After being reported stolen, the NFT marketplace OpenSea has frozen $2.2 million in Bored Ape NFTs.
The market’s NFTs now include a notice that they’ve been “flagged for suspicious conduct.” The purchase and trade of these digital assets have been suspended.
Fifteen apes and mutants have been stolen in total. The owner of the NFTs, Todd Kramer, described the episode as “perhaps the worst night of his life” but expressed hope that it would be handled.
This is the first time that NFTs from a major collection have been stolen in recent memory, raising security concerns.
According to the crypto community, freezing NFTs calls decentralization into question. They claim that the technique is “anti-crypto” and that OpenSea’s security is inadequate. OpenSea is the most popular NFT platform on the market, with hundreds of thousands of users and a large volume of transactions.
The theft of these NFTs raises concerns about the general security of the platform. There has been little information on how the NFTs were obtained, and the platform has yet to issue an official statement. Meanwhile, there’s a bit of a squabble over at OpenSea about the Phunky Ape Yacht Club (PAYC).
The NFT platform forbade this NFT series because of its resemblance to the NFTs of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Except for the fact that it is paralleled, PAYC is nearly identical to BAYC.
In light of the NFT’s theft, the community has been debating the finer points of plagiarism. The restriction of the PAYC NFT series by OpenSea has been the most contentious issue.
According to the complainants, Prohibitions would not be permitted in a decentralized system.
Known as one of the most prolific traders in the crypto sphere, Cobie offers to pay NFT skeptics to start using Ethereum. Jordan “Cobie” Fish, who was recently chosen as one of Crypto Briefing’s top heroes of 2021, offered to pay a hefty amount of $10,000 to multiple Twitter users who expressed their sentiments against crypto in response to a series of tweets he posted over the weekend.
Aside from being known for his popular crypto podcast UpOnly, Cobie is renowned for having a significant amount of Ethereum in his portfolio and other cryptocurrencies in several years.
On Saturday, Cobie wrote a Twitter thread talking about NFT technology’s backlash from the gaming community.
Beyond that, gamers spend thousands of hours playing games throughout their life.
Why would a gamer not want to own their own in-game progress and achievements? It seems only beneficial for users to own those items personally, instead of the gaming company retaining ownership.
The series of tweets start with “the outrage from gamers over the inclusion of NFTs is an astronomical unwitting vote against self-interests.” He continues by saying, “why would a gamer not want to own their own in-game progress and achievements?”
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs could completely change the gaming industry as we know it, as they offer a way for players to have ownership over their in-game assets. Although many companies have been looking to adopt NFTs into their platforms, NFT technology has undoubtedly been a divisive concept among companies and gamers.
For instance, the famous gaming company and digital storefront Steam announced that it would be banning NFTs and crypto games from the platform. On the other hand, Ubisoft announced that it would be offering NFTs through Ubisoft Quartz, even though many users expressed their disagreement and disappointment in the company.
Going back to Cobie’s tweets, many responded by asking about the value of NFTs. Not only that, but many also argued, saying that the environmental impact of NFTs and cryptocurrencies, in general, are not worth the benefits you could receive.
Since Ethereum uses a Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm, a barrage of critics is concerned for the environment, especially now that NFTs continue to rise in popularity.
Responses
Cobie replied to one of the detractors, saying he’d give them $10,000 if he had an Ethereum address for listening to his arguments. The Twitter user responded by saying that they don’t have an Ethereum wallet, nor do they have any plans on getting one.
On the other hand, Cobie gave the same offer to another critic, but they accepted this time. The user made an Ethereum address, and Cobie sent them 0.27 ETH to cover the NFT costs. After proving that they bought something from OpenSea, Cobie sent the user another 2.66 ETH ($10,048).
Cobie isn’t the first crypto investor to offer payment to NFT detractors to start using Ethereum. In November 2021, NFT collector Vincent Van Dough pulled a prank on skeptics within the furry community. The collector minted a tokenized collage of the world-renowned meme, Pepe the Frog.
After heavy backlash, Vincent Van Dough offered $5000 to the artists featured in the NFT to mint their very own token. However, nobody took them up on their offer.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has just handed Hamas another crushing blow in its efforts to avoid traditional financial routes. The defense ministry has confiscated over $800,000 in bitcoin suspected of being used to fund Hamas.
