OpenSea NFT Heist Likely Triggers Drop in Activity (bloomberg.com) 15
Activity on OpenSea, the world's largest marketplace for digital collectibles, likely dropped precipitously after a phishing attack that saw traders lose as much as an estimated $3 million. From a report: Trading in nonfungible tokens plummeted in recent days, according to data provider DappRadar. OpenSea's seven-day trading volume was down 37% as of Tuesday, DappRadar found. An unidentified hacker stole 254 tokens from OpenSea users by sending a malicious email asking to transfer their assets to a new contract. Around 17 traders signed the contract, which effectively acted as a blank check, giving the hacker access to all of the NFTs stored on their wallet. Some of those assets have since been sold, netting the perpetrator a hefty gain. Devin Finzer, OpenSea's chief executive officer, valued the total amount stolen at $1.7 million on Sunday, but researchers since have valued the pile at anywhere between $2 million and $3 million. Among the stolen NFTs included four Bored Apes, three of which were later sold on rival platform LooksRare for a combined $667,000, according to data from blockchain security service PeckShield.
Value (Score:4, Insightful)
Meanwhile, sensible people value the "pile" at $0. In other words, nothing of value was lost.
Re: (Score:2)
Meanwhile, sensible people value the "pile" at $0.
Sensible people value any asset at what buyers are willing to pay.
I have no interest whatsoever in owning gold, diamonds, or NFTs. But I am not foolish enough to believe my personal preferences mean they have no value.
Re:Value (Score:5, Insightful)
Contrarian response, that. Gold and diamonds, at least, have a physical tangible value, and if nothing else are useful in their own right in electronics, industry, etc..
NFT's have no such intrinsic value, and the fact that people are willing to trade Monopoly money for them now doesn't mean they'll continue to have any such value in the future.
Sensible people also balance risk/reward.
Re: (Score:2)
Diamonds are not particularly rare. The supply is artificially limited.
Re:Value (Score:5, Insightful)
Even more reason to avoid NFTs. Imagine instead of just DeBeers sitting on stock, you could make an arbitrary number of clones of a 2ct flawless D colored round brilliant cut diamond.
They are a "solution" to a problem that no one has: the introduction of artificial scarcity into an area where limitless copying is trivial and costless. The "products" being made artificially scarce are almost universally laughable as well. Instead of lossless 100 megapixel images of Rembrandt paintings, it's shitty jpegs of "dogs playing poker."
Re: (Score:2)
The "products" being made artificially scarce are almost universally laughable as well.
No argument there. That's also nothing new though, there is a bunch of crap in the modern
Re: (Score:2)
And you can get artificial ones too, that unlike industrial diamonds, are basically perfect. (The industrial diamonds are less perfect and contain impurities, but that doesn't matter if you're using it for sanding and cutting, and allows them to be grown even faster). Diamond coated sandpaper and cutting blades aren't particularly more expensive or hard to find.
Artificial gem quality diamonds are cheaper and more flawless - you can get a
Re: (Score:2)
Gold and diamonds, at least, have a physical tangible value
That is disconnected from their actual value.
My spouse's engagement ring isn't valuable because diamonds are good abrasives.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends how cheap you were *boom* *boom*
Re: (Score:2)
Dead on!
The entire space is an unregulated dumpster fire of scams and illegal activity. I chuckle every time I read one of these stories, which is every other day.
Can't wash trade (Score:2)
Headline is innumerate (Score:2)
Come on, we are supposed to believe that a $3mm scam/hack drove down participation on a platform where scams are already known to be rife and individual assets are daily traded for north of $10mm ?
That's like saying "bank use down because some people had their pockets picked in the lobby"
my low-res gifs got stolen (Score:2)
Where's My Wallet? A coin investor's story. (Score:2)
Thief: Hey, hi there, can I see your wallet?
NFT trader: I don't think...
Thief: I am from your bank, er.. um I mean exchange, we need to be sure we gave you the correct keys in the last transaction.
NFT trader: They look okay to m...
Thief: We are just doing a routine check, you wouldn't want to have bad security.
NFT trader: Well ok, but be qui..
(thief runs away with wallet)
NFT trader: Oh no muh jpeg links!
NFT trader: Help help, police, I gave someone my wall