030: I Got Rugged š Last Week
Someone stole my Women And Weapons NFT, here's everything that went down so far.
It happened to me: I got rugged last week. š¢
Everything is great and futuristic until you get your digital assets stolen from a bot and there is nothing you can do about it, except being more cautious next time on what youāre clicking on in the metaverse. Last week, I was buried in computer work because Art Basel took over my life the week prior and I slipped. š± Turns out, burning the midnight oil is not a good quality unless youāre super alert. I got rugged and I felt very violated and smitten all at once.
What we do online is no secret to our government, to our credit card companies, and even UberEats. All I know is that when I checked my MetaMask wallet to see whatĀ September Monster NFTĀ image I minted fromĀ Emily LazarĀ (a music NFT pioneer), I noticed a few unwarranted transactions associated with my wallet address on the Etherscan. It didnāt take me long to find out that I was indeed RUGGED. š¤š± My Women and Weapons NFT I wrote about in this very column was no longer in my possession. The ownership was transferred to some burner wallet account because someone got hold of my Seed Phrase.
Rule #1 in Crypto: Never *Willingly* Give Out Your Seed Phrase.
In a bear market, thereās a lot of phishing that goes on and itās risky business. Even if it looks legit, always take a step back and ask yourself, why the computer is asking you to put in a very important package.
The Dark š³ Forest
Brace yourself and make sure you read the glossary in this column because for the next six months I will be writing about chaos in this newsletter. The early days of Web 3.0 are going to see turbulence. There are risks associated with an industry that is in its infant stages. There are missing frameworks, the code is broken and needs mending. But the upward trend to web3 is the trend, and crypto and smart contracts are here to stay. But as I was discussing with a friend, NFTs are not the end all be all.
If youāre reading this and are a bit confused, you probably already know that Bored Apes, Crypto Punks, Pudgy Penguins, and World of Women are the biggest NFT projects on the Ethereum network. The easy to mint avatar projects made them go viral. People had to buy into their brand directly from the smart contract with ETH. Then a community was formed around a jpeg which drove the value up so much, if you own one of these jpegs, you can sell for $5K+ or even put a down payment on a house.
But what happens if youāve already lost the ownership of the NFT due to misplay, what would be your next step? It is to reclaim the ownership by making a purchase transaction again on the same smart contract? In my case, someone caught hold of my seed phrase to *one of *my Metamask wallets and is probably monitoring all the transactions that go in and out on Etherscan. Itās a game of strategy. My new boss, aka an Ethereum blockchain legend, is turning this hack into a full-on team mission. Iām leading content, obvi. Weāve already devised a plan to craft a flash bot andĀ deploy a MEV.Ā I know, this is all going over my head too, but stay with me because the skies are darkening and I donāt know whatās to come of it yet, other than FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt).
WTF Industry Did I Get Myself Into?
Fortunately, for me, this rug pull comes with minimal risks. My dear friend airdropped me the WAW #58 and the ETH that was stolen from my MetaMask wallet was earned online through the sales of my zine NFTs. Yet, it still hurt and I felt a bit violated to know that something had stolen from me under my own very own eyes. The feelings were comparable to the time my Nike Jordan Sneakers were rugged from my house in North Philly when I was 14-years-old. The thief actually wore them around the neighborhood, which is how I found out about it! In the case of my WAW NFT, because the smart contract lives on a public ledger, I could track the wallet address on Open Sea and see it move through the Metaverse.
Hereās a playback of what happened š±
My NFT was stolen at 1 am in one morning. Hereās theĀ Etherscan receipt.
The thief was able to transfer .02 ETH into my wallet because I only had like $90 and gas fees and they needed more ETH to complete the transfer. I did not get notified that all of this was happening because MetaMask doesnāt have two-factor authentication.
Once the thief was able to transfer out the Women in Weapons NFT, it was onĀ this account.Ā This is probably a burner account because there were like 20 NFTs from various addresses sitting pretty on this page. Now, there are two. And if youāre reading this way beyond the publishing date, there may not be any NFTs to see!
This is theĀ hackerās wallet address.Ā This person has over $100K of stolen funds.
Another person I foundĀ also got their ETH sniped by the same thief.Ā We are now friends on Twitter.
Since then, I havenāt done anything with my defective ETH wallet address. Iām going to try and transfer out the $CABIN token and other NFT but I may just have to abandon it. The hacker is probably monitoring its activity.
ApeWorX is now developing a special plugin and together we are traversing the dark forest. I donāt know what Iām getting into but just now, this NFT culture is not for the faint of heart.
To dive deeper into the crypto metaverse, read about the intricacies of a white hat hacker on a mission to save $125 Million from danger inĀ Escaping the Dark Forest.Ā
The Duty Of DeFi NFT Marketplaces š¼
People will come and go in this blockchain community as easily as waves in an ocean. Yet, when the plunge is over, only a few will be left standing. The people who want to prosper and succeed on the Blockchain are of a different breed from what we saw during the internet bubble. The pump and dumpers are the people who aren't going to make it. They're mostly day amateur traders and I think the people will highly reject this type of volatility.
Many people believe that decentralized markets are inherently cruel, and will always lead to tragedies like mine and many others who were rugged by the same wallet address. It is said that there are no rules in a decentralized system, so things being what they are, there will be some bad actors ruining it for everyone. A bunch of people has either voluntarily left. How do we kick the bad actors out? In other words, we can whitelist people on a blockchain for their great behavior, but how do we handle the bad actors? This is a question Iād like the community to write me back with suggestions. Iām in a position to put forth the best ideas and Iām willing to work toward a better internet.
I wrote about revenge porn in 2016 and that led to legislation. Today, Iām writing about evolving the foundation of NFT decentralization, security and trust, and now, itās time for action.
Glossary
Rugged:Ā When someone takes something away from you without a warranty.
MEV:Ā Coined by a group of Cornell University students calledĀ The Flash Boys 2.0, MEV is the process of making a transaction on the blockchain without other miners/people knowing its taking place. Itās like an āinvisible cloakingā mechanism for blockchain interactions that want to be private in a public space.
White Hat Hacker:Ā A highly technical/mathematical person who had good intentions to rescue stolen or compromised funds.
Etherscan: The site that keeps track of every transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.
Related News
MetaBirkins Vs. Hermes (Iām glad I didnāt mint a MetaBirkin NFT because its not asset backed and now Hermes is coming for the creator).
Nike Acquires digital fashion company RTFKT (They basically make sneakers for the metaverse)
Pretty Little Thing clothing brand buys a Bored Ape NFT and Changes their Twitter Profile (If anyone know their team, tell them to call me! I have minting ideas that will actually engage their fast fashion addicted customers while onboarding women into the Web3 space.)
Coming Soon: Zine Audio NFT: Violet Summer Greatest Love Stories š
Everything thatās beautiful is not always good for you. In my final print zine for the New York Public Library Periodicals, Iāll release Issue 12 Greatest Love Stories on Love, Lust and Lost, in audio as an NFT. Iām excited to share a piece of me with the help of tech and close friends. Coming soon to this column. š