This money is believed to have been sent to Hamas via a bitcoin exchange managed by a Gazan family. This exchange is known to provide significant funds to Hamas on a yearly basis.
Hamas has been labeled as a terrorist organization by Israel. Hamas has a sophisticated money exchange network through which it can purchase goods and support its military operations.
The Israeli Defense Forces’ intelligence, the Defense Ministry’s National Headquarters on Terrorist Economic Counter-Terrorism, the Israel Police’s Lahav-443 Major Crimes Unit’s cybercrimes department, and the State Attorney’s Office’s Cyber Unit all helped to uncover the funding network.
The Gazan family was using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to raise money for Hamas online, and the Defense Minister recently authorized the seizure of their cryptocurrency wallets. Israeli officials had been watching this discussion for several years.
Hamed Ahmed Khudari, who used digital currencies to send Iranian money to Hamas in order to fund jihad, was killed by Israel Defense Forces in Gaza in 2019.
The funds were utilized to build missiles that were fired at Israel. Following the assassination, there was an uptick in activity on the exchange, arousing suspicion and necessitating more investigation.
In early 2020, the US Justice Department said it was destroying terrorism financing networks formed by Hamas’ military wing, al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, better known as ISIS.
The armed wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, released instructional films on how to anonymously send cryptocurrencies intended for use in violent acts.
In the state of Perak, Malaysian officials apprehended a 28-year-old man suspected of running illicit mining operations in the Manjung District.
Police identified 30 mining stations that were using electricity stolen from the grid. According to the Perak police commander, they are still looking into who is behind the mining activities and how long they have been going on.
The stolen electricity was valued at RM 2 million ($478,000). The chief also went into greater detail about the equipment discovered at the 30 mining sites.
Some 1,720 bitcoin mining equipment, 15 monitors, 22 CPUs, 16 keyboards, 56 modems, a Toyota truck, 44 fans, seven closed-circuit TV cameras, and a laptop were among the equipment seized. The culprit is being jailed on counts of theft and malicious mischief.
Crypto mining is not illegal in Malaysia, but stealing power is punishable by hefty penalties. Interfering with power lines is punishable by a fine of up to $23,700 and a five-year prison sentence under Section 37 of Malaysia’s Electricity Supply Act.
Malaysia produces about 4.5% of global mining power, per the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Malaysian police searched for George Town, Penang state, in June 2021, seizing approximately 400 bitcoin mining machines from four locations.
The operation involved stealing electricity worth $102,239, as per Tenaga Nasional Berhad, a Malaysian power utility. A similar crackdown on mining happened in July 2021 on the island of Borneo, whose northern sections are governed by Malaysia and Brunei.
After three homes burned down because of $2 million in electricity theft, 1,069 mining rigs were physically destroyed by a steamroller in a collaborative effort between Miri law enforcement and Sarawak Energy.
When China was having an intense Bitcoin crackdown, which included any crypto activities like trading and mining, Bitcoin’s mining hashrate dropped to 58.4 million terahashes per second. This massive decline was because many miners went out of business due to China’s anti-crypto policy.
Bitcoin Hashrate Recovers
However, new data by Glassnode revealed that the hashrate has officially fully recovered from last year’s lows. It even reached a brand-new all-time high only two days into 2022. According to Glassnode’s data, the hashrate is now at 208 million terahashes per second.
For those new to the industry, Bitcoin hashrate refers to the computational power solely dedicated to minting new coins. Other than that, it’s also responsible for security and transaction verification within the network. When the hashrate is high, more miners are helping to secure the network. As such, some analysts believe this to be a bullish sign for the industry’s future.
Miner Relocation Is Not the Cause for Growth
Bitfury, a major crypto mining firm, revealed to Financial Times that the reason for this growth isn’t because of miners relocating their equipment from China. Instead, it’s because of “new-generation equipment coming online.”
This means that even though the relocation of miners to other regions like the US and Russia did play a part in keeping the industry afloat while China implemented strict anti-crypto policies, this recovery could be mainly because of miners looking for new alternatives.
Jason Zaluski, the head of technology at Hut 8 Mining Corp, further solidifies this view by saying that China’s ban merely caused “a geographic shift.” For example, although some Chinese miners have been having difficulty finding cheap energy to power their data centers, US-based mining firm Marathon Digital revealed that their mining could reach an all-time high by the middle half of 2022.
