North Korean hackers launched at least seven attacks against cryptocurrency platforms last year, netting almost US$400 million worth of digital assets, according to a Chainalysis report.
“Once North Korea gained custody of the funds, they began a careful laundering process to cover up and cash out,” the blockchain analytics firm’s team claims in its blog post.
Ethereum Looms Large Among Stolen Funds
The overwhelming majority (58 percent) of stolen funds was Ethereum, with Bitcoin accounting for less than a quarter of the 2021 haul. Incidentally, a prominent Ethereum developer pleaded guilty last September to a federal charge of conspiring with the North Korean government to evade US sanctions law.
According to Chainalysis, the typical hack procedure starts by swapping Ethereum-based ERC-20 tokens and other cryptocurrencies for Ethereum (ETH) via a decentralised exchange. The ETH is then put through a so-called mixer, which Chainalysis describes as “software tools that pool and scramble cryptocurrencies from thousands of addresses”. Those funds are then swapped for bitcoin, mixed a second time, and consolidated into a new wallet.
Crypto Laundering Up More Than 40% in Two Years
The mixed bitcoin is then sent to deposit addresses where crypto can be converted into a fiat currency, typically at exchanges elsewhere on the Asian continent. Over 65 percent of the North Korean rogue regime’s stolen funds were laundered through mixers in 2021. In 2020 and 2019, the respective numbers were 42 percent and 21 percent.
Hacks by total value linked to North Korea, 2017-2021. Source: Chainalysis
The Chainalysis report, released on January 13, blames the crypto heists on a state-sponsored, North Korea-based hacking group called Lazarus, best known for masterminding the 2014 Sony Pictures hack and the WannaCry ransomware attack of 2017.
Since the latter incident, the group has stolen hundreds of millions in cryptocurrencies from virtual exchanges and investment firms. The UN claims Lazarus’ goal is to fund North Korea’s government and nuclear weapons programs.
From 2020 to 2021, the number of North Korean-linked hacks jumped from four to seven, and the value extracted from these hacks grew by 40 percent.
Chainalysis report
$170 Million Stolen in 49 Hacks Yet to Be Laundered
One of the hacks involved crypto exchange Liquid.com, which lost US$91.5 million to the group. By tracking the Lazarus attacks, Chainalysis claims to have uncovered several cryptocurrency wallets the North Korean hackers are using to stockpile a fortune.
“Chainalysis has identified US$170 million in current balances – representing the stolen funds of 49 separate hacks from 2017 to 2021 – that are controlled by North Korea but have yet to be laundered through services,” the Chainalysis report noted, adding:
It’s unclear why the hackers would still be sitting on these funds, but it could be that they are hoping law enforcement interest in the cases will die down so they can cash out without being watched.
Thanks to the slow, agonising and ongoing death of mainstream media, writers are running out of avenues to monetise their work. One of a number of new platforms designed to address the problem is Mirror.xyz, a publishing tool that leverages cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.
1/ The Mirror Web App 👇
Like the protocol itself has always been, the front-end of the Mirror Web App is now fully decentralized. It has been open-sourced and is now hosted on @IPFS. https://t.co/Mo5RE4pVBp is now redirected to the IPFS-deployed version of the UI.
Created by Denis Nazarov, a former investment professional at US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Mirror is a decentralised writing platform developed to help creators connect with their target audiences in a direct and innovative way.
The functionality of Mirror differs from popular blogging sites such as Medium in that it enables writers to earn in cryptocurrency rather than fiat cash transactions. Authors can also seek crowdfunding for creative projects via non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can be continuously traded and keep earning on a writer’s behalf, via Mirror’s use of the Ethereum blockchain.
Mirror Turns Written Articles into NFTs
Typically, most NFTs traded online are for digital art and music files. Mirror makes it possible to turn various forms of creative writing into NFTs, whether they be poems, essays, novels or short stories.
Mirror allows its writers to be the gatekeepers of content. As that content is stored on a blockchain, there is less chance of it being appropriated or accidentally dumped. Each written work becomes a unique NFT that can be auctioned off or sold to the highest bidder in exchange for crypto.
