Alpha Schedule #20 - OpenSea suffers email address data breach 😵 (+ Allowlist giveaway!)
Alpha Schedule #20 - OpenSea suffers email address data breach 😵 (+ Allowlist giveaway!)
*Read this newsletter on the web for the best experience*
Hi friends,
While NFT NYC has passed for over a week now, I believe the aftermath of its impact and influence won't be visible over the next few months.
The conference has caused a lot of existing teams to meet each other face-to-face for the first time, while even more new connections have been made, and new teams have been formed.
Most people returned home inspired and energized, which will result in a lot of creative ways in the long run.
Personally, the trip to New York has inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and mint my NYC pictures as my first ever NFT collection (more info below).
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Another observation I made while drafting this newsletter is how many new brands and creators are currently joining the WEB3 scene. It's the best proof that despite negativity sweeping the current market, a bullish process is steadily being made.
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And on a separate note: this newsletter just marked its 20th edition 🥳 🎉, and I would love to thank each and every one of you for the support! As a result, we have teamed up with Tomorrowland for an allowlist giveaway for their 2nd NFT collection, which will be released on the Magic Eden marketplace (more info below).
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As always; I stumbled upon a few interesting articles that grabbed my attention and got me thinking. Here's the list:
See you soon!
— 🩸💀 AMERICAN RADASS
I MINTED MY NFT NYC PICTURES!
This mint fuels two of my biggest ambitions: learn as much as I can about the NFT Space (including the minting process) and develop myself as a photographer.
As a result, I minted 24 pictures as 1/1 art on foundation. They should be considered as art (without any roadmap or utility) and are available with prices starting at 0.1 ETH ($ 105,-). You can find the entire collection on foundation via this link and are more than welcome to spread the word by engaging on this tweet.
OPENSEA SUFFERS EMAIL ADDRESS DATA BREACH
NFT marketplace OpenSea has suffered a data breach after an employee at its email delivery partner leaked user data.
In a blog post, OpenSea said that an employee of Customer.io had “misused their employee access to download and share email addresses – provided by OpenSea users and subscribers to our newsletter – with an unauthorized external party.”
The leaked information included email addresses, according to the blog post, and OpenSea warned users that this could result in “a heightened likelihood for email phishing attempts.”
The company said customers should assume the email addresses they associated with OpenSea is now public knowledge.
COINBASE IS SELLING DATA TO ICE
Crypto exchange Coinbase's analytics program, Coinbase Tracer, will provide the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) with data about crypto users, including “historical geo-tracking data” and transaction history, according to a contract obtained by watchdog group Tech Inquiry.
The contract adds detail to what was previously known about the three-year deal between the crypto exchange and ICE, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
YUGA LABS SUES BAYC CRITIC RYDER RIPPS
Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, has issued a legal complaint against Ryder Ripps, the creator of gordongoner.net.
The founders of BAYC recently called Ripps’ accusations that they are “intentionally embedding Nazi dog whistles throughout their project,” a “crazy disinformation campaign.” The complaint, filed at the District Court of California, states: “False Designation Of Origin, False Advertising, Cybersquatting, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment, Conversion, And Tortious Interference”.
📰 OTHER NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK
As the first investment of Ryan Carson's 121G fund, they bought a total of 34 Moonbirds.
OpenSea has added the option to submit attribute-based collection offers.
Doodles launched a Bucket Auction, an auction for a Genesis Box of Wearables for Doodles 2, and gathered 11,875 ETH. Each Box contains a rare assortment of apparel and accessories.
Following years of debate, negotiators from the EU’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee finally reached a deal on how crypto should be regulated.
Mark Lamb, CEO of CoinFLEX, accused investor Roger Ver of defaulting on a loan agreement worth $47 million.
Following the historic DeFi hack, Ronin blockchain has announced that the Ronin Bridge is reopened and accessible for users.
Soon after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, NFT artist Molly Dickson decided to release a 10,000-piece NFT collection and raised $3 million to support abortion rights groups across the US.
The government of El Salvador purchased 80 BTC amid the cryptocurrency market crash. The country spent over $1.5 million to acquire the assets.
Crypto exchange Coinbase plans to expand its operations in Europe and is actively registering in key European countries, including Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. It also announced its Netherlands users would have to comply with KYC rules when making transfers to wallets off Coinbase.
An OpenSea error mistakenly delisted a number of Bored Apes from their platform for going against OpenSea's Term of Service.
✨ NEW IN THE SPACE
Hape announced a partnership with Jägermeister and the release of the Jägermeister Genesis HAPE.
British luxury car manufacturer Bentley Motors Limited is dipping its toes into the Web3 ecosystem with the launch of an NFT collection on Polygon.
