Kevin Rose, the co-founder of the nonfungible token (NFT) collection Moonbirds, has fallen victim to a phishing scam leading to more than $1.1 million worth of his personal NFTs stolen. The NFT creator and PROOF co-founder shared the news with his 1.6 million Twitter followers on Jan. 25 asking them to avoid buying any Squiggles NFTs until they manage to get them flagged as stolen. I was just hacked, stay tuned for details - please avoid buying any squiggles until we get them flagged (just lost 25) + a few other NFTs (an autoglyph) ... — KΞVIN R◎SE (,) (@kevinrose) …

The developer of a Mutant Ape Yacht Club knock-off collection — Mutant Ape Planet — has been arrested in New York, charged with allegedly “defrauding” investors of $2.9 million in a "rug pull scheme." The arrest took place on Jan. 4 at the John F. International Airport in New York, with homeland security agent Ivan J. Arvelo alleging that French national “Aurelien Michel perpetrated a rug pull scheme” and stole “nearly $3 million from investors for his own personal use," stating: “Purchasers of Mutant Ape Planet NFTs thought they were investing in a trendy new collectible, but they were deceived …

Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has been banning artists and collectors from Cuba, citing United States sanctions as the key reason behind its action. According to a report published by Artnet, 30 artists and collectors have been banned from the popular NFT marketplace until now. The most noted artist to face the axe includes well-known Havana-based artists Gabriel Guerra Bianchini and Fábrica de Arte Cubano. OpenSea marketplace has mentioned in its terms of service that it explicitly prohibits sanctioned individuals and individuals in sanctioned jurisdictions. The NFT marketplace's adhesion to U.S. sanctions was widely known and included countries such as …

As nonfungible tokens (NFTs) became more popular, bad actors who constantly try to exploit users within the space have become more active. Now, a new hack involving a feature on the NFT marketplace OpenSea threatens NFT holders through phishing sites. In an announcement, anti-theft project Harpie warned NFT users of a new hack involving gasless sales on the OpenSea platform. According to Harpie, hackers were able to steal millions in digital assets by exploiting the feature. When users want to conduct gasless sales within the OpenSea platform, they are required to approve a signature request with an unreadable message. With …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how the word “metaverse” placed second in Oxford’s Word of the Year. Check out how Meta is pushing forward its metaverse plans amid doubts and how the nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden announced a tool to enforce royalties. In other news, find out how the Opera Crypto Browser is integrating NFT minting. And, don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring a new all-time high for Reddit avatar minting. Metaverse comes in second place as Oxford’s word of the year The term “metaverse” have gotten second place in Oxford University’s Word of the Year …

Magic Eden, a Solana-based nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, has become the latest platform to release a tool allowing creators to enforce royalties on their collections. It follows the announcement of a similar tool from rival NFT marketplace OpenSea in early November. According to a Dec. 1 statement, the open-source royalty enforcement tool is built on top of Solana's SPL token standard and is called the Open Creator Protocol (OCP). This will allow royalty enforcement for new collections that opt-in to the standard starting Dec. 2. Lu previously floated the idea of NFTs designed to enforce royalties at Solana’s Breakpoint 2022 …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how two Bored Ape nonfungible tokens (NFTs) sold for almost $1 million during the bear market and how the word “metaverse” made it into the top three finalists for Oxford Word of the Year. Check out how the metaverse can generate passive income through royalties and how NFT marketplace OpenSea has integrated BNB Chain into its platform. And, don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring COVID-19 protests in China being converted into a Polygon-based NFT collection. ‘Metaverse’ a top 3 contender for Oxford’s Word of the Year The word “metaverse” has made it through …

Crypto collectibles and nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea announced plans to integrate BNB Chain on Seaport Protocol by the end of Q4 2022. The integration will allow users to buy, list and trade BNB Chain NFTs on the OpenSea marketplace. BNB Chain was built by Binance to operate as a Web3-focused blockchain network powered by the exchange's in-house token, Binance Coin (BNB). BNB Chain’s integration into OpenSea's Seaport Protocol aims to provide BNB Chain creators with multiple creator payouts, real-time payouts and collection management, among others. Sharing insights into the move, Gwendolyn Regina, Investment Director at BNB Chain, revealed her …

China’s COVID-19 protests cemented as NFTs Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) depicting the ongoing protests in China against the country’s tough zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy have found their way to the NFT marketplace OpenSea. At least two collections have been created in November, the first is a Polygon (MATIC)-based collection called “Silent Speech” featuring 135 NFTs depicting images of protesters, signage, graffiti and even social media screenshots related to the ongoing protests up for auction starting at 0.01 Ether (ETH), or just under $11.50. Another collection titled “Blank Paper Movement” of 36 Ethereum-based NFTs with a floor price of 10 ETH, or nearly …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how the FTX contagion led to the sale of a collection containing high-ticket nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Check out the struggles in onboarding artists to Web3 through NFTs and find out about OpenSea’s decision to finally enforce royalties on all collections within its NFT marketplace. In other news, a tool that allows layer-2 networks to showcase NFTs on social platforms like Twitter was released. And don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring Nike’s Dot Swoosh NFT platform. FTX contagion victim Deepak.eth puts NFT collection up for sale After announcing an eight-figure exposure to FTX exchange, …

NFT marketplace OpenSea has announced it will continue to enforce royalties across all collections going forward, following outcry from creators earlier this week for considering otherwise. On Nov. 7 OpenSea announced they were launching an on-chain tool allowing creators to enforce royalties for any new collections on the platform, but stopped short of offering the same to existing collections. At the time, the marketplace said it would be considering options ranging from enforcing off-chain fees for “some subsets of collections,” to “allowing optional creator fees,” to “collaborating with other on-chain enforcement options for creators.” The announcement saw significant pushback from …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how trademark applications for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse have grown in the United States. Check out how NFT marketplace OpenSea has launched a tool that can enforce NFT royalties on-chain and how the Chinese city of Wuhan backpedaled on its NFT plans while still pursuing the growth of metaverse economies. In other news, find out how NFTs can turn passive fans into active community members. And don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring South Korea testing purchasing NFTs with their central bank digital currency (CBDC). Trademarks filed for NFTs, metaverse and cryptocurrencies …