Remember: Mirror's publishing tools are now open to everyone. All you have to do is connect your wallet to the dashboard and get started!https://t.co/1Ke0wgBnyF
Users can leave the platform at any time and take their material with them, since it remains cryptographically safe and cannot be altered or deleted. Mirror has grown from a tool for authors to a complete Web3 creative stack for communities and DAOs, according to the developers behind it.
As soon as they link an Ethereum wallet to the platform, users may begin generating content and inserting media blocks such as films, iFrames, social media postings, NFTs, auctions and crowdfunds.
American freelance writer Meagan Loyst is just one satisfied Mirror user, making a strong case for the platform over Medium, the site she used to write for. She describes Mirror as “the future of blogging”:
In today's world, there is 0 point in writing on @medium over @viamirror.
🚫 I've published 11 articles on Medium. Made $0. ✅ I've published 2 articles on Mirror. Made $1,084.
As also reported by Crypto News Australia this week, Opulous is a new blockchain-based music platform built for creators and investors to address the biggest challenge facing artists in the music industry today: raising capital. It is to musicians (and fans) what Mirror may turn out to be for writers, and ultimately readers.
Ethereum and Polygon non-fungible token (NFT) domains can now be used for single sign-on logins, thanks to an initiative from Unstoppable Domains, a US-based company that provides blockchain-based domain names.
Log In Using NFT Domains
The service allows users to have an NFT portable name and use it to easily sign in to their favourite apps, lowering the barriers for users by eliminating the need to provide additional information.
Several applications are now providing support for Login with Unstoppable Domain. The app in question will read the domain and direct the user to the authorisation server saved to that domain name. All the user needs to do is to authenticate and grant access to the information requested by signing a transaction with the key that owns their domain.
This login system is based on domain names! By using domains as your global login identifier across the internet, you have a single name that you can use to log in across every app. Every app can then reference this domain to pull the info you’d like to share – such as your domain name or favourite NFT profile picture – to show in their app.
So far, Unstoppable Domains has 2 million registered domains ending in .crypt, .nft, .wallet, and more. This move will allow millions of users to simply register across a myriad of apps by using their NFT domain names.
Blockchain-based domains are hexadecimal wallet addresses turned into easy-to-remember names that are stored on the blockchain, and cannot be modified by third parties.
In order for these crypto domain names to supersede .com, Ethereum will have to address speed and fees issues – Ethereum layer projects may be able to help provide the infrastructure to scale globally.
They have reached a level of mainstream attention too. In August 2021, Crypto News Australiareported that American beer brand Budweiser had bought the Beer.eth domain name for 30 ETH.
Through 2021 into 2022, the excitement in decentralised finance (DeFi) has shifted to the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market. These NFTs can be created from a piece of digital or real art, an in-game asset or represent value of pretty much anything.
NFTs can even be used to wrap other assets inside a smart vault (such as crypto tokens or a collection of NFTs). The marriage between NFTs and DeFi really is a match made in heaven, and together they are changing the face of finance and revolutionising the way we invest and trade digital assets.
What is a Yield NFT Protocol?
NFTs in their basic form do not earn yield, however when they are used to mint tokens and add to liquidity pools for DeFi, they can earn passive income often at high percentage returns. As DeFi and NFTs are absolutely booming right now, it’s good to know what’s out there and how you could be earning free money.
There are several projects that offer ROI opportunities if you hold NFTs. Here is a list of the 10 best yield-earning NFT DeFiplatforms that let you make money with NFTs:
1. NFTX
NFTX: A community-owned protocol for NFT index funds on Ethereum
NFTX is an innovative platform that allows users to create liquid markets for illiquid non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It allows the creation of ERC20 tokens pegged to NFT tokens. Users can deposit their NFTs into an NFTX vault and mint a fungible ERC20 token (vToken) that represents a claim on a random asset from within the vault. vTokens can be used to redeem a specific NFT from a vault. If you deposit a Punk, you get an ERC20 Punk. You can always redeem the ERC20 Punk for a random same category Punk. The ERC20 tokens are tradeable on Balancer pool PUNK- CORE. If you provide liquidity to the pool, you earn fees. So, NFTX enables you to get instant liquidity from your NFTs without having to sell them.
