In this week’s newsletter, read about the creator of a Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) knock-off pleading guilty to fraud charges, check out how OpenSea’s non-fungible token (NFT) users received a massive phishing email campaign, and how Bitcoin transaction fees flipped Ethereum network fees as the hype for Ordinals resurfaced. In other news, game distributor G2A has launched a gaming-focused NFT marketplace.
Creator of Mutant Ape ripoff NFTs pleads guilty to $3 million fraud scheme
Aurelien Michel, the creator of the Mutant Ape Planet NFT collection, which copies the popular MAYC collection by Yuga Labs, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a New York federal court. Michel admitted to defrauding investors of $3 million and performing a rug pull.
The team behind the MAYC knock-off falsely promised rewards and benefits to their investors and intentionally failed to deliver on their promises. They instead diverted the proceeds and used them for personal gain. Michel admitted to the rug pull through social media and now faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
OpenSea NFT users report massive email phishing campaign
Users of NFT marketplace OpenSea have reportedly received emails containing malicious links from attackers pretending to be OpenSea. Community members took to social media, reporting that they received phishing attempts.
Meanwhile, OpenSea assured its users through a post on X (formerly Twitter) that there was no hack. However, a developer responded that while there may not be a vulnerability through the company’s smart contracts, the developer received a phishing email, suggesting that “dev contacts have been exfiltrated from OpenSea.”
Bitcoin transaction fees flip Ethereum’s as Ordinals hype returns
The average daily transaction fee for the Bitcoin network surpassed Ethereum as the market showed a renewed appetite for Bitcoin Ordinals, a tool for creating NFT-like assets and BRC-20 tokens. On Nov. 20, Bitcoin’s average daily fee reached $10.34, while Ethereum stood at an average of $8.43.
Since Oct. 24, the community has created over six million Bitcoin Ordinals assets, which led to around $30 million in BTC fees being redistributed to the network.
Game distributor G2A opens gaming-focused NFT marketplace
Digital game distributor G2A launched an NFT marketplace focused on Web3 games. In a press release, the company highlighted that it aims to expand its offerings by diving into Web3.
According to G2A Capital Group CEO Bartosz Skwarczek, the company has been following the development of Web3 gaming since Cryptokitties. Skwarczek said that players are familiar with blockchain gaming, and many are already involved.
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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.