It’s Saturday, which means it’s time to pick through the bones of what’s happened in the NFT world this week while you nurse a hangover. As if anyone can afford to go out anymore. Alright, let’s get this over with.
Otherdeed Sale Crashes Ethereum
Last Saturday was like Cryptokitties all over again, with Ethereum being treated like a two bit hooker by Yuga Labs and getting shafted for hours on end by thousands of sweaty, girlfriendless men. Otherdeed buyers, who were vying for plots of land on Yuga Labs’ forthcoming rich virgins virtual play park metaverse experience Otherside, caused the 200-year-old blockchain to clog up like a nightclub toilet, requiring four and sometimes five-figure gas fees in order to push a purchase through.
This rendered every other transaction on the Ethereum network effectively impossible and led to over 90 ETH in gas fees being wasted by unsuccessful be buyers, although Yuga Labs did end up refunding them. The company has since said it will look to migrate to its own blockchain, although how on Earth they couldn’t see coming what everyone else could see a mile off is more than a little concerning.
OpenSea Discord Hack Hoodwinks NFT Holders
Illiterate hackers managed to sneak into the admin section of the OpenSea Discord account yesterday and post a fake YouTube collaboration mint:
The intent was to lure users into giving up their wallet details, which less than 10 people did, with an estimated $18,000 worth of NFTs stolen. OpenSea says it was quick to take the post down, which hopefully meant that readers weren’t also subjected to the atrocious English that really should have given the game away inside 10 seconds.
Honestly, if you’re still falling for stuff like “you are able to get this mint pass below for 100% free” then you need to reflect on whether you should be in charge of your own money.
1/
Last night, an attacker posted malicious links in several of our Discord channels. Our analysis shows the attack had limited impact: <10 wallets were impacted with stolen items amounting to <10 ETH.We’ve not seen any new malicious posts since 4:30am ET.
More 👇
— OpenSea Support (@opensea_support) May 6, 2022
Starbucks to Build Coffee-centric Web3 Communi-tea
Starbucks announced this week that it will use the brand’s heritage as a seller of average coffee at overly high prices to move into the Web 3 space. The company wants to create a virtual version of the “third place” concept, launching a range of NFTs before a move into the metaverse.
The company announced in a blog post that NFTs had “captured our imagination”, although news of the sudden revelation that they could make money out of nothing didn’t make it to their own Twitter account, where they knew their customers would give them both barrels over the environment, Ponzi schemes and the rest of it.
Let’s hope that the Starbucks metaverse (good God, just writing the words gives me ‘Facebook metaverse’ vibes) is more successful than their Bitcoin payment integration with Bakkt, which has only been used buy three people since it finally launched last year – two tourists who had no change and someone who pressed the wrong button on their phone.
Blockacchaino? ☕️
NF (cup of) T? 🫖
Starbucks is going to release NFTs that unlock access to exclusive perks 🚀
The coffee chain has also confirmed it plans to build an immersive Web3 experience 🥰https://t.co/ohY5gRvSAl
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) May 6, 2022
FTX/Mercedes-AMG Petronas Launches NFT Line
The world of F1 is known for its creativity and pushing of envelopes, from testing the limits of aerodynamics to letting entire championships be decided by some random dude with no qualifications, so it’s no surprise that they have gone deeper into the NFT game.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas this week announced that it has teamed up with crypto exchange FTX to launch three new NFT collections which will be available to fans for the remainder of the 2022 season. The initiative will get off the starting grid at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix this weekend, if viewers are able to tear themselves away from the spectacle of brightly colored cars driving round and round in circles (you’re all waiting for a crash, admit it).
The first collection will be 2,500 free-to-claim “Ticket Stub” NFTs, inspired by Mercedes F1 race tickets, while the second will be 1,000 free limited edition ticket stubs covering five races across the season’s calendar. The third and final collection will consist of 10 exclusive NFTs available through an auction at FTX’s US NFT marketplace. So the more money you have, the more likely you are to win. Who’d have thought.
Our epic NFT auction with @FTX_Official and @Mad_Dog_Jones is now LIVE!!! 👊
Put in a bid and you could win an NFT bundled with a physical piece of motorsport history! 😲 Such as a 2022 replica car, or the NFT artwork rear wings we’re racing with this weekend! 😁
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 6, 2022