Benefits include:
LP and stake minted vTokens to earn yield rewards;
better distribution and price discovery for NFT projects;
instantly sell any NFT by minting it as an ERC20 and swapping via Sushiswap; and
increased liquidity for NFT investors and speculators.
NFTX allows owners to mint their NFT collections and earn yield while also offering pieces of those NFTs for sale as fractionalised tokens – allowing multiple investors to co-own a piece of the digital art. So, for example, if you wanted to buy a CryptoPunk but can’t afford it, you could just buy a portion of one instead. By doing this you can be part of the Punk/ETH liquidity pool and earn a staking APR % without having to own a whole Punk outright. At the time of writing, the APR on staking a Punk was 284.38%.
The NFTX project is a DAO governed by the $NFTX token. For NFTX minting tutorials, visit docs.nftx.org. Watch the NFTX: Fractionalised NFT investing video below to learn more:
2. Charged Particles
Charged Particles is a blockchain agnostic interest-bearing NFT and DeFi protocol.
Charged Particles is an innovative NFT minting platform that allows users to deposit any ERC tokens into any non-fungible token (NFT). NFTs can also hold other NFTs! Users can create an NFT that acts as a container for DeFi yield earning tokens, or create multi-tier NFT game assets with several items encapsulated in one single token. The possibilities are literally endless.
If you want, you can combine multiple NFTs and create a new NFT collection set on the platform. A scarce NFT (eg, art, collectibles, virtual real estate, in-game items, etc) can now be transformed into a basket holding a number of other tokens. You can fuse an interest-bearing token like ‘aDai’ with your scarce NFT, configure principal and program interest. The platform is absolutely NFT agnostic, so you decide what will be your charged particle. Customisable time-locks and programmable yield offer infinite abilities for creativity.
Charged Particles is a DAO governed by the $IONX token. To read more on Charged Particles, go to docs.charged.fi. Watch the video below to learn more about what you can do on the Charged Particles platform:
3. DeFiFarms
DeFiFarms is the First NFT-enhanced DeFi Yield Farm!
DeFiFarms is an NFTs protocol, powerful automaticliquidity acquisition yieldfarm and AMM decentralised exchange running on Binance Smart Chain. The governance token of the platform is $DEFIY.
NFTs are the new financial technology. The potential of NFTs and the ERC-721 standard in DeFi is endless. DEFIY’s goal is to be a pioneer and one of the first to have this potential be seen by the masses. The cryptosphere moves fast, and before anyone knows it NFTs will be implemented in every new DeFi project.
DeFiFarms uses NFTs to wrap your stake, which you can burn to unstake or simply sell on the DeFiFarms marketplace. This can mitigate impermanent loss if you deem selling the NFT would earn you more than leaving it staked.
Compared to other crypto projects on the market today, here’s what makes DeFiFarms different:
Automatic Liquidity
Automatic Burning Mechanism
Harvest Lock
Anti-Whale
Redistribution of deposit costs
Affiliate Marketing Program
Incentives when Trading
Watch the What is DeFiFarms video below to learn more:
4. Meme
Farm limited edition NFTs
MEME is an experimental protocol mashing up some of the most exciting innovations in DeFi and crypto collectibles. Put your $MEME to work by farming exclusive NFT memes. Stake LP tokens for access to Meme’s batch of legendary cards.
Meme is a passionate community experimenting at the intersection of DeFi and NFTs. Users can stake meme tokens to earnrewards and claim limited-edition NFT art and collectibles. When you stake $MEME tokens, you farm pineapples. When you have farmed enough pineapples you can redeem them for NFTs. Pineapples are non-transferable, and are only redeemable for NFTs on the Meme marketplace. Users can also stake NFTs they already own on Meme, from partner projects, to farm pineapples and claim more NFTs.
$MEME is the native token for Meme.
5. SuperFarm
SuperFarm is a passionate community building at the intersection of NFTs and DeFi
SuperFarm empowers NFT creators, collectors and traders to participate in an NFT marketplace that is open and accessible to all.
Currently Super Farm only has an NFT launchpad and NFT farming available, but the roadmap for 2022 includes NFT generation, an NFT marketplace and trading.
