layer’ and adjust all associated terminology in order to improve clarity for new users and reduce scams.

There have also been pointers to what Ethereum plans to do with the miners, instead of just shutting them all down and asking them to go away. Ethereum has been achieving some major milestones, among them managing to capture US$10 billion in transaction fees in 2021.