According to Pantera Capital Chief Executive and Founder Dan Morehead, smart contracts for Polkadot’s DOT token and Terra’s LUNA payment protocol are the “most promising” tokens heading into 2022.
Morehead revealed this week in an interview with CNBC that he believes in a multi-blockchain future, which is one of the reasons he is so bullish on Terra.
“I believe we’re all coming to the conclusion that the future will not have just one blockchain, but potentially ten or twenty incredibly important blockchains,” Morehead added.
Polkadot is growing in popularity
Polkadot’s strength, he says, is that it “will help move value from one blockchain to another,” with the protocol’s first decentralized finance (DeFi) initiatives set to launch in the first quarter of 2022.
Morehead stated, “The Polkadot ecosystem is gaining a lot of traction.” Pantera’s founder remarked that LUNA has recently gained popularity in reaction to Terra.
“It currently has a market worth of $31 billion, so there’s still plenty of room for it to grow,” Morehead noted. He also stated that the protocol is home to the third-largest stablecoin, UST, which grows at a “very, very rapid clip.”
UST, which is ranked 20th in terms of market capitalization (on Coingecko), reached a market capitalization of $10 billion this month, up from less than $200 million in January.
Pantera’s CEO is upbeat
Finally, the Pantera CEO cited Risk Harbor, a decentralized marketplace for risk management, as a coin from the insurance niche inside DeFi that he is “very enthused” about during the conversation.
“All of these different sorts of insurance that we need in the real world, especially right now for the DeFi ecosystem,” Morehead continued, “can all be done decentralized on Risk Harbor.”
Trustpad ($TPAD), built on the Binance Smart Chain Network as a BEP-20 token, has positioned itself as one of the most secure launchpads on the market.
Trustpad, launched in April 2021, is a multi-chain, permissionless fundraising platform for crypto projects. They hope to jumpstart the launch of projects looking to enter the Initial Decentralized Offering (IDO) space while also providing early investors top-tier blockchain security.
The hand-picking of high-quality projects emerging on the blockchain is critical for doing this efficiently. Trustpad is compatible with the Ethereum (ETH), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL) blockchains.
They’ve built a solid community of 338 thousand Twitter followers, many of whom enjoyed a Return On Investment (ROI) of 29.45x during the All-Time High (ATH). Trustpad has a market capitalization of $479.47 million USD.
$TPAD was launched with a total token supply of 100 million and a 2% deflationary burn charge. The cost is divided equally among all $TPAD stakers for user redistribution, and a burn fee delivered directly to a dead wallet address. This will enhance the token’s scarcity over time.
To participate in IDO offerings, members must stake the Trustpad native token, $TPAD. There are nine stages of participation: three lottery tiers with variable return percentages and six guaranteed allocation tiers with varying return multipliers.
Trustpad is similar to other Decentralized Finance (DeFi) technologies incorporated in the current and anticipated future DeFi boom. The value proposition they provide is their project’s guiding principle, ‘quality over quantity,’ which is expected to benefit the broader blockchain ecosystem with beneficial spill-over effects.
Trustpad had a good fourth quarter of 2021 with its integration into the Cardano (ADA) ecosystem, Central Exchange (CEX) Listings, and the launching of TrustPad’s DAO and governance.
MetaVPad is the most recent addition to Bluezilla’s vast list of blockchain-focused launchpads. The platform facilitates ambitious metaverse initiatives capable of optimizing its growth in a decentralized, democratic manner.
The MetaVpad native token, METAV, went live a few days ago with positive feedback. The platform has already secured an IDO, according to the most recent news. METAV staking is now available in advance of the soon-to-be-launched launches. It will provide users with access to tiered token allocations based on the number of METAV staked. At the time of writing, the APY of staking is 187.57 percent.
Let’s take a look at how MetaVPad intends to contribute to the metaverse’s evolution and what that means for regular users.
What exactly is MetaVPad? (METAV)
Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs as they were originally known, have faded into obscurity. With the introduction of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), we now have IDOs, also known as initial DEX offerings. If you like to keep up with the market, you should be aware of how hot they are. But, for the right reasons, we can’t deny.
MetaVPad combines two of the industry’s biggest trends: IDOs and the metaverse. Is that the end of it? No, it also supports projects across many blockchain ecosystems.