Bonus: Sidus, The City of NFT Heroes
Sidus is a play-to-earn gaming model that brings NFT collectibles and yield farming together under one metaverse
NFT Heroes is a collection of 7,500 unique NFTavatars. Users can buy Original NFT Heroes for 0.055 ETH each. Heroes must modify their stats and equipment to create Rare Heroes and Legendary Heroes NFTs through upgrade cards that randomly appear on the project’s website and OpenSea.io once a week.
Gaming Metaverse
The game allows users to be involved in the creative process by customising their own NFT Heroes. Each avatar is its owner’s ticket into the NFT ecosystem, where they can craft, play, trade and earn. The game includes fighting battles, in the same vein as Mortal Kombat.
NFT Yield Farming
Sidus offers Galaxy staking in three tiers: Original, Rare and Legendary. By stakingNFTs, NFT Heroes can farmNFTStokens, which is the native token of the NFT marketplace NFT STARS. These tokens can be used to upgrade players avatars’ armour and buy weapons. Heroes will have real value and provide owners with the opportunity to sell multiple assets simultaneously on the marketplace.
Sidus NFT Heroes were created by NFT256 and include more than 500 artists previously involved in Disney, Sony and Marvel projects. To read more, visit the project’s medium page.
Bonus 2: Star Atlas
Star Atlas is a grand strategy game of space exploration, territorial conquest, political domination, and more
Star Atlas is a virtual gaming metaverse that combines blockchain technology, real-time graphics, and multiplayer video games to offer a unique gaming experience. Not only is Star Atlas enjoyable to play, but it gives players the opportunity to generate real-world revenue by earning in-game tokens and selling unique NFT assets.
Star Atlas is a grand strategy hybrid space game with serverless MMO gameplay. All gameplay will be real-time, and it will use the blockchain to give players ownership over in-game items, add economic-based gameplay mechanics, and implement an economic system inspired by decentralised finance. The game’s governance token is POLIS. Star Atlas is built on the Solana blockchain. To learn more, read the medium here.
What do Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather and Paul Pierce have in common? They’re all getting sued by an aggrieved investor over an alleged Ethereum Max (EMAX) pump-and-dump scheme.
Another Pump and Dump Endorsed by Celebrities?
In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court of California’s Central District, the plaintiff argues that EMAX co-founders Steve Gentile and Giovanni Perone promoted the currency with the help of celebrities such as reality star Kardashian, professional boxer Mayweather, and former NBA basketballer Pierce. As per the filing:
EthereumMax’s entire business model relies on using constant marketing and promotional activities, often from ‘trusted’ celebrities, to dupe potential investors into trusting the financial opportunities available with EMAX tokens.
On May 31, 2021, EMAX’s price peaked at peaked at a price of US$0.000000597636 following the continuous endorsement of these celebrities via Instagram, Twitter, and other social networks. But it dropped over 80 percent in just 11 days.
After the massive drop, its price experienced a few bullish rallies in June after Kim Kardashian promoted the token on her Instagram, but that didn’t stop the token from falling again. In total, the token has lost 97 percent of its value.
Kim Kardashian's EthereumMax post from June 14, 2021, which she is now being sued for. pic.twitter.com/cqJXBlbZFq
While the plaintiff and the rest of investors were buying EMAX, Kardashian and the other celebrities were already selling for considerable profits.
Price history of the EMAX token. Source: CoinGecko
Be Wary of Coins Promoted by Celebrities
Newcomers to the crypto space should be wary when watching celebrities backing up digital tokens from shady developers. These types of currencies are known as “shitcoins” – worthless tokens with no proper infrastructure behind their design, they are rather made to dupe potential investors out of a lot of money.
The developers behind these shitcoins usually promote their product on popular social media platforms such as TikTok or Instagram. In July 2021, former YouTube star Logan Paul was slammed for promoting a shitcoin called DINK DOINK to his 23 million followers on Twitter.
That same month, Crypto News Australia also reported how TikTok had banned users from promoting all things crypto-related on its video-sharing platform, also banning crypto ads.
Upstart NFT platform LooksRare launched this week in the hope of providing an alternative to OpenSea. The project is built around the LOOKS token, which is being granted to big NFT spenders.
— LooksRare 👀💎 – NFT Marketplace (@LooksRareNFT) January 10, 2022
The LooksRare platform went live on January 10 as more and more marketplaces come together to try to take on the current market leader of NFT platforms. OpenSea saw massive growth in 2021, upping its value by 880 percent from 2020 following its latest fundraising round.
