December 3, 2021       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

Daily Bits ✍️✍️✍️

  • Users of BadgerDAO, a Bitcoin DeFi project, lost $120 million in a hack on Wednesday night.

  • Goldman Sachs is among a group of US banks attemptingto figure out how to use bitcoin as collateral for cash loans.

  • The SEC denied WisdomTree’s bitcoin ETF application.

  • Celebrities including Diplo and DJ Khaled are scooping upNFTs via MoonPay’s concierge service.

  • China’s central bank warned that NFTs could be a money-laundering tool.

  • Adidas unveiled partnerships with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Gmoney, and PUNKS Comic.

  • Niels Juul, the executive producer behind The Irishman, hopes to raise between $8-$10 million in NFT sales to fund a series of films.

  • VanEck filed with the SEC to launch a crypto mining ETF.

  • Coinbase Cloud (formerly Bison Trails) reported that over $30 billion worth of crypto assets are staked on its platform.

  • Bitcoin’s daily transaction volume has topped $30 billion only four times — all of which occurred in the last two weeks.

  • Mercado Libre, Latin America’s second-largest e-commerce firm, selected Paxos to power its cryptocurrency services.

  • Blockchain.com launched a beta version of an NFT marketplace.

  • Lawmakers in Chile are working towards legalizing BItcoin as a means of payment.

  • The SEC announced charges against the operator of ICO and cloud crypto mining schemes.

What Do You Meme?

What’s Poppin’?

The Founder of Silk Road Is Selling an NFT Collection

Ross Ulbricht, the infamous founder of Silk Road and noted Bitcoin proponent, released his first NFT collection yesterday. The collection will be up for auction on SuperRare over the next six days. Bidding for the NFTs has already surpassed $1 million in ETH (261 ETH)  — with the top bidder going under the name “toxicbitcoinmaxi.”

The collection is composed of writings and artwork created by Ross, spanning his entire life, from childhood to teen to prison. The NFT drop was announced on Tuesday via a Medium post. Ulbricht, who penned the article from prison, where he is serving a life sentence without parole for his actions as “Dread Pirate Roberts” on the Silk Road drug marketplace, said the collection is his story in the form of art.

Wrote Ulbricht, “Suddenly, sitting in prison, I had time for drawing again. I reconnected with my artistic side, producing illustrations that told the story I was going through.” After learning about NFTs, Ulbricht explained that “One thing led to another. Ideas were chewed. Brains were stormed. An NFT was born, one that told my story through the art I produced over the years, from toddler to teen to prisoner. Then, I told a story with words and drawings of a typical day in maximum security, and my collaborators animated it from my point of view as a prisoner. That is all bundled into the NFT. It is my story as art.”

Ross went on to say that the proceeds of the auction will be used to help relieve the suffering of the incarcerated and their families.

“With this NFT, I see a chance to make a difference where it really counts: in the lives of kids who did not ask for any of this,” he wrote. “There is a lot we can do with the proceeds of this auction, but one idea I am committed to is to help kids travel to visit their moms and dads in prison. My own future may look bleak, but I can still do a little something to heal the damage I see all around me.”

Recommended Reads

  • The weekly news recap is back! Check it out on Facebook Bulletin:

  • Messari’s Ryan Selkis on 2022 “Crypto Theses:”

  • TCG Crypto’s Jarrod Dicker on crypto cities:

On The Pod…

How Ryan Zurrer Ended Up Spending the Most on a Single NFT Artwork

Ryan Zurrer, founder of Dialectic, a crypto wealth multi-family office, discusses his recent $29 million purchase of Beeple’s Human One and his experience at Art Basel in Miami, along with his thoughts on the NFT space in general. Show highlights:

      • what Human One is and why Ryan purchased it

      • how Ryan and Beeple’s personal relationship factored into the purchase of Human One

      • why Human One is important to the metaverse

      • how Ryan defied the odds in purchasing Human One

      • how Miami’s Art Basel conference missed out by not capitalizing enough on NFTs

      • what Ryan thinks about the NFT industry being described as a bubble

      • how Ryan uses “proof-of-artwork” to determine which NFTs to buy

      • Ryan’s experience visiting Beeple’s art studio/campus

      • where Ryan thinks NFTs will go from here, and why he is so bullish on music NFTs in particular

Book Update

My book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, is now available for pre-order now.

The book, which is all about Ethereum and the 2017 ICO mania, comes out Feb. 22. Pre-order it today!

You can purchase it here: http://bit.ly/cryptopians