The platform’s goal is to free the metaverse from the grip of centralized businesses. As you may have inferred from the most recent updates, these tech behemoths are investing big on what is billed as the internet’s future.
To be honest, not everyone is excited about a new version of the snoopy internet. This time, we could do things differently.
The good news is that many new emergent blockchain projects are heading in that direction. They are constructing a decentralized virtual environment powered by cryptocurrency, DeFi, and NFTs. Through its cross-chain launchpad, MetaVPad hopes to expedite the decentralized growth of the metaverse.
MetaVpad For Projects
The incubator and launchpad provides financial and strategic support to a diverse range of high-quality metaverse-focused projects. These could be early-stage initiatives that are establishing the groundwork for the metaverse’s infrastructure and protocols, or emerging projects with long-term aspirations that will be realized in weeks, months, or even years.
For example, future social networks, blockchain-based metaverse infrastructure, protocol standardization and interoperability, non-fungible token initiatives, the next generation of networked games, or something altogether else.
MetaVPad For Investors
MetaVPad facilitates public token sales and assists projects in reaching out to their users and communities. For token distribution, a tier-based mechanism inspired by popular industry launchpads is in place. The goal here is to make early-stage token sales available to everyone, regardless of financial or technical constraints.
MetaVPad has three tiers: Explorer, Creator, and Architect. The staking requirement increases as users progress through the tier levels. While the lower tiers require community interaction for whitelisting, the highest tier has no restrictions other than staking.
The METAV token is the platform’s key. Users can stake the needed amount of METAV to gain access to a tier and all of the benefits that come with it. Staking grants you early access to new coin launches as well as hefty staking payouts. This includes the possibility of gaining access to Metaverse stakedrop. If you are chosen, you will receive a free allocation to some special projects at the best pricing. Obviously, higher tiers come with more benefits.
Staking for METAV is now available on BSC. Over 9180 users have staked a total of 97310353.98 METAV, increasing the APY to 187 percent. Before you go down to the dashboard, make sure you have some BNB (to pay for network costs) and METAV in your wallet. The token is for sale on PancakeSwap, Uniswap, and WagyuSwap.
As its principal deflationary mechanism, MetaVPad imposes a 10% fee on all token sales (sell orders) and early unstaking costs of up to 25%. The unstaking fee of 25% applies only to tokens staked for less than two weeks. On tokens staked for at least 8 weeks, there is no unstaking fee.
Conclusion
MetaVPad, as a BlueZilla product, is at the cutting edge of technology, with certain cutting-edge features and functionalities.
If the metaverse is only accessible to a few investment titans on the centralized side of the earth, MetaVPad makes investing in the first-generation metaverse accessible to small scale investors. It intends to create a diversified metaverse by addressing each of its major elements. As previously stated, it will house IDOs for a diverse variety of promising projects aiming to be a part of the new-age internet.
When it comes to project selection, MetaVPad takes a methodical, quality-over-quantity approach. To reduce the possibility of rugpulls and fraud, a rigorous verification process is used. The initiatives are hand-picked by an experienced team based on their practical value and long-term potential. The entry barrier is kept high to protect investors’ interests.
MetaVPad envisions a decentralized metaverse. If the bar for project selection is set high, the bar for token sales is lowered by introducing a tier structure. It is intended to make them available to all investors, regardless of financial experience or background.
MetaVPad has a very deflationary tokenomics strategy. The goal is to gradually reduce METAV supply. As a result, the token will continue to be an appealing long-term hold for participants.
To ensure a fair valuation, METAV was started with a meager $170,000 initial market capitalization. As a result, early stakeholders might gain access to their tiers at lower entry rates.
But does it add something fresh to the table? Except for the fact that the launchpad is just for metaverse projects, no. Let’s hoping that MetaVPad comes up with new use cases that will help us get to the metaverse faster.
Every other day, new inventions enter the bitcoin market with the goal of connecting the world decentrally. Following the rapid expansion of the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) sectors in the previous year, the crypto community has turned its attention to something new, play-2-earn (P2E) games, or GameFi as it is colloquially known.
One of the most intriguing parts of this rapid globalization of communities is the economies that have emerged from them, how players place and build value on digital goods and services, and the possibility for any participant from anywhere in the globe to join.