Launched by two pseudonymous co-founders, Zodd and Guts, LooksRare claims to be a community-focused marketplace that aims to develop new features based on what its users want. According to a blog post by the marketplace, it indexes all NFTs that exist on the Ethereum blockchain so they can be traded right away. Offers can already be made on the NFTs. LooksRare also allows its users to buy and sell NFTs with ether or wrapped ether, or a mix of both.
Vampire Attack on OpenSea
Source: stockhead.com.au
LooksRare is built around its newly launched LOOKS token, which it is now using to reward users of the platform and attract existing users from OpenSea, in a practice known in the crypto world as a “vampire attack”. LOOKS is currently being exchanged on Uniswap and hit an all-time high of US$4.71 before dropping to its current price of US$3.49, according to data from CoinGecko.
In the past 24 hours, the price of LOOKS is up 56.5 percent.
The Marketplace That Rewards Big Spenders
With the help of its LOOKS token, the new marketplace is hoping to attract NFT big spenders who have already used OpenSea by allowing them to claim LOOKS tokens for free. According to LooksRare, anyone who traded more than three ETH (US$9,400) on OpenSea between June 16 and December 16, 2021, can claim a portion of the tokens.
The vampire attack takes a similar approach to last week’s SOS airdrop from OpenDAO. The airdrop allowed users who have spent money on OpenSea to claim the Ethereum token SOS, as determined by the amount spent on the marketplace.
When users buy and sell NFTs from eligible collections, they will also receive LOOKS tokens. LooksRare additionally charges a 2 percent fee on all trades, which is then handed on to those staking LOOKS tokens.
As it stands, the platform is offering a jaw-dropping 649 percent APR to those who stake LOOKS.
Last week, Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit organisation behind open-source web browser Firefox, announced it would be accepting crypto donations to “keep the Web open and free”. Days later, it reversed the decision “due to cryptocurrency’s environmental impact”.
Last week, we tweeted a reminder that Mozilla accepts cryptocurrency donations. This led to an important discussion about cryptocurrency’s environmental impact. We’re listening, and taking action. 1/4
What did it take for Mozilla to do an about-turn on its crypto donation policy? Approximately 20 disgruntled social media users, based on replies to the initial December 28 tweet:
Shortly after, Mozilla put a temporary hold on users’ ability to make crypto donations:
So, starting today we are reviewing if and how our current policy on crypto donations fits with our climate goals. And as we conduct our review, we will pause the ability to donate cryptocurrency. 3/4
Unfortunately for Mozilla, it turns out that appeasing 20 noisy commenters has in turn created a new backlash to the initial backlash – a backlash squared, if you will.
I think as we progress it will be inevitable for companies (even if they are not directly involved with crypto) to have a crypto person/people/team so that at a minimum they do not look at foolish as Mozilla does. It will be costly to look this dumb https://t.co/3PPrdEfNuH
Wait what? I think NFTs are currently dogshit, but when did cryptocurrencies become instant cancer too? Would've thought open source, non-profit Mozilla Foundation would be a good fit… Can anyone post links to good data about crypto impact on climate?https://t.co/8hduxaBiHtpic.twitter.com/jrVBeSBcM0
Accepting crypto seems totally reasonable these days. Fiat currency is just as laden with all the problems of crypto, so if crypto helps you reach your community goals you should take it. I think it's sad that people who helped build the Internet are now like "get off my lawn."
As environmental and social governance (ESG) issues have become increasingly important in modern public relations, it’s no surprise that crypto’s energy consumption has become a perennial hot topic of conversation.
Given the plethora of blockchains, consensus algorithms and the relative utility of each, a single retort is neither possible nor desirable. As a proof-of-work blockchain, Bitcoin tends to be targeted the most as no one credible denies that its energy use is significant.
While this isn’t the forum to provide a detailed rebuttal of the so-called energy argument, venture capitalist and Bitcoiner Nic Carter has done some exceptional work, the latest of which you can read about here.
In short, the energy debate comes down to two questions:
Is the cryptocurrency valuable? If the detractor believes not, then no use of energy is worthwhile, however “green” it may be.