Samsung has partnered with the XOXO NFT project, and as part of this collaboration, holders will get a free Samsung Galaxy Z flip, Galaxy Watch, or Galaxy buds.
The National Hockey League announced its partnership with NFT Marketplace Sweet. This partnership will go live in October to mark the start of the 2022-2033 NHL season.
TIME Magazine has continued its foray into the cryptocurrency and NFT world by partnering with blockchain-based gaming company The Sandbox to build TIME Square in the metaverse.
Eminem and Snoop Dogg produced a new video that, aside from marijuana, has multiple references to NFTs and BAYC.
Gate.io, one of the world’s earliest cryptocurrency exchanges and a leader among digital asset platforms, is introducing Fractional NFTs service and blue-chip NFT crowdfunding features.
Content Creators will be able to display their NFTs on Facebook.
Alec Monopoly, a renowned American street artist, has launched his “Rags to Richie” NFT collection in collaboration with the NFT platform Hypermint.
Crypto exchange firm Coinbase has expanded its staking reward offerings to include Solana.
Binance signed 'Khaby Lame' (the most followed TikTok creator in the world) as their brand ambassador and released its first promotional video.
Dynamic, a Web3 startup working on wallet-based authentication and authorization tools for developers, has recently closed $7.5 million in seed investment in a funding round led by Andreesen Horowitz (a16z).
💀 HOW TO RECOGNIZE A RUG PULL
RadioShack, an electronics retailer that's now repositioning itself as a crypto liquidity provider, has been tweeting a series of tweets filled with vulgarities and expletives causing widespread confusion.
The man behind these tweets is Tai Lopez, a polarizing figure in the crypto scene who's known for various scams. Apparently, he bought RadioShack in an attempt to cash in on the legacy brand and its reputation — something to curry favor with the Wall Street Bets crowd.
OTHER POSSIBLE RUGPULLS
The FBI has added missing OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova to its top ten most wanted fugitives list over charges of defrauding investors and absconding.
The hacker group Anonymous is working in order to bring Do Kwon to justice.
Hackers stole $100 million worth of crypto from Harmony Protocol recently. The organization has offered a $1 million bounty for returning the stolen assets, but according to a report issued by blockchain analytics company Elliptic, the Lazarus Group, a prominent cybercriminal group with ties to North Korea, is suspected of being involved in the theft and subsequent laundering of the cash.
The hacker who exploited lending pool XCarnival for 3,087 ETH ($3.8 million) has returned half of the loot, according to on-chain security researcher and ZenGo co-founder Tal Be’ery.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has reprimanded Three Arrows Capital for providing false ownership information and exceeding the country’s permitted assets under the management threshold. In the meanwhile, a court in the British Virgin Islands has ordered the liquidation of the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
🎉 EXCLUSIVE ALLOWLIST GIVEAWAY
We partnered with Tomorrowland to give away 100 allowlist spots to our loyal audience, allowing winners to mint their 2nd NFT drop for 3 SOL via Magic Eden's NFT Marketplace.
You can participate in this allowlist giveaway by filling in this google form, and we'll announce the winners in our next newsletter.
In the meanwhile; here is everything you need to know about this second NFT release:
Mint date: July 15th
Collection: The Reflection of Love
Supply: 6.500
Mint Price: 3 SOL
Twitter: @tomorrowlandnft
Roadmap: nft.tomorrowland.com
As mentioned during my research for their first NFT collection: Tomorrowland has a reputation to live up to, which should interest every investor in this space. As a holder, this first NFT allowed me to visit CORE Festival for free, alongside many other benefits.
Tomorrowland also announced that this "Reflection of Love" NFT is part of the three collections you'll need to complete to finish the Medallion of Memoria. Everyone who collects such a medallion will have two options: keep it (and benefit from more perks), or burn it in exchange for a Full Madness Festival pass, with the option to buy a Dreamville Upgrade + tickets for your friends (a 1-time utility).
For reference: the festival will gather over 600.000 visitors this year, spread over three weekends. These tickets sold out in a matter of hours.
Additionally, Magic Eden has been pushing visibility towards this NFT release, which gathered a lot of positive responses from their community and collectors.
📖 LEARN HOW TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH
Twitter Collector NFT God created a Twitter thread in which he mentions his favorite tools and explains how to use them: Icy Tools to discover projects, Uniq CX to dive into the numbers, NFT Inspect to see trends on Twitter PFPs, and Rarity Sniper to find the best deals.
😊 ENJOYED THIS WEEK'S ALPHA?
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🤓 DISCLAIMER: NFA & DYOR
This newsletter is a curated overview of the most interesting things I’ve read the past week, the projects I’ve researched, and the NFTs I’ll be trying to buy.
This means I’m - per definition - biased, so don’t consider this as financial advice and keep doing your own research if you see something you like.