It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for our weekly trek through the jungle that is the goings on in the NFT world this week. Let’s hope we do a better job than Amber Heard’s legal team. Honestly, what a mess.
Prada Steps Onto the NFT Catwalk
Global fashion powerhouse Prada announced this week that it would launch a limited-edition clothing NFT collection. Prada follows other fashion titans like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Nike, which have all launched NFTs, some as collaborations and others independently.
The launch took place on Thursday and departed from typical NFT launches, which usually occur as auctions. However, Prada has decided to give away their NFTs free of charge to customers who purchase a physical piece of Prada apparel, with each one being a black or white 3D animated ‘time capsule’.
The NFTs will also feature a corresponding serial number that will serve as an additional layer for item verification of a set of 100 Cassius Hirst designed unisex button-down shirts.
From June 2nd #PradaTimecapsule customers will have the chance to become the first owners of Prada NFT by purchasing a Timecapsule product which also sees #NFT gifted. #Prada also launches #PradaCrypted the brand’s new community server on Discord. https://t.co/0ZZMaeKL1B pic.twitter.com/WofZryJp2K
— PRADA (@Prada) May 30, 2022
Metamask and Asset Reality Combine to Help Victims
Metamask announced this week that it has partnered with Asset Reality to launch an end-to-end solution that will fast-track the recovery of stolen NFTs and crypto-assets. The partnership means that Metamask users who fall victim to digital asset scams will be able to utilise the investigational services of Asset Reality, which will increase the likelihood of recovering lost assets.
According to Metamask, the aim of the venture is to “allow victims to join together, build cases against these scam operations and bring them to justice”, with Asset Reality using its investigative tools to trace the progress of stolen digital assets. While Asset Reality doesn’t promise to recover the funds themselves, they are able to work with law enforcement to allow quicker and more comprehensive asset retrieval through legal channels.
Today we’re happy to announce that we’ve partnered with Asset Reality (@asset_reality) to give victims of cryptocurrency scams a chance at recovering funds that have been stolen.
1/ 🧵
— MetaMask 🦊💙 (@MetaMask) May 26, 2022
DOJ Charges Former OpenSea Exec with Insider Trading
The Department of Justice this week announced that an investigation into alleged insider trading at NFT exchange OpenSea led to the arrest of Nate Chastain, a former OpenSea product manager. Chastain has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering for NFT trades he allegedly made using insider knowledge of the NFT collections that were to be featured on OpenSea’s homepage. The charges levelled against him each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The DOJ alleges that between June and September 2021 Chastain abused his role as a product manager to secretly purchase dozens of NFTs scheduled to be featured on OpenSea’s homepage, selling them for up to 5x once they hit. According to investigators, Chastain used anonymous accounts and crypto wallets to cover his tracks, but his scheme was eventually busted by a Twitter user who spotted what he was doing. Chastain quit before he could be sacked and now faces a hefty fine and potentially prison time.
DOJ Charges Former OpenSea Exec in ‘Insider Trading Scheme’
► https://t.co/YowkM5hNeM https://t.co/YowkM5hNeM— Decrypt (@decryptmedia) June 1, 2022
Nike’s RTFKT Buys ‘DotSwoosh.eth’ For $35,000
Nike’s Web 3.0 arm RTFKT has purchased the Ethereum domain name “dotswoosh.eth” for 19.72 ETH, about $35,000. The intention behind the purchase is still unclear, but suggestions are that Nike may want to use the domain name for issuing ENS subdomains in the future. With this new purchase, RTFKT now owns 10 ENS domain names: artifacts.eth, rtfkt.eth, skinvial.eth, drmos.eth, mintvial.eth, dreamos.eth, spacedrip.eth, dripcoin.eth, m2tekno.eth, and now, dotswoosh.eth.
Nike/RTFKT just acquired “DotSwoosh.eth” ENS domain for 20 ETH ($35k USD)
We have done some research into the name but haven’t found any information yet – we’re looking forward to seeing what @Nike / @RTFKT have in store with this awesome domain! pic.twitter.com/WME1dhbaxY
— ENSwire (@enswire) May 28, 2022