Who gets to decide what is or isn’t an appropriate use of energy?
Is streaming The Kardashians on Netflix or ordering single-serve meal kits an acceptable use of energy? What about Christmas lights, air-conditioning, or the mining of cobalt for your mobile phone? Given that gold mining uses more energy than Bitcoin, should we be pushing for “eco-friendly” wedding rings?
In the context of Mozilla, this line of argument is epitomised in the tweet below:
Lol so people can use your browser to look up funny cat videos but Crypto is bad?
“Take down your Christmas lights you’re wasting energy!!”
Today, it’s evident that there are societal and financial benefits to claims of being “environmentally friendly” – whether you actually are appears to be of secondary concern. This is essentially what “greenwashing” amounts to, a practice where “green” issues are used to elevate a company’s public perception, rather than actually doing anything useful in an environmental sense. It ultimately comes down to buzzwords over substance.
Mozilla’s decision to pause donations appears to be misguided at best. It has seemingly managed to overlook the value of crypto in funding international non-profits, as well as misunderstand its relationship to energy.
But perhaps there is an even bigger lesson to be learnt – bowing to the mob is often not the smartest strategy, particularly when the facts are not on your side.
One of the common problems with NFT marketplaces built on Layer 1 (L1) solutions is that they have high gas fees and during periods of high congestion, transactions can also take longer to process. When more complex transactions are processed from DeFi, NFT marketplaces, and other applications, TPS (transactions per second) rates decline rapidly and as a result gas costs go up.
Because of these challenges, Layer 2 (L2) solutions, or ‘side-chains’, become a possible answer to the problem.
Argent X is an L2 built on StarkNet which aims to reduce gas fees by using zk-rollup (zero-knowledge-rollup) technology. This mechanism brings gas fees down to the minimum because it batches transactions, which are then verified off-chain using an on-chain verifier. This ease means a batch can be sent to Layer 1 and verified in a smart contract for frictionless transfers between L1 and L2.
Since its inception, StarkNet has settled over 50 million transactions and US$250 billion since the summer of 2020. By allowing developers to build on their platform they could save potential customers a pretty penny in gas fees.
Argent is crypto’s iPhone moment – highly secure with a user experience that rivals the best traditional finance apps.
Wouter Kampmann , head of engineering, MakerDAO
According to StarkNet’s official blog, “StarkNet allows any dApp to achieve unlimited scale for its computation, without compromising Ethereum’s composability and security, thanks to its reliance on the safest and most scalable cryptographic proof system — ZK-STARK.”
After its Alpha launch on December 29, StarkNet has encouraged developers to start building, though also stating that it has yet to be audited and that users should be aware it is in the Alpha stage.
Buy Crypto on Layer 2 for Only a $1 Fee
The Argent platform that uses StarkNet can give users “up to 100X cheaper fees than Ethereum thanks to zkSync’s [a rollup technology] Layer 2 network. With near-instant speed.”
How to trade on L2 for only $1
1. Open Argent 2. Tap ‘Trade’ 3. Choose asset & amount
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the second-largest cryptocurrency and decentralised ecosystem, Ethereum, has admitted he “completely missed NFTs” (non-fungible tokens).
In a recent Twitter storm, the programmer and crypto writer shared his thoughts about the current state of the industry. Since the launch of Ethereum, Buterin envisioned a future where programmers could build decentralised applications on the Ethereum network and release them to the public. These would include DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations), ERC-20 tokens, and Oracles.
However, Buterin admits he failed to catch the NFT wave:
A lot correct (basically predicted "defi"), though incentivized file storage + compute hasn't taken off that much (yet?), and of course I completely missed NFTs.
I would say the biggest thing I missed in the details is collusion issues in DAO governance: https://t.co/cezOk10KQ0
Buterin started his thread by saying he had visited Argentina, where he noticed a rise in crypto and stablecoin adoption as more Argentinian businesses were operating with USDT.
Argentina is one of the many examples of how crypto and blockchain technology can be used to combat rising fiat hyperinflation. In a 2013 article, Buterin wrote that cryptocurrencies could protect citizens against declining purchasing power and the reduction of wealth in countries such as Venezuela, Argentina and Iran:
Last week, I actually went to Argentina! My verdict: generally correct. Cryptocurrency adoption is high but stablecoin adoption is really high too; lots of businesses operate in USDT. Though of course, if USD itself starts showing more problems this could change.