Seven of the top ten P2E games have had a transaction volume of $100 million or more in the last month, with Axie Infinity leading the field with $1.1 billion in monthly volume. Despite the phenomenal growth of the GameFi sector, the typical gamer faces extremely high entrance hurdles. The expense of playing, geographical constraints, player age, skill level, and other factors may all hinder a gamer from earning or playing.
In an interview, Nikolai Gurskyi, Founder of Liberty Gaming, a blockchain-based gateway allowing players to gain simpler access to NFTs, described the obstacles that P2E gaming faces, adding,
“P2E gaming confronts a high barrier to entry, making it difficult for players to gain access to NFTs, which are typically not accessible or are just too expensive for them to obtain,” he explained. “Furthermore, players are having a difficult time obtaining scholarships.”
With over 3.5 billion traditional players worldwide, the expansion of NFT gaming and the GameFi sector appears to be just getting started. As a result, platforms like Liberty Gaming strive to provide present and incoming players with simpler access to NFTs while also lowering the pricing barriers, allowing more gamers to begin earning while playing. Liberty, which was launched in 2020, also aims to train and coach these gamers, as well as give them with a way to earn money by playing games.
Regardless, novices to the crypto gaming sector typically invest in one or two games, which might be risky as an investment. This could result in their earning less money from low-rewarding games or investing in a game with a low growth rate.
To make it easier for individuals to invest in games, the game unites 7 prominent P2E games – Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, League of Kingdoms, Star Atlas, Guild of Guardians, and Illuvium – into one token, LGG. This encourages more gamers to invest in P2E games by cutting associated costs, minimizing risks, and making them more widely available.
As the GameFi industry expands, new gamers will want simple-to-use and low-cost games to play. The P2E sector will expand into mainstream communities around the world, increasing adoption rates and propelling GameFi into a trillion-dollar economy. Gamers are more likely to earn more from the game and discover success if better tools, characters, gaming resources, and games are provided. This attracts additional players, which expands the P2E gaming industry and market.
Finally, lowering the obstacles to accessing P2E games may assist certain gamers in earning a living. The industry introduces a new dynamic in how players make real money by playing games and providing other services in the gaming environment.
Non-fungible tokens otherwise referred to as NFTs, were a massive boom in 2021. Although they were launched last year, they were quick to gain traction, and before we knew it, the sector was already making sales worth tens of billions. This relatively new sector within the crypto industry has become incredibly important to investors. Even celebrities and other industries have jumped and joined the NFT wagon, not passing up the chance to earn a massive profit.
However, some people disliked NFTs, accusing participants of probably using them for money laundering or similar criminal activity. On the other hand, others understand the potential that NFTs offer and how they can provide incredible opportunities for creators and artists.
One of the latter is billionaire Ray Dalio, who has expressed his interest in dipping his toes in the NFT space, especially seeing how they have taken the crypto industry by storm.
Ray Dalio & NFTs
Dalio recently had an interview with Lex Fridman for the latter’s podcast, where they discussed various topics, including money and its impact, and of course, the crypto market. Dalio talks about a couple of notable topics in this episode, including the current NFT craze.
The billionaire investor tells the host that he plans on getting into NFTs. At first, he mentions how he wants to purchase one, but Fridman suggests that he mint one instead to know the process. Dalio agreed, saying that he should produce one.
However, Dalio also notes that even though NFTs and the crypto space, in general, are real industries, people should still apply a certain level of caution to new things and concepts. He adds that even though some things are, in fact, very real, there’s always the possibility that they won’t be around in the long run.
He uses the internet in the year 2000 as an example, saying, “like all new, real things, some are going to go, and some are going to… you know, it’s like the internet in the year 2000.”
A Competition of Monies
As you may have guessed, Dalio supports the crypto industry, and he has even revealed previously that he holds both bitcoin and ethereum in his portfolio, albeit not that much. Now, it appears he’ll be moving into the NFT space, which he thinks will work as an excellent competitor for the different currencies.
Dalio says that there will be competition among various types of monies, and bitcoin will be one of those competitors. He also mentions that even central banks will most likely develop their cryptocurrency.
In the case of NFTs, he notes that this sector could also become another type of money or currency in the future. In other words, investors will most likely pick and choose NFTs over cryptocurrencies like bitcoin regarding ownership preferences.