Buterin went on to reflect on the negative impact of the “internationalisation and regulation” of Bitcoin, which he also predicted nearly 10 years ago:
My views today: sure, Bitcoin’s decentralisation would let it still “survive” under a super-hostile regulatory climate, but it could not “thrive”. Successful censorship resistance strategy requires a combination of technological robustness and public legitimacy.
Vitalik Buterin
‘The Internet Of Money Shouldn’t Cost More than 5 Cents’
The Twitter storm also served as the arena for both supporters and detractors of Ethereum. While Buterin claimed that his invention kickstarted the internet of money and that it is still working on scalability, some users fired back at him for the expensive gas fees on the network, which can take up to 50 percent.
Please tell us how you got people to pay 50% transaction fees while claiming that your invention is the future of money
— John W. Rich (Fake Tech Exec) (@Cokedupoptions) January 1, 2022
He helped build a product that was so popular that it reached it's full capacity and people still wanted in. That's how. But soon that will be a thing of the past and ETH will stand as the only scalable SC platform that's actually decentralized, battle tested and secure.
Putting aside those discussions, Buterin ended the thread in claiming he had changed his mind about political organisations, saying he was “more naive then”.
On tech, I was more often right on abstract ideas than on production software dev issues. Had to learn to understand the latter over time. I have a deeper appreciation now of the need for even more simplicity than I thought we needed.
Vitalik Buterin
The Ethereum Exodus Continues
While Ethereum has become the largest DeFi ecosystem, its massive popularity has caused it to struggle due to enormous traffic on the platform, which in turn drives up gas fee prices.
This is the main reason why several projects, including NFTs, are moving to other networks to offset excessively high fees on the ETH blockchain, and to achieve a higher throughput.
Ether, however, is one of the most beloved cryptos for whales – as Crypto News Australiareported in August last year, over 43 percent of ETH circulation is in hands of whales, according to analytics platform Santiment.
Slim Shady – aka Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem – joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) community late last year by buying a non-fungible token (NFT) from the collection for a sobering 123.45 ether. The rapper paid US$452,000 to add BAYC #9055 to his already impressive collection of 166 NFTs.
There is no doubt 2021 was the year of the NFT, with the BAYC NFT project alone grossing over US$1 billion in trading volume worldwide. BAYC recently entered partnerships with Rolling Stone to release two digital magazine covers featuring Bored Ape Yacht Club characters. Adidas also recently announced a collaboration with Bored Ape creators Yuga Labs to enter the metaverse. As a show of good faith, the sports apparel brand also bought its own BAYC NFT.
On December 30, Eminem joined the BAYC project by purchasing BAYC #9055 for a cool 123.45 ETH, or US$452,000. The rapper shared his new purchase by changing his profile picture on Twitter:
Eminem’s new Twitter profile picture. Source: Twitter.com
The BAYC #9055 purchase was further confirmed by the OpenSea platform, which indicates the new owner of the NFT to be “Shady_Holdings”. The portfolio also owns a number of Lil Baby Doodles X NFTs, Ditaggdogg#1 featuring a stencil image of the famous rapper, and Superlatives Apes #3880.
In fact, Eminem owns a number of ERC721 NFTs, including Shaq Gives Back #4077, and Adult Fantasy Sub-Dude (130/151). He bought BAYC #9055 from the NFT’s former owner GeeGazza, who took to Twitter to share his excitement:
I’m living in a simulation.
Thank you @Eminem for buying my ape and joining the club!
The sale was facilitated by digital agency “Six”, who proclaimed on Twitter that its creator-focused agency helped secure the ape for Shady, and are now calling the NFT “EminApe”. Admittedly, the ape does rather resemble its new owner.
According to data from dappradar.com, the rapper owns 166 NFT assets from 32 collections. As it stands, Shady_Holdings address holds 1.52 ETH following the purchase. Eminem got 124 ETH from an account that uses the name georgio.eth. That account holds 504 NFTs from 51 different collections, including BAYC #4936, and it also spent 43.98 ETH on two CryptoPunks.
